Everything done in darkness, will
eventually be brought into the light.
I ran, but all it did was keep me one
step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you
can't change your soul.
A fresh start at college was just what
I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident,
but it was a lie.
When guys kissed me--I felt only pain.
When they touched me--Nothing but fear.
Deep inside, every girl wants to be the
beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their world.
But the truth? I was the beast. And as
much as I wanted redemption, I wasn't fool enough to think I'd ever get it.
Until he walked into my life.
I wasn't prepared to fall for someone.
My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace, he offered
me security. I should have known it was just another lie--I should have known
that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.
But I was powerless to stop myself from
falling.
And he was powerless to catch me.
Because the darkness finally caught up
to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry. But I'm
stronger than I knew. I'm stronger than you think.
You think you know my story, but you
don't....after all everyone has Shame in their lives-- and I'm no longer afraid
to show you mine.
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When
she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting
her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho
Links:
EXCERPT
“Just hold still!” I yelled, holding up my phone while Gabe gave
me the finger. I grimaced and dropped the camera away from my face. “Nice,
thanks for that.”
“I’m a giver.” He smirked.
Saylor, his wife, smacked him on the arm and rolled her eyes.
“Ouch.”
I scrunched up my face when he leaned in and took Saylor’s mouth
with his, kissing her senseless in the local Starbucks like they were doing a
romance scene in a movie. I coughed.
They didn’t pull apart.
So I took a picture.
I earned another finger, but Gabe still didn’t dislodge from his
wife.
“Whoa!” Wes’s voice sounded from behind me. “They been at it
long?”
“Are all newlyweds disgusting?” I voiced aloud.
Wes moved around the table with his wife, Kiersten, and gave me
a goofy shrug. I wanted to roll my eyes, but Wes was too nice and hot. Let’s
not forget the hot part. Both he and Gabe were like walking poster boys for GQ.
Both blond, now that Gabe had decided to dye his hair back to his original
color. It was like staring at two really bright superstars.
Hating them was like hating the Easter bunny. Try all you want,
but you’ll eat every piece of chocolate in the basket, just you wait.
“So, classes?” Kiersten leaned forward. “I heard you got stuck
with that hot new psych prof.”
Wes growled low in his throat.
“Down boy.” I braced my hands on the table and laughed. “Besides
he’s not that hot.”
“A girl passed out.” Kiersten’s eyebrows shot up. “Like in
class.”
“Dehydration?” I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee.
“Or…” She leaned forward. “…the rumors are true.”
“Rumors…” Gabe backed away from Saylor, his lips swollen. “…are
always based on truth.”
“So you really did do a naked dance in your underwear last week
after getting drunk downtown at Pike Place Market?” I tilted my head and waited
while Gabe rolled his eyes and popped his knuckles. “Exactly.”
He opened his mouth.
I took a picture.
With a grimace, he snatched my phone away from me. “Never
thought I’d have to tell you to lay off the pictures, Miss Paparazzi.”
I slumped in my seat. “It’s for an assignment with that hot
professor.”
“Aha!” Kiersten jabbed her finger at me. “I knew it.”
I pinned her with a look. “Sarcasm, friend, sarcasm.”
“Boys get girls pregnant,” Gabe offered, while Wes choked on the
coffee he’d just stolen out of my hand.
Serves him right!
“Don’t date them.”
“You’re going to be a great dad.” I smiled sweetly. “What?
You’re just going to lock your girls in their rooms and go—” I mimicked his
voice. “—uh, you see boy parts are bad, they make girls have lots of babies,
like rabbits, and you know how rabbits make dad nervous and—”
“Hilarious,” Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “And please don’t talk about
kids yet…”
Saylor laughed quietly next to him then squeezed his arm.
My heart dropped.
A very long time ago, I’d wanted to be that for Gabe, then
Taylor happened and well… I shuddered, blocking out the painful memories, the
things I’d done, the things he’d done, the things we’d done.
“You okay?” Wes asked, his voice soft. He was way too perceptive
for my taste. If I’d wanted to share, he’d be the guy I’d talk to, but I was a
vault. Sharing meant admitting my guilt, and admitting meant I’d probably go
insane just like he had.
“Yeah…” I straightened in my seat. “…I just don’t want to fail
my class, and I need to write down nonverbal cues and take at least one
picture. And pretty sure I need to ace this first assignment on account that I
was late to my prof’s class, and I got in trouble.”
