Fate took Cassandra down a path she never expected.
Then a small town in Colorado gave her exactly what she needed—until tragedy left
her heartbroken and devastated. Alone with only her child and her memories, Cassie
struggled to put her life back together, one day at a time, piece by piece. Finding love
again was something she never thought possible. That was, until she ran into an
unlikely stranger who flipped her entire world on its axis.
Aidan had a secret locked away in his heart; one that would surely send Cassie
running the second she discovered it. He held onto her closely and kept his secret
guarded, but one careless mistake could reveal all.
Their friendship was strong, their moments beautiful, and the love that brewed
between them intense—something neither denied. The only problem? Cassie was
slowly letting him into her life. Could she let herself get close to the one person she
didn’t think she should?
Her mind tells her to run, but her heart tells her to stay.
Chapter 1 – One Year
Ago
Dan
My hand shot left
and landed on the alarm clock, silencing its incessant beeping. There was no
point even setting it. I’d been awake for hours, anyway, but inside my nerves
were having a hay day. Heartbeats thudded against my chest as I sucked in deep
breaths trying to calm myself.
“Fuck it,” I muttered,
kicking my heavy comforter off.
I swung my legs
over the edge of the bed and ran a hand through my messy morning hair. My eyes
traveled to the phone on my nightstand. I picked it up, sent a quick message to
my brother, then tossed it beside me on the bed and made my way to the kitchen
in nothing but my boxers. After dumping coffee grinds into the maker and
setting the machine to brew, I braced my arms against the white countertop and
stared
down mindlessly while I waited. Your brain knew when something was important.
It wouldn’t let you think of anything else. It was all-consuming. Today, it
might just be the death of me.
I filled my lucky
Denver Bronco’s mug and paced my way through the house. Wearing a path in the
floor was the only thing slowing my thoughts. I downed a few sips and stopped
in front of a tall bookshelf. A covered box containing all my letters from Jase
was nestled there.
It had started out
as a joke, but neither of us could stop writing. I told him I had a mailbox at
college and then every week I had a letter waiting for me. And every week I’d
write him back. I saved them all. His latest had me smiling hard. He was happy.
Really happy—thanks to her. I needed to
meet that girl. My eyes caught a glimpse of the clock; it was nearly
time.
I took a shower
and slipped on a pair of worn jeans, a plain tee, and my Nikes. Sucking in a
deep breath, I grabbed my keys and left, bracing myself for the day
ahead.
I
was only an hour into my drive when the red engine light caught my eye. It came
on every once in a while, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. My foot
pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. As the needle on the speedometer
crept higher, a new light on the dashboard lit up. And then it happened—my car
started to shut down. “Fuck.” I banged my fist at the wheel as the car slowed.
But no amount of banging or cursing helped. I veered to the shoulder of the
highway, dodging car after car. Finally, the piece of crap stopped dead.
“No, no, no. Don’t
do this to me now.” I pounded the steering wheel again, ready to beat it to
death. “Not today. Damn it!” I reached for my phone in the cup holder, dialed
the number for Triple A, and within minutes the rep said a tow truck would be
on its way. Estimated time of forty-five minutes. Great.
It was too
important of a day to be starting out like this. I only prayed things turned
around.
Months ago when B.A. Wolfe released Away I thought to myself, hmmm, this book it's getting a lot of buzz I should really check it out. Unfortunately time goes by and I never got a chance to read. When I saw that the sequel Stay was getting set to release I told myself, I AM READING THESE BOOKS! No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I had to make the time to read them. Well.... fast forward to today. I am left speechless by B.A. Wolfe and I personally think she's THE best indie authors out there! She brought me to tears, full on ugly cry tears (not an easy thing to do by the way) twice! Once at the end of Away and then again at the end of Stay. Her writing is so beautiful and she just pulls you into her story and you feel the characters pain and heartbreak. You feel their joy and happiness. I felt it all! She has quickly moved up my list of favorite authors and if she writes it, I will buy it. She's definitely a automatic one click for me!
Stay picks up several months after where Away ends. I'm still picking up the pieces of my broken heart from Away!!! Gah.... But sometimes fate has different plans for us. Cassie thought Jason would be her forever. But now she's living life being a single mom. With Melanie and Moose by her side, she makes it her mission to ensure the baby Jace knows he is loved. She is determined to give him the life she never had. One afternoon at a coffeeshop, Cassie literally runs into a hunk of a man with a set of hazel eyes she swears she has seen before. She has a sense of familiarity about him but with the embarrassment of spilling her drink down the front of him, its brushed off and each go their separate way. Fate keeps bringing together and a night out with Mel brings the hazel eyed stranger aka Aidan and Cassie together again. But fate wasn't so with them yet....
While visiting Jason's parents, Cassie and the infamous brother we hear about in Away will finally meet. To Cassie's surprise, its Aidan from the coffeeshop and bar. The guilt she feels for starting to have an attraction to someone else, let alone Jason's brother eats away at her.
"I’d finally found someone I enjoyed being around, someone I wanted to get to know on a deeper level, and for the first time, I couldn’t." - Cassie
Little does Cassie know, Jason wrote a letter to Aidan while on his deathbed asking Aidan to watch over Cassie, to be there for her, to be the one she leans on because Jason knew he wouldnt be there. Aidan didn't plan on falling in love with her in the process. What he feels for Cassie is something that he's never felt before. He knows she's something special and is determined to work past her guilt and get her to see its ok to love again.
"I see it in your eyes. It’s not right in so many ways and I know that too. But in so many ways it’s more right than I’ve ever felt in my entire life." - Aidan
Oh how I love Aidan.... sigh....
When ever things look like they will work for Cassie and Aidan and destiny is on their side, fate has a way of going against what you know and feel is right. Several times I was thinking to myself how much more can they take. Even though Jason wanted be there for Cassie, he knew he wasn't her destiny. Sometimes the journey to find your true love is a winding road and you learn more about yourself along way, thinhgs you would have never known if you took the straight and narrow path. This holds so true with Cassie and Aidan's story.
"I thought no one would be ever be able to hold my heart again. But you changed that. You changed everything in me. I’m stronger because of you and I’m no longer afraid to face my fears because of you. It’s you Aidan. It’ll always be you." -Cassie
There is so much more to the story but I don't want to spoil the experience for you. If you love a good love story that will rip your heart, gut you from top to bottom, and have you rocking in a corner with a blankly B.A. Wolfe knows how to deliver. With Stay, not only does she do all of the above, she left me falling in love with every character and praying we get more from them. The ending was perfect and right when I thought I was going to jump off a cliff, she was there to wrap me in a warm embrace and I loved every second of it!
I'll just leave you with this.... makes my heart melt!!
"You're my sunshine after a storm, the moon that brightens the night sky, and my hand to hold so I’m not alone. You’re all the things that bring me comfort. That makes me believe there’s heaven on earth."
B.A. Wolfe is a girl with a passion for reading and writing, and lives in the good ol’
state of Colorado with her husband (her biggest cheerleader), and her two crazy min
pin fur babies. These days, her life is anything but calm, and there isn’t one thing
she’d want to change.
B.A. spends all her free time either furiously typing stories on her laptop or happily
reading through her endless T BR on her Kindle. Her list of favorites would be long
enough to fill a book, but most would likely fall under the romance category.
She is a sucker for a good love story that makes her cry, and an amazing book
boyfriend who will melt her heart. ‘Away’ is B.A. Wolfe’s debut novel.
Signed Set of both Away and Stay
$10 Amazon Gift Card
