Mundie Moms

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

BROKEN BEAUTIFUL HEARTS by Kami Garcia / Excerpt #BrokenBeautifulHearts


From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, come BROKEN BEAUTIFUL HEARTS. A red-hot romance that will break your heart and put it back together again. This new title from Kami Garcia will be available on February 6, 2018! You can pre-order your copy today! Before you will find pre-order links and read an excerpt! First, about the book. 

ABOUT THE BOOK


From #1 New York Times–bestselling author Kami Garcia comes a red-hot romance that will break your heart and put it back together again. 

Her heart has to break before it can open.

When star soccer player Peyton Rios receives an offer from her first-choice college, senior year starts off exactly as planned. But when Peyton uncovers her boyfriend’s dark secret, she confronts him—and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Peyton’s knee—and maybe her dream of going pro—is shattered. Everyone is talking: Was she pushed, or did she fall? Peyton knows the truth, even if no one believes her. 

He has to let someone in before it’s too late.

With her future on the line, Peyton goes to stay with her uncle in a small Tennessee town to focus on her recovery. Dating is the last thing on her mind—until she meets sweet, sexy Owen Law. 

But Peyton doesn’t trust her heart, especially when she senses that Owen is hiding something. When their secrets are finally exposed, Peyton has to decide if love is worth fighting for.


READ AN EXCERPT

“Ever feel like you’re screwed no matter what you do?” Owen’s question comes out of nowhere.
All the time. Part of me wants to say it out loud. “Once in a while.” “Any advice?” He gives me a half smile.
I don’t know this guy, but he seems nice—and unhappy. I can relate.
He’s waiting for me to respond. I shrug. “Sometimes life only gives you two options. Bad or worse. So you go with bad.”
“Makes sense.” He studies me like he’s taking inventory, checking off boxes on a mental list. The competitor in me wonders how I’m scoring. What if I’m giving him advice about his girlfriend, possibly a delightful friend of April’s?
The faint sound of laughter from the party floats through the air. 
“Why did you come to Black Water?” Owen asks. “I’m guessing itwasn’t for the social scene.”
I tap on my brace. “I tore my PCL, the ligament that runs behind my knee. My doctor said I’ll need a lot of physical therapy to get my knee back in shape, and I only have four months to do it.”
“What happens in four months?”
“I’m a soccer player. I need to get back on the field in March, when the season starts.”
“What if you need more time to recover?” It sounds like he actually cares about the answer.
“If I work hard enough, it will heal by then.” I hope.
Losing my spot at UNC isn’t an option. I practiced soccer drills with Dad every day after school and on weekends—and it paid off. I’m not letting Reed destroy my dreams.
“Don’t they have physical therapists where you’re from?” he asks. 
“In Washington, DC? Sure.”
“You left Washington, DC, to come here? Why?” Owen is smart and nosy. Not the best combination when I’m trying to keep certain parts of my life private. But he does have an amazing smile.
“Why not?” I counter.
“How about because Washington, DC, is a major city with museums and concerts and the subway, and Black Water is . . . Black Water.”
“In DC, we call it the Metro, not the subway.”
He smiles at me again. “In Black Water we don’t call it anything, because we don’t have one.”
“That’s the point. There are no distractions here.” 
“How did you hurt your knee?”
I didn’t.
“I fell down a flight of stairs.” It’s the truth, but for some reason leaving out the details makes me feel like I’m trapped in a room that’s too small and could get smaller any minute. “I’m a klutz when I’m not on the soccer field.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” Owen looks me in the eye and says it, like he really means it.
“It could be worse.” But with my scholarship hanging in the balance, it doesn’t feel that way.
“It still sucks.”
Why am I letting Owen ask me so many questions? I’ve known him for fifteen minutes. The incident with Reed taught me how easy it is to misjudge someone. I thought he was the kind of athlete who would never resort to doping and cheating.
I’ve always relied on my gut instincts about people—the little voice in the back of my head. But I don’t trust it anymore.
Owen cocks his head to the side and grins. “So do you still want to know if I have a girlfriend?”
Heat crawls up the back of my neck. “I never asked you that.” 
“When I got off the phone, you asked if I was fighting with mygirlfriend.”
“I was making conversation, not fishing.” Okay, I sort of was. “I’m not hunting for a boyfriend if that’s what you think.”
“Your cousins made that pretty clear.”
I’m going to strangle those two. “What did they say?” So I know how much salt to dump in their breakfast tomorrow.
Owen leans back against the bales. “I saw them coming out of the locker room after the game and I mentioned that we met, and they said you don’t date.”
The Twins are dead.
They made it sound like I’m joining a convent after graduation. The heat spreads from my neck to my cheeks. I should ditch Owen and go back to the party before this conversation gets more embarrassing.
But I want to stay.
The last three weeks have been full of lies and accusations, surgery and doctors’ appointments, threats and depressing calls from an ex who won’t stop calling me and a best friend who never wants to speak to me again. My conversation with Owen makes me feel normal. It’s one of the few I’ve had in weeks that didn’t revolve around my injury or Reed.
I want it to last a little longer.
I also don’t want Owen thinking I’m convent-bound. “For the record, I do date. I’m just not interested in dating right now. There’s a difference.”
Owen holds up his hands in surrender. “I’m just telling you what I heard. Is that the reason you’re back here instead of hanging out at the party?”
“No. I’m just antisocial.”
His eyes flicker to my mouth. “I don’t believe that.”
I pull my hair back in a ponytail and secure it with the elastic around my wrist. Anything to keep from making eye contact with him. “You don’t even know me.”
Owen leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. His arm grazes mine and he looks over at me. “Not yet.”

