“6 Devastatingly Beautiful and Brilliant Bleeding Stars but Worth the Whole Constellation. I felt every burn…every blaze...every beautiful and brilliant word…I FELT IT ALL.” ~Karen, Bookalicious Babes Blog
From NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author A.L. Jackson comes
the next seductive,
unforgettable Bleeding Stars Stand-Alone Novel…
Zachary Kennedy has never been known as a fighter, but he’ll never regret fighting
for her…
I’m Zee Kennedy.
Quiet. Reserved. Predictable.
When my brother died, everyone thought I was just the good guy who
stepped up to take his place
in the band.
No one knew what I was hiding. The one thing I’ve been fighting for.
For seven years, I’ve never lost focus.
Not until one chance encounter with Alexis Kensington.
Now she’s become my greatest temptation.
I knew better than to touch her, but now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t get
enough.
Her kiss becomes my air. Her body my salvation.
She needed a savior and somehow she became mine.
Taking her was a betrayal. But keeping her means risking everything.
One look at Alexis Kensington, and I know she’s worth the fight.
Will my past continue to keep me down or will I finally find the strength to pull myself up
and Stand
Grand Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card + First 5 Bleeding Stars Novels Signed
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, as well as the newest BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for the next installment STAND, coming Spring 2017.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A .L. Jackson - Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text "aljackson" to 24587 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.
“Stand is a lyrical dream of power and strength that will steal
your mind, body and
soul…A mind blowing 10 stars!!!” Queen Zany Book Blog
From NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author A.L. Jackson comes
the next seductive,
unforgettable Bleeding Stars Stand-Alone Novel…
Zachary Kennedy has never been known as a fighter, but he’ll never regret fighting
for her…
I’m Zee Kennedy.
Quiet. Reserved. Predictable.
When my brother died, everyone thought I was just the good guy who
stepped up to take his place
in the band.
No one knew what I was hiding. The one thing I’ve been fighting for.
For seven years, I’ve never lost focus.
Not until one chance encounter with Alexis Kensington.
Now she’s become my greatest temptation.
I knew better than to touch her, but now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t get
enough.
Her kiss becomes my air. Her body my salvation.
She needed a savior and somehow she became mine.
Taking her was a betrayal. But keeping her means risking everything.
One look at Alexis Kensington, and I know she’s worth the fight.
Will my past continue to keep me down or will I finally find the strength to pull myself up
and Stand…
My hands lingered on the keys, and she reached out and set her hand on top of mine.
Warmth and light.
It invaded my senses. Clouded my judgment.
You.
Flames leapt into that space between us. Alive and dancing and inciting.
A siren’s call.
My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and I was shaking as I lifted
our entwined hands. I brushed
my knuckles along the silky flesh of her cheek. I swore I saw the trail of pink
it left behind, the simplest
touch affecting this girl.
She released a shuddered breath. It mingled with mine.
Our mouths were close—too close—and our noses just touched as we hovered in
that space.
“I want things that will only ruin me, Alexis. But you
…you make me want to wish for
them anyway. Make me believe there’s a chance that maybe they could belong to
me.”
Tension tethered us, this rigid band that had me rocking in indecision, every second getting closer
and closer as I fought the foolish ideas that tried to take root.
Giving in would only destroy me. But none of that seemed to matter when I leaned in and brushed
my lips at the corner of her mouth.
Her fucking delicious mouth.
Because fuck. I just needed a taste. Something to take with me. Something
to tuck away, even
when doing it felt like some kind of brutal tease.
Alexis gasped at the contact. I edged back the barest fraction, and she was
panting these tiny
breaths.
Breaths I was breathing.
Her eyes locked on mine. Hungry and pleading. Brimming with belief and hope.
I ran my thumb over the corner of her mouth where my lips had just been. “You are so
beautiful. I’ve never met a girl quite like you.”
Something so genuine took hold of her expression. “I hardly
know you…and somehow
you make me feel like I am. Like when you look at me…you see the person I always hoped
I’d become.”
Everything stilled at her words.
At her confession.
Because that’s what I wanted.
For this amazing girl to know the way I saw her. That in her space, I felt something different from
all the bullshit I’d dealt with for all my life.
I felt like someone different. Someone better. Like the person I’d
once hoped I’d
become.
