Book Info:
Title - Uncovering You
Genre - Dark Romance
Release Date - March 27th, 2014
Series (Y/N) - Yes, first book in series. Second will be out April 20th, 2014.
GoodReads Link:
Description:
When I wake up in a dark, unfamiliar room, I have no idea what's waiting for me in the shadows. My imagination conjures up demons of the worst kind.
Reality is much worse:
A collar with no leash. A prison with no walls. And a life stripped of meaning.
I am presented with a vile contract and asked to sign. It outlines the terms of my servitude. The only information I have about my captor are the two small letters inked at the bottom:
J.S.
Armed with only my memories, I must do everything I can to avoid becoming ensnared in his twisted mind games. But in the end, it all comes down to one choice:
Resist and die.
Or submit, and sign my life away
Excerpt:
“Lilly.”
Oh God. It’s him. There’s no mistaking that rich, masculine treble.
What’s he doing down here?
“M-Mr. Stonehart,” I stutter, turning. I curse my inability to hide my surprise. He totally caught me off-guard. I have to look up to meet his eyes. Then up some more.
The face that I find is so striking it should belong to a Greek god.
He’s younger than I expected. Late thirties, maybe early forties.
That means he started his company when he was younger than me!
Dark scruff lines his angular cheeks. His jet-black hair is styled in long, natural waves. My fingers itch to run through it.
Totally inappropriate.
He has a prominent nose that might be too big on a less imposing man, but on him, it’s perfect.
In short, he’s a package of the purest masculinity I’ve ever seen.
And then there are his eyes. Oh my God. His eyes. They pierce into me like honing missiles. They are the deepest black I have ever seen. They would be frightening if they weren’t so beautiful. When the light reflects a certain way, you catch a glimpse of the purple underneath.
They are like midnight sapphires. His eyes reveal a cunning intellect. Those eyes do not miss a thing.
Add all that to his towering height, his wide shoulders, his confident-yet-at-ease posture… and Stonehart cuts an intimidating figure.
My gaze darts to his left hand before I can stop it. No ring. He’s unmarried.
He looks down at me, expectantly. His eyes narrow ever so slightly, and I feel like I’m being dissected, measured up, and tucked away in some small corner of his brain. I imagine this is what a gemstone feels like under the magnifying class of the most critical appraiser.
Stonehart clears his throat. I come to with a start, realizing I haven’t said anything in ages. I open my mouth, but the capacity for speech seems like a foreign concept to my brain. “I—”
Somebody bumps into me from behind. I stagger forward. I’m not used to these shoes, so my heel steps the wrong way. My ankle twists under me, and I start to fall.
I don’t fall far. The hand still on my elbow tightens, and Stonehart pulls me into him.
I plaster myself onto the solid steel wall the man has for a body. I catch a scent of his cologne. It’s a deep, musky smell with a hint of charred spruce that is all male. It scrambles my thoughts even more.
“Sorry!” a rushed voice calls out. From the corner of my eye, I see the postman giving a hurried, apologetic wave.
Although the sequence lasts less than a second, it feels like an eternity. Pressed up against him like that, I don’t want to move. I know that I couldn’t have made a worse first impression.
Stonehart eases me off him with a firm yet gentle grip. Our eyes meet. I flush the most vibrant red. His fingers graze my forehead as he brushes a lock of hair out of my face.
Any tenderness I may have imagined vanishes when Stonehart takes out his cell. He long dials a key and growls an order. “Steven. See the delivery boy leaving right now? Have his building pass revoked.”
I gape. Stonehart keeps speaking. “Wait. I thought of one better. Bar his company from accessing the building.” There’s a pause. “For how long? Indefinitely. FedEx can talk to me when they have an improved employee selection program in place.”
The phone call gives me just enough time to compose myself. My heart’s still beating out of my chest. But nobody has to know that.
I speak without thinking. “You’re going to restrict the entire company from serving this building because of that?”
Stonehart humors me with an answer. “A company’s employees are its most important asset. Their behavior reflects the organization as a whole. If FedEx decided that clown is good enough for them, it tells me they’re sloppy. I do not do business with sloppy organizations.”
“What about the other tenants in the building?” I ask. “Won’t that piss them off?”
When I hear myself and realize how improper my question is, my cheeks flame red again.
Stonehart’s eyes darken, as if he cannot believe I asked that question. I open my mouth to apologize for my imprudence, hating the way my professional skills have evaporated into thin air. I’m cut off by a short, barked laugh.
“Miss Ryder.” He sounds amused. “I believe that is the most direct and honest question anybody has dared ask me in weeks.” He takes my elbow again and leads me to the elevators. I have to take two quick steps to match one of his long strides.
“Yes,” he continues. “They will be ‘pissed off.’ But the perk of owning a building—” he hits the elevator call button, “—is that you get to make executive decisions.” He gives me an unreadable glance as the doors open. “That is, at the risk of being questioned by inexperienced interns.”
If that isn’t a loaded remark, I don’t know what is. I flush scarlet red for the third time since I’ve met him. I’ve never had a man throw me so off balance.
The elevator is packed, for which I’m infinitely thankful. The trip up will give me some time to properlycompose myself.
Gratitude turns to panic when the crowd files out, meek as mice, when Stonehart steps in. None of the people waiting in the lobby follow us.
The doors close. I’m alone in here with him. My heart’s beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings.
He catches me staring. “Impressed?” he asks.
“They know you,” I manage.
His dark eyes flash with amusement. “Astute.”
About the Author
I’m Scarlett Edwards. I wrote my first book as a college sophomore. After six months of edits, it made its debut as Yours to Savor.
That was at the start of 2013. I’ve written more books since then. You can find them all here.
It’s funny how quickly life changes. I used to think I’d need a degree to get a “Real Job.” Then I wrote a few books, they got somewhat popular, and now I’m living the life as a full-time romance author.
Thanks to all my readers for making my dreams come true!
Author Links:
www.goodreads.com/scarlettedwards
Author Interview
1.
Can you tell us a little bit about
yourself?
I
live near beautiful Seattle, Washington. I grew up reading all types of
fantasy books before discovering the wonderful world of romances in high
school. Now, I spend most of my time writing about sexy men and the women
who love them.
2.
What do you do when you are not writing?
Reading,
thinking, and eating chocolate jobs.
3.
Do you have a day job as well?
No,
but I usually tell people that I do.
4.
When did you first start writing and
when did you finish your first book?
I’ve
been writing all my life. A wonderful teacher in tenth grade encouraged
me to focus my attention on crafting stories, and that’s what I’ve been doing
since!
5.
How did you choose the genre you write in?
It’s
the genre I love to read, and, by extension, is the one that’s easiest for me
to write.
6.
Do you listen to music while
writing?
Nope.
All I need to write is a pen, a piece of paper, and absolute silence.
7.
Chips or
chocolate?
Chocolate,
but only if there’s a frog or cricket underneath.
(Seriously.
Chocolate-covered crickets? Best thing ever.)
8.
Do you ever experience writer’s
block?
Nah.
I make a road map for each of my stories before I even have the first sentence,
and that means I usually know where things need to go.
9.
Do you work with an outline, or
just write?
Just
a vague, very general outline. I might think of a few scenes that are
critical to the book, and then off I go and start writing toward those scenes.
10. Is there any
particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing
up or as an adult?
Patrick
Rothfuss taught me my style.
11. Can you tell us about your
challenges in getting your first book published?
Publishing
is easy. Anybody with a computer, a word processor, and an idea can do
it. Getting the world to know about your book? That’s the
tricky part.
12. If you had to go back and do it all
over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?
Nope.
I love this little book to death. It’s the one that means the most to me.
13. How do you market your work? What
avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
So
far I’ve relied on word of mouth from friends and acquaintances. It’s
worked well for me ‘till now, but I’m expanding my reach and trying new things
with bloggers this time around.
14. Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get
published?
Nope.
Self-publishing for the win!
15. Is anything in your book
based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
Every
book has a part of me somewhere. The characters I write about are drawn
from people I know in real life or observed in movies, fiction, etc. My
stories start with the germ of an idea and expand from there.
