We're so excited to celebrate the release of BEFORE YOU by Amber Hart from Kensington Teen! This multicultural romance has us swooning!
Some say love is deadly. Some say love is beautiful. I say it
is both.
Faith
Watters spent her junior year traveling the world, studying in exquisite
places, before returning to Oviedo High School. From the outside her life is
picture-perfect. Captain of the dance team. Popular. Happy. Too bad it’s all a
lie.
It will haunt me. It will claim me. It will shatter me. And I
don't care.
Eighteen-year-old Diego Alvarez hates his new life in the
States, but staying in Cuba is not an option. Covered in tattoos and scars,
Diego doesn't stand a chance of fitting in. Nor does he want to. His only
concern is staying hidden from his past—a past, which if it were to surface,
would cost him everything. Including his life.
At Oviedo High School, it
seems that Faith Watters and Diego Alvarez do not belong together. But fate is
as tricky as it is lovely. Freedom with no restraint is what they long for.
What they get is something different entirely.
Love—it will ruin you and save
you, both.
Those are the first words I speak to the
new Cuban guy in the front office. He grimaces. He’ll be a tough one. I can
handle it, though. He’s not the first.
I can’t help but notice that he looks a
lot like a model from the neck up—eyes the color of oak, strong bone structure.
Everywhere else, he looks a lot like a criminal. Chiseled, scarred body … I
wonder for a second about the meaning behind the tattoos scratched into his
arms.
One thing’s clear. He’s dangerous.
And he’s beautiful.
“I’ll show you to your classes,” I
announce.
I’m one of the peer helpers at our
school. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but it counts as a class. Basically I
spend the first two days with new students, introducing them around and
answering their questions. Some parents with kids new to the school voluntarily
sign their students up, but it’s only mandatory for the international students,
of which we have a lot. Mostly Latinos.
This Cuban guy towers over me. I’m five
six. Not tall. Not short. Just average. Average is good.
This guy’s not average. Not even a little
bit. He must be over six feet.
I glance up at him, kind of like I do
when I’m searching for the moon in a sea of darkness.
“Looks like you have math first. I’ll
walk you there,” I offer.
“No thanks, chica. I
can handle it.”
“It’s no problem,” I say, leading the
way.
He tries to snatch his schedule from my
hands, but I move too fast.
“Why don’t we start with your name?” I
suggest.
I already know his name. Plus some. Diego
Alvarez. Eighteen years old. Moved from Cuba two weeks ago. Only child. No
previous school records. I read it in his bio. I want to hear him say it.
“You got some kinda control issues or
somethin’?” he asks harshly, voice slightly accented.
“You got some kind of social issues or
somethin’?” I fire back, holding my stance. I won’t let him intimidate me,
though I’ll admit, he’s hot. Too bad he has a nasty attitude.
The side of his lip twitches. “No. I just
don’t mix with your type,” he answers.
“My type?”
“That’s what I said.”
“You don’t even know my type.” No one
does. Well, except Melissa.
He chuckles humorlessly. “Sure I do. Head
cheerleader? Date the football player? Daddy’s little girl who gets everything
she wants?” He leans closer to whisper. “Probably a virgin.”
My cheeks burn hot. “I’m not a
cheerleader,” I say through clamped teeth.
“Whatever,” he says. “Are you gonna give
me my schedule or not?”
“Not,” I answer. “But you can feel free
to follow me to your first class.”
He steps in front of me, intimately
close. “Listen, chica, nobody tells me what to do.”
I shrug. “Fine, suit yourself. It’s your
life. But if you want to attend this school, it’s mandatory for me to show you
to your classes for two days.”
His eyes narrow. “Who says I want to
attend this school?”
I take the last step toward him,
closing the gap between us. When we were little, Melissa and I used to collect
glass bottles. Whenever we accumulated twenty, we’d break them on the concrete.
When the glass shattered, the slivered pieces made a breathtaking prism of
light.
I cut myself on the glass by accident
once. It was painful, but worth it. The beauty was worth it. It’s funny how the
bottle was never as beautiful as when it was broken.
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Amber
Hart grew up in Orlando, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. She now resides on the
Florida coastline with family. When unable to find a book, she can be found
writing, daydreaming, or with her toes in the sand. She's the author of BEFORE
YOU, AFTER US, UNTIL YOU FIND ME, and sequel to UNTIL YOU FIND ME (untitled as
of yet). Represented by Beth Miller of Writers House.
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