Can’t get enough of Devon and Eleanor? Make sure you sign up for the author’s blog to find out more about them!
Get these two bonus chapters and more freebies when you sign up at rashmita-bhattacharjee.awesomeauthors.org.
_____
Here is a sample from another story you may enjoy:
Chapter 1
The freezing cold air hit me like a pile of bricks, sweeping my long brown hair all over my face. If it were any other girl, it would look like a shampoo commercial but I was pretty sure I just looked all dorky and stupid. I pulled my hair away, cringing when my icy cold fingers touched my cheeks.
This was exactly why I didn’t like having my hair down, I hated having to take care of it. My hair was wavy but it was also frizzy and those two didn’t make a good combination. I usually liked to put it up in a high ponytail but my hair kept me warm, and in this freezing New York weather, I constantly had to find ways to keep myself warm. I wasn’t complaining; I loved this weather. I loved wearing cozy sweaters and scarfs and sitting close to the window somewhere with a hot cup of coffee.
I walked down the stairs as people rushed past me. I had just taken my last final of the semester and it sure felt great. Being a college student kept me really busy, but I didn’t mind at all. I liked having something to do. Especially after going through the worst possible break-up ever…
Don’t go there, Hannah.
“Ms. Collins,” Robin, my bodyguard for the day, greeted me with a nod when I made it back to the car. All of my dad’s bodyguards looked pretty much the same: tall, muscular, and always in black suits with white shirts and black ties. They also wore an earpiece so they could all be in communication in case something happened. Most people would drool over them and I probably would too, if they weren’t with me all the time.
I didn’t always have bodyguards.
My dad was a famous actor. He had been acting since he was a teenager but his big break-out movie came out about five years ago, making his popularity skyrocket. Around the same time, my mom was attacked in a restaurant parking lot. The men took her purse, jewelry, and her car but not before beating her. My dad’s success had put a spotlight on my family and people now knew my family had a lot of money which put us in danger. So we moved to a house with much more security and my dad hired an army of bodyguards.
It wasn’t just my dad’s success that put us in danger. My oldest brother, Colton, was the owner of the most famous nightclub in New York. Nicholas, my second oldest brother, had started our family’s clothing brand company and he ran it as the CEO. A year ago, my youngest brother had decided he wanted to pursue a modeling career. He was currently in Paris.
Who knew success came with a cost? It cost us our safety which was what the bodyguards were for.
Unlike my brothers, I had yet to start my career. I didn’t have the same talent as Nick and Colton in running a business or the flawless looks to become a model like my brother Derek. I liked to draw.
I wanted to be a wedding gown designer. I loved designing dresses and had a lot of sketch books in my room where I had started drafting a lot of dresses. Some pages just had doodles, others had the silhouette of a dress; each page had a random design that only I understood. The problem was that I had yet to finish a single whole gown; I always just stopped in the middle of it and started a new one.
I got in the car and Robin shut the door. I watched as he went around it and got in the driver’s seat. I looked out the window as he began to drive.
Good-bye school, I thought happily as I watched us pass by the school.
I loved school but finals week killed me mentally and drained me physically. It was enough to make me not want to set eyes on school for a while. I had a whole month to myself. I could lie around in my room, not doing anything and not feel guilty about it. It was official: I had nothing to do but draw all day if I wanted…or sleep.
Robin pulled up into the driveway and I watched as he input the six-digit code so the gates could open.
My favorite part of the house was outdoors: the green grass, the big trees, and the different flowers planted in strategic places to make up the garden. The house was beautiful, of course, but I always thought it was too big. I never understood my dad’s logic in moving us into a much bigger house after my mom’s attack. I thought it made it easier for intruders to break in because there were more windows and more doors to break into. Of course, I knew that it was my vain mother who had a lot to do in choosing the house.
The car stopped in front of the house and I opened the door before Robin had time to reach it. “I got it.” I smiled at him.
He nodded but hurried to open the front door for me. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him. I could open my own doors, thank you very much. I wasn’t the famous actress or rich businessman. I wished they wouldn’t treat me like I was royalty when the only reason I needed bodyguards was because of my family’s success. I was no one.
Inside, the house was warm and spotless clean, like always. The living room was the first thing you saw when you walked in, with very expensive and elegant furniture. Everything in the house was so expensive and beautiful and new. The furniture, the decorative ornaments, the expensive floor almost made this house feel like an exhibit rather than a home.
Money had cost me my parents. Especially my mom.
“Honey? Is that you?” my mom called as she hurriedly made her way into the living room. Her face fell when she saw that it was just me. My mom was a very attractive woman. She was tall with perfect hips and short blond hair with piercing blue eyes. I looked nothing like her. She was always dressed up, as if ready to meet the President of the United States. I often thought how exhausting it must be to be her but she seemed to love being Christina Collins, Richard Collins’s first and only wife.
