Ten Below Zero
Author: Whitney Barbetti
Release Date: August 28, 2014
Genre: New Adult Romance
Synopsis:
“In here,” he said, pushing on the skin above my heart, “you're ten below zero. And you’re closer to death than I am.”
My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember. I choose to live my life by observation, not through experience. While people are laughing and kissing and connecting, I’m in the corner. Watching them live. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.
A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.
His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel.
He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.
Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.
He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.
My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember. I choose to live my life by observation, not through experience. While people are laughing and kissing and connecting, I’m in the corner. Watching them live. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.
A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.
His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel.
He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.
Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.
He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.
Excerpt:
“Your
roommates are nosey,” Everett commented, sitting back on the bed. He reached
into the suitcase again.
“You
would know,” I said, snatching a bra from his hands.
Everett
shrugged. “It’s underwear. More specifically, it’s your underwear. I’m
intrigued.”
“Yeah,
well don’t get any ideas.”
Everett
leaned back into the pillows, resting his hands behind his head again. “Oh, but
I have a lot of ideas.” He winked at me.
I
stalked away towards my dresser and began pulling things from drawers. When I
turned back around, Everett was holding another bra.
“You
don’t wear padding,” he commented, his fingers feeling along the lined cup.
“No.”
“I like
that.”
My hands
stilled. And then I moved them again. “Why?” I didn’t care. Really, I didn’t.
“Lies.”
I turned
around. “Lies?”
“I like
the truth. In every way.” He seemed lost in thought so I turned back around and
packed my things.
“Am I
really doing this?” I asked myself.
“Yes,
you are.”
I turned
around again. “Why?”
It
wasn’t a question he should know the answer to. But he did. “Because you hate
and you love the way I make you feel.”
I was
naked under his gaze. Skin was just that: skin. But to see your soul stripped,
laid bare for the eyes of someone you barely knew – that was terrifying. I’d
walk down the street naked a hundred times before I would let someone see what
lay underneath.
I’d
spent my life alone. Bounced from foster home to foster home. When my tastes
outgrew my age as a teenager, I traded boys for men and found myself still
alone. I reveled in the loneliness. No one could hurt me but me, and did I
really care if I hurt me? Did I care? If I found pleasure in anything, it was
my lack of feeling.
And
that’s how I knew, when Everett told me not to fall in love with him, that I
wouldn’t. I didn’t love myself. And wasn’t loving someone also loving yourself,
the parts that saw the beauty in other people? I didn’t have that part. And I
didn’t want it.
“I don’t
love anything,” I said.
“I
know.” His eyes were unsmiling.
My Review:
I went into this story knowing tissues would be needed and they definitely were. This is a very emotional journey for two unusual people. Parker is a woman who survived an attack but turned to indifference to get through her life while Everett is a man Parker finds fascinating for no apparent reason. She learns that Everett has a big secret, he is dying, and she is unsure how to deal with it. Everett decides to embark on a road trip and asks Parker to join him. Surprisingly, she agrees and now these two virtual strangers who have a connection undertake this last journey. This book grabbed me and took me on a roller coaster of emotions. Parker is such an unusual woman yet I found myself liking her and her uniqueness. Everett is a mystery who gets slowly revealed as the readers follow along with him and Parker on their road trip. I loved this well written and curious story with its unusual characters. I highly recommend this book for readers of characters and storylines that have emotional depth and wounded souls. ~Booklover Sue
*
About the Author:
I am the author of new adult romance novels. He Found Me (May 2014) is the first in a two-part series. Ten Below Zero (August 2014) is a standalone.
I am married with two boys. When I’m not changing diapers or cutting food into tiny bites, I escape to Starbucks for hours. I could drink my weight in their black iced tea.
I love music and have a playlist for everything.
I have about 20 bacon things in my fridge.
I am married with two boys. When I’m not changing diapers or cutting food into tiny bites, I escape to Starbucks for hours. I could drink my weight in their black iced tea.
I love music and have a playlist for everything.
I have about 20 bacon things in my fridge.
Connect with Whitney:
Giveaway!
Signed copy of TEN BELOW ZERO and a $10 amazon gift card.
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