Title: Forever Ours Author: Cassia Leo
Series: Shattered Hearts 0.5
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Genre: New Adult
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
Purchase: Amazon UK
Purchase: iTunes
Forever Ours is the highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shattered Hearts Series. It should be read before Relentless, book #1 of the Shattered Hearts Series.
Sometimes, it takes more than love to mend a shattered heart.
After eight years of being tossed around from one home to another, never forming any meaningful friendships or bonds with her foster families, Claire's caseworker gives her an ultimatum: Behave or your next home will be a halfway house.
When fifteen-year-old Claire arrives at the home of Jackie Knight and meets Jackie's fifteen-year-old son, tattooed guitarist Chris, she fears she'll be seeing the inside of that halfway house soon. But Chris isn't like any other guy Claire has ever encountered and he soon gains her trust through his music and unwavering patience.
Claire has finally found her forever home and she and Chris soon find themselves falling in love.
But Chris’s dreams of musical stardom and Claire’s need for a stable home soon put their love in jeopardy. Chris struggles deeply with his plans for the future, entirely reluctant to leave Claire behind; until Claire does something that may break their love — and the only home she’s comes to know — forever.
Forever Ours will be on sale for 99¢ on May 27th and 28th. After that it will return to full price.
Chapter Eleven
Chris
Forever Addicted
I tumble out of bed and drag myself out of my bedroom and into the hallway. When I push open the bathroom door, my eyes widen at what I’ve stumbled upon. Claire is standing next to the toilet, holding her new cell phone over the toilet bowl. Her lips are pressed together in a hard line across her delicate face.
“What the fuck?” is the first thing that slips out of my mouth.
“I don’t want this thing anymore.”
“Please don’t drop it in the toilet.”
“What is the point of having a cell phone if you never answer it?”
Oh, shit. She’s had this phone two months and it’s turned her into a crazy person. I don’t dare say this out loud, but I’m beginning to wish I’d gotten her something else for her birthday.
If I don’t call her back within a few minutes, she accuses me of playing games. If she doesn’t call me back right away, it’s because she was busy. I don’t think she even realizes how insane this sounds.
“What do you want me to do? Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it.” I inch closer to her and she smiles when she realizes she has my attention. “You want me to promise I’ll never wait more than five minutes to call you back? Would that make you happy?”
She loses the smile and purses her lips. “This phone has turned me into an addict. I look at it every two minutes to check for missed calls and texts from you. It’s sick!”
I reach for her wrist and slowly move my hand down until the phone is in my hand. I place it gently on the bathroom counter, then I look her in the eyes.
“Babe, you’re not addicted to your phone. You’re addicted to me.”
“Shut up!” she smacks my chest and I try not to laugh too loud.
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her against me. She’s breathing hard as my lips hover over hers. “Don’t you have to get ready for school?”
“It’s a late day. I don’t have to be at school for two and a half hours.”
I smile. It actually makes me happy that I can’t remember what day is a late day anymore since I quit school. The only regret I have about quitting school is that Claire is alone now. With Jake and Rachel graduated, and Tristan hanging out with his new girlfriend, Ashley, Claire says she spends most of her time outside of class reading.
“Good, ‘cause I have plans for you…. I gonna text you for two hours straight.”
“You’re such a jerk!”
She tries to push me away and I lean in to kiss her. At first she closes her mouth, but she laughs when I plant a loud kiss on her cheek. And I seize the opportunity to kiss her hard.
Seconds later, we’re lying on my bed, the sheets bunched up beneath her and my hand easing down her waist to her hip. She grabs my hand to stop me and I smile as I move my hand up. I trail my lips over her smooth jaw and plant a soft kiss on her neck. I hear a sniffing noise and I quickly pull my head back, afraid she’s crying.
“Oh, my God. You smell so good,” she says, leaning forward so she can sniff my shoulder.
“Really?”
She grabs fistfuls of my T-shirt and brings them to her nose as she inhales. “Yes! Is that some kind of cologne or something?”
“No, it’s laundry soap and you use the same one.”
“No, it has to be something else.”
I reach up and lightly drag my fingertip across her jawline. “Yeah, it’s laundry soap and my pheromones, which you obviously can’t get enough of. Addict.”
“Shut up.”
“What? There’s nothing wrong with that. I can’t get enough of your scent either.” I bury my face in the crook of her neck and she lets out a soft gasp when I lick her skin. “You smell sweet and salty at the same time, like raspberries with a hint of the beach. It’s fucking intoxicating.”
“Really?” she breathes. “That’s what I smell like to you?”
I nuzzle my nose against the sensitive spot behind her ear and she giggles softly. “See what you do to me? I can’t get enough of you.”
I kiss her neck and her skin is so soft, I want to devour her. But I respect her boundaries. So minutes later, we’re on my bike on the way to drop her off at school. As usual, she plants a kiss on the front of my helmet, leaving a kiss mark on the glass. Then she bats my hand away when I try to grab her ass as she walks away.
Something about this feels too perfect. I keep waiting for my mom to tell me that Claire’s being moved to another foster home. Or that my mom will find out about us and Claire’s caseworker will have her removed from our home.
Something bad is coming. It could be next week or next year. All I know is that this can’t continue the way it has. It’s too perfect. Nothing in my life has ever been this good or easy.
