Tortured by Kate Givans
Publication date: July 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Publication date: July 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Synopsis:
A contemporary romantic drama about loss, healing, and love's ability to reach beyond scars and secrets, no matter how deep or hidden.WARNING: This book is intended for 18+ readers ONLY. Potentially triggering content and concepts in books to follow.
More than a year after the death of his best friend, Josh is still tormented by the past. Everything changes when free-spirited Willow barges into his life. She challenges him, helps him feel something other than the overwhelming pain, sadness, and anger.
There’s just one problem.
Underneath that carefree spirit, Willow is elusive and secretive. Josh believes she may be fighting a few demons of her own, but he harder he tries to uncover the truth, the more she pushes him away.
Can Josh get her to open up before it’s too late? Or will he discover that some secrets are better left untold?
More than a year after the death of his best friend, Josh is still tormented by the past. Everything changes when free-spirited Willow barges into his life. She challenges him, helps him feel something other than the overwhelming pain, sadness, and anger.
There’s just one problem.
Underneath that carefree spirit, Willow is elusive and secretive. Josh believes she may be fighting a few demons of her own, but he harder he tries to uncover the truth, the more she pushes him away.
Can Josh get her to open up before it’s too late? Or will he discover that some secrets are better left untold?
Excerpt :
I made my way out into the store, taking my
time as I browed the narrow aisles. I
flipped through the small music collection. I’d never been a fan of Country
Classics, but it was about the only thing you could find in hole-in-the-wall
fill stations out here. I moved to the maps of Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and
Missouri. Thumbing through them, I wondered just how different one Midwest
state really is from the next. After that, I made my way down the aisle of
strange gas station knick knacks, hats, knives and t-shirts. I took my time to
look at everything, but wasn’t really looking for anything in particular. I
just needed to pass some time.
“Can I
help ya’ find somethin’, sugar?” Loletta called from behind the counter.
That was my cue.
I headed over to the coffee station, grabbed a
cup, and filled it with half dark roast and half hot chocolate. As I made my
way to the register, I snagged a bag of peanuts and a couple cans of ravioli,
taking care to not spill hot liquid down my front. As she rang up my purchase, I
did my best to avoid staring at the mid-40’s cashier. I doubted anyone had ever
told her that all that blue and red makeup made her look like a clown, but I
certainly wasn’t going to be the one to break the news.
“That’ll be $6.85, sugar,” she said with a loud
snap of her gum.
Not bothering with the small chat, I pulled out
a ten dollar bill. I was just about to hand it over when I heard a familiar
voice. I couldn’t tell what it had said, but the breezy, tinkling sound
registered instantly. Only, it sounded like something was wrong.
Craning my neck towards the exit, I tried to
see what all the commotion was about, but the backside of a police officer
obstructed my view. I found myself being pulled in the direction of the
doorway, but I wasn’t sure why.
“Hey!” Loletta called from behind me. “Ain’t ya
gonna pay for your stuff?”
“I...uh...forgot something,” I answered over my
shoulder, dismissing her with a distracted wave of my hand as I made my way
closer to the last aisle of the store. When I rounded the large display of
magazines, my suspicions were confirmed. It was her, the girl that had
tormented my thoughts for days.
Willow.
Grabbing a magazine from the display rack, I
opened it and pretended to read while eavesdropping on the conversation
happening just a few feet away from me. At first, I was worried that she’d
notice me, but her watery blue eyes were fixed on the officer in front of her
as she gnawed at her bottom lip, strands of hair clinging to her tear-stained
cheeks.
She looked like a little girl standing next to
the six-odd food Officer Warren. She even sounded a little like one when she
spoke. “I wasn’t stealing, I swear.”
But Officer Warren didn’t seem convinced.
“Look, Miss, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way, you
come with me quietly. The hard way…” He uncrossed his arms, brushing the shiny
metal handcuffs attached to his side.
I didn’t think. I just reacted. “Excuse me,
Officer?”
He hesitated for just a moment, as if afraid
Willow might flee if he took her eyes off of her – not that she could with his
massive frame blocking the doorway. He was so tall that even I cowered a bit
when he finally turned his head in my direction, a strained smile plastered on
his face.
“Josh?”
“Sorry to interrupt, but um…she’s with me.”
Turning the rest of his body towards me, he
cocked a suspecting eyebrow and returned his chubby arms to their former
location – his massive chest. “You know this girl?” He jutted a thumb in
Willow’s direction.
“Yes, sir. I do,” I responded without
hesitation, hoping he couldn’t see how hard I was working at swallowing the
massive lump of fear in my throat.
He gave a low grunt. “Well, maybe you can tell me why she felt the need to
lift a box of tampons.”
I shot Willow a quick glance over the officer’s
shoulder, looking for the validity of his statement. Pleading blue eyes,
guilt-ridden face, and a pink box of feminine products tucked under her arm
said it all.
What had I gotten myself into?
Playlist:
Author Q &A:
What
made you decide you wanted to be a writer?
Deep down, I think I’ve always known. I started
reading at four. When I was seven, I wrote my first book. It was a short,
adorable little thing that I wrote for my mom. Along the way, I lost sight of
that – maybe it was the responsibility of being a mom, or the idea that I was
supposed to grow up and do the responsibility thing. Whatever the case, it kind
of got buried in day to day life. Then, after my mother passed away, I found my
book in her things. It all came flooding back, but again, I tossed it aside,
figuring it was just too late. It wasn’t until I met my best friend that all
that changed. I learned about Indie publishing and fell in love instantly.
How
would you describe your books, in a nutshell?
Dark, twisty, angsty, with a lot of heart and a
peppering of romance. That may change as I go along, but it definitely fits
most of my current writing.
What
has been your biggest struggle when it comes to writing and publishing?
I have to say my biggest struggle has been believing
in myself enough to actually do it. At first, I wasn’t really sure I could tell
a story that anyone else would enjoy. Plus, I’ve always been oversensitive, so
the fear of rejection kind of kept me frozen for a few years. Thankfully, I’ve
had some pretty amazing people in my life that believed in me until I could do
it for myself.
Where
do you draw your writing inspiration from?
Honestly, there’s not any one place that I find
inspiration. It’s more of a conglomeration of personal experience, music,
cinema, pop culture, books, and random ideas that seem to come out of nowhere.
Each piece of the puzzle seems to play its own little role in the writing
process for me.
Do
you share any traits, characteristics, or traits with any of your characters?
Admittedly, I do. While each and every one of
them is different, I find that I share certain struggles, personality traits,
or nuances with most of my characters. And in so many ways, they teach me
lessons about myself. I learn from them - the things they endure and somehow
manage to overcome, the truths that they come to see and believe about the
world around them or themselves. It’s a very interesting process, to say the
least.
Do
you have any favorite authors?
I do! But I have entirely too many to mention!
Not just because I don’t want to exclude anyone, but also because I don’t read
just one particular genre of book. I have my dark and twisty, contemporary, my
guilty erotica reads, romance, zombies…needless to say, I’m extremely eclectic
in my reading tastes.
AUTHOR BIO
Quirky, clumsy, and always a little off-key, Kate Givans has always loved books and the words contained within. Now that she's writing the stories, she's filling them with broken characters, angst, and even a few of those happily-ever-afters that seem to evade us in real life.
When not writing, this wife and mother of five can be found guzzling coffee, day-dreaming, dancing for no reason at all, playing with the voices in her head, watching her favorite shows (Originals, Grey's, OUAT, The Following), listening to music, and reminding herself to "breathe."
No comments:
Post a Comment