{"id":14184,"date":"2014-10-31T18:01:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T22:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=14184"},"modified":"2014-10-31T18:01:51","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T22:01:51","slug":"giveaway-excerpt-always-been-you-by-beverley-kendall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/31\/giveaway-excerpt-always-been-you-by-beverley-kendall\/","title":{"rendered":"Giveaway & Excerpt \u2606 Always Been You by Beverley Kendall"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you’ve seen, Smitten by Books<\/strong> (formerly The Season) has gone through a major facelift–new look, brand new site. Although, it’s still a work-in-progress.<\/p>\n

All reviews will now be posted on the\u00a0blog but you can still access all the older features and reviews on the Smitten by Books website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the new site, I’m hosting a giveaway where a $30 eGift Card<\/strong> and lots of books are up for grabs. Print books being given away can be found here<\/strong><\/a>, on the Print Books for Giveaway<\/strong><\/a>. I’ll be adding to this list over the next several days.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the next several months (January 2015) I’ll be releasing, Always Been You<\/strong>, the second full-length book in my Unforgettable You<\/em> series and today I’m posting an exclusive excerpt.<\/p>\n

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\"AlwaysBeenYou300x450\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The best way to ruin a perfectly wonderful friendship?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have sex with your BFF.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A mistake.<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Troy calls what was easily the single best sex experience of my life. He claims our \u201cslip\u201d was due to too much alcohol. I respond the only way I know how, which is by burying the entire experience under a six-foot mound of denial and regret. Lesson learned.<\/p>\n

Two years later, when I\u2019m (finally<\/em>)emotionally\u00a0in a place where I can move on with someone else, Troy does a complete about face. Now he wants me. And he wants more.<\/p>\n

That should have been the end, right? I\u2019m getting what I\u2019ve wanted since I was sixteen. But there\u2019s no honeymoon period for our \u201cnew\u201d relationship. The same devastating news that turns Troy\u2019s life upside down soon becomes my cross to bear. And the only way I can get back everything I lost is to bare it all. Literally.<\/p>\n

Now my boyfriend may be a progressive, twenty-first century kind of guy, but when it comes to his girlfriend posing nude for Playboy<\/em>?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s 100% Neanderthal.<\/p>\n

Other books in the Unforgettable You<\/em> <\/span>series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"onlyforyou300x450\"<\/a> \"AllOverYou300x450\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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I\u2019m about to get into my car in the southeast parking lot near the English Lit building, when I hear, \u201cHey, Ridgefield, you got a sec?\u201d<\/p>\n

I turn to see April\u2019s boyfriend coming toward me at a light jog. As usual,\u00a0he’s dressed more for a night out on the town than\u00a0going to\u00a0class. Seriously, doesn’t the\u00a0guy own a pair of jeans?<\/p>\n

He slows and comes to a halt in front of me. I let the hand holding my car keys fall to my side and lower my backpack to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d I ask, trying to be cordial. It\u2019s hard because I can\u2019t stand the guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to talk to you about what happened\u00a0on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay. So the guy doesn\u2019t beat around the bush or let sleeping dogs lie. Good to know.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really nothing to talk about.\u201d I\u2019m not<\/em>\u00a0talking to him about me and April. It\u2019s none of his goddamn business.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah\u00a0dude. It\u2019s not like that. April told me everything. I know nothing like that ever happened between you guys, so\u2026\u201d He flashes me a tight smile as if to say, \u201cHey, we\u2019re cool,<\/em>\u201d in a strained sort of way.<\/p>\n

I stare back at him. Unsmiling.<\/p>\n

She lied to him. <\/em>April\u00a0lied to him while I hadn\u2019t lied to Melissa. Which is what caused the scene in the restaurant. Right now I don\u2019t know who I\u2019m more pissed of at, him or April.<\/p>\n

I pull myself up to my full height so I\u2019m taller than him by a good two inches. \u201cLet me ask you a hypothetical. What if something like that\u00a0had<\/em> happened between us–me and April? Then what?\u201d I challenge, feeling fairly aggressive and more than a little territorial.<\/p>\n

Whatever fake goodwill he\u2019d managed to drum up for our “heart-to-heart”\u2014when he didn\u2019t think I\u2019d had sex with his girlfriend\u2014gets crushed between his\u00a0eyebrows clashing over the bridge of his nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you saying? That your girlfriend wasn\u2019t<\/em> lying?\u201d he asks in a\u00a0voice fifty degrees cooler than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe isn\u2019t my girlfriend,\u201d I reply, my irritation with him growing.<\/p>\n

His mouth thins. He says nothing as he stares narrowly at me. After several seconds of icy silence, he says, \u201cLook, I know April considers you a good<\/em> friend, but whatever else you may have had<\/em> going on with her, that\u2019s the past. It\u2019s over. She\u2019s with me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I blink once. Slowly, I look to my left, and then too the right. Nope, there’s no else around, which means this asswipe is talking to me. I just had to be sure.<\/p>\n

I return my gaze to his. \u201cAnd you felt the need to tell me this, why?\u201d I refuse to give this idiot the satisfaction of knowing\u00a0that he’s getting to me. The thought of April and him together is more than I can bear right now.<\/p>\n

He squares\u00a0his shoulders and juts out\u00a0his chin as if that\u2019s supposed to intimidate me. Ask me if I\u2019m scared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want things to be clear between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

I throw my head back and let out a wry laugh.\u00a0\u201cThings don\u2019t need to be clear between us<\/em>. I\u2019m not the one going out with you.\u201d I can\u2019t wait for April to lose\u00a0this idiot. My bet is they won’t\u00a0last another month. I pray.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m just trying to keep the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

No. After what Melissa told him, it’s obvious he now\u00a0sees me as a threat to his relationship. And you know what?\u00a0He should, because I am. But I\u2019m not going to admit that to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well don\u2019t do me any favors,\u201d I reply dismissively and turn to my car, turning my back on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell she\u2019s with me now. Remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t allow myself to react visibly, calmly unlocking the\u00a0car door. Before getting in, I angle my head over my shoulder and\u00a0stare him dead in his eye as I\u00a0unclench my locked jaw. \u201cDon\u2019t fool yourself, Jenkins. I was there before you, and I\u2019ll be there long after you\u2019re gone. You\u2019re the one who needs to remember that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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a Rafflecopter giveaway<\/a>
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