MIA'S HEART (The Paradise Diaries #2) by Courtney Cole Excerpt and Giveaway

Good day! 
Today I have a very intriguing excerpt from the second book of 
The Paradise Diaries series by Courtney Cole, MIA'S HEART... 


EXCERPT - Mia's Heart by Courtney Cole

“Would you like to dance?” I ask Quinn. 

He stares at me hesitantly. 

“What?” I cajole him. “The big brawny cowboy can ride a bull but can’t dance?”

And now he rolls his eyes. 

“Is that a challenge?”

“Does it seem like a challenge?” I ask innocently. 

He sighs and grabs my hand.  “Come on, tiny tot.”

I smile victoriously as he leads me onto the polished dance floor.  The crystal chandeliers sparkle above us and servers in black-tails and white gloves sail through the crowds with trays of champagne. 

Quinn pulls me to him and we smoothly dance around the ball room floor.  I look up at him.

“You’re a surprise,” I admit.  “I figured you couldn’t dance.”

But then again, I figured he didn’t own a pair of dress shoes, either.  He’s sexy as hell tonight in a tux and polished black loafers.  What is it about a tuxedo that can make a boy go from handsome to movie star hot in two seconds flat?  My heart flutters as Quinn grins at me crookedly. 

And that’s another thing.  My heart has been doing a lot of fluttering lately, mostly over this crooked grin of his. 

“I can most certainly dance,” he tells me needlessly.  And I say needlessly because he is demonstrating that fact right now. He can most certainly dance. 

His arms feel really good wrapped around me.  I almost sigh because this moment feels pretty perfect.  The music is soft and soothing, Quinn is handsome and strong, and I am pressed against his strong chest.  He smells delicious.  I could go and on about why this moment rocks. 

But unfortunately, it doesn’t keep rocking. 

Because as I look up, I see Gavin.  He is standing casually with Dante and Dimitri, with a champagne glass dangling loosely from his fingers at his side.  He is the picture of casual elegance—as if tuxedos were invented to be worn by him.  But I’m not distracted by how handsome he is.  Because the look on his face startles me. 

He’s upset. 

With me.

That is apparent.  I stare into his dark eyes and he looks pointedly away.  And he stays looking away.  He doesn’t glance back at me.  My stomach sinks like a rock.

“Is something wrong?” Quinn asks, as he stares down at me.  I shake my head.

“No.  I mean, yes.  Maybe.”

He stares at me again, his blonde eyebrows furrowed as he tries to figure me out.

“I’ll be back, okay?”

He nods and releases my hand and I scamper through the crowd to get to Gavin. But when I reach the spot where he was, he isn’t there anymore. 

“Mia!” I hear Reece call to me.  I gaze around and find her in the crowd and she is gesturing wildly toward something behind me. I turn and see Gavin disappearing into a hall.  I’m after him like a shot.

I call out for him, but he doesn’t stop.

So, I do the only thing I can think of to do.

I chase him.

I have no idea how he manages to stay so far ahead of me when I am running and he is walking. It’s like something out of a bad horror movie. I just can’t seem to catch up.  I trip along in my heels until I finally get smart enough to take them off.  And then I trip along after him barefoot. 

But finally, he takes pity on me

As he reaches a door that opens to the outdoors, he turns.  He is tall and lithe and handsome and he doesn’t want to be with me.  That much is apparent.

“What do you need, Mia?”  And he sounds weary. 

I’m confused. 

“Why are you running from me?”

He smiles a small, tight smile. 

“I’m not running.  I’m walking.  You’re short enough that you have to run to keep up.”

“Details,” I sniff.  “Why wouldn’t you stop?”

“Because I don’t want to talk to you right now,” he answers simply.  And that answer hurts.  Because out of everyone in my life, Gavin has always been there for me.

“Why?” I ask softly. 

“Because,” he shrugs. “I don’t want to right now.”

“But why?” I demand.  “You have to have a reason.”

“Because I just realized something,” he says. And his voice is cool and his eyes are a bit sad.  It makes me apprehensive and scared to ask.  But of course I ask anyway. 

“What did you realize?”

Gavin is quiet as he stares at me.  And the serious and slightly sad expression on his face scares me because I have never seen it before.

“What?” I blurt out. “What is wrong with you?  What did you realize?”

Gavin sighs. 

“I realized that you have never looked at me like you were looking at Quinn just now.  And you probably never will.”

****************************************

Mia's Heart

The Paradise Diaries #2

by Courtney Cole

Release date: November 13th, 2012

Published by: Lakehouse Press

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary, Romance

SUMMARY

My name is Mia Giannis. 

I am seventeen years old. 

I live in Valese, Caberra.

This has become my mantra and my lifeline, having recently lost my memory due to a scary natural disaster. 

Yeah. I have amnesia. Messed up, right?

You don't know the half of it. 

Not remembering anything has turned my world upside down. My parents try their hardest to "remind" me of who I was, but it doesn't feel right. Or, if what they're saying is true and that really was me, I'm not sure I like that person very much. 

And then there's my love life. Apparently, Gavin Ariastasis is my oldest and best friend in the world. Also, apparently, we've never dated. But now, noticing him for what feels like the first time, he's making my heart do somersaults. He knows me inside and out - the real me. Plus, he's sexy and charming as hell. Sounds perfect, right?

But then... there's the new guy. Quinn McKeyen - tall, gorgeous and deliciously American. His mischievous grin and slow Midwestern drawl turn my insides to mush in two seconds flat making me question who I really am and what I really want.

Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all that? I feel torn between them, but I barely even know who I am, let alone what I want. 

I just hope my indecisive heart will clue me in. And sooner rather than later... 
before I lose what little of my mind that I have left.  

MIA'S HEART is available now on: 

Amazon, Barnes and Noble

ALSO, be sure to check out DANTE'S GIRL, 
the first book in The Paradise Diaries series too!
Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Courtney Cole

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could.

She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. Every Last Kiss is her debut novel and she followed it with the rest of The Bloodstone Saga (Every Last Kiss, Fated, With My Last Breath and My Tattered Bonds).Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

Official Website, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter 

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