When Two Hearts Collide
by Sonya Loveday and Candace Knoebel
A Game of Hearts Novel
Publication Date: March 23, 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
But when the opportunity to see a girl from his past comes up, Charlie finds himself breaking all his own rules. Ever since the night he’d turned her away, Charlie hasn’t been able to get Charlotte off his mind. A break from his pub for a vacation across the pond should be enough to cure him of his curiosity and get her out of his system. At least, he hopes…
Charlotte Mackay channels love through coffee.
Running her fandom-themed store and specialty coffee bar keeps her nerdy heart busy after one too many relationship disappointments.
Until the man she can’t manage to forget calls.
Charlie’s coming to The Hamptons for a two-week vacation. She’s going to be his host—nothing more. She’d fallen under the spell of his bedroom eyes and roguish charm once before, and it nearly wrecked her. Charlotte can’t risk the same mistake twice.
But love knows no boundaries when two hearts collide.
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When Two
Hearts Collide Excerpts
Game of Hearts Novel
3
What would break me out of the
monotony I found myself in? Some days, it felt like there was no difference
between home life and pub life. Like a tether between the two, I walked. Only
the faces changed sometimes. The selection of people I could align myself with,
whether it was friends, or just some pretty face to help me scratch an itch.
The latter, being of my own choosing, never once sparked a need for more.
It was a lonely life I led, but
it was the only way I’d ever known. The scary part was that I knew I wasn’t
getting any younger. The mirror was proof of that. Before I knew it, I’d turn
out just like my uncle Dan. Bitter and resentful toward all his youthful
misadventures. All the wasted time that floated in the in between of his life
and he’d never once stopped to question his choices. His decisions. Yet, on the
flip side of that, he loved me. Loved me enough to give me the one thing that
mattered most to him. The pub. And I’d give it right back if it meant he lived.
But he didn’t, and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t go back in time
and make it right. Make him proud. Show him that his belief in me mattered and
I’d spent every day since he left me proving I was a better person. A changed
man.
Would he be disappointed in my
one and only flaw?
Sex was an escape for me. It
allowed me to purge myself of the need to step back into the dark world I’d
left behind and vowed never to go back to.
The shattering reality of it,
though? I couldn’t help but question it all. Couldn’t help but wonder what
could be different if I stepped out of what was comfortable and shook off the
dregs of the cloying feeling of melancholy that clung to me night and day.
How could I find out what was
wrong with me, when I had no idea where to start?
~Charlie
Williams
Years later, I could still
recall his voice. Smooth and rich like whiskey, burning against my skin as he
ran his finger down the length of my neck. I’d been under his control,
hypnotized by the swirling look of fire in his eyes that promised pleasure
beyond my wildest imagination, and my imagination was vast.
I stupidly said yes, even when
I knew I shouldn’t. Even though I’d been warned he wasn’t tamable.
But I wasn’t looking to tame.
Memories of that night flooded
my head in heated flashes. Legs and arms tangled together. Lips never breaking
contact. Fistfuls of hair and strings of erotic words I shamefully recanted in
my fantasies ever since.
~Charlotte
Mackay
Every so often, she’d look over
at me, almost as if checking to see if I was still there, and the smile she
wore would waver slightly. A look I couldn’t quite put my finger on… sadness
maybe… would fill her eyes, and I realized, at that moment, I made her nervous.
Uncomfortable even, because we both knew there was something between us, and
all I had to do was put a little more charm on her, and she’d cave.
I felt like a complete ass.
She was a comet, brightly lit,
that would streak across my life’s sky only a handful of times. I wasn’t meant
to hold a comet. I was only meant to admire her. To watch her longingly from a
distance and dream about the next time I’d be gobsmacked.
Because that was what comets
did. They wowed you. Dazzled you. Left you.
I didn’t get left. I left. It
was easier that way. Less sloppy. No feelings involved. It was simple pleasure
and nothing more.
Nothing would be simple with
Charlotte. Nothing.
I needed to keep reminding
myself of that before I went and broke all of my own rules.
~Charlie
Williams
I swear he had to be able to
hear my heart pounding inside my chest as I held my breath. Every one of his
words cleared my doubt like a cool breeze blowing through a field of smoke. He
was a gentleman deep down, and he did have good intentions for me. And that made
him even more dangerous, because I knew my heart, and I knew it wasn’t going to
win a game of tug-o-war with my brain.
He was a magnet. I couldn’t
look away from his openly tender gaze. All I could think was that everyone made
at least one life-changing decision in their life—whether it was a choice to
turn left instead of right and ending up down the wrong street at the wrong
time, or a choice to hold the elevator door for someone and they ended up
becoming the person of their dreams.
~Charlotte
Mackay
Sonya Loveday is a full time author. Mother of two teenagers. Wife to an amazing man for 18 years. Dog lover. Cat lover. COFFEE addict. Night Owl. She’s a sucker for a good book. Loves the quiet life. Has the bestest best friend in the whole world. Her imagination never shuts off which makes it hard to sleep. The worst cook. Seriously.
To see what’s coming up for releases be sure to follow Sonya on her author page at http://www.facebook.com/sonyalovedayauthor
Candace Knoebel is the award-winning author of Born in Flames-book one in a young adult fantasy trilogy. She discovered in 2009 through lunch breaks and late nights after putting her kids to bed, a world where she could escape the ever-pressing days of an eight to five Purgatory. And an outlet for all the voices residing in her head.
Published by 48fourteen in 2012, Born in Flames went on to win Turning the Pages Book of the Year award in February of 2013. In January of 2014, the last book in the trilogy, From the Embers, was released, thusly completing the trilogy. She now works on the Night Watchmen Series, while guzzling Red Bulls and pretending to be a ninja on Heelys.
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Thank you for sharing!
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