Title: Death of a Waterfall
Author: Kara Leigh Miller
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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Excerpt Heat Level: 1
Book Heat Level: 4
BLURB:
Twenty
year old, college freshman, Teghan Jacobs didn’t think anything could be worse
than learning she’s pregnant by a man she’s been dating less than six months.
Boy, was she wrong. Her mother whose drowning in the river of denial refuses to
take a side on the issue. Her overbearing, manipulative father threatens to
disown her and cut her off from her trust fund if she doesn’t have an abortion.
Donnie
Marks couldn’t be happier. The woman he loves, the woman he fought so hard to
be with, is going to have his baby. Life has never been better. But when she
shows up in his dorm, sobbing and heartbroken, he learns the horrible truth of
what happened. He vows to get revenge on the man who's responsible: Teghan's
father.
EXCERPT
Teghan
had been waiting for this day for three long months. She'd been dreading it for
just as long. Having survived her brother's relentless teasing, her older
sister's dramatics, her mother's smothering, and her father's domineering ways,
she had finally made it. She was heading to college and for the first time in
her life, she was going to be on her own. Okay, so the Hayden Falls University
campus was less than an hour from her house, but she was living in the dorms,
and that represented a level of freedom she hadn't experienced before. The
possibilities of what she could do were endless. She'd thought taking time off
after high school to spend a year in London with her brother and best friend
had been exciting. It was nothing compared to this--probably because her father
had hired a live-in bodyguard to keep tabs on them in London, which was such a
drag. But there was no need for her father to do that now. She was truly free.
And
then her family arrived seconds later in her father's ugly green Lincoln
Navigator. It was officially moving day.
"Mom,
are the balloons really necessary?" Teghan asked.
Her
mother, Rachel, maneuvered around the tiny dorm room with an ostentatious
purple vase filled with white roses. Large foil balloons in the shapes of
hearts that read "Congratulations," "We love you," and
"Good luck" were tied to the rim. She set them on the desk that stood
at the foot of the single bed. "They give the room color, don't ya
think?"
Teghan
dropped her face into her hands and shook her head in disbelief. "Paint will give the room
color," she mumbled.
"Don't
talk back to your mother, Teghan," her father, Rob, said as he entered the
room, arms full of luggage. He piled it on the bed. "This is it?" Rob
asked, looking around the sardine can of a room. "Well, this is just
unacceptable. I'm going to the student housing office." He pointed his
finger at the luggage. "Don't unpack a thing until I get back."
"Daddy!"
Teghan said. "Don't!"
"Don't
be ridiculous. I won't allow you to live in these conditions."
"Your
father's right, sweetie. It doesn't look as though this carpet has had a proper
cleaning in years," her mother said.
"I
agree. This room sucks and it's ugly, but causing a scene at the housing
department isn't going to change anything."
"Trevor!
Get in here," Rob shouted, sticking his head out the door.
"Oh
God," Teghan groaned. She'd begged her brother to stay home.
"Now
stop it, Teghan. Your brother wanted to be here for this," Rachel said.
"He's leaving for Rygard on Monday. You should be happy he wants to share
this day with you." Tears welled up in her eyes. "It's too bad your
sister couldn't be here."
"Mom,
don't cry." Teghan gave her mother a hug. She, too, was sad that her older
sister wasn't able to be here, but she was in Kentucky with her soon-to-be
husband.
"I
refuse to participate in a group hug," Trevor joked. He walked the rest of
the way into the room and whistled. "Bitchin' room, sis."
"Watch
your mouth, boy," Rob scolded him.
"Sorry,
Dad," Trevor said and frowned.
Teghan
broke free from her mother's death-grip hug and was now standing by the door,
which to her horror, had never been closed.
"Where's
that person? You know the resident assistant?" Rob asked.
Trevor
laughed. "It's called the resident advisor,
Dad."
Rob
walked toward the door. He had that certain gait about him again--the one where
he'd tuck his hands into his pockets, purse his lips, and purposefully step
harder than necessary, making it sound like he was stomping. Teghan knew that
meant he was displeased and intent on getting results. She cringed. What a way
to make an impression. She'd be forever known as the spoiled rich girl who had
to have Daddy yell at people until she got her way. That was a reputation she'd
had in high school, and it was one she didn't want to have in college. She had
to stop him.
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