GET YOUR COPY!


PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

Something wonderful happened to me as I read this—I fell in love. Genuine, shattering, deep, heart-pounding love. Thank you, Kami Garcia, for Peyton and Owen. We need their story." —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Kami Garcia is the #1 New York Times, USA Today & international bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures novels. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES has been published in 50 countries and translated in 39 languages, and the film Beautiful Creatures released in theaters in 2013, from Warner Brothers. Kami’s solo series, The Legion, includes the instant New York Times bestseller UNBREAKABLE, and the sequel UNMARKED, both of which were nominated for Bram Stoker Awards. Her other works include THE X-FILES ORIGINS: AGENT OF CHAOS and the YA contemporary novels THE LOVELY RECKLESS and the forthcoming BROKEN BEAUTIFUL HEARTS (February 2018).
Kami was a teacher for seventeen years before co-authoring her first novel on a dare from seven of her students. If she isn’t busy watching Supernatural, Kami can teach you how to escape from a pair of handcuffs or bake a Coca-Cola cake. She lives in Maryland with her family, and their dogs Spike and Oz (named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Visit Kami at www.KamiGarcia.com.


SMOKE IN THE SUN by Renee Ahdieh / Waiting on Wednesday #SmokeInTheSun


By: Renee Ahdieh
Published by: G.P. Putnam
To Be Released on: June 5th, 2018
Series: Flame In The Mist #2
Pre-Order from: Penguin | Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads

The highly anticipated sequel to Flame in the Mist--an addictive, sumptuous finale that will leave readers breathless from the bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn

After Okami is captured in the Jukai forest, Mariko has no choice--to rescue him, she must return to Inako and face the dangers that have been waiting for her in the Heian Castle. She tricks her brother, Kenshin, and betrothed, Raiden, into thinking she was being held by the Black Clan against her will, playing the part of the dutiful bride-to-be to infiltrate the emperor's ranks and uncover the truth behind the betrayal that almost left her dead.

With the wedding plans already underway, Mariko pretends to be consumed with her upcoming nuptials, all the while using her royal standing to peel back the layers of lies and deception surrounding the imperial court. But each secret she unfurls gives way to the next, ensnaring Mariko and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honor, their love and very the safety of the empire.


I can not wait to read this sequel! Last week EW revealed this stunning cover, along with an excerpt from the book. Here's a snippet from the excerpt they shared:

Tall and Proud and Hapless

This was a scene from a story she’d heard before.

A young woman in her rightful place, ensconced at the Golden Castle. Betrothed to the son of the emperor’s favorite consort. Bestowing honor to the Hattori name.

The scented water in the wooden furo felt the same as it did at home. Like heated silk sliding across her skin. The hands scrubbing at Mariko’s arms and shoulders did so in much the same way they’d done at home — without mercy, until her pale skin shone like that of a newborn child, pink and raw and perfect. A servant with permanent lines of judgment marrying her brow yanked a comb inlaid with mother-of-pearl through Mariko’s hair in much the same way her nursemaid had when she was younger.

It all felt so similar.

But if Mariko could be certain of nothing else now, she could be certain her life would never be the same again.

Under her brother’s watchful care, they’d arrived to Inako late last night. To an imperial city cloaked in mourning. To streets teeming with whispers. Today was the funeral of their emperor, who had died suddenly, beneath a veil of suspicion. Upon discovering his body, the empress’ wailing was said to have been heard across all seven maru. Even beyond the castle’s iron-and-gold-plated double gates. She’d screamed murder. Raged at all those nearby, accusing them of treachery. It had taken a flock of maidservants to soothe her and begin ushering her toward her tears.

Toward final whimpers of resignation.

But beneath this hushed intensity seethed something sinister. Last night — when the second pair of gates leading to the castle had creaked closed behind their convoy — the air around Mariko had stilled. The faint breeze blowing past the woven screen of her norimono had sighed a final sigh. An owl had blared across the firmament, its cry ringing off the stone walls.

As though in warning.

** ** ** ** ** 

I LOVE this cover. If you haven't already, be sure to check out EW's cover reveal and read the excerpt in it's entirety here.

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