Pump Up Your Book: You Can't Buy Love Excerpt #3

Title: YOU CAN’T FORCE LOVE
Author: Marie Drake  
Publisher: RedBird Books
Pages: 286  
Genre: Realistic Fiction

“A battered butterfly, he’d build Kimberly up, nurture her strength and watch her return to flight. He repressed the visions dancing in the back of his mind; her naked body brandished red flags and spurred him to stampede. Bulls and butterflies did not mix.”

Jordan Fry’s obsession is born in “You Can’t Force Love” by Marie Drake, Book I in the Locked Hearts Series.

From different towns and social backgrounds, Jordan Fry and Kimberly Orvine experience life-altering abuse, lose a parent and land in the same foster home. Angry, and self-deprecating, fiery redheaded Kimberly is deadset on lousy behavior and suffering the consequences, punishing herself for former sins. Scared by his inner darkness, pyromaniac Jordan has vowed to change for the better. He focuses on Kimberly as the key to his success, but she intends to make him break his promises. Unaware of Jordan’s atrocious actions in the past, she’s dangerously close to unleashing the evil he struggles to contain during their epic battle of wills. Can they both survive?

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon

Book Excerpt #3 -

Chapter 2

Jordan

July 1988

Gloucester City, NJ

“How do I look?” Jordan asked his mother.

Debbie tidied his long, blonde hair and tucked the ends into his collar, squeezed his face and studied his blue eyes. “I don’t understand why you wanted a piercing. Please remove the earring for Church.” She swatted Jordan’s butt and nudged him down the trailer’s narrow hall. He extracted the sapphire-blue stone from his ear and gripped it in his palm; it broke his skin, and a blood drop formed; he cleaned the red spot and deposited his keepsake beneath his pillow.

Debbie brushed her strawberry-blonde hair in her bedroom mirror, swiveled, twisted, and tugged her dress over her developing baby bump. The blue fabric complimented her eyes, and her face glowed.  She applied pink lipstick; her diamond engagement ring coruscated light; she frowned at him in the glass. “What is it?” she asked.

“I miss going to church alone together.”

“Don’t be like that,” she said. “Paul loves me.”

“He doesn’t like me; why do we have to move?”

“Paul’s job brings him here occasionally, but he doesn’t live here; a wife follows her husband,” she said. She rubbed her belly and sighed. “He’ll let me stay home when the baby comes.”

“Okay,” Jordan agreed. His stomach churned; he mindlessly rubbed his side where Paul’s fist had thumped a few days ago. Jordan had run off his mother’s previous boyfriend using attitude, but Paul mastered delivering misery, and Jordan wouldn’t force his departure with sass and antics.

“Don’t forget, I’ll drop you off at Rhonda’s house after work tonight,” Debbie said.

“I don’t want to go,” Jordan answered.

“Paul thinks it’ll be good for you to get out; you shouldn’t skulk in the house,” she said.

“Paul shouldn’t skulk in the house,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ll make friends; don’t worry. Let’s go.”

 

Follow rest of tour here!

Award-winning author, Marie Drake lives in a small town near Lake Ontario with her husband, four sons, and three rescue pups. With many years of experience in the Foster Care community and advocating for other victims and survivors, she specializes in realistic and psychological fiction depicting the lives of abuse sufferers; their obstacles, their triumphs, and their downfalls.

Website Address: https://www.MarieDrakeauthor.com

Twitter Address: https://twitter.com/MarieDrake72

Facebook Address: https://www.facebook.com/MarieDrake/