Title: Freeing Him
Series: A Hart Brothers Novel Book 2
Author: A.M. Hargrove
Release Date: November 3, 2014
Synopsis
Kolson Hart and Gabriella Martinelli…destined to be together, fated to be torn apart.
After avoiding his father for years, Kolson knew asking his father, Langston Hart, for a favor would be like selling his soul to the devil. Only the devil wants more ... more than Kolson is willing to pay. But some promises can’t be broken, not without losing what’s most important. For Kolson, that’s Gabriella Martinelli.
Left with two choices–pay up or risk everything–Kolson’s only way out is to do something drastic, something so monumental not even Langston will be able to interfere. The question is: Will it be enough to guarantee Gabriella's safety from his father?
Kolson freed Gabriella from her past, and now he’s risking everything for her again. Will she be able to save him from the demon that hunts him? Or is fate too strong for them to fight?
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
Kolson
“Mommy! Mommy! I’m scared. Where
are you?” Dark. It’s so dark. I can’t see anything and my throat hurts so bad.
I want my mommy. But she won’t answer me. Why won’t she come? She always comes
when I call her at night. But she doesn’t come this time. And I keep calling
her. My Spiderman pajamas are wet and I want my blankie because I’m cold. My
teeth make a clicking noise because they keep chattering and they won’t stop. I
have to pee again and I don’t know where the potty is. I’ve already wet myself
once and I don’t want to do it again. Mommy will be mad at me and I don’t want
to ruin my Spiderman pajamas. Maybe if I roll up in a ball I’ll be warmer.
After a while it doesn’t help much, so I call for Mommy some more. But she
still doesn’t come.
There’s a noise somewhere and I
lift my head. I think I was sleeping. “Mommy, is that you? Mommy!” I sit up and
it’s still so dark out. I want to see my Spiderman pajamas so I hold my arm in
front of my face but it’s too dark to see anything. I scream. And scream so
long my throat hurts. And I cry. “Mommy! I want my mommy!” I curl up, knees to
chest, and rock back and forth, crying for Mommy. But she never comes.
Something scrapes in front of me.
Is it a monster? I think there’s a monster in here and I scream.
“Shut up. Stop that screaming or
I’ll leave.”
I can’t stop screaming. I try but
they keep coming out of me, even though I don’t want them to. Something covers
my mouth, and a mean man tells me if I don’t shut up, I’ll have to stay in the dark
forever. His voice scares me more than the dark. More than not having my mommy.
My body shakes and suddenly my voice is gone. I can’t talk.
“That’s better. Now listen. This
is your new home and the sooner you learn some manners, the better it will be.
Behave, and your life will be easy. Obey me, and you’ll be given treats.
Disobey, and you’ll be left here alone. Do you understand me?”
The mean man says things to me
but I don’t know what they mean. I only sit and try to see him. But I only see
the dark.
“Good. Now eat this.”
Something is pushed into my
mouth. I can’t eat it because my throat hurts so bad. I start to choke. Then I
vomit.
The mean man yells and he wipes
my face. It’s so dark, I can’t see him.
“Drink.”
He shoves a straw in my mouth and
I drink. When I do, it burns my throat and I cry.
“More.”
I drink more but it hurts. My
face is wet from crying.
“Good.”
Then I hear the scraping sound
and it’s quiet again. And I curl up and cry. I want my mommy. I want her to
sing to me and rub my back like she does when my head hurts. I want her to kiss
me and tell me a story. I want to tell her I didn’t mean it when I did those
bad things and didn’t listen to her. Maybe that’s why she’s not here now. I’m
sorry, Mommy. I didn’t mean it. I’ll be good. Come back, Mommy.
It’s often said that an addict
has to hit rock bottom before they can begin their journey to recovery. My
story is much different. Surprisingly enough, I’m not an addict and never have
been. But I’ve been at the bottom. More than once. I hit it the first time when
I was only seven years old. Not only was it the bottom. It was hell. It’s when
I learned to lick the fiery flames of the devil himself. Only my devil was a
dragon. Also known as my father. What I didn’t realize was that time was only a
dip in the barrel compared to what would happen to me later.
The first time I thought he broke
me but I didn’t know how wrong I was. It wasn’t until later that I realized
what kind of destruction he could spawn. And that time I didn’t only break, he
took me apart piece by piece, until there was nothing left to crush.
William
Shakespeare wrote, “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we
not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?” Well, for years I was wronged. And now I plan to seek revenge.
Carefully, slowly, and methodically. And when the time is right, I will strike
with everything I have.
*ARC received in return for an honest review.
If you loved Freeing Her then you are gonna HAVE to read Freeing Him, boy are you in for a bumpy ride?!!!
I have had the honour of reading both of the Hart brothers books in their beta stages and, although I loved Freeing Her I have to say, for me, Freeing Him, is the best yet from A.M. Hargrove. Annie, I FREAKIN' loved Kolson's story!!
This fast paced sequel picks up right where we left Gabby & Kolson, at the end of Freeing Her and doesn't let up. A.M. Hargrove takes us on a roller coaster of tension, suspense, passion (HOT passion!) and clever plot twists all served with a huge helping of gut-wrenching emotion. I was so caught up in the plot that I was totally blindsided by a couple of the twists, my jaw literally dropped and I found myself yelling at my kindle, honestly. The steamy scenes between Gabby and Kolson was so hot I nearly had to wear asbestos gloves just to hold my kindle and quite a few times I had to stop to change my panties!!
One of the things I love about this series is that some of the characters from Annie's previous books cross over into this series. Which means we got to meet more of sexy Drexel Wolfe (I miss him *hint hint, Annie*) BONUS!
I adore Gabby and Kolson, two equally flawed people who need each other to help face and conquer their fears and tortured pasts. Gabby is determined to help Kolson face and conquer his childhood fears, like he helped her, but you can't help someone who won't let you in, can you?
Without saying too much we finally learn what happened to Kolson and his two brothers as children. Such raw emotion that tore at my guts and my heart wept for how they suffered at the hands of their evil father. Oh, I wanted to punch him right between the eyes, he was one ruthless sick SOB!
As I've said we find out a little bit more about Kolson's brothers, Kestrel & Kade and oh maaan, the dad certainly did a number on those boys. I really did want to punch him between the eyes. Their stories promises to be a much darker and tortured read and I can't wait!
I can't recommend Freeing Him highly enough, just go 1-click now!
Andrea gives this a rating of...
About the Author
One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodge ball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what lap top out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone, called her boss and quit her job. Grinning, she made another call to her hubs and told him of her new adventure (after making sure his heart was beating properly again). So began A. M. Hargrove's career as a YA/NA and Adult Romance writer. Her books include Kissing Fire, Edge of Disaster, Shattered Edge, the series the Guardians of Vesturon (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant, Beginnings and reEmergent), Dark Waltz, Tragically Flawed, Tragic Desires, and Exquisite Betrayal.
Other than being in love with being in love, she loves chocolate, ice cream and coffee and is positive they should be added as part of the USDA food groups.
(If you're wondering, it didn't happen EXACTLY that way, but….)
You can also find her on Goodreads as Emerson St. Clair. Her novella series, Dirty Nights, is available and those are a little dark, a little erotic and a lot sexy!
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HART Necklace (US ONLY)
ebook bundle of
Freeing Her & Freeing Him
OMG I FREAKIN LOVE THIS!!!! You are totally AMAZABOOBS!!!! SRSLY! You rock! XOXOXOXOXO There aren't enough x's and o's to give you! MWAH!
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