Sitting With A Book: SIZZLING SUMMER GIVEAWAY + EXCERPT FROM ETHAN

I am so excited to announce that I am participating in the SIZZLING SUMMER GIVEAWAY hosted by YA Bound!!

Plus! I also have a special excerpt from ETHAN, by author of the Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, P. T. Michelle!

ETHAN (BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS Prequel)

Ethan (Brightest Kind of Darkness, #0.5)

Ethan Harris never thought monsters and darkness would consume his daily thoughts, but every night the same visions repeat in his dreams. He's careful to project a semblance of normalcy, keeping the suffocating darkness locked inside. As much as he wishes he could focus on girls, sports, and cars like other seventeen-year-olds, nothing distracts him from his own demons or shines through.

Until Nara Collins crosses his path. The blonde fascinates and intrigues him, giving him a measure of peace he's never felt before.

When Ethan discovers there's more to Nara than she allows others to see, that she might have a unique secret of her own, suddenly his world comes into focus.

*Excerpt*

Blue Ridge’s main office bustles with activity as I slip into a chair next to the door, crushing my schedule in a tight grip. Being surrounded by so many people in close quarters always makes me tense. I barely register the blur of students needing late slips or parent volunteers signing in for the morning. My head is still hurting from my nightmares, and now my ears are ringing as I quickly brush pebble dust from the cemetery’s main entrance off the side of my shoe. It’s not like I didn’t expect the nightmares. It’s just that I’d thought I was learning to handle them better. So much for that theory. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I left the house early and stopped by the cemetery to check Marcus’ mother’s headstone for a toy car. I made a promise and plan to keep it for as long as necessary.

Ten minutes later, as soon as the last person files out, the secretary starts to turn to me when a blonde girl strolls through the door, breezing past my chair.

“Hi,” she says, flicking her gaze at me briefly before addressing the secretary. “Morning, Ms. Cresh.”

“Good morning, Nara.” The older woman chuckles. “What does Mr. Hallstead need this time? That man can never keep up with his paperwork.”

I blink rapidly. Instead of blurring like everyone else does, in the brief second the girl looked at me, her features barreled through my headache, standing out in vivid clarity: bright green eyes, high cheekbones, and a wide smile. When the buzzing in my ears fades, I instantly straighten to watch her.

“You know him so well. Mr. Hallstead sent me to get more copies of the permission slips for the class field trip to Jamestown next week. He’s run out and a few students still need to turn theirs in.”

Mr. Hallstead? Sounds familiar. I skim the schedule in my hand. He’s the teacher of the History class I’m here to switch out of so I can take the art class that’s only offered in the fall.

Ms. Cresh hands her a stack of papers and once the girl leaves, the secretary smiles my way. “Okay, Mr. Harris. Now that the morning chaos is over, bring me your schedule and let’s make that switch to the class you wanted.”

Standing, I fold my schedule and tuck it into my back pocket. “Thanks, Ms. Cresh, but I think I’ll just leave it as is. I’ll take the art class next year.”

Her brow furrows. “Are you sure? It’s not a problem to switch it for you. We want your experience here to be a positive one.”

Sympathy hangs in her tone, but I shake my head and let my gaze follow the blonde passing by the picture window as she walks down the hall. She’s on the slender side and taller than the average girl, probably around five seven or eight. My lips quirk at her indoor soccer shoes peeking out from the bottom of her jeans. An athlete, huh? “I’ve always wanted to go to Jamestown,” I murmur.

Check out the other books in the Brightest Kind of Darkness Series: