Her Only
Salvation by J.C. Valentine
Publication Date: September
13, 2016
Genres: Adult,
Contemporary Romance, Sweet / Clean Romance, Thriller
BUY:
Amazon (99c or #FREE
with #KindleUnlimited): http://amzn.to/2bEdxJD
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2cgSkoa
Synopsis:
Sometimes,
relationships can be deadly.
Terri thought she was
marrying a strong, loving man, only to find that beneath that handsome face
lies something cold, brutal, and dangerous. After years of abuse, her husband
takes things a little too far, and Terri finally summons the courage to take
matters into her own hands and make her escape.But freedom comes at a price. Forging
a new life, Terri moves to a new town and tries to forget her past, but she
can’t help looking over her shoulder at every turn. When prison bars can no
longer hold her husband, and her past comes knocking, Terri finds that the
strength to trust again may be her only salvation. When her attractive new boss
steps up to the plate and vows to protect her at all cost, she’s inclined to
accept…but can she ever allow herself to trust her instincts again?
*Author
Note* Her Only Salvation is a bold and enticing storyline with a hint
of romance (sensual but not explicit). This book was originally released under
J.C. Valentine’s given name and was entitled “Spring Cleaning.”
Exclusive Excerpt
She wasn’t on the
floor for more than five minutes when Cathie called her behind the bar.
“You have a phone
call, doll.” Passing off the receiver, she flashed a quick grin over her
shoulder and said, “It’s a guy.”
Not knowing anyone
who would possibly be calling her, let alone a man, not to mention at work,
puzzled Terri. With a dark frown, she lifted the receiver and pressed it to her
ear.
“Hello?”
At first she didn’t
hear a thing, the noise in the bar drowning everything out. Turning her back to
the room, she cupped her hand over the phone and repeated the greeting.
At first, she didn’t
trust what her ears were hearing. The voice was too distinct, too familiar to
be real. Her first inclination was to throw out the most obvious explanation
and come up with something that she was better equipped to handle mentally.
However, when his voice came down the line again, rough and laced with menace,
reality slammed into her like a freight train.
“Hi there, sweets,”
Randy said smoothly. “Miss me?”
Terri’s voice seemed
to be caught in her throat, a lump that she had difficulty even getting her
short breaths past.
“Judging by your
silence, I’ll take that as a yes. Don’t try to deny it,” he snapped, then quickly
reigned in his temper.
Terri didn’t realize
she had been shaking her head. In that instant, she knew he was watching her.
Immediately, she spun on her heel and scanned the crowd. There were so many
people tonight, she could barely make out their faces, let alone single one
out. As he continued to talk, she slowed her visual inspection, breaking the
room down into square foot sections, taking in every face methodically. Randy
had distinct, pale blonde hair, and anyone who didn't fit that description, she
tossed out of the equation, and those with similarly blonde hair she subjected
to intense scrutiny.
“You’re looking good,
sweets,” he complimented her from his hidden vantage point.
“Always knew you
would live up to your full potential one day.”
She could almost feel
him moving through the room, his eyes pinned to her every step of the way. It
made her skin crawl.
“From housewife to
barmaid,” he continued. “Wouldn’t your mother be proud.”
“My mother was always
proud of me,” she sneered into the phone. Bringing up her deceased mother had
always been a sore spot for her, and he well knew it. She would not allow him
to sully her memory any longer.
Randy snickered,
loving that he had managed a reaction out of her. “You always were easy to rile
up, sweets.”
“Don’t call me that,”
she nearly shouted in return, but managed to lower her voice at the last minute
to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention.
“Not so fond of that
nickname anymore?” He clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “How about love bug?
Does that suit you better?”
“I hate it,” Terri
growled, hoping to sound as angry as she felt.
“Good, love bug it
is. Now,” he went on, uncaring of her growing temper. “I must be going, but
before you beg me to stay, I want to assure you that I won’t be far.” Suddenly
it was as if the sound coming through the other end of the phone had entered a
vacuum.
Eyes darting
frantically across the sea of dancers, Terri honed in on a set of familiar wide
shoulders set against a tall frame and a head of pale blonde hair cut short in
an almost military fashion, exiting the club. It had to be Randy, she thought,
but he was gone from view so quickly, she couldn’t be sure.
Except that she would
know him anywhere.
With shaking hands,
Terri replaced the phone on its station, and without saying where she was
going, walked mindlessly down the narrow passage leading to the locker rooms.
