Author: Roni Loren
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: 12/31/2019
The highly-anticipated fourth book in Roni Loren’s
unforgettable The Ones Who Got Away series.
She got a second chance at life. Will she take a
second chance at love?
Kincaid Breslin wasn’t supposed to survive that
fateful night at Long Acre when so many died, including her boyfriend—but
survive she did. She doesn’t know why she got that chance, but now she takes
life by the horns and doesn’t let anybody stand in her way.
Ashton Isaacs was her best friend when disaster struck
all those years ago, but he chose to run as far away as he could. Now fate has
brought him back to town, and Ash doesn’t know how to cope with his feelings
for Kincaid and his grief over their lost friendship. For Ash has been carrying
secrets, and he knows that once Kincaid learns the truth, he’ll lose any chance
he might have had with the only woman he’s ever loved.
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Enjoy this excerpt:
A sleepy voice came through the door.
“Come in.”
Kincaid opened the door and found Ash
shifting to sit up in bed, shirtless, tattooed, and with full-on bedhead. Every
womanly cell in her body gave a cheer of appreciation, and she had the sudden
annoying urge to tilt her head and twirl her hair like a smitten schoolgirl.
Luckily, she stopped herself from that embarrassment. She wasn’t there to ogle.
“Everything all right?” Ash asked,
swiping a hand across his face and trying to wake up.
Kincaid lifted the phone. “Your ex has
been burning up your phone. I got aggravated and answered. Sorry. She’s still
calling herself your fiancée, and I believe she wants to yell at you about
something.”
Ash groaned. “Hell no. I’m not starting
my day off with that. Tell her I’ll call her later or just hang up.”
“I could. Or,” Kincaid said
conspiratorially, “we could have a little fun and piss her off in the process.
You game?”
His eyebrows lifted, mischief in the
tilt of his lips. “I could possibly be game.”
Kincaid grinned and unmuted the phone
so they could be heard. “Hey there, sleepyhead,” she said in a flirty voice to
Ash. “Rise and shine.”
Ash cocked his head in confusion, but
when he saw the look on her face, he caught on fast. “Morning, gorgeous.”
Kincaid put a knee on the bed, knowing
the guest bed squeaked and that Melanie would be able to hear and draw her own
conclusions. “I know you wanted to sleep in after last night, but that Melanie
woman has some sort of emergency and just couldn’t wait.”
Ash smirked, a deliciously evil look on
his face. “Baby, you know you shouldn’t be answering my phone this early. We
have better things to do right now.” Ash grabbed Kincaid’s wrist and tugged her
forward, making her tumble onto the bed and inadvertently laugh. She landed
next to him, and he lifted her arm to his mouth, kissing the tender skin of her
wrist with an audible sound. On the phone, that kiss could be imagined
anywhere.
Kincaid’s skin heated despite the fact
that this was a farce. “You probably should take it or she’ll keep calling. I
don’t want to be interrupted in the middle of anything, you know?”
Ash chuckled softly, this deep, private
laugh, a lover’s laugh. It sent hot shivers through Kincaid, waking up
sensations that had been dormant as of late. “Of course not. Wouldn’t want
that. Give me just a minute.” He took the phone, the smile dropping from his
face. “Melanie.”
Kincaid could hear the rapid-fire voice
through the line and remained next to Ash on the bed. Melanie was saying
something about him leaving the apartment messy when he moved out. About the
landlord keeping the deposit.
Ash grunted, his tone and entire
demeanor bored. “I wasn’t paying for a cleaning service to clean up after you.
Just because you moved out first doesn’t mean it was my mess. You made this
mess.”
More yelling on her end, the volume notching
up.
“Melanie,” Ash said patiently, “clearly
you feel passionately about this. I can’t say I give a shit, so that puts us at
an impasse. How about you send me back your ring, and I’ll consider sending you
half the deposit? Otherwise, I’ve got better things to do right now.”
Melanie’s next words were clear as a
bell. “Right. You probably can’t even afford the deposit. Are you back to the
living-on-ramen plan, Ash? Don’t have your woman’s money to use up now? Or did
you just find a new one to pay the rent?”
Ash’s teeth clenched, his skin flushing
red from the neck up—the words a match to a fuse. Kincaid saw what was
happening, the fire racing up through him. She’d been there. That moment when
an ex or a bully gets the best of you, and you stoop to their level. You lose
your shit and end up looking like the dumb one or the hysterical one or the one
who still cares too much. No way was she letting Melanie win this round.
