Title: Our Souls to Keep
Author: Gary Caruso
Genre: Dark YA, Romantic Thriller 15+
Synopsis:
As Wake struggles to keep his new sensations hidden, Satan orders
him to corrupt the soul of a pregnant girl, Annemarie. Beautiful, gentle
Annemarie. From the moment Wake sees her, she brings lightness to his blackened
heart, dampening his loneliness, fueling his passion. If he chooses to defy
Satan and spare the lives of Annemarie and her unborn child, his mother’s soul
will writhe in Hell’s deepest pit for eternity. Annemarie or his mother? It’s a
choice no one should have to make.
Author Bio:
Gary Caruso lives in northern Virginia with his wife Jill, but their favorite place is
in Ohio with
their three beautiful grandchildren. Although Gary is exhilarated when he sits down to
write, teaching middle school science is his first love. He’s passionate about
empowering students to make thoughtful decisions and positive choices in life. Gary enjoys reading,
especially fiction that blurs the line between what’s real and what’s fantasy.
He never imagined becoming a writer until an ordinary car ride on a spring day
jolted an unlikely thought into his head. Gary’s
early experience writing is a reminder that no matter how intimidating the
challenge, action and determination are the foundations for fulfilling any
dream. Gary has
an insatiable love for writing, a blessing he’s excited to share with his
readers.
Links:
Excerpt:
The crowd thins, eventually leaving Annemarie and me alone in the
hallway. She gathers her books and turns, quicker than I expect. I can’t
maneuver out of her way. Our collision is mild, but jarring enough to dislodge
the books from her hands.
“I’m so sorry,” she says as she kneels to pick up her scattered
books.
I should be helping her, but my eyes are fixed on her graceful
movements. Her long brown hair has fallen to the side, exposing the back of her
softly curved neck, and every reach for a stray book lengthens her back and
shoulders, inviting my touch. From the lowest point, just above the waist of
her jeans, the tip of my finger would snake upward, navigating the gentle ridge
of her spine until my hand laces through the richness of her flowing hair.
She tilts her head upward and grins at me. “Are you okay?”
Her voice snaps me from my fantasy. “Me? Yeah, I’m…fine. Oh, god.
I’m so sorry. I should be picking up your books. You’re…you know.” I point
feeble-mindedly at her extended stomach.
“Pregnant,” she says as she stands and straightens her blouse. “It’s
all right to say it. I already know.”
The tip of her tongue unknowingly caresses her lower lip and the
gentle arc of her full upper lip stretches, the smallest amount, as a smile
slowly radiates across her flushed cheeks. These emotions, human, raw
and…hormonal, forgotten for so long, now my only hope for clear thought is to
suppress them. This has to be one of Satan’s sadistic jokes.
I laugh from embarrassment, but it’s the first time, in too long,
that the sound of untempered, unrestrained joy bubbles from my heart. How can
she have this warming effect on me? I want to say something cute and funny, but
my mind is a hornet’s nest of scrambled thoughts.
“You look familiar,” she says. “Do we have a class together?”
I gaze into her hazel eyes. I must appear flustered because she
tilts her head and grins.
“No. I mean, I don’t know. Today is my first day at this school.”
“Great. Welcome to Roosevelt
High School. My name is
Annemarie.”
“I’m Wake.”
“Wake? That’s an interesting name.”
“Yeah, I know. It sounds like a funeral.”
“I like it. But I have to go. My little guy keeps pushing on my
bladder. Lately, I have to use the restroom between every class.” She covers
her mouth as if she gave too much information to someone she just met, but her
joyful eyes can’t hide the smile hidden behind her hand.
“I can’t believe I just told you that.” She starts to hurry away,
but looks over her shoulder. “See you later, Wake.”
I wave like an embarrassed adolescent. What a lousy first
impression. I sounded like a bumbling, immature little boy.
I watch as she continues down the hall. I’ve seen other pregnant
women before. They were clumsy, out of balance from carrying extra weight in
front. But not Annemarie. Her steps are graceful and refined, like she’s
gliding on a frozen pond. The gentle curves of her hips have remained slender,
and sway hypnotically side-to-side in a rhythm that matches the drumming of my
heart.
What am I thinking? Mooning about like a
lovesick teenager. I can’t let my physical attraction for Annemarie erode the
resolve I’ll need to complete this assignment. Yet, she’s the most beautiful… Does
she even know how she makes me feel…how human? I’m stuck in a moment reserved
for young love. There’s nothing merciful about denying the uninhibited
excitement coursing through every inch of my body, but my plan is already in
motion. The fate of my mother’s soul is in my hands. As much as I hate myself
for thinking it, Annemarie’s beauty has to be extinguished. I have to collect
her. I know Satan is convinced these human emotions will help, but right now, I
wish I was a stone-cold demon. It would make it a lot easier to incinerate her
goodness from the earth.
Huddled beneath a
perpetual cloud of imagination, International Best-Selling author Airicka
Phoenix lives with her husband and four gorgeous children in the beautiful
province of British Columbia. When she's not busy playing with her imaginary
friends, creating worlds and toying with fictional lives, she can be found
reading, polishing her collection of daggers, or chilling with her kids. 
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