Guest Appearance and Blog Stop by Amanda Bennett!
This Heart of Mine is book three in the series and
is a heartwarming ending to this beautiful love story.
Check out an excerpt from the Final Installment in the Raine Series.
Meet the Cast and Enter a Fabulous Giveaway.  Kayla seems to have it all. She has a wonderful man who would go to the ends of the earth for her and a family that seems to support her regardless of the consequences.
But is it enough to help her face her demons and to truly find happiness within her heart?
Madison never thought he would be faced with so many life altering decisions at such a young age. he wants to do right by Kayla and his family, but when old wounds reopen he finds himself questioning every choice he has ever made.
Life isn't all it seems for these two and they're coming to the realization that there will always be someone wanting to come along and destroy it all.
Will following her heart prove to be the right decision, or will it be the one thing that could make the only man she's ever loved, say good-bye for good?
Book Summaries and Purchase Links  I needed an escape. An escape from my momma, a woman who cared more about herself than her own daughter. A woman who couldn't stand the sight of me since my father left. A boyfriend who was nothing but trouble. Trouble that I couldn't say no to.
Unfortunately, leaving them both would prove to be either the best decision I could ever make, or the biggest mistake of my life.
My plan was to escape to the one place I always felt safe. A place where life is simple and quiet, and a place where I could finish my senior year of high school unscathed. Abernathy, Texas was my second home, and my grandparents were the parents I aways wanted. There was no one around this one horse town to complicate my life any further, or at least that's what I thought. That was, until I met Madison Raine.
He held the power to turn my peaceful escape upside down and inside out with just one look. He was beautiful, in every sense of the word and with that beauty, came trouble. There were a million reasons why I should stay away from him, but none of them seemed to matter when I caught sight of those emerald green eyes. It was becoming clear that staying away from Madison would be harder than I had anticipated.
A past like mine never fully disappears, until you find yourself faced with the irreparable truth that sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands, consequences be damned.
Kayla James (KJ) was everything I never knew I wanted. This was the last summer I would be on the farm before I headed off to college, and meeting her was the last thing I expected. I didn't know what had brought her here, and I honestly didn't care. I had my own things to deal with and a relationship wasn't one of them. Little did I know that this girl, would wind up being exactly what I needed in every way possible.
Life hasn't always been easy, and telling my grandparents that I was going to college in another state was going to be the death of me, but it was something I needed to do. I needed a life outside of Texas, one where no one knew who I was or what I had lost. Between baseball and my band, I thought I had it made.
All it took was one look into those baby blues and I was a goner. I ended up needing her like I needed air to breathe, and everything inside of me wanted to be with her regardless of the outcome. How do you choose between love and life, and convince the one person who trusts no one, to take a chance on you?
|  "Love cannot be defined by age or time, but by the way that person makes you feel. He made me feel completely vulnerable, but vulnerability I have learned is a gift, one that I will gladly accept from Madison Raine."
Kayla
Madison had irrevocably changed me. He opened me up to feel things I had never felt, and he never judged me for my past. In the short amount of time I had known him, I had fallen in love with him and everything he encompassed. He showed me how to live, how to enjoy life, but best of all, he showed me how to love. They say bad things happen to good people, well that saying rang truer to me now than ever before. Madison is gone. He is off at school in Arizona, and I just couldn't bring myself to leave with him. That was my first mistake.
See the thing about trouble is, it will always find you. Trouble found me the night he left, and that night forever changed me. Now I am fighting my way back, alone.
Madison
Leaving Kayla was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do. To say I regret my decision to leave her behind, would be an understatement. My world shifted when I met her and I would forever be changed. Everything felt different now that I was away, everything with her at least. Something was wrong, I could feel it. I needed to go to her to find out what this feeling was, but would she trust me enough to tell me, and could I trust her to forgive me.
"When life, love and heart breaking circumstances stand to pull apart a bond so strong, what do you do without trust?"
| Meet the Characters of the Raine Series This Heart of Mine Excerpt A stray tear rolled down my cheek and landed on my shirt as the weight of his words settled into my chest. He was right, about everything. I have always questioned myself because of my mother. I had always felt less than a person and never felt worthy of anybody's love, let alone a poor helpless child. What if I turn out to be exactly like my mother? I now had a better understanding as to how Madison has felt his whole life.
I quietly turned on my heel, making my way back outside and onto the porch. I looked out over the expansive land wondering how this all was supposed to work out for us. We couldn't live at our grandparents for the rest of our lives. We needed a plan. One that would work for both of us.
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GUEST APPEARANCE AND GIVEAWAY!
We are honored to be the next stop on Amanda Bennett's blog Tour!
Today is Release Day for THIS TRUST OF MINE and we can not wait to read more about Madison Raine and Kayla! Don't forget to enter our giveaway! Visit Amanda's "Rock Star" Author page
Click HERE for more information!
Read This Trust of Mine
Chapter One Exclusive!
Chapter 1
1 Month Later
Madison
"Raine, get your ass out here and warm up, I don't want to have to tell you again."
