Captive Writings series – TBR Book Blog

New Release ~ Burning Notes ~ by ~ M.L. Philpitt

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𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤,

𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘. 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒’𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦.

𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒, 𝐼 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔—𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝑇𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠.

𝐼 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑧𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠,

𝐻𝑎𝑤𝑘𝑒

𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟. 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑥, 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎, 𝑃𝑇𝑆𝐷, 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ.

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The next morning, I find a note on the floor.

Please let me know you’re doing better. I
stayed awake for the rest of night, keeping an ear out for any screaming, but
you seemed to sleep through the night.

He stayed awake all night? Stayed awake for me?
I read his words over and over, committing them to memory before writing on the
other side and returning the note beneath the door.

I’m okay. Thank you. You didn’t need to remain
awake all night though. I’d be fine.

Within minutes, his feet come to the door, like
he was listening and waiting for me to wake up. I drift toward the door,
expecting a repeat of yesterday. But instead of paper coming back to me, he
speaks.

“I wanted to, Willow. Sometimes the most
difficult part is managing to sleep through the night, and after the months
you’ve had, you deserve all the sleep you can get.”

My head is in the middle of sorting through the
wave of emotions his words drown me in when he continues.

“I’ve brought food up. It’s out here. I also
wanted to let you know I must go to my office, so I’ll have to head out. I’ve
been trying not to, but there’s stuff I need there.”

Leaving? As in, leaving me alone? When
he goes, I’ll be easily accessible to Alex or whoever he sends for me. Sweat
beads on the back of my neck and blood rushes to my ears, blocking anything
good out. There’s only room for fear, for panic, for—I grasp the door, readying
to open it, if only to demand he remain here.

“I didn’t want to leave you alone and feeling
unprotected, so I’ve asked my friends, Ryker and Elena, to come over. Elena was
the one who got you the clothing the other day, and Ryker was with me when we
found you. They know you, but I’ve instructed them to not bother you. I’ll only
go when they arrive. Okay?”

He thought of me.

He remembered me.

He cares about me enough to convince his
friends to come over and babysit me.

My hand rests on the wooden door, lightly
touching it, aware he’s on the other side. How easy it’d be to open the door
and tell him thank you, without a barrier of my self-hate between us. How much
he’d likely appreciate my effort too.

Instead, I whisper, “Thank you, Hawke.”

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Read The First Chapter HERE!

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She writes in various romance new adult genres including paranormal, fantasy, and dark romance. She has lots of crazy trapped in her head for readers to enjoy. M.L. Philpitt writes contemporary romance through her alter ego, Cala Griffin.

When M.L. Philpitt isn’t making up stories, she’s devouring those imagined by other authors. Her love of reading began when she was a young child and only grew with age. She enjoys many genres, as reflected in her writing preferences.

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New Release ~ Vicious Texts ~ by ~ M.L. Philpitt

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𝑇𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝐼 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼’𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡. 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑦-𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡. 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟—𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠. 𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝐼’𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟. 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑇𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑-𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