I clutched her stunning face in my hands, searching for resolve. For that dedication that right then
somehow felt out of reach.
“Zee,” she whispered.
That was all it took for that band to snap.
My hands drove into her hair. And my mouth? My mouth was devouring hers.
Frenzied in its demand. Pleading the same way as her eyes had been pleading with me. Saying all
the things I couldn’t ever say.
Our tongues tangled, and my spirit coiled. Heat spread in a flashfire of need. Lust rose in the
knitted air, like this intangible greed we both were grappling for, searching for the fastest way to get to
the peak.
Our hands searched and clawed and explored. We were a mess of limbs as we struggled to get
closer to each other where we sat side by side on the bench.
“Zachary…Zachary,” she whimpered, grasping me by the back of the head. She
crawled forward so she could straddle me.
Motherfuck.
My hands sank into her hips, and she edged up and pressed those gorgeous
tits against the wild
beat thundering in my chest. A groan rumbled out from somewhere in my
soul.
She felt so perfect. So good.
I wanted to touch her. Explore her. Claim her.
My dick raged against its confines, all that delicious heat at the apex of her thighs grinding against
my jean-covered cock.
It’d been too long. Too damned long. I was goin' out of my mind.
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, as well as the newest BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for the next installment STAND, coming Spring 2017.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson - Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJ ackson or text “aljackson” to 24587 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.
Sunder lead singer Sebastian Stone is no stranger to trouble.
It follows him wherever he goes.
From his track record, he should have known Shea Bentley would be a problem. But the soft, innocent Southern girl was all he could see. All he wanted to see. Now they’re both drowning in a sea of desire, sinking hopelessly into a world of lust, and their passion refuses to let them up for air.
No matter how much he wants that to be enough…Shea has an inescapable past. One she would do anything to keep running from.
But some secrets never die.
If her history is dragged from the depths, it could tear his world apart. He has to decide if she’s worth fighting the tide or if they should just sink like a stone in the sea.
Don't miss more of the bestselling Bleeding Stars Series
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, as well as the newest BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for the next installments, STAY and STAND, coming in 2017.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson!
From NYT & USA Today bestselling author comes a new Bleeding Stars stand-alone novel…
She is his strength and he is her weakness. And this time he won’t let her go.
Edie Evans is gorgeous. Sexy. Kind. She’s also the definition of off-limits. But that didn't stop me from sneaking into her room to comfort her at night. But guys like me? We destroy everything, so it should have been no surprise when I destroyed us, too. The night I sent her running, I thought I’d never see her again. Until I saw her standing like a vision in the crowd.
Austin Stone is dangerous. Alluring. Tempting. He broke my heart and I refused to give him the chance to do it again. It’s been years since I’ve seen him, and now I can’t do anything but stare at the gorgeous, tattooed man playing onstage. I should run. I know I should. But like a fool, I run straight back to him.
Our desire is overpowering. Our need unrelenting.
She is my hope. He is my weakness. We should have known a passion this intense would burn us right into the ground.
"Meaningful. Mesmerizing. Magnificent...5 but should be 10 beautiful, broken, brilliant, and imperfectly perfect stars .” Karen, Bookalicious Babes Blog
"A beautifully written story about broken hearts and unshakable longing, about second chances and third chances and a whispered hope for a happily ever after. Intensely felt on every level, Edie and Austin’s story will own you." Vilma, Vilma’s Book Blog
“Beautiful. Sexy. Dripping with tenderness. I felt the emotion in this story all the way to my toes.” Mia Sheridan, NYT Bestselling Author
“6 Stars - Wait is equally devastating and beautiful! A.L. Jackson has a way of pouring words onto a page that makes you crave every piece of a story.” Molly McAdams, NYT Bestselling Author
“Shit,” I hissed, bracing myself against the spray of the icy shards pelting from the shower head.
I sucked in a breath, released it between clenched teeth, and forced myself fully under it.
Head dropped and chest heaving as rivers of ice-cold water slicked down my shoulders and back.
But it did nothing to lessen the need. Gave me no sanity or pacification.
Because all I could think about was the girl on the other side of the door.
My girl.
In my bed.
Wearing just her panties and my shirt.
An angel I wanted to dirty.
I always had.
Love was messy like that.
All of my restraint scattered. I gripped my cock. Squeezed the base. My mouth dropped open at the pressure of my hand against my rigid length.
