“He did more than break your heart, didn’t he?”
Emma Marshall is haunted by memories of a horrific attack she can’t bury deep enough. Most of all, Emma is haunted by fear — fear that she will never be free of her abusive ex’s control, fear she will never be able to trust another man again.
No one knows the unspeakable truth of what happened between Emma and her ex-fiancé Beaux. It’s a secret Emma plans to carry to the grave, until Julian Cole, a music executive with a dark past of his own, moves in next door and opens Emma’s mind and heart to the possibility of love after a violent betrayal. As the reporter and music executive grow closer in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Emma realizes she must face her past in order to heal and move forward with Julian. But Emma soon learns Beaux will do anything to keep his sins a secret.
Emma must risk everything to protect her newfound happiness and Julian from Beaux’s threats. Putting her investigative skills to good use, Emma embarks on a dangerous journey to gather evidence and bring Beaux to justice. But the deeper Emma gets into Beaux’s wicked world, the more complicated things become. How far will Beaux go to keep his secrets? How far will Emma go to protect the ones she loves? Find out in this women’s empowerment thriller about life and love after abuse.
I work overtime to avoid my mother’s sharp gaze as she and my
father process the news. She is a woman with many talents, most of which I’m
ashamed to know, yet her ability to spot a liar is beyond reproach or
criticism. And though it’s true Beaux and I are no longer together, my answer
to my parents’ follow-up question won’t be. It can’t be. I can barely stand to
be in my own skin, my bruised, beaten, tainted flesh. To speak the truth—the
sheer thought riddles my body with needle-like anxiety.
My father leans forward in his seat, moving the brown liquid in
his crystal glass back and forth. The sunshine beaming in through the
antebellum windows of my childhood home in Presley strike his dark hair and
illuminate strands of silver gray. He looks older now, older than a mere fifty
years.
My mother, beautiful as ever, looks to him from her seat across
the room. I know that look. It’s the one she points at him as if to ask,
"Are you going to say anything?" My dad, per usual, ignores her and
the look and processes the information over another glass of scotch.
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and brace my trembling body
for what happens next. My mother and I have come to many blows, agreeing to
disagree on most things. But...just as I was unprepared for my broken
engagement and what transpired afterwards, so shall be my mother. And without
her knowing the full story...how will she ever accept this—accept me again?
"I would ask what happened, but..." my mother says,
throwing her hands up in the air. "I think I already know."
She stands from her seat and stomps in her heels over to the bar
cart to pour herself a more-than-stiff drink. Cue one of her lesser qualities.
Once my mother’s mind is made up, there’s no changing it. All the years that I
tried, I was wrong to think I could. I was even more wrong to think it was
healthy for her opinion of me to shift because of who I was dating.
Beaux was a band-aid in the mother-daughter relationship of Anne
and Emma Marshall. And now, I don’t have the energy to fight her fight anymore
or please her. So, what do you think happened, Mom? What story will you tell
yourself and all your friends? Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than the
truth. Maybe I’ll tell it to myself too.
About the Author
Tour Giveaway
Three winners will each receive a print copy of The Truth About Unspeakable Things (US only)
Ends June 30, 2021
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