Today, she was wearing a pale pink pencil dress with white high heels, her hair was straight and she had perfect make up on. She did not look forty-five.
“Dad isn’t home yet?” I asked taking off my jacket.
“He’ll be here soon,” she said looking annoyed by my comment.
My dad was supposed to be here last week. He was out, doing interviews or something. He was currently not working in any movie and was supposed to be here by now.
“Okay,” I said as I began to make my way up the stairs.
“Dinner is almost ready,” Mom called behind me.
I just nodded.
I didn’t have the best relationship with my mom. It wasn’t always like this but money and fame had really gotten to her. Ever since my dad became famous, she began to worry about appearances more than anything. She wasn’t that motherly either, she only cared about looking good in front of the cameras. It was stupid, but I couldn’t change that. She also cared more about her sons with big businesses and careers. I think she began to be even more distant with me when I refused to let her open a business to start my own brand. She didn’t understand that I wanted to graduate first. She didn’t understand the fact that I wasn’t ready—I didn’t even have a full gown finished! She found it stupid that I didn’t want to be successful because of my dad, just like everyone else. I wanted to be successful on my own.
My phone began to ring just as I reached my room and I smiled when I looked at the caller ID.
“Hey, Pat,” I answered taking off my scarf.
“Hannah Banana, how are you?” he said on the other end.
I used to cringe when he started calling me ‘Hannah Banana’ back in middle school but I began to get used to it when I realized he wasn’t going to stop calling me that. Apparently, he thought he invented that nickname.
I smiled. “Good.”
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing,” I said as I closed my bedroom door.
“Oh come on, anything interesting? I didn’t call you to be bored to death.”
I laughed. “I’m done with finals?” I offered.
“Mmm… that’s something I guess.”
Patrick
and I had been best friends since we were in middle school. He was truly my other half. I never thought a guy would understand me better than a girl but it was true. He understood me better than anyone. After we graduated from high school, he moved to Miami for school and I haven’t seen him since then.
“What are you doing?” I asked throwing myself on the bed.
“Getting ready for the club, baby!” he yelled in my ear. “Hold up—I’m going to FaceTime you because I need outfit advice.”
“Okay,” I said rolling my eyes. He hung up and FaceTimed me a few seconds later. He was in front of a mirror, trying on different jackets.
Patrick was a fuckboy. There was no other way to describe him, maybe manwhore? He liked to sleep around. It got worse when he moved over there, just like I knew it was going to happen. Which was why, before he left three years ago, I made him take a sexual education class since high school failed to give us any useful advice.
“Now you can whore around all you want,” I had told him which made him laugh.
Sometimes, I wondered how we were still friends. It had been three years since he left and we lived in different states but somehow, we had made it work. He was all I had.
I talked with him for a while, he told me about his latest hook-up and I listened like the good friend I was. After we hung up, I got in the shower and it was when I was changing that there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” I called as I threw a blouse over my head.
“Mrs. Collins would like me to tell you that dinner is ready,” Katie, one of our maids, called from the other side of the door.
“I’ll be right down!” I called back as I put on some jeans.
My dad must have gotten here after all. I was excited about seeing him. I missed him whenever he was gone. I finished combing my hair and then quickly made my way out. I ran down the stairs, feeling like a little girl.
“What have I told you about running down the stairs, Hannah?” my mom asked, looking annoyed when I walked into the dining room.
I ignored her and smiled when I saw my dad. My dad was a handsome man. He was tall with broad shoulders and short brown hair with brown eyes and fair skin. I looked like him and I loved it. His smile always took me back to when I was a little girl and he would read to me while I sat on his lap. All of that was gone. He was always flying somewhere nowadays.
“Dad!” I said walking to him.
He stood up as he smiled. “Hey, sweetie,” he said as he put his arms around me.
I suddenly had the urge to cry. I missed him so much. “I missed you,” I mumbled.
“Me too,” he said as he stroked my hair.
“Hannah, your father wants to eat,” my mom said sounding annoyed.
I let him go. “Sorry, Dad.”
He shook his head. “You okay?” he asked with a frown. His brown eyes studied my face as if trying to read what I had been up to for the past few months.
Oh if only he knew.
I nodded as we took our seats. “Yeah, I just missed you.”
He winked at me as he squeezed my hand. I hadn’t realized that Nick and his wife, Rachel, were also at the table.
“Hey.” Rachel smiled across the table from me.
I smiled at her. “Hey.”
I really liked Rachel. She was tall, with long blond hair, hazel eyes, and fair skin. She was not only beautiful but also modest and perfect for my brother. They had been married for about a year and they made the perfect couple. Literally, they were always all over the magazines as the perfect couple. Rachel was a fashion designer which was perfect because she fit right in with Nick’s business. I admired and wanted to be as good as her someday.
