When
Alexandra Nicole was eight, she thought she was a princess in a fairytale. But
after a tragic accident shatters her magical life, she finds herself in a cold
and heartless reality.
As an
adult, she once again faces harsh truths and decides to take control of her
destiny. Unfortunately, choices have a way of entangling her dreams and pushing
her down a dark and dismal path.
Alexandra
must trust her instincts to escape danger, but be able to surrender all to find
her happily ever after. Knowing how to decipher the difference, will be her
toughest challenge.
While Carmen DeSousa does not write
"Christian" books, she does share her characters' Christian beliefs.
Her characters are real people who come with real flaws; no perfect people
allowed.
She characterizes her stories as
modern-day fairytales, as they are overflowing with romance, mystery, suspense,
and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a fairytale be without a tragic
event setting the stage? All of her novels are sensual, but not erotic,
gripping but not graphic and will hopefully make you cry, laugh, love, and
hope.
Both of her published novels, She
Belongs to Me and Land
of the Noonday Sun,
have reached bestseller status right alongside Nicholas Sparks, J.D. Robb, and
other great authors.
Enjoy the prologue of ENTANGLED DREAMS
Prologue
As a child, Alexandra Nicole was a princess in
a fairytale. Her royal family would spend every Sunday on the pristine beaches
of Destin together. Her father, the king, would carry her on his shoulders,
pretending to be her noble steed as he pranced around at her behest. He would
battle dragons, the vicious Chihuahua that chased them; conquer new worlds,
also known as a sand dune further down the beach; and build elaborate castles,
well actually, sandcastles.
If her father was the king, then her mother was
most definitely the queen. She would laugh softly under her umbrella as she
watched Alexandra and her father roll in the gentle surf. When her mother did
venture into the crystal-clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico, her long, platinum
hair would blow softly in the breeze, her blue eyes sparkled like the water
below her, and her skin glistened from the ever-present sunshine in their
lives.
But alas, as in any good fairytale, everything
good and wonderful must come to an end.
After the tragic accident that snatched her
mother away from Alexandra, her father moved them away from the beaches of Destin
to another beach in Florida. Cocoa Beach.
Cocoa Beach was loud, the water murky, and
there were no weekend adventures as there had been in Destin.
Her father married her evil stepmother, Lilith,
who Alexandra was certain was a witch with her long, black as midnight hair and
pale-white skin as if she’d never seen sunlight. Her father had admitted he
wasn’t in love with Cruella, as she had come to think of the witchy woman, but
that he’d wanted Alexandra to have a mother and siblings.
Well, she definitely got that.
The king started staying out later and later at
night, and the princess had to do excessive amounts of chores around her new
castle. Her stepmother treated her like a pariah; certainly, she’d rather have
the dogs at their dinner table. Her stepsisters were ugly inside and out and
were forever jealous of Alexandra and her golden-blonde tresses. Anything nice
Alexandra ever received mysteriously disappeared.
Alexandra knew something was wrong with her
father, but she was too young to understand. Her father, forever the
happy-go-lucky guy, had turned to drinking to drown his troubles.
It sounds like your typical fairytale, but it
isn’t. There are no furry creatures to help the princess prepare a gown for the
prom, no fairy godmother to waive her magic wand and produce glass slippers. In
fact, at age sixteen Alexandra found herself living on her own with no family
contact and no prospects of a healthy, normal life.
Alexandra had only one advantage, if you could
call it that. Alexandra was beautiful. But so far, her beauty had not opened
any doors; actually, it had only caused her misery.
The
only people who welcomed Alexandra were the outcasts. The parents of other
losers in school fortunately didn’t care who slept over and what they did when
they stayed the night. So, Alexandra Nicole, now deciding to go by Nicky, as
she was no longer a princess, found herself wandering from house to house
throughout her remaining high school years.
And then she met him…
Congratulations, Carmen! After reading this, I know you've got another best seller on your hands!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bernadette, for having me on your blog, and of course, MJ, for being an awesome beta reader.
ReplyDelete