Slain (40 page)

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• Deleted Scenes
  
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www.LiviaHarper.com/SLAIN
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A
BOUT
THE
A
UTHOR

W
HEN
she’s not hanging out with her ginger husband and two stinky basset hounds, Livia Harper writes modern thrillers and mysteries in the vein of Megan Abbott’s
Dare Me
or Gillian Flynn’s
Gone Girl
. She’s a film lover who graduated with a degree in Writing & Directing from Colorado Film school, then went on to study even more about storytelling at UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting. For a long time, she made her living as a photographer, and even spent some years doing marketing for a real estate firm. But today she’s happy to call writing her occupation. She’s overjoyed to be sharing her first book with you, and plans on many more to come.

Continue on to read the first chapter of Livia’s next work:
BOYFRIEND GLASSES
, the first book in a trilogy of psychological thrillers coming soon.

Here’s sneak peak at BOYFRIEND GLASSES…

TODAY, 7:52 PM

Some people say there’s no such thing as love at first sight. They’re wrong.
 

The first time I saw Blake… well, it was like his heart was a magnet and mine was molten nickel. I could feel the fire of it singe my skin as it left my body. I could see its hot cord twining orange out of my chest, melting its way directly toward his. When our hearts met, they fused. Mine wrapped around his, holding him forever.
 

I knew it was love because the first time I saw him, the very first time, Blake did something no one else had ever done before. Blake made me forget all about Johnny.

We were at a geeks/greeks party at the Sigma Phi Upsilon house, before I knew to call it SigUp. It was the first real party of many that night, the first party night of the year. We were drunk on freedom and electric with high expectations for our future. Walking in there with Amber, like we belonged, like it was no big deal, like they threw parties just so girls like us would come, made me feel wild and alive for the first time since Johnny. It was everything I hoped college would be. It was everything high school wasn’t.

Blake was… all Blake. There’s no other way to say it, no other way to define all the little parts that add up to him being him—his confident smile, his body tall and statuesque as a Michelangelo, the absolute command he had of the whole room. Dark hair and tan skin and eyes like peridot: green and shimmering and endless. He was all Blake.

Every single girl in the room was looking at him. Every single one. Why wouldn’t they? He was perfect.
 

But Blake didn’t pay attention to any of them. He knew what he wanted and he knew he would get it. And what he wanted was me. Right from the beginning. He could feel me there, in that room, feel our connection just like I could.

But he saw Amber first. And he got confused.

He walked right up to her, like I wasn’t even there. He didn’t say a word, just held her eyes and took her hand and led her into a corner. Everyone stared as he took his fake black glasses off and put them on her and kissed her. They looked like the perfect couple. But we would have been better, so much better.

Amber wore those glasses all night, a trophy of his love. Her cornsilk eyelashes brushed against them, every flutter reminding her that she was his choice. His.
 

I wanted to rip those glasses off her face, just to touch something he’d touched.
 

But I don’t want to anymore. I don’t have to. I’m wearing them right now.

And Amber is dead.

You’ve come to the end of the sample of
BOYFRIEND GLASSES.

Want to read next three chapters? Sign up now at:

www.LiviaHarper.com/BOYFRIENDGLASSES
 

You’ll get the chapters for free AND be the first to know when the book comes out.

Thanks for reading!

D
EAR
R
EADER
,

I
HOPE
you’ve enjoyed reading my debut novel, SLAIN.
 

While the book contains a lot of controversial subject matter, my rule-of-thumb was to deal with it in a way that was true to Emma’s character. Parts of this reflect my own beliefs, and parts do not. I have a great respect for many people of faith, my own family included, and my hope is that the book sparks thoughtful discussion instead of ire on both sides of the issue. I’m not naive enough to believe that my hopes always translate into reality, but please take that sentiment to heart.

Lastly, I love to hear from my readers. Love/hate it? Have questions? I’m dying to know. Feel free to drop me a line at
[email protected]
.

Thank you again for taking the time to read a book from a first-time, independent author. It means so much that you did.

Sincerely,

Livia

P.S. If you have a moment, please take a second to leave an honest review wherever you purchased this book. It really helps other readers find me, and know what to expect from the book. Thank you!

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T
HANK
YOU
TO
Dave, my amazing husband. It’s a hard job being married to a writer, but it’s a role he’s always filled with the utmost care and support. My forever love and gratitude for every minute of every day.

Thank you to Sara and Jolene, without who’s encouragement it would be difficult to imagine completing this book.

Thank you to the many individuals who read and re-read
SLAIN
and helped me shape it into something people might actually be able to look at. Their fine writing inspires me to be a better writer every day. Specifically: Jennifer K., Jennifer C.P., Alex S., Sara S., Kelly C., Cassi C., Josh V., and all the wonderful people at writer’s group.

Thank you to my family, both biological and the one I was gifted through marriage, who are kindly supporting both me and this book, despite their beliefs.

Thank you to my editor, Jason Whited (www.Jason-Whited.com)for sweating over the capitalizations of God/god in this book almost as much as I did.

And finally, thank you to my readers for taking the time to read my work. It was truly a labor of love to create this book, and I’m so pleased to have been able to share it with you.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, are entirely coincidental.
 

Copyright © 2014 Livia Harper

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-0692296745

ISBN-10: 0692296743

Edited by Jason Whited, www.jason-whited.com.

First paperback edition.