Without thinking, she scrambled to sit up and then swung her leg over Ash’s
middle, straddling him.
Ash’s lips, which had been parted to
yell, froze in almost comic silence. His shocked gaze jumped up to Kincaid’s,
her ambush plan working to stop him in his tracks. She took the phone from him
and put it to her ear. “Hey, sugar, time’s up. And I can promise you, neither
of us are here for each other’s money. Don’t call again. Bye now.”
Melanie gasped. “Kincaid.”
Kincaid bit her lip, not sure if it was
good for Melanie to know her identity and to think she and Ash were together,
but that cat was already bolting away from the bag, too far to catch.
“Ugh,” Melanie said into the phone. “I
should’ve known. He always had a taste for the cheap stuff.”
Kincaid smiled, almost entertained. Oh,
sweet, misguided Melanie. If Melanie were here, she’d pat her on the hand
and shake her head at the lame attempt. The woman was going to have to do
better than that to get under her skin. “Oh, bless your heart. It’s so cute
when women try to throw other women under the bus just because a guy’s
involved—or in your case, two guys. Really moves that feminist needle forward,
don’t you think? You should burn a bra.”
“You—”
“Enjoy your new relationship, sugar,”
Kincaid said, cutting her off. “I hope you two are made for each other in every
way.”
Melanie was silent, and Kincaid took
the opportunity to hang up.
She tossed the phone to the side and
braced her hands on either side of Ash on the bed. “Well, if you needed a sign
that things aren’t going so well with her new guy, that was a clear one. If she
were happy, she wouldn’t give a damn about a couple hundred dollars of a
deposit, especially when she has money. And she certainly wouldn’t care if you
were sleeping with me—”
“Kincaid.”
“And I know I probably shouldn’t have
answered. But she wouldn’t let up, and I just couldn’t help it and—”
“Kincaid—” Ash said more
urgently.
“What?”
“You need to—” He grabbed her by the
waist, shifting to hoist her off him, but before he could, she sucked in a
breath as she became all too aware of the distinct firmness beneath her.
“Oh shit,” she said, rolling herself
off him as if he’d caught fire.
Ash made a pained sound and fell back
against the pillow. “Yeah, that.”
“I…uh.” Her cheeks burned as she sat
up.
Ash pulled the covers higher and
shifted onto his side so the blanket wouldn’t reveal his current condition. He
gave her a droll look as he propped his head on his hand. “I really appreciate
the effort to irritate my ex, I do. But maybe don’t straddle a guy first thing
in the morning. Little hard to control things.”
Kincaid couldn’t stop a snort from
escaping. “Did you just say a little hard?”
Ash gave her a
you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look and then hit her with a pillow.
She laughed as she defended herself
from the blow and then couldn’t stop, the laughter bubbling up from deep in her
belly. “A little hard,” she said between laughs. “Maybe more than a little. I
mean, give yourself some credit.”
***
Excerpted from The One for You by Roni
Loren. © 2019 by Roni Loren.
Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks
Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.
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About the author:
Roni Loren wrote her first romance
novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than
actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but
she likes to think her storytelling ability has. She holds a master’s
degree in social work and spent years as a mental health counselor, but now she
writes full time from her cozy office in Dallas, Texas where she puts her
characters on the therapy couch instead. She is a two-time RITA Award winner
and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Visit her
online at roniloren.com.
Strangers at the Gate: This was an OK thriller. The ending was a fairly far fetched and pretty convoluted and I didn't love it. I didn't really care for any of the characters. I probably should have DNF'd it, but it was short. I wouldn't recommend this one.
Just Neighbors: Even though this is the fourth book in a series, it worked well as a stand alone. I did like the romance between Kyle and Chloe. They were enemies to lovers and I loved their banter. However, I HATED a decision that the author made regarding a side character. I felt like it was a lazy plot device to get emotion out of the reader. Because of that, the story was kind of ruined for me. 
Keep Me Safe: I didn't love this one. It was supposed to be a romantic suspense with a little bit of paranormal thrown in. Honestly, I kept feeling like I was missing something. We are thrown right in at the beginning with literally no back story. The connection between the couple wasn't there for me. I also didn't love the whole psychic plot line. I felt like it made the heroine kind of weak and whiny.