A fool thinking it might be enough.
Shit.
God, I was a bastard, but there was nothing I could do before I was giving in, leaning forward and bracketing my forearm above my head to hold my weight.
Water pounded down on my head and back while I pounded my fist against my dick.
Trying to keep silent when all I wanted was to moan, teeth digging into my bottom lip as I pictured the girl spread out for me.
My breaths were coming short.
Panted and hard.
I gave into imagining the sounds she would make when I finally got to bury myself in her body.
A soft, soft gasp.
I slowed, trying to convince myself that throaty sound was all in my mind.
Just another part of this fantasy.
Until I heard the small thump against the wall.
Shit.
I mashed my eyes closed, like it might hide me.
Conceal the depravity of my actions after I’d just been comforting her hours before.
Heart thrashing, I turned and moved far enough to peek out the small section where the fabric shower curtain hadn’t been drawn fully closed.
It was just a little sliver that left me exposed.
But it was enough. When I peered out, I was looking right at my girl pressed up against the wall.
She stared right back at me.
And I wanted to be horrified, my mind scrambling to conjure every weak apology I could summon. Ready to fucking grovel to keep her from turning and running once again.
Because that’s exactly what I expected her to do.
But her expression…her expression clutched me in the center of the chest and sent what little brain function I had left stampeding south.
Red, lush lips were parted, her hand pressed to her hollow of her throat, pupils dilated so big that her hooded, cerulean eyes appeared black. Needy breaths were coming at me from that sweet mouth like a goddamned freight train.
Desire swelled in the confines of the too-tight room.
Alive.
She pressed deeper into the wall as if it might support her weakened knees. Head rocked back. Thighs squeezing together.
Motherfuck.
My hand shot to the shower wall to steady myself. “Warning you, Edie, you need to get out of here. Right now.”
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, as well as the newest BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for the next installments, WAIT and STAY, coming in 2016.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson - Sign up to receive her newsletter http://bit.ly/NewsFromALJackson or text “jackson” to 96000 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.
From NYT & USA Today bestselling author comes a new Bleeding Stars stand-alone novel…
She is his strength and he is her weakness. And this time he won’t let her go.
Edie Evans is gorgeous. Sexy. Kind. She’s also the definition of off-limits. But that didn't stop me from sneaking into her room to comfort her at night. But guys like me? We destroy everything, so it should have been no surprise when I destroyed us, too. The night I sent her running, I thought I’d never see her again. Until I saw her standing like a vision in the crowd.
Austin Stone is dangerous. Alluring. Tempting. He broke my heart and I refused to give him the chance to do it again. It’s been years since I’ve seen him, and now I can’t do anything but stare at the gorgeous, tattooed man playing onstage. I should run. I know I should. But like a fool, I run straight back to him. Our desire is overpowering. Our need unrelenting.
She is my hope. He is my weakness. We should have known a passion this intense would burn us right into the ground.
I gripped the railing as if it might propel me forward. Instead, my footsteps faltered and slowed. I stood facing away, my back heaving as his consuming presence swarmed over me from behind.
“Please.” This time it was a whisper. A plea.
Sincere.
Slowly I turned.
Drawn.
He’d always been my weakness.
Austin stood at the end of the walkway, just outside the reach of the lights, his body obscured in shadows.
Even larger than I’d imagined when I’d first seen him up on stage.
So foreign.
So familiar.
My heart ached. Because I was looking at the boy who’d been my best friend. The one person who I’d thought would completely understand. One who wouldn’t judge or make it hurt more than it already did.
He’d been my safety.
My haven.
Until he’d dragged me right back into hell.
“Why are you here?” My words cracked. “H-h-how…how did you find me?”
I saw the shake of his head, and he took a single step forward, out of the shadows and into the glow of the single lamp attached high on the exterior wall that lit the way.
It hit him like a spotlight.
The boy was so beautiful.
It was a threatening kind of beauty, a whorl of mystery and pain, sharp lines and corded muscle.
It almost dropped me to my knees.
He fisted his hands at his sides. The question was strained, hard as it pressed from his mouth. “You believe in fate, Edie?”
Old grief I’d bottled for so long burst. It came out as some kind of maniacal cry. Incredulous. Oozing disbelief. “After everything that happened…that’s what you’re going to ask me?”