"Yes, coach." I yelled back as I slipped my cell phone back into my bag. This was the
tenth time I had checked it today, and still nothing from Kayla.
it had now been a month since I had spoken to her last. I called her after the long as hell
twelve and a half hour long drive, but she didn't pick up. After at least twenty more calls
on my behalf, I finally got a phone call back from Cami. She did little to ease my anxiety
by saying that Kayla was sleeping and would call me back sooner rather than later. She
also told me not to worry.
Well it was too late for that. She had seemed so excited for me to call her when I got in,
I guess I just assumed she would pick up the instant she saw my name illuminate the
screen. Apparently not.
I just remember that whole first day of practice was extremely brutal. Not only had I not
worked out at all over the short summer break, but I also couldn't manage to keep my
head on practice. When I got back to the dorms that evening, I took a quick shower and
prayed that the ten minutes I was gone, I hadn't missed her call.
Luck had been on my side that night, because she called the minute I got back to my
dorm. From the moment I answered the phone, I knew something was off with her. She
wasn't my happy, carefree pretty girl anymore. I urged her to tell me what was wrong,
but she just told me she was missing me and to not worry. Unfortunately, when it came
to that girl, all I did was worry. I knew her momma hadn't been back, mainly because I
had my Gran keeping tabs on her, but I would also hope that she would have said
something.
Our conversation that night was short and sweet, with the promise that she would call
me the next night around the same time. That was exactly twenty-nine days, eight hours
and five, now six minutes ago. Believe me it wasn't for a lack of trying. I had picked up
my phone countless amounts of time, but it always went straight to voicemail.
Voicemails I knew she wasn't receiving or at least not listening to, because her
voicemail box had been full for a week now.
I hated the fact that I had let a girl do this to me. I know I was the one who all but broke
it off, but we had promised to at least talk. We only had a few weeks left before school
now, and I was starting to go a little nuts. What if she found someone else, but couldn't
bring herself to tell me? Ugh, this shit was starting to get really ridiculous.After practice came to a close, I gathered my things and high tailed it back to my dorm. I
knew coach was ready to give me a verbal lashing, but I just wasn't in the mood to deal
with his shit today. When I opened my door, I half expected my roommate to be there,
but he had yet to show up.
Oh well!
I threw my gym bag onto my bed in the far corner and quickly grabbed my cell phone
checking it for messages. Still nothing. Damn it, Kayla. If I didn't have practice and if
school wasn't about to start, I would've drove my ass down there, demandin' she talk to
me. I scrolled through my phone for Glenn's number and dialed. After the third ring, I
was about to hang up but then I heard Glenn's voice.
"Hello?" There was a lot of commotion in the background and I wondered where the hell
he was at.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" I shouted.
"Madison, bro, how's it goin' in the big AZ?"
"It's goin'. Hey bro, I need to ask you a question." i didn't want to involve Glenn in my
drama, but from what I had gathered from the last time we talked, he was still talkin' to
Cami.
"Shoot."
"Have you still been talkin' to Cami?" I regretted asking the minute the words left my
mouth.
"On and off, yeah. Why what's up? Is somethin' wrong?" I could still hear an array of
voices in the background and I was starting to get pissed.
"Where the hell are you?"
I heard him shush everyone and it suddenly went very quiet. "We're havin' a little going
away party for everyone headed off to college. We're all down at the swimming hole.
Cami's actually here, do you wanna talk to her?"
A wave of relief washed over my body, but it only lasted for a second because then my
mind went to wondering where Kayla was. "Yeah, put her on please."
The line went silent for a minute and then Cami's small girly voice echoed through the
line.
"Hello?"
"Hey Cami, how are ya?" Ugh, I just wanted to get straight to the point, but I also
needed to handle this conversation with finesse, so I could get as much info out of her
as possible.
"I'm doin' good, Madison. How are you? Sorry, dumb question. I'm guessing you want to
know where Kayla is?"
She didn't sound irritated at all by this, so I went for it. "Yeah, if you don't mind. I've been
tryin' to call her for a month now, and I get nothin' back. Is she okay, Cami?"
She let out a loud sigh before answering me. "She's doing good, Madison. She's just
been busy getting ready to start school and all. She's actually here with me."
My mouth dropped open and my mind ceased to work. I was also having a hard time
breathing. What did she mean she was with her. Kayla could find time to go to the hole
with everyone, in a bikini, but couldn't even pick up a phone to talk to me? What the hell!
"Serious, Cami. Are you serious?"
"Yeah, Madison. I'm serious, she's on the other side of the hole right now swimming with
Dennis.She was at the swimming hole, and she was there with Dennis. I'm surprised smoke
wasn't billowing out of my ears, because I was fuming. I felt like I was about to pass out,
with all this new information. And, I was suddenly beginning to worry that Kayla was
slipping back into her old ways. I could only hope that Cami wouldn't allow that to
happen.
"Madison, you still there?"
"Yeah. Alright well, as long as she is okay then I'm gonna let ya go. Thanks Cami."