“He spank you?” Gabe’s eyes mocked across his coffee.
“Yes, Gabe,” I said calmly. “Because that’s how they punish bad
students here at UW — with a yardstick and a smile.”
“I wish.” He whistled. “What I wouldn’t give to have Saylor—”
I plugged my ears.
He threw his head back and laughed while Saylor turned bright
red and put her hand over his mouth to shush him.
“So…” Wes ignored Gabe as was his usual and leaned across the
table. “…why don’t you take pictures of people here in the coffee shop? I mean,
ask permission, but most people here are super interesting, right? Studying?
Stressed out? Tired?” He pointed to a guy in the corner. “He looks like he’s
running on five cups of coffee and one hour of sleep. Go ask, take the picture,
make some notes, project done.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I grumbled.
He grinned. “I’m Wes Michels.”
I hung my head lower and grimaced.
“Phone.” He held out his hand and stood.
Within minutes, not only had he snapped two pictures for me but
had taken notes on two pre-med students who had stayed up all night cramming
for what they’d assumed would be a pop quiz, only to find out that they’d been
in the wrong class on the wrong day.
“And that’s why I'm not pre-med.” Gabe shuddered.
“Really?” Kiersten asked. “I thought it was because big words
scared you?”
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. What now?” He nodded. “Keep
talking, Kiersten, or keep walking.”
“Spell it.” She smirked.
“So this professor…” Gabe changed the subject. “If he tries
anything, use the Mace or the rape whistle.”
“Right.” I nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that. In class. With a
hundred other students. When he looks at me cross-eyed.”
“Good,” he huffed.
“I was kidding.”
Saylor patted Gabe’s shoulder. “Gotta let the baby birds out of
the nest someday, Gabe.”
3.5 Stars
"NOTHING IN LIFE IS A COINCIDENCE"
RVD has brought us another instalment in the Ruin series. It's Lisa's story, her Shame.
"Everything done in the darkness, will eventually be brought into the light."
But that's the thing about choices; you don't regret them until after they've been made. It may be a second later, or a year.
Shame always comes.
Lisa's shame is ever prominent within the shadows, the eerie threats, and the emotional and psychological trauma that she suffers daily. Changing her identity and living a college life should make her happy, but she keeps meeting her sinister past at every turn. Filled with remorse, regret and utterly vulnerable over her past mistakes, Lisa is constantly jumpy and running around. Not being able to be settled and have a sense of peace and calm. She runs smack dab into her sexy professor.
"Unfortunately, the thing about running, the thing about trying to start over - eventually that hope is dashed by your past coming up to greet you like the fires of hell."
Dr.Blake, is an arrogant, egotistical, ARSE!! Tristan, is the smooth talker. Sexy and seductive, flirtatious and funny, with a possessiveness that haunts Lisa. Tristan is in awe of Lisa. She isn't what he expected. Now this coming from a man with an ulterior motive for being a professor for a couple of months. Tristan starts to question his purpose and its efficacy.
"Funny how one person can change your mind, your heart, your soul so completely that you forget what you were fighting for the first place."
Tristan sees the pain and suffering that's warring within Lisa, but he also sees the strength to persevere.
"The broken pieces are the prettiest ones, Lisa. The demons the proudest scars."
As Tristan is sifting beneath the surface, with the aid of a secret diary and Lisa is being haunted by her past memories of a dead boyfriend and staged spectacles all videoed and documented on a public website. The darkness is drawing her in. But Tristan refuses to allow this to happen. They both come together through secrets, lies, manipulation and a passion that's like a 'moth drawn to a flame.'
Sometimes you spend your whole life being a victim--until you decide you want to be a survivor.
“It won’t be easy. Letting you in.”
“It won’t be easy. Keeping you out.”
“I was pretty sure that’s how you know you’re falling for someone—when you want the good and bad, when you want everything, regardless of how horrible, how dark. You want it all, because at the end of the day, it’s still them.”
*ARC provided on behalf of the author via InkSlinger PR*
This was a lovely and enjoyable read. I'll be honest and say that the most memorable parts in this book was the Diary of Taylor B. There was a more indepth and terror filled connection to Taylor than with the other characters. Wes and Gabe were such fierce and protective sweethearts. I really need to read the other books in the series in order to get the full picture. Please understand this is simply my opinion.
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