“Edie…I—”
“Do you have any idea how badly you hurt me?” I cut him off, my own hands fisting as I took a single step forward. “The damage you caused? Careless words, Austin. So fucking careless,
thrown out there without a single thought to the repercussions, without any consideration of how they would affect me. How they would change my life. You promised.” My brow twisted with the accusation. “And now you have the nerve to stand there and ask me if I believe in fate?”
I swallowed hard, shook my head. “You can go to straight to hell, Austin Stone.”
He laughed, but there was zero humor behind it. “Come on, Edie. You can do better than that, can’t you? Considering you know hell is where I’ve been all along, and you and I both know I deserve so much worse. And yeah…those words were reckless, but you know they weren’t heedless. You couldn’t expect me to just stand there. Not with him. Not with what he was saying. Implying. I couldn’t.” The last cracked on the emphasis.
I felt as if every cell in my body was being crushed. Squeezed so tight there was no chance but for everything to implode.
“And because you lost it, I lost it all. You. My home. My future.”
His big hands fisted. “I know. I…I fucked it up, Edie. Warned you, I always fuck it up.”
But what he failed to say was he’d promised he wouldn’t fuck it up with me.
I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or terrified when Jed suddenly rounded the corner. His sister, Blaire, was hot on his heels.
“Edie,” Jed gushed out in relief when he saw me. He came to a stop a few steps behind Austin.
As if he’d just stepped into the bristling intensity and it tripped up his feet.
The stand-off.
The war.
Austin standing there? I knew that’s exactly what this was going to be.
“What the hell is going on here?” Jed demanded. His voice twisted into a threat. He glared at the back of Austin’s head, worried eyes flicking to me, hardening when they snapped back to Austin.
Blaire tugged at his arm. “Jed…I told you to give her a minute. Sometimes you need to let people sort out their own issues.”
Jed just grunted and shrugged off her arm.
Refusing to budge.
Austin swung his head to look behind him. When he did, his face shifted to the side, all those hard, beautiful lines exposed in profile, his expression winding into a bitter sneer. “Nah, man. All’s good here. Just telling an old friend hi. Isn’t that right, Edie?”
Aggression curled between them.
Alive and raging.
Jed was a burly, beefy, hulk of a man, a full beard covering most of his face, his brown hair cut short at the sides and longer on top.
Had I ever imagined him and Austin going toe to toe, I would have put all my money on Jed.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
Jed lifted his chin, as if for the moment he was standing down, turning to me as his tone softened. “You okay, Edie?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
Lie. Lie. Lie.
I was shaken to my core.
“I just want to go home.” It left me on a desperate breath.
Jed pushed around Austin and stalked my way. “All right, let’s get you out of here.”
As she passed by Austin, Blaire cast a searching glance in his direction, before her attention flickered over to me, a ton of worried questions moving across her expression.
Questions I didn’t know if I had the strength to answer.
With an arm wound around my shoulder, Jed spun me, breaking the spell Austin had me under, and tucked me into his side.
Protecting and shielding.
He began to lead me away, down the planks and toward his car waiting in the parking lot out front.
With each step we took, I could feel the heat of Austin’s stare. That burning intensity I wasn’t sure I could ever escape.
The hurt and hatred.
It was a hatred I couldn’t tell who it was directed at.
If it was aimed at him or me or the rest of the world that had threatened to choke the life out of us.
The world we were supposed to take on together.
Just as we started to round the corner, I paused because I just couldn’t stop myself, turned to look back at the man who stood there staring back at me.
Emotion gripped his expression just as tight as the clench of his fists.
Hard and tortured.
As if I was the one inflicting the pain.
I choked down the sorrow that rose like a cyclone, spinning and spinning, whipping up the old affection that longed for that soft, understanding boy to take me in his arms and sing in my ear.
Dangerous.
I searched inside myself for the shelter that secured my heart. The flimsy cover I wore that just barely kept me together. I forced myself to speak the words I knew would drive him away, as much of a lie as they were. “And for the record…no, Austin, I definitely don’t believe in fate.”
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, as well as the newest BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for the next installments, WAIT and STAY, coming in 2016.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson - Sign up to receive her newsletter http://bit.ly/NewsFromALJackson or text “jackson” to 96000 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.
