North Star
& True North
By M.E. Montgomery
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Editor: BJS Editing
Cover Design: Cover to Cover Design
Content Warning: Sexual Content and Violence
North Star
Is our fate in the stars…or in our hands?
Everyone who knew her wanted Mikayla Matthews as their
friend. But in her love life, she never seemed to be good enough. After one
betrayal too many, she packed up her shattered heart and moved across the state
to start over. Losing herself in a new job, she is convinced no man will ever
truly want her, not that she was willing to trust another to find out anyway.
Alex North found himself in the one role he never
wanted - guardian of his nephew after his sister and best friend are killed. On
unfamiliar territory as a dad, Alex gave up his bachelor lifestyle and worked
to create a nurturing environment for five year old Aiden. Attempting to hold
his new life together, he masked his pain and threw himself into being the rock
for his family.
Brought together by fate on several occasions, Alex
decides Mikayla is the key to heal not only Aiden, but himself. He recognizes
that only she can offer him the kind of love he never thought he would find.
Mikayla discovers she has the strength to give love a second chance as well as
the courage to fight for it. Together they heal each other and begin to create
a future together.
But not everyone supports them, and outside forces
threaten to destroy all the happiness they have worked for. Will Alex and
Mikayla be strong enough to hold together the fledgling family they are
building?
Or will the past and the present work together to rip
them apart?
True North
Alex and Kayla have found in each other what they need
to move moved beyond the tragedies of their pasts and are ready to embrace
their future together. But the problem with the past is it doesn’t always agree
to be left behind, and sometimes it follows, unwilling to let go.
Now everything they thought they knew to be true is
suddenly turned up on end. Collisions between the past and the present
challenge their happiness, and hiding in the shadows lurk more obstacles that
threaten their future.
Alex and Kayla are determined not to let these twists
and turns destroy their happiness. But is love enough? What happens when lies,
uncertainty, and deception entangle with their plans? Will determination be
enough when faced with disaster?
Plotting a course is easy; finding your True North and
staying the course presents a greater challenge.
North Star
“Sylvia was right. You are not the type of woman I
have usually dated.” I started to turn away again, but he wouldn’t let me.
“Yes, they were beautiful,” he continued, “but only on
the outside. They were shallow, selfish, and greedy. Their biggest interests
were acquiring more clothes and jewelry and finding ways to get me to buy it
for them. They wouldn’t dare dirty themselves playing with children or cooking
or cleaning up messes. And they sure as hell couldn’t have thrown darts without
breaking a nail.” He smirked at his last comment.
He pushed my hair away from my face and tucked it
behind my ear. “You, on the other hand, are the most stunning woman I have ever
known. I love to run my hands through your thick, silky hair. I love to hold
your soft, sweet curves against my body.” He paused and brushed a finger across
my lips. “Your smile is pure sunshine and your beautiful eyes hold me captive
and seem to see into my soul, seeing the real me and not just what I have to
offer. You amaze me at how kind you are to other people and how much you enjoy
giving of yourself.”
He leaned his forehead against mine and continued in a
soft, gruff voice. “So, you see, Mikayla, Sylvia was right. You are not the
type of woman I usually date, and it’s really more that I am not worthy of
you.” I was unable to look away from the adoration I saw as he looked back at
me. My heart pounded so hard I was surprised my shirt didn’t pulse outward with
each beat.
“I can’t even begin to imagine why you haven’t been
snapped up by some other lucky bastard, but I thank God you weren’t. I want you,
Mikayla. So I don’t ever, ever want to hear you put yourself down
again and wonder why I want to be with you.”
True North
The woman finished placing her order and waited
patiently at the bar, casting her long lashes down as if she were uncomfortable
with all the people surrounding her, especially the drunken idiots sitting at
the bar next to her. The guy closest to the end leaned backward as he laughed
hard at something his buddy said. I watched in disgust as he lost his balance
and began to fall sideways off his stool. In the process, he slammed into the
beauty standing next to him, causing her to lose her balance. She reached out
to try to grab onto something, but her flailing arms found nothing but air.
Instinctively, I reached out and caught her around the
waist and pulled her toward me and away from him. She was such a light little
thing I inadvertently lifted her onto my lap. She landed on my thighs with a
little ‘umph’ as she grabbed my waist for balance. Unable to help myself, I
inhaled her sweet scent - almost like vanilla with a touch of cinnamon; not
like that strong, sense-clogging perfume used by so many of the women I knew.
“Whoa, you okay there?” I asked her.
“Oh, my gosh! I’m so sorry…” She stopped talking as
our eyes met for the first time. Or at least I didn’t hear anything else. Her
voice was almost like honey, soothing and quiet, calming my tired soul like a
comfortable blanket. My mind went blank when I looked into her beautiful hazel
eyes. There was no hidden agenda in the green and gold specks that broke up a
warm brown, just a genuine look of gratitude alongside a certain wariness.
Wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and a white button down shirt, she was much
more modestly dressed than the blonde I’d sized up of a few moments ago. A
sparkly pink scarf decorated her neck hinting that beneath the conservative
exterior there was a spark of playfulness. To me, she was much more attractive
for leaving something to the imagination, although pressed against me as she
was, I didn’t need to imagine the full curves underneath those clothes.
Her eyes darted across my face and she appeared to be
appraising me as well. She focused on my eyes as though she could see into me
if she looked hard enough. Her look drew me in. I wanted to pull her closer and
go ahead and let her see inside, feeling as if she could soothe all the pain
and anger I tried to keep locked up. At the same time, I wanted to hold and
protect her from whatever caused that look of caution, almost fear, that
abounded in her eyes.
What the hell just happened to me? I had never had
these thoughts before. She noticed my intense gaze and her cheeks began to turn
the cutest shade of pink. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a woman
blush; usually they were so forward I was the one who was embarrassed for them.
“Thank you for catching me,” she said. “That might
have ended badly otherwise.”
My mind snapped back to attention when she began to
push off of me. I doubt she noticed, but her second hand had settled on my
crotch when she landed in my lap, and the gentle pressure she was asserting had
it starting to rise and twitch in anticipation of more.
I grabbed her wrist gently. “I’m afraid I’m going to
have to ask you not to push too hard there.”
She tilted her head sideways, not immediately
understanding my words until I gestured with my eyes at our hands. I knew the
instant she figured it out because her pink cheeks turned bright red and she
jerked her hand away.
“Oh,” she gasped. “I…I’m so, so sorry!” she said as
she carefully crawled off me.
“Trust me, it was my pleasure,” I teased, glancing at
my lap.
M.E. Montgomery has been an avid reader her entire
life, and her Amazon account will attest to that fact! Recently, several voices
began telling their own stories in her head. After being assured she wasn’t
crazy and this was the sign of an emerging novel, she decided to put her
fingers to work and started typing, and with lots of encouragement, decided to
share Alex, Kayla, and Aiden’s dramatic and heartwarming tale.
Her family considers her adept in most subjects, to
include science, history, reading, spelling, and all mathematical studies,
which loosely means she is the homework queen to her four school aged children.
Fortunately, her biology and elementary school teaching background help her to
keep up the expert façade, at least for now.
Although born and raised in the Washington DC metro
area, she has considered many places to be called home since she left to attend
college in North Carolina. She is a proud Navy wife, setting up hearth and home
wherever in the world the Navy sends her husband. When she’s not reading or
writing, she loves to go camping with her family, drinking wine on the deck,
and romantic getaways when her husband’s work permits.
COMING
SUMMER 2015
BOOK 3 OF
THE POLARIS SERIES
magicofbookspromo@gmail.com
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