No one understands the obsession Melissa Quinn has with Arien Hart.He’s different—misunderstood. The more her friends warn her of Arien, the more Melissa refuses to listen. Enchanted by Arien’s charisma, she plunges into an impassioned relationship, leaving her boyfriend, Sandy Bavetta behind.
Melissa is blind to Arien’s faults, so Sandy has no choice but to leave it to fate.
When Arien's love destroys Melissa, Sandy fights for his girl before the consequences are devastating.
EXCERPT: Chapter One
The party fell quiet while we
waited. A blue Dodge Caravan stopped at the edge of the
beach. Oh yeah, Chad said he’d come. Even though the van was a brand new 1992
model, my
cousin looked like a dork driving a minivan. “It’s okay. It’s my cousin, but keep the
liquor in
your bag, Shanna.”
“Aww, is Chad some kind of nark?”
she asked.
I nodded. “Most likely.”
Chad stepped out, but to my
surprise the passenger door opened too. Why would he bring
a date to my birthday party? Asshole. It’d be better without
him here, and definitely better
without one of those girls he hung out with.
A stranger stepped out of the van,
and his eyes fell right to mine. From a distance, he
didn’t appear to be the geeky type of friend Chad always
made. He wore a loose black tank top
with Khaki shorts. His clothes seemed pretty normal,
especially compared to Chad’s; my cousin
wore a Henley tucked into his cargo shorts. The strange guy
stared, and I couldn’t turn away.
He came over with Chad, king of the
geeks. Where did he get the confidence to stare at
me? They walked closer, and even though the beach
was dim, his onyx eyes struck me intensely.
My chest tightened, and my heart raced. As if this guy gave
him confidence, Chad walked a little
straighter than usual.
“Hello, Melissa. Happy birthday,”
Chad said.
I nodded, glanced at Chad for a
second and then back to his guest.
“Oh, this is Arien, my best
friend.” Chad gestured toward his tall, muscular friend. “And
this is Melissa, my cousin.”
Arien nodded. “Hey.”
When
did Chad get a best friend? I would
have seen him before.
Something wasn’t
right about this guy or his sudden appearance.
Sandy wrapped both arms around me
and leaned closer to my ear. “Want to go for a
walk?”
Sandy’s voice startled me. This
suspicious stranger had my brain working overtime
“Um, I do, but Chad just got here. I can’t be rude.” I
turned to the new arrivals. “Food and drinks
are on the table. Get a plate and come back to join us.”
Why
haven’t I met this guy? They
returned from the table. Both had soda, but neither was
eating. Chad turned toward the river where some people still
played. “Who’s here?”
I didn’t pay attention to Chad.
“Melissa, I asked you a question,”
Chad said louder.
“Hmm?”
Everyone turned to me as I dropped
my stare from Arien. A flame went through my body,
and I wanted to run to the river’s edge. Arien smirked. He
had been staring back, as if he had a
chance with me. Huge ego—he must be Chad’s best friend.
I had to play the situation off as
mere curiosity, so I squared my shoulders and cleared my
throat. “So, Arien, if you and Chad are best friends, why
haven’t we met?”
He looked at me and raised an
eyebrow. “I guess we just missed each other.”
The warm
gaze in his eyes made me think his words carried a double
meaning. His wavy blond hair caught
the sea breeze, and the firelight danced across his face.
I leaned against Sandy to ensure we
all understood this stranger didn’t have a chance with
me.
Before I start I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of her book in exchange for an honest review. Doing so does not sway my feelings on the rating of a book whatsoever.
As I read this book, there were times when I wondered just where this book was going. There were accusations of Arien being the controlling boyfriend, but it seemed that Melissa had her own agenda at times. It really seemed, for the majority of the book, that Melissa had gone on a separate path on her own accord. It wasn't until about 3/4 of the way through that the reader got the sense that Arien was really playing her for the fool.
The book touches on a lot of hot topics that girls deal with. Anorexia, sex, abusive relationships, depression, alcohol abuse and the want to fit in with everyone else. Spoken through the voice of a teenager, at times thoughts are a bit muddled but it stays in sync with the way the characters are behaving.
As stated, this is based on a true story. How much of it is true and how much is fiction, I do not know. I would hope though that if any adult found out what another adult was doing with a minor, they would immediately take that to the authorities instead of just letting it go. The author does rope you into the story though and you want to know what is going to happen next. Suddenly you find the abuser being the abused and wonder what happened earlier in that persons life that made them that way.
You get to know Melissa, Arien, Sandy and everyone else. You also wonder where the hell all the parents are while everything is going on. Melissa's parents being the ones that you do get to see and know are around, but the fact is, that if everyone's parents had been present in their children's lives this story would have never occurred, at least not to these characters. Arien would not have turned out the way he did, Melissa would have met and known nothing but the sweet boy he was meant to be and nobody would have been hurt. You also wanted to shake up the kids though to wake them up. If you see or know of someone going down the wrong path, help them. Yes, they need to want that help, but the longer it takes with intervention, the harder it will be for them to want the help.
Melissa goes from an A student, cheerleader to a confused, barely there, near alcoholic and she suddenly becomes the young person with an old soul that you meet in the diners that you wonder, what happened to that person for them to become so low on life. You know the ones I'm talking about.
I recommend this to readers 13 and above. The situations involved in this book are not for the younger kids, but are right in line for the middle schooler's because these situations are becoming more apparent in peers and hopefully the story will stay with them through all the tough times so they can hopefully avoid the Arien's out there and stay true to themselves.
Purchase Links
Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00AV76F2Y
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AV76F2Y
Author Info:
In a series of ironic events, Mellifica presented to Melissa
Mayberry in such a way that she had to dust off her writing skills and put the
story to paper. The story soon became
her passion and rekindled her love of writing.
Living in the Blue Ridge of Virginia, Melissa works full
time as a nurse, student and mother. Her
past will haunt her until the story is told.
Twitter: @MayberryMelissa
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