Cover Reveal and Excerpt:
Beautiful Harmony by Elizabeth Kelly
Is love a game they can win?
Small-town life isn’t easy for Emma Richardson.
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Not when her birthmark has made her a target her entire life. Which makes selling her yarn shop and escaping to a big city the perfect decision.
Until Lucas Wright moves to Harmony Falls and into her life.
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He’s funny, handsome, charming… and his reputation with women is no secret. But Emma wants friendship, not flirting.
Only Lucas is much more than just a pretty face.
As their friendship grows, her feelings turn toward the forbidden. But why would Lucas want her when the town’s women fall at his feet?
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And why can’t she stop picturing him in her bed?
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To Lucas, Emma is the entire package – beauty, brains, and the innate ability to call him out on his bullshit.
As a friend, Lucas tries hard to ignore his attraction. Until he realizes that underneath Emma’s iron control burns the same fire for him.
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Giving in to their mutual desire is easy. Learning to trust their hearts is the challenge.
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Content notes: Adult bullying, sexually explicit scenes
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This novel is the fifth in a series but can be read as a standalone.
Emma paced back and forth in her living room. Rayna had dropped her off only a few minutes ago, but Emma had asked her not to come in. She loved Rayna, but she was still pissed off and upset, and she didn’t want to be around anyone.
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Lucas was trying to help.
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She smacked her hand against the couch. “I know he was trying to help, but he made it worse.”
It was kind of hot how he came to your defense, though.
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“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Emma didn’t care that she was talking to an empty room. “Now is not the time for our fucking libido to -”
The doorbell rang, and she muttered a curse. She should have known that Rayna wouldn’t leave. She was just as stubborn as Emma.
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She stomped over to the door and yanked it open. “Rayna, I don’t want company right - Lucas?”
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He stared at her from her front step, anger still lurking at his edges. “Can I come in?”
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“No,” she said.
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He caught the door when she started to swing it shut. “I want to come in, Emma.”
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“Fine,” she snapped. “Come in because God knows you’ll do what you want anyway.”
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She swished away, nearly tripping over her fairy skirt and catching one wing on the door frame to the living room.
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Lucas shut the door with a hard bang and stalked after her. She glared at him as she yanked the wings from her back and dropped them on the chair. “I’m so angry with you.”
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“I’m not exactly pleased with you, Emma,” he said.
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“What did I do?”
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“Every time we have a disagreement, you walk away,” he said. “That isn’t what friends do.”
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“That wasn’t a disagreement. That was you breaking a man’s nose!”
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“He deserved it,” Lucas said.
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“That’s not the point,” she said. “I hate being stared at, and you doing what you did meant every person in that damn room was looking at me. I’m so tired of being looked at, Lucas!”
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“I know, and I’m sorry that was the result, but I won’t apologize for showing Brad what happens when he talks shit about my friend.”
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“It’s such a Neanderthal behaviour, and that isn’t you,” she said.
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He shrugged. “Sometimes it is.”
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She made a little screech of frustration before stomping forward until she was only inches from him. “Only because of me. You don’t have to defend me. I’m perfectly capable of defending myself. And do you think what he said to me isn’t anything I haven't heard a thousand times before?”
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“That doesn’t mean he should get to say it without any consequences,” Lucas said. “If you’re not going to stand up for yourself, then I will.”
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“I stand up for myself every fucking day in ways you couldn’t even imagine,” she said.
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“Okay, you’re right, I shouldn’t have said that. I apologize,” Lucas said. “You go through shit on a daily basis that I can’t imagine, and I know how strong you are. I do.”
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“So, we have an understanding then?” Emma said. “You’ll stop going all punchy-punchy with people when they insult me?”
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“Nope,” Lucas said. “I’ll always stand up for you. If that means punching some asshole in the face, I’m gonna punch some asshole in the face.”
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“Lucas!”
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He shrugged, giving her a small grin that made her want to punch him in the face.
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She kissed him instead.