Happy Friday, everyone! And happy release day to Loyalty and Lies, a new adult contemporary romance by L.A. Cotton. There’s lots of goodies below, including a giveaway…what better way to start the weekend, right? š
Book Title: Loyalty and Lies (Chastity Falls #1)
Author: LA Cotton
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 2015
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Eighteen-year-old Savanah Parry just moved three thousand miles across state to escape. The memoriesā¦the whispersā¦the pain.
Chastity Falls Academy is supposed to be her fresh start; her salvation. And when Ana meets mysterious Jackson, she begins to think it is. She hasnāt smiled in almost sixteen months; not since the night her life changed forever, and despite her guiltā¦her loyalty, Ana canāt deny that Jackson is breathing life back into her. With Jackson by her side, Ana wants to believe she can heal and move on. But she isnāt the only one living a lie, and the small private Academy has secrets of its own. All is not what it seems, and Ana is about to find herself in a tangled web of lies; fighting for survival, again.
Loyalties will be tested, lies will be told. Welcome to Chastity Falls.
Gardner’s class was nothing compared to the torture of sitting so close to Jackson in Shakespeare. After his warning to stay away from him, I thought he might pick an alternative seat, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he brushed straight passed me, dropped into his usual chair and acted as if nothing had happened. I had to fight back the urge to ask him why he had told me to stay away from me. I mean, it wasn’t like we hung out. There had been coffee at the shifty sea front hutā¦once, and then the embarrassing sprained-ankle-in-the-storm incident.
āToday, class, I want us to look at the character Iagoā¦ā Professor Shacksā voice echoed around the small room. āIago is the voice whispering in Othelloās ear, playing to Othelloās own paranoia and insecurities around his relationship with Desdemona. Of course, Othello trusts Iago implicitly, why wouldnāt he trust his long serving friend and lieutenant? A fact that Iago uses to his own advantageā¦ā
Jackson shuffled next to me, and then quickly dropped a white note onto my desk. What now? I sighed, feeling frustrated at his mixed signals.
Howās the ankle?
Okay thanks
I balled up the note and tossed it onto his desk, watching him through the corner of my eye. A slight smirk played on his lips, and it was obvious he was aware I was pissed at him. He started scribbling a reply, which landed in front of me seconds later.
Iāve heard coffee (or a banana shake) can work wonders for a sprained ankle⦠healing properties or something.
I scowled at his slightly scruffy handwriting wondering what game he was trying to play with me.
Thanks. Iāll make sure I have a banana shake before bed
Feeling pleased with myself, I held out the note for him and he plucked it out of my hand, silently laughing when his eyes scanned the words.
How about a shake before bed⦠with me?
My eyes blinked. And blinked again, feeling the heat of embarrassment wash over my face. Was he flirting with me? I felt thirteen all over again. Mikey Crand used to send me love notes in Biology and me and my friend Lacey would giggle over them. Feeling brave, I handed him my reply.
Are you inviting me for a shake? Or to bed?
Jacksonās eyes widened and he shuffled slightly in his seat. Take that mister confusing, I thought, pleased with myself.
Are you saying yes?
I inwardly groaned. Jackson: one, Ana: zero. I couldnāt keep this up without drifting into territory that terrified me. Jackson was the first guyāthe only guyāthat made me smile⦠made my stomach flutter⦠made me feel anything since Danny. It wasnāt the plan, not what I ran to CFA to find, but somehow I had found it. Found somethingāsomeoneāthat made me feel again. Was that enough to try and get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Jackson? Of why he had warned me to stay away?
To the shake⦠maybe
Meet me round back five minutes after class
I was heading for a one-way trip into purgatory, because as I discreetly watched Jackson out the corner of my eye I knew. Knew there would be no way I could walk away. Right or wrong, sensible or stupid, he had awoken a part of me that I thought I would never find againā¦and I couldnāt just give that up. Not for all the warnings in the world.
~
Ninety-minutes later, I was sitting in Blackās suffering some kind of post-Jackson whiplash.
āIām surprised you asked me for coffee again.ā I slurped up the thick banana shake.
Jackson watched me, his eyes were more the color of the bluey-green ocean today, than their usual shade. āActually, I invited you for a shake.ā He quipped back.
I tried broaching the subject during the ride to Blackās, but he just shrugged me off, talking about the weather. The freaking weather. I was done with his evasion techniques. āAfter you warned me to stay away from you the other night?ā
He placed his mug back on its plate and sighed. I watched, captivated, as he ran his hand through his messy dark hair, the longer strands falling back into place, a five āoāclock shadow cloaking his jaw. āAbout that⦠I may have been a little hasty.ā
āHasty?ā
āSee the thing isā¦ā His eyes held mine, smoldering at me, pleading with me. āIām not sure I can stay away from you.ā
My lips moved to say something but nothing came out. Jackson watched me intently and I gulped. It felt like he was willing me to agree, to accept that there was a reason we should stay away from each other, but to ignore it. And I got the feeling it was a no questions asked kind of arrangement.
āItād be better for you⦠for us, if you stay away from me, Ana. But I donāt want you to. Iām too selfish to walk away.ā
āBut-ā
Jackson cut me off. āNo questions. Thatās the deal. We spend time together, get to know each other, but you canāt ask any of the questions I know you have swimming round in that pretty little head of yours.ā
āOkay, but-ā
His hand found mine across the booth, and his fingers grazed my knuckles. āNo questions. Thatās just the way it has to be for now.ā
I nodded. Unsure what I was agreeing to.
āYou wonāt regret it Ana Parry, I promise.ā
Author of NA Contemporary Romance, L. A. Cotton loves writing about those first looks, first kisses, and happily ever afters.
A wearer-of-many-hats, L.A juggles being a full-time mum to two little people with two part-time jobs and college. In her spare time (and when sheās not camped out in front of the laptop) youāll most likely find her immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life. LA has two books currently self-published: Fate’s Love and Love’s Spark. Loyalty and Lies, is book one in her NA college series: Chastity Falls.
You can connect with her at:
Love seeing the playlists to go with a book/series š
Ooh, me too…a lot of the times I’ve never heard of the song/artist, so it gives me a good excuse to look up new-to-me music.