Title: Shame
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Release day: October 6th
Everything done in darkness,
will eventually be brought into the light.
I ran, but all it did was
keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new
identity. But you can't change your soul.
A fresh start at college was
just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that
seemed confident, but it was a lie.
When guys kissed me--I felt
only pain.
When they touched me--Nothing
but fear.
Deep inside, every girl wants
to be the beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their
world.
But the truth? I was the
beast. And as much as I wanted redemption, I wasn't fool enough to think I'd
ever get it.
Until he walked into my life.
I wasn't prepared to fall for
someone. My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace,
he offered me security. I should have known it was just another lie--I should
have known that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.
But I was powerless to stop
myself from falling.
And he was powerless to catch
me.
Because the darkness finally
caught up to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry.
But I'm stronger than I knew. I'm stronger than you think.
You think you know my story,
but you don't....after all everyone has Shame in their lives-- and I'm no
longer afraid to show you mine.
I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against hers. A shaky breath escaped her lips. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Are you trying to prepare me or ask permission?” she whispered, her voice beckoning me like a siren’s call.
“Both.” My lips hovered near hers. “I figure it’s only fair.”
“Fair?” She pulled back slightly. “How so?”
“Ten thousand.” I angled my head and watched the pulse jump on her neck. “That’s how many nerve endings, on average, are in your lips. Consequently, when your body anticipates pleasure, the build-up is the best part. Imagine, those ten thousand nerves are swelling, allowing blood to surge through them in anticipation of… what?” I swept my tongue across her lower lip and whispered, “Of being touched. I ask permission, not because I’m being a gentleman. It’s actually the complete opposite. I ask permission so your brain anticipates the pleasure before I’ve ever even touched you.”
I tasted her lower lip again and abruptly dipped my tongue into her mouth. Then just as quickly retreated. “The human body is an instrument. Know how to master it… and well…” I let my voice drop as I moved my hands slowly to her shoulders and tugged her body flush against mine. Our mouths met softly at first. I deepened the kiss, memorizing her taste, knowing I wouldn’t experience a kiss like this again in my lifetime. The way her scent, her soft moans destroyed my body, wrecked me from the deepest part of me, was nothing short of life-altering.
And I’d like to think I’d kissed a lot of women.
I’d studied the psychology of sexuality.
I was an expert in pleasure.
But she was schooling me, absolutely wreaking havoc on every logical thought as her soft whimper cascaded over me. Blood surged through my body as it tightened with awareness at her proximity.
She pulled back, her lips swollen. “That was… not a good enough warning.”
Laughing softly, I cupped the back of her head and gently drew it toward mine and kissed her again, angling my lips differently, searching her, consuming her, drawing pleasure from her lips as if it was my life goal to discover every single secret she owned.
Her arms wrapped around my neck. She was shy; she didn’t push against me, didn’t wrap her legs around me or moan into my mouth like I was having sex with her rather than kissing her.
My hands moved down her corset to her hips, and I lifted her into the air and walked her backward toward the brick wall. The whole time, our masks collided. In frustration, I ripped hers off, then mine. The shadows of moonlight hid our faces as I kissed her harder, losing myself in her.
Her nails dug at the back of my neck as she jerked my head harder. Groaning, I let her fall to the ground as I placed my hands on the brick wall to keep myself from ripping the dress from her body.
Shouting started from the ballroom.
“Ten, nine…!”
“Eight,” I whispered against her mouth. “Seven.”
“Six.” She sighed, her breathing labored as her tongue found mine again. “Five.”
“Four, three.” I pulled back and trailed kisses down her neck.
“Two.”
We broke apart, both breathing heavy. “One.”
People burst out onto the balcony as the fireworks started, lighting up the sky. And our faces.
And the only thing I could say as she gasped in horror was “Oh, shit.”
"Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain." -Samuel Johnson
Shame is told in the dual point of views from Lisa and Tristan with journal
notes from Taylor B in the beginning of each chapter then they switch to Mel's feelings as things unfolded during the time when Taylor was making it a priority to ruin her life.
I did have a slow start with this and I think that is only because I have not
read the previous two books. I did get confirmation from the author that the
first two books did not need to be read first. Regardless of this, I think the book was fantastic. I really thought it was going to be more of a contemporary romance (fall in love and live happily ever after type of love story) but it had a lot of suspense in it and that I enjoyed that!!
In the story of SHAME, you meet a woman who has been to hell and back and her
boyfriend commits suicide right in front of her wanting her to confess her love for him. This happens in the very beginning (prologue so no spoilers here) and she actually walks away not sad and actually relieved that he is gone and she can try to piece her life back together. So she moves away, changes her name and looks. She starts school and falls for her professor. He is the only person that hasn't made her want to gag when the thoughts of intimacy run through her head. She knows it's not right but how can she stop herself when this has never happened before.
He'd ruined my life, my career, everything that night and I knew my only
saving grace was disappearing, pulling out of the public eye and pretending to be something else and someone different. -Lisa
I stared down at the ground, closing my eyes, wishing for snow, wishing for a do-over. Wishing I could go back and make footprints straight in the snow, wishing I wouldn't have chosen death. But that's the thing about choices; you don't regret them until after they've been made. It may be seconds later, or a year. Shame always comes. And you're about to know mine.... -Lisa
She starts receiving these anonymous letters in her mailbox at her dorm.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are! I know your secret,
wanna know mine?" -Anonymous
She attempts to get new mailboxes but they keep finding her and sending them.
They eventually start getting closer to her making it impossible to hide from. She ends up turning to her professor for cover as the threats get worse but he sends mixed signals which cause her so much confusion.
"You're beautiful....but you're not my beautiful." - Tristan
I truly had no control; the madness she created in me stirred parts of my
soul that I hadn't even known existed until now. What the hell was I supposed to do? Leave her alone? Kiss her? Walk away? - Tristan
soul that I hadn't even known existed until now. What the hell was I supposed to do? Leave her alone? Kiss her? Walk away? - Tristan
Little did I know that one night with her would seal my fate
forever...would align our destinies in a way I couldn't possibly fathom. But that's what happened when you were blinded by your own attraction. Your own emotions, they rule you. So when you walk by someone taking pictures of you from the shadows.... when you hear curing in the dark corners, you don't pay attention - because you're blinded by your lust for her. And that's where I took my first stumble, not knowing I was taking her with me. - Tristan
Do we really understand why emotions play so much into our lives? Do we
inadvertently send mixed signals because we ourselves are confused?
“I think the world has it wrong when it strives after the beautiful. It
should fight for the ugly; it should hope for the damned; it should seek the lost - because in the end, if there weren't tears, if there wasn't fighting, then do you really deserve to feel satisfied and happy?" - Wes
I highly recommend this book and she's the author of 29 books!
Holy moly that's awesome!!!!
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances.
When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and
plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Van-Dyken/e/B0054TW5AA/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1407369649&sr=8-2-ent
