She wanted to love me, but her family wanted me dead. Born a mafia princess, Kelsie had no idea she’d be crossing names off the Beneventi hit list. With each assassination, she lost a piece of her humanity. She clung to me, daring me to push her away, but I loved her too much to let her go. Love complicated everything, until she realized I was #31 on her list.
Targeted Age Group:: New Adult, Adult
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Powerful female leads. I wanted to write about a character who stepped out of her box and became a symbol of power in her family.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Kelsie, Breaker, and Stone have been on my mind for a long time. It's not just about Kelsie, but about introducing you to the lies all of them believed. Kelsie has to learn to love, Breaker to trust, and Stone to depend. Of course, they have to deal with the consequences of being 'better human' in the mob world.
Book Sample
Hayden
The front door is open all the way back. Splinters of wood are scattered on the floor, and there's blood splattered on the freshly painted white walls. I quietly drop my football gear on the last step of the porch and pluck my cell phone out of my back pocket. My fingers quickly unlock the screen as I move out of sight.
Using the shrub to shield my body, I peek in through the large living room windows to find a plastic lining the cream-colored carpet.
And blood.
Lots of blood.
My heart sinks to the bottom of my chest. No one can survive that much blood loss.
I can’t fight the debilitating effect of fear, but I manage to dial my father. The seconds it takes for the connection to be made between my phone and his takes an eternity.
My mind fills with hope when it rings the first time, and I hear nothing from the house.
Maybe he’s not dead.
The second ring comes from the backyard. Then, the third ring.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and beg to myself, 'Pick up, Dad.'
He doesn’t.
I swallow the ball of fear blocking the air to my chest and manage to take a few ragged breaths. Dad always answers by the third ring. It’s something we’ve been doing since he went undercover. I glance down at my phone and wait for the screen to light up with an incoming call from him.
Minutes tick by.
My heart constricts with fear when nothing comes through. My fingers tremble with the realization that the time has finally come.
I thought we were safe. No one’s ever safe from the Beneventi family, my father’s voice echoes in my head, pumping me full of adrenaline. 'If anything happens to me, there’s a black pen drive in the shed, inside the nail drawer. Hide it until the day someone asks you for it. Don’t look at it. Don’t tell anyone you have it, not even Kade.'
Even though every cell in my body is on high alert, I don't have time to panic. I step out of my hideaway and look around the premises, searching for something out of place.
There’s nothing. Not a single broken branch, or a strange car, or even people peering through the windows.
I sprint around back, and the lights turn on.
Shit. The motion detectors.
A loud noise cracks through the air, coming from the direction of the house. I drop down on my stomach and wait for motion.
Footsteps… Someone's coming!
I roll to the side and find the crawl space, squeezing myself in between the wood and dirt. The pungent stench infiltrates my nose, enticing my gag reflexes.
'Don't breathe,' I tell myself as the footsteps grow distant. Then, I dial my father again.
Immediately, I see the light beside me.
I drop my phone to the ground and end the call.
My father’s phone is under here with me.
Along with a head.
Links to Purchase eBooks
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Author Bio:
Sonya’s a nerd—a cool nerd—who loves science, books, make-up and unicorns. She even has unicorn slippers and unicorn plushes adorn her office. It’s not obsession (or so she says), it’s simply an ode to her imaginative side. Storytelling has been her passion since her youth, but her family believes it's more than that.
Painting, sketching, carpet-making, lyrics, poetry—artistic endeavors have no limit with Sonya. They may not always come out perfect, but art serves as an outlet, which helps balance out the factual, science-driven part of her brain.
Though she's fun-loving, complex-minded, and heart-driven, her philosophy on life is quite simple: Shit happens. Keep going.
When asked to elaborate, she said, "Believing in yourself is probably one of the hardest things to do, but look in the mirror. You're still standing. That's strength. Don't underestimate yourself."
Sonya also believes in fairytales and in the beautiful things a mind can conjure. She’s a firm believer in empowering the crazy fictional ideas, putting them down on paper, and letting them flourish into a story.