Before she could respond, I hung up. I wasn't interested in knowing anything else that
was going on with all of them. Obviously, what I thought we had, was totally different
than what she thought we had.
I chucked my phone across the small room, shattering it against the wall. I threw myself
back onto my bed and covered my eyes with my left arm. How could it have gotten to
this point. Everything seemed fine when I was saying good-bye and leaving. What the
hell had happened between then and now.
I knew it was still early in the night, but I was bushed and had no reason to stay up
anymore. She wasn't going to call, and I sure as hell wasn't going to push her any
further by trying to call her. I was officially done trying to make her want to be with me,or
even talk to me. I shoved off my clothing, keeping only my boxer briefs on, before rolling
over and drifting off to sleep.
*****
She was there standing in front of me. Her beautiful, brown curly hair hung down to the
waistband of her super tight, short white cut offs. My eyes raked down her body, taking
in every single detail of her so I could commit it to memory. Her pale pink shirt clung to
her sweaty body in the mid-day sun and when my face finally met with hers, she was
smiling.
I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I had been having these dreams long enough
to know, that if I tried she would disappear and this time I wanted her to stay. "Why have
you been away from me so long?"
I knew she wouldn't answer, she rarely if ever, did. But, I needed to hear her voice. I
needed to hear her to say something, anything. I was dying not being able to touch her,
feel her or listen to her.
"Say something, Kayla. Please." I stood back staring at her. Her face went from elated
to sullen in less than a second. I wanted to comfort her. Something was wrong and I
could tell she needed me. "Kayla, please tell me what's wrong."
She turned briskly and started walking towards our place. I followed slowly behind her,
but she was gaining distance. The more I tried to catch up, the further she would go.
"Kayla, wait! Come back!"
I stopped mid-stride as she came to a halt and slowly began turning in my direction. Her
face was covered in black, and I could only assume it was from her mascara because
she looked as though she had been crying. Just as she was about to turn away again, I
caught sight of a large bruise over her left eye. I began running faster than I had ever
ran before, but it wasn't enough.
Just as I reached out to grab her, to pull her into me, to comfort her, she was gone.
I shot straight up in bed, drenched in sweat. I checked my phone and it flashed a bright
blue twelve, zero, zero. I wiped my hand down my face and then back through my hair,
trying to catch my breath.The dreams had only gotten worse since the first time. It was about a week after I had
spoken to Kayla, when she started appearing as the star in my nightmares. She was
always wearing the same thing and her face always went from happy to sad.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts enough to go back to sleep, but nothing
was working. I reached for the bottle of water I had left in my sports bag and the
sleeping pills that my doctor had prescribed to me. I wasn't a fan of taking medication to
sleep, but it was the only thing that seemed to keep her away.
I popped the small white pill and swallowed the remaining contents of the water bottle. I
laid my head back down on my pillow and counted, waiting for sleep to take me under. For More Books by Amanda Go To her "Rock Star" page HERE
Blog Stop Today is Amanda Bennett Giveaway for This Love of Mine
Expected Release April 18th This Love of Mine by Author Amanda Bennett will be Live on April 18th! We had the pleasure of reading this book and it is FANTASTIC!
Here is your chance to win a copy and we will deliver it straight to your ereader!
Book Summary
I needed an escape. An escape from my momma, a woman who cared more about herself than her own daughter. A woman who couldn't stand the sight of me since my father left. A boyfriend who was nothing but trouble. Trouble that I couldn't say no to.
Unfortunately, leaving them both would prove to be either the best decision I could ever make, or the biggest mistake of my life.
My plan was to escape to the one place I always felt safe. A place where life is simple and quiet, and a place where I could finish my senior year of high school unscathed. Abernathy, Texas was my second home, and my grandparents were the parents I aways wanted. There was no one around this one horse town to complicate my life any further, or at least that's what I thought. That was, until I met Madison Raine.
He held the power to turn my peaceful escape upside down and inside out with just one look. He was beautiful, in every sense of the word and with that beauty, came trouble. There were a million reasons why I should stay away from him, but none of them seemed to matter when I caught sight of those emerald green eyes. It was becoming clear that staying away from Madison would be harder than I had anticipated.
A past like mine never fully disappears, until you find yourself faced with the irreparable truth that sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands, consequences be damned.
Kayla James (KJ) was everything I never knew I wanted. This was the last summer I would be on the farm before I headed off to college, and meeting her was the last thing I expected. I didn't know what had brought her here, and I honestly didn't care. I had my own things to deal with and a relationship wasn't one of them. Little did I know that this girl, would wind up being exactly what I needed in every way possible.
Life hasn't always been easy, and telling my grandparents that I was going to college in another state was going to be the death of me, but it was something I needed to do. I needed a life outside of Texas, one where no one knew who I was or what I had lost. Between baseball and my band, I thought I had it made.
All it took was one look into those baby blues and I was a goner. I ended up needing her like I needed air to breathe, and everything inside of me wanted to be with her regardless of the outcome. How do you choose between love and life, and convince the one person who trusts no one, to take a chance on you?
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