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All Stars Fall

Page 15

by Rachel Van Dyken


  Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Six

  Click here for more information.

  DRAGON CLAIMED by Donna Grant

  A Dark Kings Novella

  ASHES TO INK by Carrie Ann Ryan

  A Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs Novella

  ENSNARED by Elisabeth Naughton

  An Eternal Guardians Novella

  EVERMORE by Corinne Michaels

  A Salvation Series Novella

  VENGEANCE by Rebecca Zanetti

  A Dark Protectors/Rebels Novella

  ELI’S TRIUMPH by Joanna Wylde

  A Reapers MC Novella

  CIPHER by Larissa Ione

  A Demonica Underworld Novella

  RESCUING MACIE by Susan Stoker

  A Delta Force Heroes Novella

  ENCHANTED by Lexi Blake

  A Masters and Mercenaries Novella

  TAKE THE BRIDE by Carly Phillips

  A Knight Brothers Novella

  INDULGE ME by J. Kenner

  A Stark Ever After Novella

  THE KING by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  A Wicked Novella

  QUIET MAN by Kristen Ashley

  A Dream Man Novella

  ABANDON by Rachel Van Dyken

  A Seaside Pictures Novella

  THE OPEN DOOR by Laurelin Paige

  A Found Duet Novella

  CLOSER by Kylie Scott

  A Stage Dive Novella

  SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS by Jennifer Probst

  A Stay Novella

  BLOOD NIGHT by Heather Graham

  A Krewe of Hunters Novella

  TWIST OF FATE by Jill Shalvis

  A Heartbreaker Bay Novella

  MORE THAN PLEASURE YOU by Shayla Black

  A More Than Words Novella

  WONDER WITH ME by Kristen Proby

  A With Me In Seattle Novella

  THE DARKEST ASSASSIN by Gena Showalter

  A Lords of the Underworld Novella

  Also from 1001 Dark Nights:

  DAMIEN by J. Kenner

  A Stark Novel

  Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights

  Collection One

  Collection Two

  Collection Three

  Collection Four

  Collection Five

  Bundles

  Discovery Authors

  Blue Box Specials

  Rising Storm

  Liliana Hart's MacKenzie Family

  Lexi Blake's Crossover Collection

  Kristen Proby's Crossover Collection

  Discover More Rachel Van Dyken

  Abandon

  A Seaside Pictures Novella

  By Rachel Van Dyken

  Coming August 27, 2019

  Click here to purchase.

  From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a new story in her Seaside Pictures series…

  It’s not every day you're slapped on stage by two different women you've been dating for the last year.

  I know what you're thinking. What sort of ballsy woman gets on stage and slaps a rockstar? Does nobody have self-control anymore? It may have been the talk of the Grammy's.

  Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that. I, Ty Cuban, was taken down by two psychotic women in front of the entire world. Lucky for us the audience thought it was part of the breakup song my band and I had just finished performing. I was thirty-three, hardly ready to settle down.

  Except now it's getting forced on me. Seaside, Oregon. My band mates were more than happy to settle down, dig their roots into the sand, and start popping out kids. Meanwhile I was still enjoying life.

  Until now. Until my forced hiatus teaching freaking guitar lessons at the local studio for the next two months. Part of my punishment, do something for the community while I think deep thoughts about all my life choices.

  Sixty days of hell.

  It doesn't help that the other volunteer is a past flame that literally looks at me as if I've sold my soul to the devil. She has the voice of an angel and looks to kill—I would know, because she looks ready to kill me every second of every day. I broke her heart when we were on tour together a decade ago.

  I'm ready to put the past behind us. She's ready to run me over with her car then stand on top of it and strum her guitar with glee.

  Sixty days. I can do anything for sixty days. Including making the sexy Von Abigail fall for me all over again. This time for good.

  Damn, maybe there’s something in the water.

  * * * *

  Envy

  An Eagle Elite Novella

  By Rachel Van Dyken

  Now Available

  Click here to purchase.

  From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a new story in her Eagle Elite series…

  Every family has rules, the mafia just has more....

  Do not speak to the bosses unless spoken to.

  Do not make eye contact unless you want to die.

  And above all else, do not fall in love.

  Renee Cassani's future is set.

  Her betrothal is set.

  Her life, after nannying for the five families for the summer, is set.

  Somebody should have told Vic Colezan that.

  He's a man who doesn't take no for an answer.

  And he only wants one thing.

  Her.

  Somebody should have told Renee that her bodyguard needed as much discipline as the kids she was nannying.

  Good thing Vic has a firm hand.

  Risky Play

  Red Card Book 1

  By Rachel Van Dyken

  Coming March 19, 2019

  Even one-night stands deserve a second chance in New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken’s novel of sporting desire.

  What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.

  Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.

  Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.

  * * * *

  “WAKE UP!” a voice screeched next to me.

  I jerked to attention as the woman tugged down my headphones and reached for my hand. “Engine failure!”

