A New Adult Novel

Life is random…

19-year-old Jess Donovan knows better than most that life is random. Her mom is dead, and she’s on her own, patching together a living as a waitress when a car crashes through the restaurant where she works. In two seconds, she loses her job, watches her best friend hauled away in an ambulance…and meets Tyler Smith, one of the hottest, most fascinating—and mysterious guys she’s ever met.

Both for the good and the bad…

Within days, Jess is swept up into the mesmerizing force that is Tyler. Their every touch sizzles, every kiss dissolves them both, and the sex is…fierce. But there’s more to Tyler than his hypnotic eyes. He’s adrift, too, and his body—and his soul—are covered with scars. How can she find herself with a guy who is lost himself?

Until you take charge….

Jess is determined to find her way, and make a life that is better than the one she was given. But how?

Book Two: Epic, Spring 2014. Book 3: Brilliant, Summer 2014

About the Author:
Lark O’Neal has waited tables, dispensed drugs to schizophrenics, loaded trucks, answered phones in a call center, and tended bar, but the only thing she ever really wanted was to write novels. She has won many awards for her books, and writes full time from Colorado. Check out her website at larkoneal.com

Excerpt:
It goes on for a long time, the rain and the kissing. I’m lost in it, deliciously, happily lost.

In my front pocket my phone starts to buzz. Tyler can feel it vibrate against his leg, too, and he chuckles, moving his hips against me. “Interesting,” he says against my mouth. “Do it again.”

And the phone obliges, making both of us laugh. “Do you want to check it?”
I shake my head, but the mood has changed. It’s still charged, but softer. He takes a breath, looking down at me, and then leans forward and presses his forehead to mine. “Wow.”

“I know.”

“I don’t live very far away. Do you want to come over? Not for sex,” he adds. “Just to hang out.”

It’s tempting, but my limbs are faintly trembling, and between my legs is a heat I have never felt before. If I went to his house, I wouldn’t trust myself, much less him. I’m not ready for that yet. “Thanks for the offer, but I really should get back and see about Virginia.”

“Fair enough.” He straightens, takes my hand. The rain has slowed, but it’s not yet finished. “Let’s sit over there.”

We settle on a park bench. I peer between my toes at the water. He doesn’t rush to fill up the quiet, and neither do I. It’s kind of scary to like him so much, so fast. It seems dangerous. I glance over at him, his aristocratic cheekbones and straight teeth.

He feels my gaze. “What?”

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

“You look suspicious.”

“I just don’t think I’m really your type.”

He grins. “What would be my type?”

“I don’t know. Somebody who knows what to wear to a business dinner.”

His laughter is big and round. “No way. I like natural women.” He reaches out and touches my face. “The real thing, without artifice.”

Women. I’m pretty sure no guy has called me a woman before this.

It comes to me, softly, to wonder why I like him. He’s not my usual type. I usually go for bad boys on motorcycles, guys with nothing to lose. Tyler feels like something rare and surprising that suddenly fell on the sidewalk in front of me, like the lost manuscript of some famous book, or the pigeon’s blood rubies that the Indian rajas used to wear. Even if you know you have no right, you can’t help trying to hold onto something like that. Even if you know that sooner or later someone will come to reclaim their prize.