Exclusive Excerpt: Beauty in the Ashes [Beautifully Broken 01] by Micalea Smeltzer!

   A slow smile spread across my face as I pulled my iPod from my purse and placed it on the docking system.
   I knew it was horrible of me to be looking for ways to torment my neighbor, but I couldn’t resist the free entertainment.
   I should’ve probably invested in a TV. Instead, I flicked through my songs settling on one by Evanescence. I turned the volume up as loud as it would go, and started dancing around wildly, shaking my ass, as I sang along at the top of my lungs.
   He liked silence.
   I liked noise.
   Messing with Caelan was wrong, but I couldn’t resist. He got so angry, and I…well, I liked to push people.
   I knew there was probably a lot more to Caelan’s behavior than I or anyone else knew.
   I was sure he had a really interesting story—everybody does, just like Daphne said.
   For now though, I wanted to mess with him.
   I wanted to make him angry.
   I wanted to see that fire in his eyes.
   Something about him called to me, drawing me in.
   I didn’t understand what it was about him.
   Maybe his brokenness.
   I stopped dancing and stood still in my kitchen.
   What the hell was I doing?
   Was I flirting with my neighbor?
   Was this some kind of sick foreplay?
   I scrambled to turn down the music—analyzing my own behavior—but I didn’t get it turned down in time.
   He was pounding on my door, and from the sounds of those knocks he was livid.
   Shit.
   What had I done?
   I forced myself to open the door and pretend that I wasn’t internally freaking out over my thoughts.
   “I thought we had discussed this,” his voice was as icy as his eyes as he glared at me, “you need to keep the noise down. Since you didn’t heed my warning, it looks like I get to shut you up.”
   I found my back pushed roughly against the brick wall. One of his hands entwined with mine, pinning it beside my head, while he braced the other on the wall above my head. I was affectively caged in with nowhere to go.
   My eyes closed as I found myself unconsciously cowering to his domineering ways. My hair fell over my left shoulder and a few strands tumbled forward in an effort to hide my face.
   My heart was beating wildly in my chest, threatening to break free, but my ribs kept it caged.
   His sudden movements and overall officious way had surprised me.
   “Are you scared, Sutton?”
   My eyes popped open, my mouth falling a bit with shock.
   “No,” I answered with a challenging smirk.
   Caelan Gregory didn’t scare me. Not the way he thought at least.

Some stories are a fairytale...but this isn't one.

Caelan Gregory’s life fell apart the night he went home and opened the door to find his whole family murdered. Since then, his life has held no meaning. He’s angry. He’s bitter. He’s barely human anymore. There’s nothing left to remind him of the straight A student, and football quarterback he once was…but he wasn’t a good person then, and he’s certainly not a good person now. He’s retreated into a world where all that exists is numbness and his passion for painting.

When Sutton Hale moves into the apartment across the hall from Caelan she’s not prepared for her reaction to him. Something in his broken blue eyes calls to her—after all she’s always had an irrational need to fix everything.

But Caelan doesn’t do relationships or feelings. He does drugs and alcohol. However, he can’t ignore his desire to get to know the raven-haired woman across the hall.

Two broken souls trying to mend one another.

But not everything can be fixed.

In the end, Caelan and Sutton will have to learn that there is beauty in the ashes.

 

 

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads!

Author bio:

Micalea Smeltzer is an author from Virginia. Her name is pronounced Muh-call-e-uh. She is permanently glued to her computer, where she constantly writes. She has to listen to music when she writes and has a playlist for every book she’s ever started. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading a book or playing with her three dogs.

 

 

Website

Facebook

Twitter
Goodreads