I’ve been touched by darkness.
So I know the light when I see it.
Love & Vengeance, an all-new dark and gritty new adult romance from bestselling author J.A. Owenby, is available now!
My light is a man who’s strong and loving … yet he’s wrestling with his own haunted past. He’s kneeling at my feet, asking me to marry him. Hendrix is everything I’ve ever wanted and everything I thought I didn’t deserve.
My cake has been ordered. My wedding dress is ready. But that darkness of my past is back once more. I’d never let anything happen to ruin our special day, then a letter finds its way to me. A letter written behind prison cell walls. Its promise: to shatter my world. Three days before my wedding, he’s striding through the gates of prison … Vowing he loves me more than ever before.
Can I hold on when my entire life starts to crumble? Will love be enough when I stand before evil himself?
Love & Vengeance is a dark, gritty, and emotional new adult novel. It’s recommended for readers who enjoy darker romance. May contain triggers for some readers.
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Pre-order the stunning conclusion, Love & Retaliation!
Releasing June 10th
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Excerpt
I picked up my phone, fumbling it in my shaking hands. It dropped to the floor, and I swore under my breath while I retrieved it.
“Hey,” I said, trying to disguise the fear in my voice.
“Where are you?” Pierce asked.
Mac waved at me to hurry up.
“Hang on a second.” I tapped the mute icon and rolled my window down. “I have to take this call. Why don’t you go in and grab us a table? I’ll be in shortly.”
Her gaze narrowed at me. “Something has been a little off with you today. What’s going on?”
“It’s about the wedding. I just need to focus.”
Mac placed her hand on her hip, her toe tapping impatiently against the pavement. “Are you sure?”
“I swear.” I attempted a smile. “Get a booth in the back corner if you can.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a few.” She headed in the direction of the entrance and glanced over her shoulder at me, her forehead creasing.
I rolled up the window and unmuted the phone. “Sorry. Mac was with me. She had questions, and I needed to pacify her so we can talk. She knows something is off with me. I’m having a difficult time hiding it.”
Pierce chuckled. “Give her a hug for me.”
“I will.” An uncomfortable silence filled the line while I waited for him to continue.
“Gemma, it’s not good.”
I gulped over a sudden lump in my throat as I lifted my head, glancing out the window at the Spokane River. “Just say it. Please.”
“Brandon will be released three days before your wedding.” Pierce’s voice was low. Haunted.
“Dammit.” I white-knuckled the steering wheel and drew in a deep breath in order to contain the turbulent emotions that had erupted inside me. Fear, my forgotten friend, settled in next to me and wrapped her frigid fingers around my heart.
“You need to tell Hendrix tonight. I’ll assign bodyguards to everyone. You guys are my family and top priority.”
My head throbbed as I tried to absorb the news that the son of a bitch would be free again. “I have to wrap my head around this before I tell Hendrix.”
I imagined Pierce rubbing his face, determination settling into his handsome features. “Would it help if we met with Franklin tomorrow morning? Let’s see what legal rights you have and put a restraining order into place. Then we can talk to Hendrix.”
I hesitated. “I need to tell Hendrix. He’s not going to be happy that I hid the letter for a few days, but I had to know the truth first,” I said, my voice cracking. I nervously played with an imaginary string on my shirt. “Text me what time to meet with you and Franklin. Right now, I have to pretend nothing is wrong and have dinner with Mac.”
“I will. And Gemma?”
“Yeah?”
“We have almost four weeks to prepare for his release. Try to breathe.”
“Thank you. I need the reminder.” I rubbed my temples, teetering on a full-blown headache.
“I’m going to speak to Franklin and fill him in. I’ll text you in a little while.”
“Dammit, he’ll call Hendrix. Before you say a word to him, make him promise he’ll wait to talk to Hendrix until after we meet tomorrow. Please, Pierce. Franklin is going to flip his shit.” My chin trembled with my words.
“I know he will, but I won’t explain anything to Franklin until he’s given me his word that he won’t tell his son. Gemma, I realize you’re scared, but Franklin is on your side. He’ll want to dig into things before he talks to Hendrix. Go eat. Talk to your fiancé and let me take care of Franklin.”
My stomach growled in agreement. “Okay. Thank you. I’ll talk to you later.” My head swam, and my breathing came in short bursts as I battled with my anxiety. Gritting my teeth, I willed myself to calm down. Regardless of how I felt inside, I had to be strong.
About J.A.
J.A. Owenby lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and cat.
She's a published author of six short stories, and she is currently working on her ninth full-length novel. She also runs her own business as a professional resume writer and interview coach--she helps people find jobs they love.
