BLURB:
My name is Mia Giannis.
I am seventeen years old.
I live in Valese, Caberra.
This has become my mantra and my lifeline, having recently lost my memory due to a scary natural disaster.
Yeah. I have amnesia. Messed up, right?
You don't know the half of it.
Not remembering anything has turned my world upside down. My parents try their hardest to “remind” me of who I was, but it doesn't feel right. Or, if what they're saying is true and that really was me, I'm not sure I like that person very much.
And then there’s my love life. Apparently, Gavin Ariastasis is my oldest and best friend in the world. Also, apparently, we’ve never dated. But now, noticing him for what feels like the first time, he’s making my heart do somersaults. He knows me inside and out—the real me. Plus, he’s sexy and charming as hell. Sounds perfect, right?
But then... there’s the new guy. Quinn McKeyen – tall, gorgeous and deliciously American. His mischievous grin and slow Midwestern drawl turn my insides to mush in two seconds flat making me question who I really am and what I really want.
Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all that?! I feel torn between them, but I barely even know who I am, let alone what I want.
I just hope my indecisive heart will clue me in. And sooner rather than later…before I lose what little of my mind that I have left.
Check out Dante's Girl - Book 1 in the Paradise Diaries Series
Goodreads | amazon | B&N
EXCERPT:
“Mia!”
There is a squeal, unearthly loud and shrieky, before something lands on my bed. I open my eyes but squeeze them instantly closed again. The sun is too, too bright. And the voice is too, too loud.
And too, too unfamiliar.
But the unfamiliar thing is bouncing.
And ramming its bony elbow into my side.
So I open my eyes again and find the girl from my phone.
“Reece?”
The blonde girl squeals again and hugs me. “You remember me!!”
She’s exuberant and I don’t want to tell her that I don’t. But I kind of have to. She’d figure it out eventually anyway. So I shake my head.
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t remember yet. But your pictures are in my phone.”
The pretty blonde girl- Reece—is dismayed, but she quickly tries to hide it. She’s like a cheerful ray of sunshine and the clouds are covering up her smile. I feel guilty about that.
“I’m really sorry,” I tell her again.
“It’s okay,” she assures me. “You’ll remember soon. I’m just so happy to see you!”
“I’m sure I would be happy to see you, too, if I could remember,” I tell her regretfully. I know it’s true. When I couldn’t sleep last night, I went through my old text messages. I found about a million from me to Reece, demanding that she return to Caberra. Our text conversations had me laughing. She’s pretty funny. I can see why I liked her.
She’s shaking her head now. “Why are you still in bed? It’s 9:00 a.m.”
And she’s looking at me almost accusingly. I narrow my eyes.
“If you try and tell me that I’m normally a morning person, I’m going to know that you’re on drugs. There’s no way that’s true.”
Reece laughs. “Heck, no. I won’t even try it. I’m actually surprised that you haven’t thrown a pillow at my head yet.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it,” I tell her. “But since we’re just meeting- for the second time- I’m trying to be on my best behavior.”
She laughs again. “You’re the same Mia, even if you don’t remember,” she tells me. “You’ve always had spunk. And you’ve still got it. That’s important, I think.”
“It is?” I stare at her. “I don’t think my mother thinks so.”
Reece smiles. “You and your mom… you’ve been at each other’s throats since the day I met you. I doubt that’s ever going to change.”
“We have?” I ask with interest. “She’s trying hard to make me believe that I’ve always been perfect… perfect manners, perfect behavior, perfect at everything. It didn’t really seem in-line with what I feel.”
Reece laughs now, a tinkling sound in the sunshine of my bedroom. In fact, she laughs until she is gasping for air. I find myself glaring at her.
“I don’t think it was that funny,” I tell her wryly.
“Oh, but it is,” she gasps. “If you could only remember. You would just die about that.”
“I must have been a monster,” I mutter as I swing my legs out of bed. Reece looks at me and sobers up.
“No, of course you weren’t,” she tells me quickly. “You were just feisty. And you didn’t take crap from anyone. And you definitely didn’t try to be perfect for your mother. She has her own ideas about how the perfect family should be that you’ve never agreed with. You’ve never wanted to pretend to be someone that you’re not. I’ve always loved that about you.”
I sigh.
“It’s so good to hear you say that,” I admit to her. “Gavin tells me that I should just fall into rank and do what I’m told because it’s easier that way. And he should know- he’s in the same position as me. But it doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to try and change who I am just to fit an image. But apparently, that’s sort of exactly what I was doing before. It seems that I was deliberately going out of my way to be the opposite of what my parents wanted me to be. I don’t really want to do that either. I just want to figure out who I really am and be that.”
