Author’s Note
Lyrical Embrace was once part of a multi-author series with my former publisher, but since the rights reverted to me, it’s now book 2 in my own series,
Embracing You, which features each of the Haynes siblings. For years now, I’ve longed to give this book the makeover it deserves. From a new cover, a revised blurb, and a heavily edited interior, Erica and Dylan’s love story shines brighter than ever before. This is the version I’m truly proud of. I hope you enjoy it!
Blurb
A black eye. A broken-down car. A chance encounter that changes everything.
Out-of-work violinist Erica Timberly leaves her abusive boyfriend and flees the big city. After her car stalls in the middle of the night, she reluctantly accepts help from a passing stranger, only to realize he’s Dylan Haynes, the former drummer of her favorite indie rock band. Maybe, just maybe, her run of bad luck is finally turning around.
Dylan knows Erica is in trouble, and her black eye is only the first clue. Having traded the chaos of stardom for the calm of teaching music, he’s given up his playboy ways and wants something real. Sparks fly with Erica, but she’s one step away from hitting the road.
Will Erica listen to the music in her heart and trust Dylan, or will her past always threaten her future?
– Book 2 in the steamy, small town, contemporary romance series, Embracing You.
– This 36k word novella is a complete story with a HEA (happily ever after) ending.
– Second edition. Newly revised and edited.
Excerpt
Erica strolled down the sidewalk, bypassing a realty office and a hair salon housed in quaint nineteenth-century buildings. Beautiful old houses rose on the tree-lined street, as picturesque as any painting. The charming neighborhood spread before her in shades of summer, from brightly colored flowers to laughing children chasing each other through sprinklers to flags blowing gently in the breeze on several porches. Even the drone of cicadas in the trees and the grumbling lawn mowers in nearby yards washed over her in a wave of peace.
Afternoon heat sizzled off the pavement and raked her skin, the sunlight deepening the tan on her arms and legs. She loosened her grip on her purse and wiped sweat from her neck. Even in the shade of the leafy, flowering trees, the warm breeze carried a sticky promise of more sun to come. Her sleeveless blouse clung lightly to her back, and her skirt danced around her knees. Thank God she’d pulled on a mid-thigh bodysuit that morning to protect her thighs from chafing.
Nine days. That’s all it had been since she and Dylan became a couple. Thirteen days since she’d made the best decision of her life and left Phil. After so many months of loneliness and fear, how could she be so happy, so comfortable, in such a short amount of time? Yet in those short days, Dylan had found the places in her heart that Phil never knew existed. He poured a fresh influx of music into her life. He filled her with his presence, his understanding, his kindness. For the first time in so long, she’d finally found somewhere that she could belong, if only she could embrace it with an open heart. Open mind.
If only the past would stay where it belonged—in the past.
As if on cue, unease crept down her spine. Her heart stuttered. A sense of being watched—no, being followed—clogged her throat. At the line of hedges near the library, she paused and turned to glance behind her.
Nothing.
Just an elderly man watering begonias in his garden and a golden retriever lounging in the shade of a billowing elm. Across the street, two teens tossed a basketball at a cracked driveway hoop, their laughter and good-natured ribbing cutting through the air.
But still. The hair on the back of her neck lifted. Something electric stirred under her skin, something instinctual. A woman’s self-preservation.
Has Phil found me?
She quickened her steps past the library, turned left, and continued down the street. She clutched her purse in her hand, ready to wallop anyone who dared to approach her.
Even with school out of session, a few teachers and administrators chatted with each other out by the cars in the elementary school parking lot.
Thank goodness. If she screamed for help, they would hear.
Directly ahead, the music academy peeked through the gaps in the trees like an answered prayer. Two stories of off-white Victorian elegance, perched behind a cluster of pink azaleas and burgundy hydrangeas, welcomed her with open arms. The sunlight reflecting off the cars in the tiny asphalt lot to the left of the house nearly blinded her.
Erica bounded up the porch stairs and yanked open the screen door to slip inside the house without knocking. As she closed the thick wooden door behind her, the rush of cool air from a wall vent kissed her skin and eased the panic that clawed at her heart and in her middle. A shaky breath burst from her lungs, deflating her chest.
Safe. I’m safe now.
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About the Author
Amber Daulton is the author of the Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, the Embracing You, and the Ramseys in Time series, as well as several standalone novellas. Her books are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.
Find her here: https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton
That was one of the most vivid descriptions of setting I’ve ever read, and it added to the suspense perfectly.
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me.
Wonderful snippet, Amber. I’ve been fortunate never to have been in an abusive relationship, but I can imagine it would eat away at your soul like acid.
Thanks! I haven’t been either. It’s a scary, heartbreaking situation.
Wow! The intense description of a town during the summer before you slip in her unease. My fingers clenched the more I read, wondering how it would end. Excellent!
Thank you! I had fun building up to the suspense part.
I can feel her unease, her panic in this scene. It’s absolutely real, even if her abusive boyfriend wasn’t actual following her. Scary!
Thanks a lot! Getting deep into Erica’s thoughts like that had my own heart pounding.