We are so excited to be sharing this excerpt from Drew Elyse’s upcoming MARKED with you today. This new standalone contemporary romance kicks off the Sailor’s Grave series and will be released May 17th exclusively on Amazon.
About MARKED
“MOVING ON” IS JUST ABOUT ACTING THE PART.
I would never say as much to the people I love, but it’s the truth.
They want to see me doing better.
They want to see me living for more than just my son.
So I let them.
Everyday is about putting on a face,
pretending to get over the loss of my husband.
And every day is a lie.
UNTIL MOVING ON IS A TEMPTATION THAT CAN’T BE DENIED.
I’m not about to claim I’m a genius,
unless we’re talking with a tattoo gun or woman in my hands,
but I’m smart enough to know the beauty serving up my cupcake fix is off limits.
Really, I know.
Too bad the lure of putting a real smile on Kate’s face is so strong.
When she visits Sailor’s Grave Tattoo Parlor,
I can’t help but want to leave my mark.
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~Excerpt~
Liam
Christ, I really needed to stop doing this to myself.
Not give up the desserts, because fuck that, but stop torturing myself with the gorgeous woman that served them.
I knew the deal. She was a single mom, widowed a couple years back. She was under the protection of the club because Daz was her late husband’s brother. I also knew that despite conversations I’d overheard about her doing better, about her starting to move on, that she was nowhere near that place.
Maybe it was because I’d been old enough to understand everything as it happened when we’d lost Dad and after. I recognized what the people in her life couldn’t: that she wasn’t moving past a goddamn thing.
It was achingly familiar, seeing that fake smile. It was even more so to see the one she gave her son, knowing that if I were seeing it closer, there would be that lingering sadness behind her eyes that I saw in my mom’s for too long.
And that whole thought process made it sound like I had some fucked Oedipus complex.
Desserts, asshole.
There was a cinnamon braid left. That never happened. Sugar’s Dream was more of a dessert place than full-service bakery. The few things Avery made that worked for breakfast were usually snatched up before I ever got there in the afternoons. The cinnamon braid specifically was a favorite at Sailor’s Grave—it was the reason we had an actual kitchen knife in the back after we’d all fallen on one and had to rip off pieces by hand.
“Gotta take that back to the shop,” I told her, pointing to it.
Unable to hide the fact that she was relieved to have a task that involved moving farther away from me to prep a box for it, she jumped right to it. I wasn’t enough of a gentleman to not glance up from considering what else to get in order to take a look while she had her back to me. Kate looked fucking incredible coming and going. I liked a woman with curves, and she was far from lacking in that department. She had light brown hair that danced around her shoulders when she wore it down, porcelain skin that looked like silk, and amber eyes that usually looked brown, but stood out when there was enough light to see them properly.
She was easily the most delicious thing in this goddamn bakery.
She was also the only thing in the place I was sure I wasn’t getting a taste of.
A minute later, she came back with the tied up box, setting it on the counter by the register.
“Anything else?” She tried to avoid my eyes but ended up looking right at my mouth. My cock took notice, fixing to fight for attention.
I was so fucking tempted to answer with something like “a taste test” just to get a rise out of her, but I bit my tongue.
“Two of the lemon cupcakes, one raspberry chocolate, and” —I peeked around her— “are those the mocha ones you’re working on?”
She glanced over her shoulder like she wasn’t sure what she’d been doing when I walked in. “Um…yes.”
“Can I get one of those?”
“Of course.”
Again, it was full hustle to get away from me. I got it. If I were a better man, I might stop coming in. Of course, I’d probably lose it if I tried going cold turkey from my preferred sugar fix, but I could at least talk someone else into coming for me. Jess would probably do it if I bankrolled her own cupcake habit.
Turns out, I wasn’t that good of a person. I wouldn’t push her, but I couldn’t deny myself at least getting to see her beyond just the Disciples’ parties. These little visits were like a fucking drug.
“How’s your boy?” I asked, grasping at anything to get her to talk to me.
“He’s good. He’s telling everyone at his daycare that he’s going to be a biker when he grows up.” It was impossible to miss the love and pride in her voice.
“Probably not a stretch. I wouldn’t be surprised if the brothers had him on his own bike the minute he’s old enough.”
