Torn

forth and I sing the lyrics to my wife, the words that are so perfectly fitting for the way I feel about her.

When the song ends, I slide my nose to her ear and whisper, “A long time ago, I wished for you and now I have you. See . . . wishes really do come true even if you tell someone your wish.”

Standing in the pouring rain, I place my hand behind her neck and gather her in close to me. When her lips meet mine, we kiss with a passion that only she has ever made me feel and it’s exhilarating and mind-blowing at the same time. Sliding my hands down her bare back, I look into her eyes and this time I ask, “What did you wish for just now?”

With her hands tangled in my hair she says, “Only for you, always. You’re the only thing I want to wish for. From the day I met you my life changed . . . the way you make me feel can’t be put into words. You make me smile in a special kind of way . . . you brighten my world . . . you make me fall more in love with you every day. I love you forever, I love you more, River Wilde. You turned my life into a fairy tale and I don’t need to wish for anything else as long as I have you.”

Her words sear me; just knowing she feels like that makes me shiver. With my hands pressed against the bare spot on her back I tell her, “That’s one wish I guarantee is granted. I love you, Dahlia Wilde. You turned my life from ordinary to extraordinary. You’re perfect, really.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Where words fail, music speaks.”

~Hans Christian Andersen~

My thanks to the artists and musicians who inspired me through every chapter. Music is a world within itself. It is a language we all understand. And although I hope the words in this book do not fail you, I also hope the music helps to enhance them. Music speaks to me, tells me a story, and when I listen to songs, I listen to that story . . . I hope I have succeeded in telling you a story that was brought to life through both words and music.

This section is by far the most difficult to write because it is so very important to acknowledge all of those who have never wavered in their support of, not only myself, but of the Connections Series as well.

First and foremost, I have to thank Kimberly Brower of Book Reader Chronicles. She not only beta-read Torn, she did so much more. Her willingness to motivate me and talk me through every difficult scene contributed tremendously to me being able to complete this book. Thank you so very much. You’ve become a lifelong friend.

I would also like to thank my other beta readers:

Christine Bezdenejnih Estevez of Shh Mom’s Reading for taking the time to read and reread, always making suggestions on what could be improved.

Becky Nicklus of Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost! beta-read Torn and messaged me this while reading: “I keep thinking of the saying ‘after the wedding the marriage begins’ and it kind of holds true for falling in love as well, because that is the easy part. It is after that the relationship begins and all the work that comes with it. And that is definitely what Torn is about for me. I don’t know if that made any sense at all but it did in my head! LOL.” Becky, it made perfect sense! Thank you.

Donna Soluri of Scandalicious messaged me once she finished beta reading with the following message, “River and Dahlia’s story is a beautiful tale of love, its trials and tribulations, the hard work and the sexy—I was swept away in their journey. Thanks for sharing it with me.” Donna, thank you for your invaluable input.

Mary Tarter of Mary Elizabeth’s Crazy Book Obsessions for your overwhelming support from day one. Thank you for all your help and for your friendship—both of which I truly value.

In addition, I would also like to thank my test readers: Jennie Wurtz, Kristina Amit, Liis McKinney, America Matthew, Trisha Rai, Jody O. Fraleigh, Laura Hansen, Nikki Groom, Deb Tierney, and Ellie Lovenbooks.

To Aestas—thank you for reading and pointing out what I didn’t clearly see. I truly appreciate it and with your feedback I hope I was able to make it better.

To Aerie again for spending countless hours on my visuals helping me promote both Connected and Torn.

To B&X for agreeing to appear on the cover of my book again. You are an amazing couple and I am so glad I’ve had the opportunity to get to know you.

To Amy Tannenbaum of the Jane Rotrosen Agency, who believed in Connected enough to sign me and then dedicated the time to help me throughout the writing of Torn. You are such an amazing person and I couldn’t be more grateful to have you as my literary agent.

To Penguin. When I began this journey with Connected, I never imagined I would land a publishing deal. So thank you, Kerry Donovan and the team at NAL, for so eagerly and enthusiastically taking me on and helping get book two of the Connections series published.

To all of the bloggers who have become my friends—you’re all so amazing and I cannot possibly put into words the amount of gratitude I have for each and every one of you!

And finally, my love and gratitude to my family—to my husband of twenty years who became Mr. Mom while continuing to go to work every day, to my children who not only took on roles that I for many years had always done—laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, but always asked how the book was coming and actually beamed to their friends when telling them their mom wrote a book.

Without the help of those mentioned above, plus all of the support from my readers who have contacted daily me since Connected’s release, the writing of Torn wouldn’t have been possible—a giant thank-you to all of you.