“How was school?” she asked as my mom and dad carried a conversation. I swear she cared more about me than my own mother.
“Good. I’m done for the semester,” I said as one of the maids served me pasta. “Thank you,” I told her. She smiled. My mom wasn’t exactly nice to the housemaids or to anyone who helped keep the house beautiful so I always tried to make up for it.
“What are we talking about?” Nick said looking at Rachel and me. Nick was the spitting image of my mom. They had the same nose, same blond hair, and blue eyes. Nick always kept himself groomed and he was always wearing suits; he fit right in with the bodyguards like camouflage.
Rachel rolled her eyes at him. “So nosy.”
He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips which earned him a glare from my mom who didn’t miss anything. No kissing at the table Nick!
I smiled at them. They always made me think that true love existed. Up to a few months ago, I thought I had found my true love but all I got was heartbreak instead. Another one added to the list. I was still in the stage where thinking about it still hurt. Thinking about him and everything that happened still made me want to crawl up in a ball and cry.
I never had luck when it came to relationships.
I fell too hard, too fast…and they ended just as fast.
I was starting to believe that maybe love wasn’t for me. Maybe I was meant to be alone.
At least I wouldn’t hurt that way.
If you enjoyed this sample, look for
My Possessive Bodyguard
on Amazon.
BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Reasons Why
Mel Ryle
Multi-millionaire, Kyle Elliot, has just witnessed his wife’s infidelity.And to escape the darkness that is threatening to consume him, he leaves.
With the help of his best friend and secretary, Luke Bailey, he fakes his identity and moves to a place where no one will expect him to be.
He has decided to lay low and keep to himself until all the drama in his life dies down but fate intervenes and he crossed paths with the charming and interesting Lenna Michel.
With both at the peak of their worst, they find comfort and draw strength from each other to stand up against their past. The closer they become, a unique bond form between them, and they find the one thing they didn’t expect to find: Love.
But what if Lenna finds out Kyle’s true identity?
Will their bond be enough to let her stay?
After all, he is just a stranger.
A stranger who was there the moment she needed someone the most. A stranger who stood up for her. And a stranger who stole her heart.
BOOK YOU MIGHT ENJOY
The Best Part of Hello
Hollie Armstrong
Some people just can't stand each other. Kayla and Evan are definitely one of those people.
It's annoying enough that they are plane partners and have to sit next to each other through the entire flight to Italy for their senior class trip, but things go from bad to worse when their plane makes an emergency stop. Their lives unexpectedly change as soon as Kayla follows Evan into a dark corridor and, right after, things just escalate from worse to tragic.
“I won't begin to suggest that I know what you're feeling, but I know what it feels like to love someone who doesn't love you back.”
To add icing to Kayla’s wretched cake, she finds out that that Ben, her perfect boyfriend, isn’t so perfect after all and has been hiding a basket full of dirty secrets from her. Dead set on getting back at him, she turns to the only person she thinks who is just as hurt as her and crazy enough to sign up and play along with her plan―Evan.
“Be my fake boyfriend, Evan Winters. I promise never to love you, care for you or…well…you get the idea.”
But they’re just pretending. Except when one of them is suddenly isn’t…
A freak storm, stolen chickens, a language barrier and a big adventure. The senior trip of their life. But will they ever be the same people once they go back?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ever since childhood, I’ve always found myself lost in the magical world of fiction. I cannot put to words the joy that I felt when I was able to put my imagination into this book. The journey has been pretty much daunting but exciting on many levels. I really thank God
for it. I’m also eternally grateful to the people who have made this experience unique in their own different ways.
I’m deeply grateful to my mom, Sharmila Bhattacharjee, for going out of her way to support me all my life; for filling my closet with the best books ever; and for always being far more enthusiastic than I am every single time I narrated my ideas to her.
My dad, Jibananda Bhattacharjee, for always supporting and encouraging me to pursue my dreams and for being such an exceptional role model.
My extended family who have always pampered me with their tremendous love and blessings. A huge shoot-out to my aunt, Sharmistha, and my young and beautiful grandmothers, Maya and Shubrata.
I am thoroughly indebted to my amazing Wattpad readers who have made this story a lot more special to me. It is their constant words and gestures of encouragement, appreciation, and dedication that have made this journey possible and have kept me inspired until the very end.
A big shout-out to my friends for lighting up my world in the most wonderful ways.
Last but not least, my awesome publishers at Typewriter Pub. Special thank you to AJ for knocking on my mailbox with a mind-blowing email, my editor, Precious Vidad, for being an angeland each and everyone else on the team who has been involved in the process to get this book published. I thank all you guys so much from the bottom of my heart for giving me such a huge and fantastic opportunity I could’ve ever asked for.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading Again! I can’t express how grateful I am for reading something that was once just a thought inside my head.
Again: A Young Adult Romance Page 28