  “Stop yelling.” I pressed a hand to my temple as I looked around the cabin. Everyone seemed to be panicked and staring at the flight attendant like she was going to somehow fix this or hand out parachutes.

  “This is your captain,” crackled a reasonably calm voice over the loudspeaker. “We’ve lost one engine, but luckily we’re a few miles out from the Puerto Vallarta airport. Just hang tight and try to relax. We’ll be making an emergency landing in the next ten minutes.” Oxygen masks tumbled from the panel above us. The captain came back on. “Flight attendants, prepare the cabin, and buckle up.”

  The woman next to me was pale as a ghost. “This!” She held her head in her hands. “It can’t end like this! I’m not ready, you hear me, universe!” She clenched her fists. “I was left at the altar, this is unfair! Completely unfair!”

  “Uh, can I get you something?” I whispered to her in an effort to both calm her and try to get her to put the mask over her nose and mouth. “To help you calm down and stop talking to
yourself?”

  “One thing.” Her light-blue eyes met mine as an electrical charge pulsed between our bodies.

  The plane shook and dove a few hundred feet. I grabbed her hand and rubbed it with my thumb.

  She shrieked and reached for my shirt, gripping it with both hands while her eyes frantically searched mine for confirmation everything was going to be okay.

  The plane plummeted again.

  I gripped her hands, needing the distraction just as much, as a loud noise filled the cabin.

  “Answer this question: What one thing do you regret?” she said in a voice that sounded like failure, like giving up, like the world was against her in every single way.

  “Just one?” I tried to make light of the conversation even though my adrenaline was spiking like I’d just started the championship match. The plane kept diving at rapid speeds, causing my stomach to lurch. We needed to get our masks on, but getting them on seemed like it would only make her more frantic, and I needed her calm. I wasn’t sure why—I just did. Maybe because her touch was calming me. Maybe because it was the first time I’d touched another woman since being betrayed by the one I thought I loved.

  “One.” She nodded more calmly now.

  I kept my eyes locked on hers. “I would have drunk all the wine. You were right, it deserved more than a ‘good.’”

  Her eyes lit up like I’d just told her she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, which wasn’t too far off the mark. From her caramel-colored hair to her almost too-big eyes to the wide smile on her pillow-like lips, I could imagine many things I’d rather be doing with her than talking.

  “Really?”

  “Really.” I nodded. “Your turn.”

  The plane dipped, and she sent a worried glance toward the cockpit.

  “Hey.” I grabbed her chin. “It’s going to be fine, pilots are trained for this. Just focus on me, on my voice. Can you do that?”

  She swallowed, closed her eyes, then nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”

  “Good.” I dropped my hand as an alarm sounded around the plane. The flight attendants ran to their spots as we lost more elevation. I could see the mountains in the window right along with civilization; we were at least ten thousand feet, maybe lower. The airport must be nearby.

  “I would have said no,” she finally answered.

  “Said no?” I repeated, confused.

  “To Alton, when he asked me if I loved him. I would have said no. I would have said not the way you deserve, and I would have walked away.”

  Heavy.

  My eyes briefly scanned her left hand. No ring.

  “And then”—she kept talking—“I think I would have kissed you.”

  My eyebrows shot up as a smile spread across my face despite my growing anxiety over how fast the plane was traveling and how close we were getting to the ground. “Oh? You often kiss strangers?”

  “Only ones from Spain.” So she’d nailed my heritage without even asking. Which seemed impossible, I was mostly half Spanish and German with a whole bunch of other things my mom couldn’t seem to remember.

  “Spain is for lovers,” I found myself saying like an idiot.

  She smiled, though.

  And I wanted to think it was because of me, not because of who I was, or what I did.

  “My favorite place in the world,” she said in a faraway voice as the plane bounced lower, making her shriek as she clutched both my hands in hers. “Are we going to die?”

  “Absolutely not,” I lied. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I couldn’t die, not when I finally had a fresh start. “We’ll be just fine.”

  “Okay.” She nodded a few times and gulped. “But just in case, I think I’ll do this—”

  Her mouth was on mine before I could protest.

  And then any argument I would have had died on my lips at the first taste of her tongue. Her hands tugged on my hair as my arms wrapped around her warm body.

  The plane made a screeching sound and then slammed against the runway, pulling us apart amidst sirens and cheers from the other passengers.

  I stared at a pair of lips I wanted to taste again.

  And when she said, “I’m Ashley, what’s your name?”

  I did the dumbest thing to date and lied. “I’m Hugo. Nice to meet you.”

  On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,

  Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~

  Steve Berry

  Doug Scofield

  Kim Guidroz

  Jillian Stein

  Social Butterfly PR

  Dan Slater

  Asha Hossain

  Chris Graham

  Fedora Chen

  Kasi Alexander

  Jessica Johns

  Dylan Stockton

  Richard Blake

  and Simon Lipskar

 

 

 


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