J.A. is an avid reader of thrillers, romance, new adult, and young adult novels. She loves music, movies, and good wine. And call her crazy, but she loves the rainy Pacific Northwest; she gets her best story ideas while listening to the rain pattering against the windows in front of the fireplace.
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Website: https://www.authorjaowenby.com
The Stars Duet Boxed Set, including the complete The Stars Series including the bonus story Christmas Beneath the Stars from Amie Knight, is available now!
Beneath His Stars
I met Adam Nova under the twinkling lights of a nighttime sky.
He was hiding, but that gorgeous boy didn’t belong in the dark.
Nevertheless it was where he lived; a different world than mine.
I was Livingston Montgomery, Southern debutante.
With the world at my fingertips, I was well on my way to being another spoiled socialite.
But I didn’t want money.
I didn’t want social status.
I wanted him; tattoos, sarcastic smirk, bad boy reputation and all.
It didn’t matter that he was from the wrong side of the tracks.
It didn’t matter that my family forbade me from seeing him.
I just wanted to be Beneath His Stars.
In Her Space
I was reunited with Livingston Montgomery in the broad sunshine of a Carolina morning, right where she belonged; in the light.
It’d been too long since I’d seen her face.
She had changed, but so had I.
I was Adam Nova, reformed bad boy. Now, successful business man.
I had it all, except for the one person I’d always wanted, and now I was back to claim her.
She was living in the shadows, just a shell of the former girl I knew.
But it didn’t matter that she tried to hide from me in the dark.
I’d follow her into the deepest depths of hell.
I just wanted to be In Her Space.
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Excerpt from Beneath His Stars
“Are you smoking?” Her lip curled in disgust.
I nodded.
It was her turn to look disgusted this time. “Do you even speak?”
I nodded again and she shook her head in disbelief before reaching over the space between us and snatching the cigarette out of my mouth so fast I didn’t see it coming. I stood there dumbfounded. People didn’t snatch shit away from me. People were scared of me. Not this brave girl. I should have known.
“Smoking is disgusting.” She said it quietly like it didn’t matter, but I could tell it did to her. She bent over and put the butt out on the driveway before standing up again and shoving it in her pocket.
I smirked. “You gonna keep that?”
Her eyes ignited with anger. “No, I’m going to throw it in the trash because I’m not a litterbug.”
Shaking my head, I muttered under my breath, “Fucking litterbug.” She was being cute. The girl with the too long legs and too big mouth that I couldn’t get out of my mind was fucking cute, too. I was screwed.
I wanted to full-on smile at her cuteness, but I held my happiness close to my chest. God knew it always came with a price. And I was done paying.
“You kiss your momma with that smoke mouth?” she asked snarkily, clearly pissed off about my smirk.
I lowered my head and took a step back, running a hand through my dark hair. I wanted to tell this girl things. Things I had no business telling her, like that I didn’t kiss my momma with anything anymore. Instead, I asked the question that had been plaguing me since she’d seemed surprised it was me who had left the notes.
“Who did you think it was?”
Her face screwed up in confusion. “What?”
I stood straighter and licked my lips before answering. “Who did you think left the notes?”
I was feeling strangely vulnerable in that moment waiting for her answer and I didn’t like it one bit. Why did it matter to me who wrote her or didn’t? Or who else thought she was the most intriguing thing ever? For fuck’s sake, she was just another rich bitch from the island. Why did anything about what she was about to say matter to me at all?
She bit her lip again and I still wanted to reach over and pull it from her teeth. It was sexy that lip bite, innocent even, and for some reason that made it all the more attractive.
“I don’t know.” Her brow furrowed in thought and she looked away, almost like she didn’t want to tell me the answer to my question. But then her eyes landed on mine again. “I thought it was the other guy—”
“Boone?” I interrupted loudly.
A disgusted look crossed her face. “God, no. Not him. The blond. The other guy.”
I let out a long breath accompanied by a sarcastic chuckle. “Grady?” That guy didn’t even graduate high school and she thought he knew anything about astronomy. I would have laughed if the whole thing hadn’t annoyed me so much.
Her eyes brightened. “Is that his name?”
I pulled out my pack of cigarettes again. “You like him or something?”
“What? No!”
I walked out into the street and lit my smoke far away from her.
She started to follow me. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“But I don’t even know your name!” she yelled and stomped a foot.
I almost smiled again.
About the Amie
Amie Knight has been a reader for as long as she could remember and a romance lover since she could get her hands on her momma's books. A dedicated wife and mother with a love of music and makeup, she won’t ever be seen leaving the house without her eyebrows and eyelashes done just right. When she isn't reading and writing, you can catch her jamming out in the car with her two kids to '90s R&B, country, and showtunes. Amie draws inspiration from her childhood in Columbia, South Carolina, and can't imagine living anywhere other than the South.
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