Exclusive Excerpt + Guest Post from K.A. Linde on Hold the Forevers

• From K.A. Linde

  HOLD THE FOREVERS was one of the best writing experiences I’ve had of my life, and it all started with a question on Facebook. Rebecca Shea asked everyone, “What was the craziest thing that happened at your wedding?”

  My response was this story that I found out about after my wedding was over. (Thank God) After the wedding finished, my maid of honor told me that my ex-boyfriend had texted her to say that he was going to object. She’d gone to the wedding planner with his picture and they’d had people at the entrances with his likeness to know who to turn away. Obviously the last thing I would have wanted on my happiest day was for that to happen.

  But Rebecca and many others were immediately telling me I had to write that book. Rebecca and I messaged back and forth about it on October 16^th. By the next day I had a title, full outline, and the prologue already written. By the following day, I’d rearranged my entire writing schedule, which was already pretty set in stone, to write this for NANO. I then spent the next 9 days writing 39k words in the book I was already working on so that I could start fresh for Hold the Forevers in November. And then the words flowed. 95k words which is the equivalent of a 400 page book just poured out of me in 6 weeks.

  For reference, I normally think about stories for 2-3 years before I get to put anything on paper. And this book just wouldn’t leave me alone and gave me no room for anything else. I barely read or watched TV or did anything but think about Lila, Cole, & Ash. So when I say I’m obsessed with this book, I mean that I’m obsessed with this book. And love triangles sound scary but this isn’t like your typical love triangle. It’s not written the way that you expect it to be written and it has a mystery that you are going to die to find out the answer to. I did while writing!

  Read an excerpt below…

• Excerpt

  “I’ll, uh, meet you there.”

  Ash froze. “Lila …”

  “I will be right behind you.”

  His eyes darted to Cole, who still hadn’t moved, just stood there and waited for me. Then Ash snaked an arm around my waist and kissed me. It was brief but said everything he needed to say. Mine.

  “Don’t be long,” he said.

  I nodded, dazed by the force of the kiss. “It’ll just be a minute.”

  Ash took the decorations inside. I was sure that he was counting down the minutes before he could burst back out here. The hate was a mutual thing. Living, breathing death in their presence.

  “I thought he might hit me,” Cole said.

  “You sound disappointed.”

  Cole shrugged and gestured down the street, where I saw his Jeep was parked.

  “If he’d hit me, then I could have caved in his face.”

  “Cole!”

  He laughed, and it was so achingly familiar that it hurt me.

  “I wouldn’t have hit first.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re both acting like jealous, possessive assholes.”

  “With good reason.” Cole stopped in front of his Jeep. “We’re both clearly in love with you.”

  I bit my lip and dropped my gaze. “Cole, don’t.”

  “Why are you dating him, Lila?”

  “Please don’t do this.”

  “You don’t love him,” he roared, unable to hold on to his calm. “You don’t love him because I know what you’re like when you’re in love. You’re a hundred and ten percent. You’re a sunflower in bloom. You aren’t scared of a damn thing. And you wouldn’t have hesitated to kick me out of your house.”

  “I didn’t hesitate!”

  “Yes, you did,” he growled.

  “This isn’t fair. What did you expect to happen when you showed up?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, running a hand back through his hair. “Not … this.”

  “You’re in San Francisco. I’m here.”

  “What if I moved here?”

  “What would you do here?”

  “I don’t know,” he grumbled. “I don’t know, Lila. I just know that it’s always been you. Always. And I can’t stand here and watch you be with him when I know you should be with me.”

  “Is this about us, or is this about Ash?”

  “Us,” he said automatically. “But … him too.”

  “You should go,” I said, taking a step backward.

  “Tell me the truth, Lila. Tell me you choose him. Tell me this is what you want.” Cole’s gaze was level with mine. “Tell me, and I’ll walk away.”

  My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth like it was coated in peanut butter. I’d said I’d made my choice. And I had. I was here in Savannah. I was with Ash. But was that a choice or just circumstances?

  “I’m happy,” I whispered.

  “Are you?” he pressed.

  I nodded because I couldn’t get the words out. I was happy. But I was split in two. Half of my heart was here in Savannah, and half of my heart would always belong with Cole.

  He stepped forward, clearing the distance in one long stride. “I want you to be happy, Lila.”

  And before I could do a damn thing, his lips were on mine with all the force of a hurricane. I clutched on to him as he ravaged my mouth. As if I were hanging on for dear life in a gale with rain lashing down all around me. Like if I held on long enough, I’d weather the storm and come out on the other side.

• About Hold The Forevers

  

  A new angsty stand alone romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde that will keep you guessing which man is her groom and which one objects…

  I’m in love with two men.
  But I can only marry one.
  And today is my wedding day.

  The bridesmaids button my wedding dress. They titter excitedly as the music begins. My groom is waiting for me. I walk down the aisle prepared to say I do. All according to plan.

  Except for the shout from the back of the room, “I object!”

  I should have known it couldn’t be that easy. After more than a decade of push and pull, neither of them is going to let me go. We’re a trio that should have never been. Me and Cole and Ash. One that I’m to marry and one that I’m to leave behind.

  Now, once and for all, I have to choose: my groom or the man objecting?

  But until then…hold the forevers.