Playlist
Relentless (Shattered Hearts, #1)
Amazon US | Amazon UK
“Sometimes letting someone go is the ultimate act of love.”
Claire Nixon is a college student with a past full of secrets and heartbreak.
At seven years old, the death of her mother by drug overdose destroys her faith in humanity and herself as she is tossed from one foster home to another. Feeling unwanted and disposable, she fights to keep herself safe in the system. Until, at the age of fifteen, she is saved by her first love, and soon-to-be rock star, Chris Knight and his mother, who quickly becomes the mother she always wanted.
When Claire encourages Chris to leave town to pursue his dreams of musical stardom, both Claire and Chris don’t realize this will be the biggest mistake of their lives.
One year after Chris leaves on tour, Claire has carved out a new life for herself in a new city far away from the life she left behind with Chris. On a fateful morning, she meets sexy surfer Adam Parker.
To Claire, Adam is just another flirty customer at the cafe, until a chance encounter and seemingly innocent comment spurs a bet between them. The bet is simple: If Adam can get Claire to reveal the secret that made her drop out of college and leave her life behind, she has to re-enroll. If he doesn’t succeed, she gets to keep her secret and he has to stop stalking her at the cafe.
Claire thinks she has this one in the bag. She’s perfected the art of forgetting her past. But she isn’t prepared for Adam’s relentless pursuit or for him to share his own secrets. And she’s definitely not prepared for the love of her life, Chris Knight, and her secret, to come banging down her door one year later.
Pieces of You (Shattered Hearts, #2)
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Claire Nixon and Adam Parker each have a painful past too heavy to carry alone. Claire once tried to push Adam away but his relentless pursuit of her heart made her walls come crumbling down, and now they know they’re much stronger together than apart.
But now Claire’s attending college a hundred miles away from Adam, and the distance is forcing a crack. To add to the strain, Adam is sent to Hawaii on business, and doubts start creeping into both their hearts.
Claire’s also dealing with her ex, rock star Chris Knight, being back in her life. Chris wants Claire more than anything, and he knows just how to get her: only he has the power to mend the final missing piece of Claire’s broken heart. How can Claire ever choose between taking a chance on new love, or a second chance at having a family and a home?
Bring Me Home (Shattered Hearts, #3)
Amazon US | Amazon UK
“Sometimes letting someone go is the ultimate act of love.”
Claire Nixon is a college student with a past full of secrets and heartbreak. She was saved once by her first love, and rock star, Chris Knight. But when she encouraged Chris to leave town to pursue his dreams, both Claire and Chris didn’t realize it would be the biggest mistake of their lives.
After a devastating year apart and thousands of miles of distance between them, Claire met sexy surfer Adam Parker. With his awful jokes and profound patience, he helped Claire pick up the shattered pieces of her broken heart for the second time.
But now Chris has returned and he is willing and determined to make Claire’s dreams come true—the same way she did for him when she let him go.
With Adam’s former girlfriend in the picture, Claire finds herself torn between the new, passionate love she shares with Adam and the love and family she shares with Chris.
Abandon (Shattered Hearts, #3.5)
Amazon US | Amazon UK
This gritty spin-off of the New York Times bestselling Shattered Hearts Series follows mysterious and sexy Tristan as he attempts to abandon his demons in the name of love.
A steady stream of meaningless sex is all Tristan has left when he discovers the grandmother who raised him is dying and his best friend is getting married. He is lost; and the dark secrets in his past keep coming back to remind him of this.
Until Tristan has an idea that will change his life and fulfill his dying grandmother’s wishes: Abandon his playboy ways and settle down.
And who better to do it with than Senia, the girl who has occupied his thoughts since their scorching hot tryst in the back of his sports car. The girl who makes him laugh and feel like a kid again.
But when his world begins to crumble around him, the pain Tristan is hiding finds its way to the surface. Will Tristan finally learn to trust again? Or will he abandon Senia when she needs him the most?
Chasing Abby (Shattered Hearts, #4) (coming soon)
Five years, six months, eight days….
It’s been eighteen years since Abigail Jensen was born with a gaping hole in her heart and five years since she collapsed on the soccer field and spent a harrowing three weeks in the hospital fighting for her life. Five years, six months, eight days since she found out she was adopted.
For five years, Abby has gone to sleep wondering about the family she never knew and waiting for her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes, she hesitates. What if her birth parents want nothing to do with her?
A month after her birthday, Abby breaks the news to her parents that she will be moving in with her boyfriend, Tate. Lynette and Brian Jensen are adamant they will not pay her college tuition unless she lives with them. This is all Abby needs to send her searching for the parents she never knew.
When Abby and Tate show up on the doorstep of Chris and Claire Knight, they are overjoyed to see the little girl they lost eighteen years ago standing before them, beautiful and on the cusp of womanhood.
But the news of Abby’s rebellion leaves Chris and Claire conflicted. They agree to let her and Tate stay with them for the summer, to catch up on all the years they’ve missed. But when their visit comes to a close, and they encourage Abby to return home, Abby can’t decide what hurts more: feeling unwanted by her birth parents; being misunderstood by her adoptive parents; or the very real and painful hole in her heart.
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