A warm welcome to the Books To Go Now Christmas in July Blog Hop. Please comment here and around the hop for a chance to win:
We have TWO grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment. To take part readers must enter their name and email address in their comment to win.
We are going to also offering two Grand Prizes!! In order for readers to take part, they must leave their comment and email address. Two winners will be chosen at random and notified no later than July 29, 2013.
1st Grand Prize: (1) $100 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Grand Prize: (1) $25 Amazon Gift Card
I am offering two commentators a chance to win a pdf copy of my book Without Saying A Word.
All you need to do is leave a comment about your ideal romantic hero.
Don't forget to leave your email address and please hop around to read work by my amazing fellow authors.
Here is a snippet from my book to whet your appetite. Enjoy
Prologue
Two years
earlier...
Laura slammed the door behind her. Thank God, home at last.
She lugged her heavy plastic bag full of groceries into the kitchen, and then
glanced at the clock on the wall, yawning as she switched the kettle on. Her
children would be home from school soon, with their demands for snacks and help
with homework.
As she put away the groceries, she remembered in her haste
dropping her handbag by the front door. Laura grumbled under her breath as she
dashed into the hall, noticing her husband's leather wallet as she happened to
glance down at the phone stand. Well that's odd, Laura thought. He's
normally at work this time of the day. As she touched it, a slip of paper
floated to the ground. She reached down to pick it up and her forehead
crinkled as she read the words. What on
earth is going on? She peered round the door into the lounge. All was fine,
the room as neat and tidy as before. Laura headed up the carpeted stairs to her
bedroom. As she tiptoed toward the closed door, Laura heard the muffled sound
of grunting and moaning. As she opened it, the creak of the bed alerted her to
the fact that her husband was not alone. The bed frame shook with the force of
his thrusts as his milky white buttocks moved in and out of the woman beneath
him. Shock flooded Laura's body. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Nausea rode up
in her stomach. Aghast, her hands flew to her face and her voice sounded in a
whisper.
“Max. What on earth?” Laura’s body shook. She steadied herself by
clutching the door, her knuckles white with strain, mentally willing herself to
remain upright. This must be a dream; he wouldn’t do this to her. The whole
scenario seemed unreal.
Her husband pulled himself off the woman and walked toward her his
erection beginning to subside. Max's handsome face contorted into a snarl. His
lips curled, nostrils flared, and his eyes looked cold. Laura held her breath
as she managed to let go of the door and back away from him. Out of the corners
of her eyes, Laura glimpsed the blonde-haired woman run to the bathroom, a
cream-colored sheet wrapped around her. Laura’s eyes then fixated on Max who
raised his hand toward her. She desperately needed to escape, but she stumbled
over a shoe, which gave him the chance he sought.
“You stupid bitch,” he spat in contempt and slapped her around the
face. The gunshot crack echoed in the room. Laura screamed out loud as
white-hot pain seared her cheek and caused it to throb with fire-like
intensity. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Heat flooded her face
as Laura sobbed out loud. Black spots danced in front of her eyes, and blurred
her vision. Confusion and shock overwhelmed her as her head swam.
“Stop, Max. I don't understand,” she whimpered. Why had he hit
her? What had she done to him?
“You wouldn't, would you?” Max maintained his rant. “Lovely Laura
has it all— money, a house and children. But guess what? You don't have me. You
never did,” he sneered.
His hand rose again. Laura tried to duck, but it landed on her
other cheek, and knocked her to the floor. She sobbed harder, the salty tears
stinging the grazes on her cheek. Laura lost her vision as her check swelled.
By instinct, she curled into a ball, to protect herself from his blows. What on
earth caused her loving husband to act this way?
“I should never have married you, you fertile, frigid bitch!” The
hateful words rained down on Laura,
Laura, huddled on the floor, begged him to stop. Tears streamed
down her face. Her eye closed. Fear and nausea racked her body, and combined
with the pain from her face, Laura's body shook. She wanted him to stop. What
had she done to deserve this?
“Max, stop. Please. I love you. Please stop hurting me,” she
begged in a cracked, harsh voice, but to no avail. His foot swept toward the
upper part of her body and collided with her chest. Her ribs cracked. Laura
felt the sudden whoosh of air as her lung collapsed. As the breath left her
body she tried to scream out. Her voice hoarse and mouth full of blood, she
struggled for air. He’s going to kill me, Laura thought. Her
children— they would be left alone with this monster.
“Help me,” Laura whimpered from the floor. “Please, help me.”
“Take this, you whore!” Max yelled as his foot came toward her yet
again. When it collided with her side, Laura's body jerked at the impact. Too
weak to run, too weak to hide, Laura lay on the floor unable to move. Her mind
raced with images of her children, and she willed herself to live, to protect
them. She could feel herself slip into unconsciousness from her injuries, as
her body shut down in self-preservation.
As blackness encompassed
her Laura thought she must be hallucinating, when she heard her eldest son
scream.
“Leave my mother alone, you
bastard!”
Have fun hopping around
Love Manda x
