We Are Made of Stardust - Peaches Monroe #1 (36 page)

Harper: You left me here. You wouldn’t have had to find your way back if you hadn’t left in the first place.

David pulls Harper into a passionate embrace.

David: Kiss me like I’m dangerous.

Harper: Up to your old tricks?

David: Kiss me like I’m bad for you.

~

I put the script down and stared at the blotchy abstract art on the wall in Dalton’s palatial bedroom.

The second part was exactly what he’d said to me the night we had dinner at DeNirro’s. Our dates had been scripted. Well, his side had been.

This unsettled me, but not enough to stop reading.

I read on, and I lied to myself and said it was just a good story, and that was why.

The truth is, every page was cutting me. Deeply. My sorrow grew with every line I read, that I’d also heard come from Dalton’s lying lips.

Line after line he’d fed me, and I’d gobbled it down.

The character, David, had returned to his hometown and discovered the love of his life dating his estranged brother, and sporting an extra fifty pounds. He still felt something for her, but…
it hurt so bad for me to read his dialog with his friend
… he didn’t know if he could be physically attracted to Harper anymore. He was a wealthy tech company owner, and used to dating, in his words, “hotties.”

Later in the script, he told his friend that maybe fucking a fat girl wasn’t so bad after all. That if he closed his eyes, there was so much of her, that it was like having a threesome.

I read all the way to the end, which included the Happy Ending. Also known as the Fucking Stupidest Fucking Ending for Any Movie, Ever.

Harper hired a personal trainer and got her ass skinny enough to climb back into her prom dress, and she and Dalton—I mean, David—attended their high school reunion.

And they lived Happily Ever Fucking After like Fucking Douchebags.

If I’d had a knife nearby, I would have stabbed it through the manuscript, the way it had stabbed through my heart.

These were all the actions and words of fictional characters, but I read Dave's words as though every word was coming from Dalton's lips. I'd already heard so many of the lines.

I heard horrible sounds, like a woman howling in pain, and I realized it was me.

It was four in the morning.

The darkest hour for the human soul.

~

THE END of Book 1

To be continued in “Peaches on Top,” Book #2 of the Peaches Monroe series. Coming fall 2013.

Thank you for taking a chance on a new series! I hope you enjoyed Book 1, and as of the release date, I'm already working on the next novel, due out in fall 2013.

I don't know what I can say about Peaches that she hasn't already said for herself, so I'll share a little back story about how this novel happened.

The first three chapters were written in February 2013 and posted to Wattpad under the title
Peaches on Top
. Then I got distracted by another project, and Peaches got put on hold because I only work on one novel at a time. I published a stand-alone novel,
For You
in April 2013, and it went on to become a USA Today bestseller. Yay! I had a lot of options for what to write next, and Peaches promised to be the most fun, so I went for it.

Most of my work to date has been erotic serials or stand-alone novels, but in response to my readers' requests for longer stories, Peaches was designed to have a much bigger story that can cross multiple novels. How many? I don't know. You guys tell me!

Here are some fun facts:

1. Beaverdale, Washington, is not a real town. I made it up so I can have absolute creativity. I've written fantasy before, and I love the world-building aspect as an author. As a reader, I love when a great setting becomes a character. I grew up in a small town in northern British Columbia, so that's one of my inspirations for the town. I live in the Pacific Northwest now, so I'm quite familiar with the weather.

2. I have an aunt named Dorothy who just bought a convertible, and her bumper sticker says, "If the sun's up, the top's down." She told me that during the time I was penning the first draft, and so the character of Dottie Simpkins was inspired by her.

3. Peaches Monroe's clothing is inspired by the most confident, awesome women I happen to encounter the day I'm writing a scene.

4. I've started referring to certain body parts as peaches.

5. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope it was (eyebrow waggle) good for you, too.

Love, Mimi

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”

― Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

Mimi Strong Books and Series

Pretty Girls
 - 
romance / coming of age

For You
 - 
new adult romance

We are Made of Stardust - Peaches Monroe #1

If you enjoyed this book, and the next one in the series isn't available yet (check my website, as it should be out Fall 2013), and you're looking for another sexy romance with humor, try 
Kissing Coach
.

For a coming-of-age story that's more chick-lit, with career and family storylines in addition to romance, try 
Pretty Girls
.

My USA Today bestseller New Adult Romance is 
For You
.

(All three are stand-alone novels with romantic HEA endings)

For some spanking and WAY more sex, check out Mimi's extremely naughty and fun 
erotic romance serials
, available now in boxed sets:  

Her Teddy Bear
 features Mimi's most beloved book boyfriend, Trevor. 

Borrowed Billionaire
, featuring the adventurous Lexie Ross, is one of Mimi's best sellers, and so much fun.

Links on this page take you to Mimi's website, where you'll find links for all the retailers.

Mimi is hard at work, writing more books to release soon. She puts out a new book nearly every month, so stay tuned for more, and check the website for upcoming titles and big news!

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