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When the end of the day finally comes, after hours of the same thirty people sneaking looks at me constantly, the only thing I want to do is curl up in bed and forget today happened. As I exit the school, a scuffle at the edge of the school’s property catches my attention. There’s two guys towering over another one. Shorter and wider than the two, he steps back, arms up in defense. I sigh, shoulders lowering. Bullies suck worse than first days. No matter what, I don’t ever allow myself to be bulled. People can speak negatively about me behind my back all they want, but they’ll never say anything to my damn face and make it out unscathed. I glance to the right, seeking out a teacher on duty, but most of them seem occupied with organizing the bus lines for the younger kids. Everyone’s so worried about young kids’ safety, leaving the older ones to fend for themselves. Maybe it’s dumb of me. Maybe I shouldn’t make waves on the first day. Either way, it doesn’t stop me from marching over there and pushing between the three bodies, even noting the two bullies are much larger than me and can easily squish me if they wanted to. “Hey!” I call, shoving my hands on one’s chest. “Back the hell off. What is wrong with you?” Both guys stop what they’re doing, their gazes dropping to me. One sneers, but his attention remains locked on the kid they were pushing around. “Thorne, you’re pathetic. Needing a girl to friggin’ protect you.” “You’re pathetic,” I counter, before the guy—this Thorne—can speak, “for picking on people. God, what is wrong with you? You realize there are bigger issues in the world than your pettiness, right?” Past the bully’s body, I catch the eye of a teacher, who’s finally turned around, noticing us. “Look, a teacher is watching. There’s nothing you can do now anyway, without getting in trouble.” The one I pushed away steps farther back, his fist clenching his friend’s shirtsleeve. He rolls his eyes, scanning me, his gaze stopping on my ratty shoes. “Whatever, you two are made for each other.” Grumbling, they run off, and once there’s a few feet of distance between us, I do too, marching in the opposite direction. “Hey, wait! You can’t just leave after that.” I spin on my heel, arms crossed and hip cocked out, as the kid I saved jogs closer to me. His blond hair hangs over his eyes, as is the style with most guys my age right now, but his kind smile shines through. Still, I don’t fall for it. Every foster family I’ve ever had smiles kindly in the beginning. Then it goes downhill. “Why, because you want to insult me for ‘taking care of you?’ Sorry for having a heart.” Guys are all the same—unable to handle being “saved” by a girl. “No, I wanted to thank you.” His hands at his sides curl, his sapphire eyes darting all around my form. Oh. “No worries.” I turn to leave again, shrugging off his apology. Being a decent human doesn’t mean I need a reward. And again, as if he’s a glutton for punishment, he speaks, “It is a big deal. Not everyone does stuff like that.” He’s not going to let this go apparently. I spin again until I face him and roll my eyes. “That’s the issue. Too much bad in the world, and we’re not saving each other often enough. Why were they bullying you anyway?” “Look at me.” His hands gesture to his body. “I mean, they’re on the track team. Fit. Popular. And, well, I’m not.” Like he suggests, I scan him. I suppose he’s on the thicker side. Some would call him fat, but I’m not some. Weight doesn’t really matter. Fat or skinny, if someone is evil, they’re evil. Everyone worries about looks, but it’s personality and having a heart mattering more. “Still no reason for them to make fun of you.” I shrug again, wondering when he’ll be satisfied enough with this conversation to allow me to leave. Not yet, apparently, since his next words are, “You’re the new girl, right?” Of course he knows me. “I’m in the other grade seven class, and well, you were mentioned,” he adds, stuffing his hands inside the pockets of his baggy jeans. “What’s your name?” He seems harmless enough and is, so far, the only kid to look at me like I’m worth a moment of their time. So, I say, “Teagan. Yours?” “Brent. I like your hair,” he comments, his bright eyes landing on my head. “Cherry red.” My fingers find the edges of my most noticeable feature. “Yeah.” Does he want me to say anything more to that? “It’s too bad we’re not in the same class, but tomorrow for recess…” He trails off and shuffles his feet side to side as his teeth sink into the corner of his lip. “Wanna hang out?” Is he trying to be friends with me? I tilt my head. It happens so infrequently in all the schools I’ve been to, I forget what friendship looks like. He’s—Brent—is offering me a hand. Kindness. Friendship. And though I may not be in this town for long, there’s no reason I shouldn’t take the leap and risk it. Time will tell if he remains so, or if he’ll tire of the new kid, like so many others have in the past, and ignore me. “Sure.” Little did I know on that random Tuesday, Brent would become my everything. My friend. My hero. My enemy. My saviour. My future.

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Read The First Chapter HERE!

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M.L. Philpitt is Canadian-born and raised, and enjoys representing Canada within her novels. As a Ravenclaw, she loves education, having undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Sociology, a certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences, and a MA in Counselling Psychology. She writes in various romance new adult genres including paranormal, fantasy, dark romance, and contemporary. She has lots of crazy trapped in her head for readers to enjoy. When M.L. Philpitt isn’t making up stories, she’s devouring those imagined by other authors. Her love of reading began when she was a young child and only grew with age. She enjoys many genres, as reflected in her writing preferences.

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New Release & Review ~ Ruthless Letters ~ by ~ M.L. Philpitt

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𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑎, 𝐼𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢—𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑝. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ, 𝐼 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼’𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝐷𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙? 𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑢𝑝 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦. 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟, 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼’𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦? 𝑆𝑒𝑡… 𝐺𝑜. 𝑅𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑅𝑦𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟. 𝑅𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑥, 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘.

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“You’ve been on the shelf for a few years now, but I’m back to claim you and won’t be stopping until you’re a dripping, sloppy mess at my feet.” My heart skips a beat with his tempting words. They drag me back to a time where I would have dropped to my knees and volunteered myself to be the mess he wants me to be—and done so happily. Except, I’ve changed. My hands come up and shove at his chest, noting the texture of leather beneath my palms. He allows it, falling back a step. “Is that what you want, Ryker? Is that what it’ll take to make this all go away? If we fuck, will you be able to move on? One last trick and we can both go our own ways.” I tame the anger from my voice, aiming for rational instead with my next words. “You’re a free man, Ryker. You can start the life you should have had. Do it. Don’t waste more of your time on me. Let’s move on.” I swallow before adding, “High school was fun, but we’re long past that stage in our lives.” Silence. Not the he-doesn’t-want-to-say-anything silence. No—the deadly, I’m-ready-to-fuck-you-up silence instead, but I hold firm, biting down on my bottom lip to avoid disclosing how he makes my legs go weak with the desire to respond to his authority. Right when I think I’ve won, my head thumps on the wall behind me, and the breath I do have gets trapped in my lungs as his grip clamps down tightly on my throat. White spots decorate my eyes instantly and my hands fly up to his, nails scratching at his skin to get free. “Listen to me, doll. You do not make the decisions here. You do not deem when we’re done. You. Are. Mine. You have been since the first day you walked into high school, and you can thank—” He breaks off, continuing to keep his secrets to himself. “We’re not finished until I say we are.”

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