TITLE - Worth It
AUTHOR - Linda Kage
SERIES - Book 6 in the Forbidden Men series (but could be read as a standalone--I hope!)
GENRE - New Adult contemporary romance
LEGNTH - 125,000 words or 495 pages.
RELEASE DATE - August 25th
BLURB
I fell in love once.
It was amazing. She was amazing. Life was amazing.
I lived for each time I could see her, and nothing else mattered, not that our families were enemies, our time together was forbidden, or we had to meet in secret.
Our love could conquer all.
Until it didn't.
So I was ripped away from the love of my life and shoved into hell, forced to continue without her.
It shattered me, broke the best parts of me, left me permanently damaged.
Or so I thought.
Years later, I swear history’s trying to repeat itself because she’s back in my life, and I’m just as drawn to her as I was before. But I'm older and wiser now, and I know she should stay away from a worthless piece of ex-con like me.
So, I will not let her in. I absolutely refuse to hurt her. I will keep her away.
Then again, sometimes risking your greatest fear to get to a smile makes everything worth it, and besides, I’m not sure I can resist her, anyway.
This is the story of how Felicity Bainbridge changed my life forever, starting one summer day long ago after I was forced to change a dirty diaper...
--Knox Parker
WORTH IT Goodreads Link - https://www.goodreads.com/
Author Links
website - http://lindakage.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/lindakage
Pre-order links are slowly going up!
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/
Kobo - coming soon
Amazon - coming soon
EXCERPTS:
#1
"I’m fine. It’s okay. I...” When I looked up, the words stalled on my tongue. Then they dissolved in shock as I realized I knew him. “You’re...” Well, maybe I didn’t KNOW him, know him. But I definitely knew what he was. He was, “...a Parker.”
I wasn’t sure which Parker exactly. I’d seen him in school; he was a year ahead of me. But I didn’t know his first name. It had to be strange, though. They all had funky first names. Speed. Cobra. Mercedes. And there were a ton of them. Six or seven, or something like that. Their father had lined them up on our driveway and listed them off, right before yanking forward the only girl and claiming my brother Garrett had gotten her pregnant.
That had been months ago, back in the spring. After a brief, private conference with Bruce Parker—the Parkers’ dad—my father had dismissed them out of hand and sent the lot of them away, complaining throughout dinner that evening about how the dirty trash Parker family had upset his entire afternoon by daring to set their pathetic, second-hand-store shoes on his property.
The entire scene had caused a stir for weeks, really. Father grumbled about how he’d like to take the Parkers’ land from them and send them away permanently. Mother had fretted over possible rumors circulating of any of her sons having had any kind of dealings with a Parker. Max incessantly teased Garrett about his impending fatherhood. And an indignant Garrett disclaimed all accusations. But I hadn’t seen or heard from anyone in the Parker family since then.
Until now.
As my eyes grew big with shock, his narrowed in recognition.
“Bainbridge,” he hissed.
And just like that, we were enemies.
#2
“Hey, everyone. This is Knox Parker. He’s our new bartender.”
All four men spun around, and every gaze landed on me.
The fourth guy finally wandered closer, eyeing me up and down. “Since when do we have a new bartender?”
“Since today,” Pick answered casually.
Mr. Curious hitched his chin Pick’s way. “Is this the ex-con?”
Pick shook his head and sighed. “Ten,” he muttered. “You got a big fucking mouth, you know that?”
“What?” Ten shrugged. “Was I supposed to keep that secret?”
“Just...” Pick lifted his hands. “Let’s not go spreading his record around outside the six of us, okay? In fact, for the first week or so, you all don’t even know his name. Got it?”
None of the other bartenders seemed to get it. They stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. I gave him my own confused glance, wondering why he wanted even my name kept under wraps. But he didn’t explain himself.
Finally, the one Ten had called Lowe pointed at me as he asked Pick. “Is he—”
“Yes,” Pick clipped out, sending Lowe a hard stare before Lowe whirled back to me and studied me from head to toe.
A moment later, he huffed out a strange sounding, “Oh.”
I had no idea what they were talking about, so I transferred a leery scowl between the two of them, hoping they’d clue me in. But all Lowe did when I glanced at him was offer me a nervous smile and a greeting nod, which only made me warier.
What the hell?
From his barstool, Hart tipped his chin up and decided to talk to me directly. “So what’d you do time for?”
I turned my attention to him, and something in my gaze must’ve intimidated him because he took an untrusting pull back in his seat. Since it was obvious I already skeeved him out, I couldn’t help myself; I answered, “Rape and murder.”
A pregnant pause followed before Ten exploded, “What the fuck, Pick? You just hired a murdering rapist to work with us? Dude!”
Pick sent me a dry glance as if to tell me to keep my mouth shut. But I only gazed back, unrepentant. It wasn’t as if I’d lied. I had done time for both accusations.
Rubbing a spot on his forehead, Pick frowned at his bartenders. “How long have you idiots known me? Do you honestly think I’d hire a rapist?”
The disgust in his voice seemed to relieve them, but the one still standing closest to me, visually inspecting me, asked, “What about the murdering part?”
Pick shrugged. Then he glanced at Lowe and murmured, “I’m sure he had a good reason for that.”
“Oh, great. That’s just great.” Ten threw his hands into the air and spun away, before facing Pick again. “When he rapes and murders me, please tell my wife he probably had a good reason for it.”
Hart, still sitting in front of the laptop, snickered. “If he murdered you, Ten, he WOULD have a good reason.”
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