She needed to be alone. She couldn’t think. Her mind was too clouded with
visions of her murder, of Randy strangling the life out of her once and for
all.
With panic setting
in, Terri burst through the locker room doors and ran for the washroom where
she proceeded to vomit her dinner into the toilet.
Luke found her soon
thereafter, worry and annoyance warring for dominance on his broad face.
“The girls are
wondering where you disappeared to,” he informed her, crossing his arms over
his chest as if she were a child in need of reprimand. “You know you can’t just
take off without telling someone where you’re going.”
“I know,” Terri
muttered, keeping her head low. She lacked the strength to hold it up, too
weakened from the turmoil eating at her insides to do much else than sit there
and ponder her fate. “I’m sorry. Tell them I’m sorry.”
Luke was suddenly
sitting beside her. She hadn’t even heard him move.
Lifting her chin, he
narrowed his deeply blue eyes on her and tilted his head. “Are you sick or something?”
“I’m fine,” she
managed, trying to find some strength to lie effectively and failing miserably.
Tucking a chunk of
hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear, he shook his head.
“Talk to me, Terri. I
know everything isn’t fine. I know there is something going on with you, and I
want to know what it is.”
“It’s nothing,” she
insisted, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
Dropping his hand,
Luke’s expression changed from soft and understanding to a mix of anger and
annoyance like a switch had been thrown.
“That’s bull and we
both know it. Now this…whatever this is,” he waved a hand through the air
encompassing her, “is starting to affect your performance here. This is a
business, Terri, and if you want me to be understanding, then you’re going to
have to level with me.”
Terri narrowed her
eyes on him. “Are you saying you’ll fire me if I don’t confide in you?”
Luke sighed deeply,
pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “No, I’m not going to fire
you, Terri. I just need you to help me understand. I can’t help you if you
don’t.”
The pained expression
he turned on her, one of utter defeat, somehow compelled Terri to open her
mouth and admit this one person into her shrunken world.
“My husband,” she
began, and swallowed hard to tamp down the tremor in her voice, “he’s been
released from prison.”
Luke looked at her in
a way that told her he was trying to be sympathetic but still didn’t grasp the
gravity of the situation.
She went on. “He was
here tonight, and I think he was here last night too.” She grimaced, knowing in
her heart of hearts that what she was about to say next was the truth. “I think
he was the one who hit that boy in the parking lot.”
Luke’s eyes widened,
understanding mixed with equal parts anger and worry twisting through them until
the blue seemed to swirl with his anger.
“I’ll kill that
asshole,” he seethed, his fingers curling to form tight fists against the bench
they sat on.
Terri shook her head.
“You can’t. They would lock you up, and then who would watch out for me?”
She didn’t want Luke
to get himself into trouble. It was obvious he was a fighter, willing to go up
to bat for any cause he deemed worthy, but she didn’t want to see him get
caught up in the drama of her life. Not if she could help it.
She hadn’t meant to,
but she started to shake a little, almost as if the cold outside hadn’t fully
left her.
Seeing this, Luke
wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her to him. “Hush,” he murmured. “I won’t
let anything happen to you.”
“Promise?” she asked,
then sniffed back the start of a runny nose. Had she started crying too? Jesus,
she really was a mess.
“Promise. It will be
a cold day in hell before I let that creep get anywhere close to you again.” He
petted her hair absently. “Don’t you worry about a thing, I’ll work something
out.”
Closing her eyes, she
leaned into his embrace. For the second time in her life, Terri decided to put
her trust into a man. This time, she only hoped she wouldn’t get burned.
About J.C. Valentine
J.C. Valentine is the
USA Today and International bestselling author of the Night Calls and Wayward
Fighters Series and the Forbidden Series. Her vivid imagination and love of
words and romance had her penning her own romance stories from an early age,
which, despite being poorly edited and written longhand, she forced friends and
family members to read. No, she isn’t sorry. J.C. earned her own happily
ever after when she married her high school sweetheart. Living in the
Northwest, they have three amazing children and far too many pets and spend
much of their free time together enjoying movies or the outdoors. Among the
many hats she wears, J.C. is an entrepreneur. Having graduated with honors, she
holds a Bachelor’s in English and when she isn’t writing, you can find her
editing for fellow authors. Sign up for J.C.’s newsletter and never miss a
thing! http://bit.ly/1KxXWWB
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
Hosted By
No comments:
Post a Comment