Please enjoy this fun, playful excerpt from
Render by Stephanie Fleshman
. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $550 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book.
Render: An Excerpt
I spin around and pull her to me, sighing as her arms lock
around my neck. I lower my face to her hair, turning it into the curve of her
neck to breathe her in.
Her body molds to mine, lithe and boneless, and my arms
swallow her as I tighten my hold. It softens all the hard points, the tension
I’d been holding onto, smoothing the muscles in my shoulders and back.
“You have great problem-solving skills, by the way,” I tell
her softly in her ear.
Keeping her arms around me, she leans back against the wall
to look at me, a baffled expression on her face, whether in relation to the
compliment or the unexpected direction in conversation, I don’t know.
“Do I?” Her voice lifts in a flirtatious pitch.
“Mmm. It’s why I asked you out,” I tease. “You solved most
of my problems just by agreeing.” Looking back, I realize just how true this
is, though I doubt she’ll take me seriously.
Her lips curl in an obliging smile, and her eyes say it all,
disbelieving in their beauty, corroborating what I already knew. But she’s
still smiling, and I alone am responsible for that.
She curls her hand around the side of my neck, and I feel
her thumb glide over the scar behind my earlobe, one I incurred at fourteen,
when Lukas slammed my head into the bathroom mirror. Then I broke his
collarbone. Both of us ended up in the emergency room that morning, an incident
that resulted in our father leaving for work a half hour later. It’s always
quieter when our father is home.
“How are you doing?” she asks, looking up to search my eyes.
I slide my hands from the small of her back to her waist, as
my gaze sweeps from shoulder to shoulder. I can already feel the ground of
normalcy beneath me, her presence holding the pieces of my life together, when
it seems everything can come apart at any moment. “Good now that you’re here.”
This seems to make her both happy and sad. A look of gloom
passes over her face even as a small smile touches her lips. Then her eyes
trail down the front of my body, taking in my suit jacket and pants. “You look
like a lawyer,” she comments. “Straight from the courtroom.”
I can’t remember a time when she’s ever seen me in a suit.
The closest is the tux I wore to her senior prom two months ago, which is not
much different than what I wear now.
“It suits you.”
I raise my eyebrows in doubt. “What? Looking like a lawyer?”
“Not just a lawyer. You look…professional.” Then, with a
full smile, she adds, “I like it.”
“Ah,” I say, mirroring her smile as I grasp her meaning. “I
like that you’re my biggest fan.”
Her teeth shine bright against her tan skin. She drops her arms
to her sides, and I lace my fingers through hers. She smells of honeysuckle,
vanilla, and lavender all at once, with soft underlying notes I can’t name, a
scent that swirls inside me, tantalizing every cell in my body.
I lean forward, canting my head slightly to fit my lips to
hers. I have to fight to keep the rhythm slow, to savor every second. But when
her mouth opens, urgency builds within me, and I press farther. Too soon,
though, she’s pulling away, leaving my blood pumping in a hot stream and my heart
pounding against my chest. I place a hand on the wall behind her and lean
forward, closing the narrow space she’s put between us.
“I wasn’t finished,” I say.
I’m already tilting my head to kiss her again when she stops
me with one word. “Wait.”
“Wait?” I mutter against her lips.
I feel her palms on my chest, easing me back. It’s hard to
concentrate on anything but touching her, but I slowly resign myself to the
conversation that is apparently inevitable, when my only instinct is to kiss
her. I straighten and meet her eyes, which does nothing to tame my thoughts.
“I got your note,” she says.
When I started mowing Mrs. Whitney’s lawn, Elizabeth gave me
a key, so I could let myself in when they weren’t home. In the beginning, I
would leave Raya notes on her dresser, not knowing at the time that she’d
actually keep them. When she showed me every note I’d ever written her, my
first instinct was to laugh, because it seemed senseless. But then I saw how
impressed she was and felt empowered that I could make her so happy. She
probably has a shoebox full of notes by now.
I back her against the wall until we’re touching from hips
to shoulders. Her eyes, as warm and green as summer leaves, meet mine. She’s
looking at me as if I did something amazing, but just in case, I ask, “Is that
all? Or is there something else you want to add, because I’d really like
to kiss you right now?”
Her eyes dip momentarily to my mouth. “I was going to thank
you for the note, but you distracted me.”
“You don’t need words for that.”
About the Author:
Stephanie Fleshman grew up near the border of Virginia, in a rural town
of about 4,000 with her four siblings. She has always had a passion for
traveling and learning about other cultures, and she will go just about
anywhere at any given time. Her dream was to become a psychologist,
and so she majored in psychology, which led to working as a medical tech
(of course) in Naples, Florida. Somehow that led to writing, something
that she had never before considered (otherwise she might have majored
in Literature, instead…but probably not). Now, with a series in
progress, there’s nothing more that she would rather do than write.
About Render
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Koldan Holdt knows what he wants. The problem is his future was decided the day he was born—a future void of everything he has ever known.
Days
before summer vacation, Koldan’s grandfather suddenly dies, leaving the
consequences that have followed him since he fled his country to fall to Koldan. As he learns about his new fate, he must accept the terms to which he is bound and
live without the one person he wants, or remain true to who he is and
risk both their lives repeating the choice his grandfather made.
Seventeen-year-old
Raya Whitney thought she knew Koldan…until a sudden turn of events
threatens both their lives. While she is not willing to give up without
a fight, she knows it is a deadly game to stay together.
Giveaway
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, Render, the debut YA Paranormal novel by Stephanie Fleshman, is on sale for just 99 cents! What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes.
The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $550 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book.
All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win!
To win the prizes:
- Get Render at its discounted price of 99 cents
- Enter the Rafflecopter contest below
- Visit the featured social media events
- Leave a comment on my blog for a chance at a $100 prize.
About Render: A betrayal born of blood. A curse for a gift. A love worth saving... Seventeen-year-old Raya Whitney thought she knew Koldan--until a sudden turn of events threatens both their lives. Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes.
Stephanie Fleshman graduated with a degree in psychology and has family throughout the United States as well as in Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece. Visit Stephanie on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.