It's completed! The Christmas short I wrote unexpectedly is done. I have to do a few rounds of edits, however, ARCs should be available on Booksprout later this month ahead of its release in November.
This is a short story -- it's only 13K words. It was an unplanned title, however, I enjoyed playing with these characters. I'm even toying with the idea of doing another holiday short next year featuring these two leads.
With that said, here is an unedited sneak peek at ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS.
Chapter One
I used to love the holidays. Spending my free time baking countless amounts of cookies just for the sake of it; basking in the joy of the impending celebrations. And then I walked in on my boyfriend screwing my best friend the day we were supposed to leave for Christmas vacation. When I saw them together in bed, I immediately froze. Internally, I was sure I had screamed. Outwardly, however, it was as though every ounce of anger had gotten caught in my throat and all that escaped was a tiny gasp. Still, it had been enough to alert them of my presence.
Dave immediately rolled off from on top of her and tried to jump out of the bed as though I hadn’t just witnessed him between her legs two minutes prior. Thankfully, his leg got caught in the bed sheet in the process and he fell face first onto the ground.
“Shit,” he exclaimed as he struggled to look up at me.
My eyes kept moving between him and the bed before finally settling on my so-called best friend, Chloe, as she sat up in the bed with the sheets pulled up to her chest. There was no sign of remorse on her face. “Seriously?” I managed to muster. “Surely you could’ve done better than him.”
I ignored the shocked look on Dave’s face as he finally got back on his feet. The fact of the matter was Dave was nothing like the guys Chloe usually chased. She was the kind of perfect that was sold by beauty brands on Instagram. Her long blond locks and piercing blue eyes stood in contrast against her olive kissed skin. And at an impressive five foot eleven with curves in all the right places, the girl had her pick of men. Unfortunately, though, she had apparently chosen to go after mine.
I had always been one to believe the man was at fault first and foremost. In this case, however, I had to place the blame on both parties. She had been there from the start of our relationship, and even worse, she knew we were supposed to be visiting my folks over Christmas break. It would have been the first time I brought a guy back home for the holidays because I thought we had a future together.
Heck, I had hoped he would even pop the question on Christmas. Cheesy? Sure, but that was something I had always hoped for. Christmas was my favorite time of year and a proposal on Christmas morning would have been the perfect outcome.
So much for that.
Dave tried to close the gap between us, his arms extended out as though to hug me. Why he would thing a hug would help the situation at all was mind boggling. The idea of him touching me after he’d been all over her? No thank you. I mean, for crying out loud, I just watched him stick his dick in another woman in our bed. There was no way I would be touching him unless it was to hit him – and well, violence was not the answer, no matter how much I had been hurt.
So what am I up to now?
I'm back to working on HUNTED. You know how I've claimed the Emile Reed series is my favorite of all my books? Well, that title is going to HUNTED now. I love Harley and Drake. This is a standalone novel. It's going to be on the longer side, which is why it's taking me a bit to write it. However, I can't wait to get to share this story once it is finally done. I do intend on querying it, so I won't be self-publishing it (hopefully). We shall see!
I'm also working on BRAVE NEW WORLD, the fourth novella in the Guardians series. After BRAVE NEW WORLD, I will be collecting the first four novellas into one collection as an eBook and paperback. This novella will more than likely be the end of the series, so it will be a bit longer than the others before it.
After BRAVE NEW WORLD? I will be releasing a brand new, full-length novel in March titled TIME AFTER TIME. This is a standalone YA sci-fi romance. I'm enjoying writing this one. It was also a spur of the moment idea that became a book. Like HUNTED, expect this one to be about 60-75k words. (Around the same length as SUBMERGED.)
I know I took a long writing break to deal with some things. (I have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, so I'm always in pain and dealing with health issues.) However, I'm finally back and I'm thrilled. I hope you guys are excited to dive into these new worlds with me.
<3 Nicole
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