💙 EXCERPT REVEAL💙Take a peek inside 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞, a small town, fake relationship romance, by Amber Kelly, coming September 1st! Pre-order yours today!

💙 EXCERPT REVEAL💙

Take a peek inside 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞, a small town, fake relationship romance, by Amber Kelly, coming September 1st! Pre-order yours today! 

Pre-order: https://amzn.to/3ODshsC

Add it to your TBR: https://bit.ly/3b2ZIHr

Review: https://forms.gle/mss28GwbbJCcq5KH9

 

Excerpt:

“Can I ask you a serious question?” I ask. 

“Why not? I feel like we’ve gotten freakishly close this evening,” he says. 

“You’re a good-looking man. Women have been eyeing you all night, not that you’ve noticed. Why have you stayed with her this long?” I ask. 

He contemplates the question for a moment. 

“I have no idea,” he says into his empty glass. 

“No, honestly, you can tell me. Is she a freak in bed? She is, isn’t she?” 

He laughs. 

“Oh my God. She took your virginity,” I deadpan. 

“No,” he sputters. 

“Is she keeping some deep, dark secret that you’re afraid she’ll expose if you dump her? Is there a dead body buried under your house?”

He shakes his head. “I’d never bury a body on my own property. Only a dumbass would do that. I’d bury it in Weston’s yard.”

I laugh. “Then, what is it?” 

“I don’t know. It wasn’t always like this. We used to be happy. She was shy and sweet and not hard on the eyes. We had fun. Then, she moved in, and we settled into real life. When she turned twenty-five, she got access to a trust fund her grandparents set up for her. She gets a substantial allowance the first of every month and has decided that life should be one big party. All the time. I kept thinking she’d grow out of it and want to settle down and start a family, but every time things seem to be on the upswing, she gets restless or something,” he explains. 

“She’s how old now?” I ask.

“Thirty-one.”

I let out a low whistle. “Six years. Wow. Don’t you think it’s time to cut your losses?”

“I’ve tried. It’s like we’re too ingrained in each other’s lives. We live in a small town. We have the same friends. Hang out at the same places. She has eyes everywhere that watch my every move. It’s not like I can just date someone else. The minute I walk into a restaurant or bar with another female, one of her girls will be on the phone with her, and she’ll be at the table within ten minutes.”

“Oh, so you’re lazy,” I surmise. 

His brow furrows. “Lazy?”

“Yeah, it’s easier to just be with her than stick to your guns even if you’re unhappy. It’s kind of sad.”

“Lazy,” he repeats. 

“You know what you need? A girl who doesn’t give a shit what she or her mean-girl posse thinks. Someone who isn’t intimidated by bitchy, entitled females.”

“Where do you find that? I mean, it’s one thing if I had time to build a relationship with someone, but what girl wants to put up with bullshit from the first date?” he asks. 

I pour us another shot.

“I’ll do it,” I say. 

He raises an eyebrow. “You’ll do what?”

“I’ll be your girlfriend.”

He chokes on the whiskey he just swallowed. “My girlfriend?”

“Your fake girlfriend,” I clarify.

“Okay.”

I lean in and tap his nose with my finger. “Look, you and I will hang out. Let all her busybody friends see us together. When she gets back from her getaway, we’ll be a known couple. She won’t like it. She’ll probably apologize and beg for your forgiveness and all that crap. But I’ll be there to keep you from buckling.” 

“You think that will work?”

“Sure it will. She’ll either move on or it will scare her into straightening her ass out for real. Whichever you accept is up to you.”

“Why would you offer to do this for me?” he asks. 

“I don’t like to see people use love as manipulation. It’s cruel to play with hearts. Abuse of any kind is a hard limit for me. So, if you’re in, I’m in.”

 

Blurb:

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥.

 

I learned at a young age to trust no one, protect myself, and guard my heart. All lessons my mother burned into me. She may not have had a lot to offer in way of help but she poured all she had into me and made me the independent woman I am today. So after laying her to rest, I packed my belongings and moved to the place that she talked about often. A place where she enjoyed the carefree pleasures of childhood.

 

Balsam Ridge, Tennessee is a little slice of paradise and nothing like the busy city that I’m accustomed to. With its idyllic setting, friendly strangers, and slower pace, a girl could easily be charmed into letting her walls down. 

 

It was only going to be a stop on my journey. A respite while I figured out my next move, and catching feelings for the confident and sexy local Fire Chief, Corbin Tuttle, was not part of the plan. 

 

It was supposed to be a game. A hoax. A brief fling to help him break a toxic cycle. But my mother always told me, that sometimes you need a little rain to calm the fire.

Small town, Family Saga, Fake Relationship. Coming September 1, 2022

 

Find more books by Amber Kelly here: www.authoramberkelly.com