Please welcome the character from BATTERED not broke !
What are your favorite scenes in
your book: the action, the dialog or the romance?
Definitely
the romance. <grin> Getting to know Wren has been amazing, and I’m really
glad she’s part of my life.
Do you infiltrate your writer’s
dreams?
All the
time. When she wasn’t writing, I’d try to give her a little nudge. The sooner
the story was told, the sooner I’d get to meet the amazing readers out there.
What do you like to do when you are
not being actively read somewhere?
I live in a
small town and there’s this great lake not too far away. I like to go fishing,
just sit in the quiet. I’m a Sheriff’s Deputy, so my job can be stressful. I enjoy doing anything that’s calming.
Fishing, reading, just hanging out with my girl.
Are you happy with the genre your
writer has placed you in?
Yes, but I
could have done without those suspense scenes. A straight romance with the only
heart racing moments being those between Wren and me would have been awesome.
Having someone threaten the girl of your dreams is not high on my list of
things I want to experience.
If you could rewrite anything in
your book, what would it be?
It’s hard to
say. I’d love to go back and have Wren come from a sheltered home, where she
was loved and cared for, and not beaten whenever her dad felt like it. But
then, if she hadn’t been escaping that life, I never would have met her.
Do you like the way the book ended?
Happy
endings are always awesome. I know that Wren and I still have an amazing future
ahead of us, but we’re definitely on the right path. The only thing that would
have made it better would have been looking about five years into the future.
I’d like to think I’d be married to Wren by then.
What
is your greatest fear?
Going to work and not
coming back home. Our town is pretty quiet, but any morning I wake up and put
on my badge and my gun, there’s a chance I won’t come home that night. I would
hate to put Wren through that. I know if I lost her I’d be devastated, and I’m
sure she feels the same about me.
What
do you wear when you go to sleep?
In the hotter months, I
sleep in my boxers, but I keep pajama pants in my dresser for the cooler
weather.
What do you find most appealing in
men/women?
The first
thing I notice about a woman is her eyes, unless she’s too far away. Then it’s
the curve of her hip. With Wren, it was a little of both…and then she smiled
and I was a goner. Of course, I knew her as Wendy then.
What sound or noise do you love?
I love the
sound of rain on a tin roof, or a storm raging outside. I like to watch the
lightning flash and hear the thunder rumble.
What sound or noise do you hate?
Definitely
nails on a chalkboard.
Are you a morning person or a
night owl?
I love watching the sun rise in the mornings and enjoying a cup of coffee
out on the porch. But with my job, I have to be prepared to work any shift, and
sometimes that means I have to be a night owl.
Have you ever gone alone to
either dinner or a movie? What about a vacation?
I used to go out alone all the time. Can’t say I’ve ever been on vacation
alone though, usually I had my grandfather with me. He raised me after my
parents died.
Thanks again for visiting with us today !!!!
Thanks again for visiting with us today !!!!
***
BATTERED
not broken
by CHARITY WEST
Contemporary/Romance/Young
Adult
40K,
Evernight Teen Publishing
Who knew falling for a
man in Khaki could cause so much trouble?
Battered and
bruised, Wren has taken a lot from her father over the years, but when he
throws her out of the house, she sees it as a blessing in disguise. She has no
job, no home, and never finished high school, but what’s all that compared to a
life without abuse? When she starts over in a new town, under a new identity,
she makes it her goal to fly under the radar.
New town,
new life. Only, there’s a corrupt deputy intent on stealing Deputy Gray
Frampton’s family fortune, a slight case of aggravated identity fraud, and a
night in the local jail. It’s enough to make any girl’s head spin. Wren
Michaels has to find a way not to spend the next three years in jail, warn Gray
that Deputy Pritchard is after him, and somehow hold onto the
happily-ever-after that is finally within her grasp—assuming Gray wants a felon
as his girlfriend. Who knew falling for a man in khaki could cause so much
trouble?
14+ due to violence and
adult situations
Excerpt:
The shadows crept closer as a deep
cold settled into my bones. I cowered on the floor of my closet, hidden behind
shoes and clothes, as I listened to the slap of flesh against flesh. He’d come
home drunk again, even more so than usual, and he’d barely cleared the door
before landing the first blow. It was cowardly of me to hide. I should stand up
and fight—do something to make him stop. My phone was still clutched in my
hand, and my heart pounded in my chest, the thump-thump loud in my ears.