16. What was your favorite
chapter (or part) to write and why?
The
final chapter. Why? Because it shows Lilly gathering her resolve to
fight. Once you’ve
read the book, I’m certain it’ll be your favorite chapter, too. You know what they say: save
the best for last.
17. How did you come up with the title?
I
come up with a few titles as I’m writing. They come to me out of the
blue, mostly. Uncovering You was my favorite out of the bunch.
18. What project are you working on now?
I’m
finishing up the remaining books in the Uncovering You series. I’m working on the fourth book now. I
anticipate there to be a total of five. All of them will be done before
the first book comes out, and they’ll be released 20 days after one another, so
there’s never a long wait for readers!
19. Are there certain characters
you would like to go back to,
or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?
The
contrast of hope and despair, and the strength of an individual in the most
terrifying predicament of her life are the two themes I explored with this
book. But that sounds awfully pretentious. In truth, I just wrote
whatever I thought would be most interesting to readers :P
20. What has been the toughest
criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
The
best compliment was the feedback I got from my first beta reader about this
book:
“I
read the first book! I really tried to find something to change or
improve on but in all honesty... the story is flawless. I would love to
prove my usefulness in beta reading for you and ‘rip it apart’ but it's too good to tamper with.
Don't change a thing.
The
first aspect of this book that has me completely baffled is the fact that
almost all of it is Lilly's thoughts. There is very little dialogue
compared to most books and yet none of it gets too wordy or boring. I
can't figure out how you
did that. I have never read a book without a lot of dialogue and liked
it. A+ for originality. I also found myself thinking
"dammit" every time it switched timelines. Only because I was
so immersed I didn't want it to end, which is such a clever way to write.
No one will ever be able to put these books down. I don't think your
proofer’s rave reviews were just blowing smoke. This is your finest work
yet. I know it took a lot out of you to write these but it also showcases a brilliant side of your
talent.”
Huge
shout-out to Amanda Klinger. Your love means the world to me, chicka!
21. Is there anything that you would like to say to your
readers and fans?
If you
guys like this book… please, please, please tell your friends! The
more people who know about it the more motivated I am to come up with amazing
sequels that will astound you.
Also, I’m pretty accessible.
Pam's Review
3.5 Intriguing stars
I am so tired. I am so lonely. I am breaking, and madness is taking hold.
Uncovering You begins with Lilly waking up in a dark room, alone and confused, knowing nothing good could come of this, she realizes that she is being held captive without any clue as to why or by whom. Without any chains or rope to bind her, she is trapped with a collar, teased with the freedom that is just a few steps away, unless she wants to feel the bite of pain there is no way out.
With nothing but my thoughts for company, I draw myself back to my memories, trying to summon the strength I once had.
After receiving cryptic notes, a contract appears demanding her obedience. Her “Employer” J.S., leaves her alone with her thoughts, starving and dirty…how many days has gone by??? she is wilting away with barely enough food to live. Lost in her memories of her past, she tries to find the strength that she knows she has deep down.
She has two choices, resist and die or submit, and sign her life away.
This was a very interesting read… I have to admit I was a bit lost at times especially in the beginning where were going back through her memories, trying to understand what it would mean to her future. I felt like I was reading different stories, but one thing remains the same, she is a prisoner…Things started to click when we were introduced to her memory of a man, who had the power to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. In my opinion he was an asshole, but at the same time I couldn’t help but like that about him. Lilly is a determined and stubborn, refusing help, wanting to do everything on her own, proving she is strong but at the same time naive.
It annoys me that I have to wait for more, because it was just starting to get good...but according to the author
Uncovering You unfolds over multiple volumes of approximately 125 pages each. Each volume is a fully-contained story with a climax and conclusion.
I started off thinking it was going to be another captive story, but something tells me were gonna get that and oh so much more. Can’t wait for the next one…
ARC kindly provided by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
***Quotes above are taken from the ARC version of the book and may differ upon publication.
Guest reviewing for:
GIVEAWAY
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