Reece is looking at me sympathetically and I don’t like that.
“Don’t feel sorry for me,” I tell her. “Please. I seriously hate that.”
She tightens up her expression and leans over to give me a hug.
“In that case,” she answers. “I’m glad to see you. Get your butt out of bed. We’ve got things to do and people to scare.”
I laugh and she smirks.
“That’s something you would have said once upon a time,” she tells me. I grin.
“Well, then, let’s go scare some people.”
There is a squeal, unearthly loud and shrieky, before something lands on my bed. I open my eyes but squeeze them instantly closed again. The sun is too, too bright. And the voice is too, too loud.
And too, too unfamiliar.
But the unfamiliar thing is bouncing.
And ramming its bony elbow into my side.
So I open my eyes again and find the girl from my phone.
“Reece?”
The blonde girl squeals again and hugs me. “You remember me!!”
She’s exuberant and I don’t want to tell her that I don’t. But I kind of have to. She’d figure it out eventually anyway. So I shake my head.
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t remember yet. But your pictures are in my phone.”
The pretty blonde girl- Reece—is dismayed, but she quickly tries to hide it. She’s like a cheerful ray of sunshine and the clouds are covering up her smile. I feel guilty about that.
“I’m really sorry,” I tell her again.
“It’s okay,” she assures me. “You’ll remember soon. I’m just so happy to see you!”
“I’m sure I would be happy to see you, too, if I could remember,” I tell her regretfully. I know it’s true. When I couldn’t sleep last night, I went through my old text messages. I found about a million from me to Reece, demanding that she return to Caberra. Our text conversations had me laughing. She’s pretty funny. I can see why I liked her.
She’s shaking her head now. “Why are you still in bed? It’s 9:00 a.m.”
And she’s looking at me almost accusingly. I narrow my eyes.
“If you try and tell me that I’m normally a morning person, I’m going to know that you’re on drugs. There’s no way that’s true.”
Reece laughs. “Heck, no. I won’t even try it. I’m actually surprised that you haven’t thrown a pillow at my head yet.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it,” I tell her. “But since we’re just meeting- for the second time- I’m trying to be on my best behavior.”
She laughs again. “You’re the same Mia, even if you don’t remember,” she tells me. “You’ve always had spunk. And you’ve still got it. That’s important, I think.”
“It is?” I stare at her. “I don’t think my mother thinks so.”
Reece smiles. “You and your mom… you’ve been at each other’s throats since the day I met you. I doubt that’s ever going to change.”
“We have?” I ask with interest. “She’s trying hard to make me believe that I’ve always been perfect… perfect manners, perfect behavior, perfect at everything. It didn’t really seem in-line with what I feel.”
Reece laughs now, a tinkling sound in the sunshine of my bedroom. In fact, she laughs until she is gasping for air. I find myself glaring at her.
“I don’t think it was that funny,” I tell her wryly.
“Oh, but it is,” she gasps. “If you could only remember. You would just die about that.”
“I must have been a monster,” I mutter as I swing my legs out of bed. Reece looks at me and sobers up.
“No, of course you weren’t,” she tells me quickly. “You were just feisty. And you didn’t take crap from anyone. And you definitely didn’t try to be perfect for your mother. She has her own ideas about how the perfect family should be that you’ve never agreed with. You’ve never wanted to pretend to be someone that you’re not. I’ve always loved that about you.”
I sigh.
“It’s so good to hear you say that,” I admit to her. “Gavin tells me that I should just fall into rank and do what I’m told because it’s easier that way. And he should know- he’s in the same position as me. But it doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to try and change who I am just to fit an image. But apparently, that’s sort of exactly what I was doing before. It seems that I was deliberately going out of my way to be the opposite of what my parents wanted me to be. I don’t really want to do that either. I just want to figure out who I really am and be that.”
Reece is looking at me sympathetically and I don’t like that.
“Don’t feel sorry for me,” I tell her. “Please. I seriously hate that.”
She tightens up her expression and leans over to give me a hug.
“In that case,” she answers. “I’m glad to see you. Get your butt out of bed. We’ve got things to do and people to scare.”
I laugh and she smirks.
“That’s something you would have said once upon a time,” she tells me. I grin.
“Well, then, let’s go scare some people.”
website | twitter | facebook | facebook fan page
Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could.
She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds.
Every Last Kiss is her debut novel and she followed it with the rest of The Bloodstone Saga (Every Last Kiss, Fated, With My Last Breath and My Tattered Bonds).
Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.
Learn more about Courtney and her books at www.courtneycolewrites.com
USA/CANADA
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Mia's Heart sounds really good and it's on my tbr list. I have Dante's girl on my tbr list too and can't wait to read them. THanks
ReplyDelete