I knew I should call 9-1-1 and get help for Mom, but I also knew that even if
they arrested him, they’d never keep him. Mom would give the cops some bullshit
excuse as to why he was beating her, or say she fell, and then she’d refuse to
press charges. If I thought things were bad now, they’d be even worse if he
went to jail for the night. We’d lived through that horror once already, and
once was more than enough. No one had to tell me my dad was an abusive asshole
who thrived on being a bully. I’d experienced it firsthand.
My palms grew slick as I heard my
mother’s whimpers and then booted steps coming down the hall. Was I going to be
next? The footsteps grew louder, and I heard my bedroom door slam into the
wall. I bit my lip to stifle my cry, hoping he wouldn’t find me. He shuffled
around my room, his boots clomping and scraping the wood floor as he searched
for me. When the closet doors were flung open, I squeezed myself as far into
the corner as I could, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough.
An iron grip closed around my arm,
his fingers biting into my skin, as he jerked me out of the closet. I stumbled
and fell to my knees at his feet, bracing myself for what would happen next. My
head was wrenched back, tears stinging in my eyes as he fisted my hair. There
was such hatred in his gaze, such contempt, as if he couldn’t even stand to
look at me. I’d always done everything he’d ever asked, and still it wasn’t
enough. As far as my dad was concerned, I’d ruined his life, and he was going
to make me pay for it until I was able to leave this place behind.
“Thought you could hide from me?” he
slurred. “Stupid little bitch.”
The slap across my cheek made tears
spill down my face, but I ground my teeth together so I wouldn’t make a sound.
When he knew he was causing me pain, he seemed to enjoy it more, and I wouldn’t
give him the satisfaction. He pulled hard until I was standing upright, my hair
still clutched in his fist, and then he punched me in the stomach. I folded at
the waist, gasping for breath as stars danced in my vision and bile rose in my
throat.
“Worthless. That’s what you are.” He
kicked out and knocked me to my knees again. “You should be groveling, thanking
me for your life. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be here, you
ungrateful shit.”
Yes, because thanking him for the
abuse he heaped on me day after day, thanking him for all the hurtful names I’d
been called, thanking him for the days I’d had to skip school because I
couldn’t hide the bruises—that was exactly what I wanted to do. One day, he
would get what was coming to him. I didn’t know how or who would do it, but I
knew someday he’d piss off the wrong person and they’d beat his ass until he
cried like a baby. And I hoped like hell I was there to see it. I’d kick back
with some popcorn and enjoy the show. I hated him. Hated him.
“You think I don’t see the way you
look at me?” he demanded. “Well, I’m tired of it. I’m finished with you. My
life was better before your mother got knocked up. Ever since she popped you
out, you’ve been nothing but a financial drain. Not anymore. You have five
minutes to pack your shit and get the fuck out of my house. And if I ever see
you again, I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
Like I didn’t already wish that every
day of my life. I should thank him for offering me freedom, even if I had
nowhere to go. Anything was better than staying here. Plenty of people lived on
the streets, so there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t do it, too. It just meant
I’d have to find a way to get my GED sooner rather than later. Dropping out of
high school hadn’t been the best decision in the world, but when Dad had broken
my arm, Mom had thought it would be better than facing questions we couldn’t
answer.
He stomped out of the room, and I
heard his bedroom door slam. After grabbing a bag out of my closet, I shoved
several outfits, underthings, and socks into it. I snatched my toothbrush and
hairbrush out of the bathroom and crammed them in there, too. As an
afterthought, I grabbed the travel pouch from under the sink that had shampoo,
soap, and a razor tucked inside. I didn’t know where I would go to shower, or
where I was going to sleep tonight, but I would figure it out. Maybe Mom would
let me come home to bathe while Dad was at work a few times a week. Plus, it
would give me a chance to check on her.
I zipped up my bag and then grabbed
my backpack and purse off the bed. With my keys clutched tight, I walked out of
the only home I’d ever known. Mom didn’t say a word as I passed her, and she
didn’t try to stop me. Maybe she figured I was better off living anywhere but
at home, and she may have been right.
About the Author:
Charity West is a young adult romance
author who has always had her head in the clouds. She had her first crush when
she was four, and it lasted for six years. Then she quickly fell head over
heels for another boy, until she had to move away and leave him behind. Jumping
from one boy to another, she finally found a keeper when she was twenty, and
she’s been married to him ever since.
By the time Charity was twelve, she
was sneaking her mother’s Harlequin romances and reading them in secret when
she was supposed to be asleep. Teased throughout middle school and high school
for the bodice ripper covers on the books she openly read in class, she knew
that one day she wanted to write her own happily-ever-afters.
Giveaway:
$10 Evernight Teen GC