“His dad had a bike, too. Owen’s been around them since he was born.”
I watched as what she’d said registered. I saw her freeze, every inch of her tightening up. She was still facing away, keeping her expression hidden, but I didn’t doubt it was a mix of shock and devastation. I hadn’t known what a minefield the topic was, though I couldn’t be sure I’d have avoided it if it was. Mom told me time and again as she got better that talking about Dad helped, even as much as it hurt.
“I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t help at all. I know it still hurts and all the sympathy in the world doesn’t touch that, but it’s true.”
For a long moment, she didn’t move. I didn’t even see her breathing from my vantage point. Then, she turned around with the box of cupcakes in her hands. She didn’t adopt that benign smile she always had at work, but that didn’t mean she was giving me any glimpse of the real grief.
No, Kate’s face was fucking blank.
Shit.
It wasn’t my fucking place to try to “help,” especially not while she was at work. Suddenly, if I could take the words back, if I could undo even the reminder of her husband, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Before I could dig my foot out of my mouth and figure something out to say, she went over to the register and started ringing up my order. “That’ll be $17.56.”
Even her voice was flat, lifeless.
Rather than push and make a bigger ass of myself, I pulled out my card and paid without a word. I kept my mouth shut as she wordlessly handed it back with my receipt, and then slid the boxes toward me.
Only when I had them in hand did she say, again in that dead voice, “Have a nice day.”
I’d fucked up. Royally.
I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
Marked was the second book I ever read from the author and I can safely say that her writing style improved a lot since her debut novel and it wasn’t bad to begin with. I loved how the structure of the book lightened up despite the heaviness of the plot. It was a great, quick read. So bear with me, I enjoyed the book immensely but I felt that I need to explain the things I didn’t like. However it led to a review that feels a bit overly negative but it’s not the case. There is a lot of things to love about the book so take everything I write following with the understanding that this is an amazing story.
The story is emotional and beautiful at the same time. Personally I liked the idea behind the premise and I enjoyed the romantic element but I think would have enjoyed it more if the balance between the new love and the grief motifs were a bit more equal. I never lost a husband or a boyfriend to death for that matter so I can’t really identify with the heroine but I tried. Still I felt that for it being a romance novel the weight of her grief and the attention it got was a bit overdone. Sorry I know that its kinda sounds cruel but around 60% of the book solely revolved around her struggles and her attachment to her husband, add to this the introduction of the characters, the past scenes and some minor interactions and the book is over. I think there wasn’t enough time for the romance to develop and it was a shame because I loved the pairing. I still enjoyed the book it was just a bit lacking for my taste.
Another thing before I get to the characters, the story is told from dual point of views which is all well and good, also necessary in my opinion. However what I couldn’t understand were the little snippets from Kate’s past. Okay, so I could understand the reason why they were in the book, establishing her connection with her dead husband, but for me they just didn’t hit the emotional mark and only served to drag the whole healing process even more out. I would have done without them or at least with less of them.
Liam is the best, people. He is not just sexy and cool, with an awesome profession but really caring, patient and understanding. He was attracted to Kate from the moment he laid eyes on her but knowing her situation he was also willing to settle only being her friend. I loved how great he was with Kate and her son, and also with his own family. He brought certain lightheartedness to the otherwise grief stricken story. I want one for myself, please.
Kate on the other hand was a mess, she perfected the art of acting fine but inside she still didn’t process the death of the love of her life. The only reason she was so top on her game was because her son needed her. She wasn’t my favorite character but I admired her strength. Thou I didn’t like when she constantly compared Liam to her husband.
The book ends with a HEA and let just say the characters wholly deserved it. It was a great read and looking forward to the next book in the series.
About DREW ELYSE
Drew Elyse spends her days trying to convince the world that she is, in fact, a Disney Princess, and her nights writing tear-jerking and sexy romance novels.
When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found analyzing every line of a book, binge watching shows on Netflix, doing strange vocal warm ups before singing in a variety of musical styles, or screaming at the TV during Chicago Blackhawks games.
A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, she still lives outside Chicago, IL, where she was born and raised, with her boyfriend and her fur babies Lola and Duncan.
Fantasy Raiders 