Title: Pierce My Heart
Series: Women of Willowbrook #1
Author: Kelsey Jensen
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Blurb
It all began with a choice...
Anna Pierce had, by all accounts, a blessed life. She grew up in a home full of laughter, love, and support. Where the biggest problem she faced (other than how to deal with her family's crazy antics) was deciding her plans for college. Little did she know the ugly path her choice would drag her down.
A choice that left her free-falling...
Fast forward five years. Her life still held that same laughter, love, and support, but it was no longer full. A shadow hung overhead, waiting. Always threatening.
Until he caught her...
Jake Taylor stormed into her life and turned her world upside down. He made her feel things she'd hidden away from; made her face life again. But, most importantly, he helped her find the light.
And gave her happily ever after...
*This book contains adult content (lots of swearing, a little drinking, and some sexy times) and is intended for readers 18 and older*
**This is book one in a series, but each book will be a STANDALONE with a new couple. NO cliffhanger**
Trigger Warning
(Physical abuse)
Purchase Links
AMAZON US / UK
Excerpt
(WARNING. Contains mentions of physical abuse)
I’m coming out the bathroom when I hear heated voices coming from my right at the end of the hallway. Being the nosey girl I am, I tiptoe in that direction to see what the heck is going on, half preparing myself to intervene if Nate’s trying to taunt Robby into another wrestling match.
I’m coming out the bathroom when I hear heated voices coming from my right at the end of the hallway. Being the nosey girl I am, I tiptoe in that direction to see what the heck is going on, half preparing myself to intervene if Nate’s trying to taunt Robby into another wrestling match.
Between fending those two off trying to put me in a headlock and wading in when they were trying to body slam each other, I should’ve gotten a job refereeing for the WWE.
Shaking my head, I move further along when I notice the voices are coming from the office on the left side with the door mostly closed. Just as I prepare to push in, I hear Robby say my name angrily.
“Seriously, J.T., what are you doing with Anna? And, how in the fuck do you even know her?”
“I met her earlier today when Roc, Man, and I stopped by to see Grace and help her out,” he explains and, I note, evading Robby’s first question.
Apparently Robby did too.
“You didn’t answer my question, man. If you only met her today, why the hell does she keep looking at you like she’s half in love with you? Anna doesn’t get close to guys like that. Not anymore.”
What the hell?
No way.
I was not looking at him like I was half in love with him.
Was I?
I mentally shook myself.
Of course I wasn’t, that’d be crazy.
I just met him.
“I don’t know what to tell you, but I did. Can tell you she feels anything like I do that look is not a bad thing.”
My face scrunches.
What does that mean?
“What the fuck does that mean?” Robby snaps.
“Man, it’s none of your business. It’s between Anna and me.”
Yikes.
That isn’t going to go over well with Robby.
He’d always been protective of Nate and me growing up, but especially me, and it only got way more intense after the whole Xavier thing—how that was possible I wasn’t sure, but it did.
“It sure as hell is my business. That’s my sister. I know how you are with women, J.T., and Anna is not one of those bitches. No fucking way. If you think for one minute I’m gonna stand by and let you fuck her over, you must’ve been hit in the head with a two-by-four one to many times. It ain’t gonna happen.”
Nope. Robby is not fucking around anymore.
I hear some shifting around before Jakes voice comes again.
“You think I’d come in your home knowing who she was to you, and I knew before I came tonight, then make a play and bail? Let me point out, man, you knew how I was in college with women, but you do not know how I am now. There’s rumors sure, but that’s all they fucking are. No way I’d make a play with your sister and not follow through with that shit.”
Suffice to say I’m not so crazy about him calling a play about me ‘shit’.
There’s a long pause.
Looking back, if I’d known what was coming next, I could’ve braced myself, run the other way, or jumped into the room and did a jig.
But, I didn’t.
Instead, I stand and listen while all the air leaves my lungs.
“She’s been hurt.”
“Rob, I got that,” Jake snaps in irritation.
“No man, she’s been fucking hurt,” Robby grinds out, the pain and anger in his voice is still as fresh as when he’d first seen my face after it happened.
I feel the air ping with something intense; even a little scary.
“Say again?”
“She’d kill me for telling you this,” he mutters.
He’s fucking right.
No one needs to know this shit, ever. Especially Jake. It’s over and done with. There’s no point in bringing it up when he’ll just end up looking at me different.
“Tell me,” he demands.
Robby sighs but tells him, “A few years back I get this frantic call from Evan, says Anna called her up crying, freaking out. Tells me to get my ass in gear and get up there. Nate was with me and heard the conversation, bitched at me until I gave in and we jumped in the car. When we got there, Jesus, man…” he trails off, likely trying to control his anger at the memory.
I, on the other hand, am using all my energy to keep my legs under me.
“What?” Jake bites out.
“The piece of shit hit her. Backed her into a fucking wall and punched her in the goddamn face.”
My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears I don’t hear a response, but Jake must’ve done something, made some sort of face, because Robby responds to it.
“Yeah, man, so you can see my dilemma when a guy who was the epitome of a ‘get him some’ guy comes sniffing around my baby sister after she’s already endured that shit. I’d rather some shy, balding, dull-as-shit guy who worships the ground she walks on go after her, but that’s a fucking dream. No way Anna would ever go after some boring, bald dude.”
I have to agree with him on that one.
A man who chooses to be bald and works it, yes. A man who is balding, chooses to hang on to his hair, and ends up going for the whole comb over look, not really my thing.
“Yeah, Rob, I can see your dilemma. Since you shared all that with me, I’ll give you something in return. First, I’m not backing off your sister. Yeah, I can see that displeases you, but I also don’t give a shit. Second, no fucking way I’d take in everything you just said and not go about this with the utmost care. You know she’s not just some woman and she’s not gonna be some woman who’s just gonna warm my bed for a night. There’s something there and it’s up to us to figure out where that’s gonna go, not for you or anyone else to decide. For us. The last thing I’ll give you is the same promise I gave her not two hours ago. No one is going to hurt her again, ever. Not one person. Doesn’t matter if what’s building between us goes sour, not a fucking person will hurt her again,” he finishes rocking my world, unaware he’s even doing so.
I decide now is the best time to make my move, so I do just that.
Author Bio
Kelsey is a romance hoarder (seriously, 2500+ and counting on her kindle. She'll have to read until the day she dies and beyond to finish her TBR), an amateur baker, an experimental cook, a Bob Seger groupie and a die-hard fan of all things leather, fringe, silver, classy, and full of sparkles.
Kelsey grew up the only girl in my family, and because of the age difference between the kids, she turned to books and barbies for enjoyment. That is when she wasn't horsing around the cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids.
Her love for reading and creating stories only grew from there.
As she got older, she got more involved with sports (mainly golf and softball), friends, boys, (duh!) but that never stopped her from enjoying books, or from making up background stories for her barbies and then later the sims in her game.
Summer of '15, she found herself at a point where one character wouldn't let her keep the story quiet.
Anna came to her while she was mowing, of all things, and wouldn't stop until she put the story down.
While giving Anna and Jake their HEA, they introduced her to all the awesome people in their lives. And because she's a huge sucker for a HEA, she'll be assisting everyone (that wants it of course) in finding their own happily ever after.
But, when she's not lost in the world of Willowbrook and all it's inhabitants, exploring a new planet, or finding new places to lose herself in characters, she can be found deep in the world of other authors, trying out her baking skills on her family and friends, learning, then tweaking new recipes from the Food Network, immersing herself in good music, relaxing and cackling with the people close to her, or disappearing as she binge-watches seasons in a day on Netflix.
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