Every Wrong Reason

Acknowledgments

To God. For creative words, thoughtful moments and messy females. For loving the broken ones.

And to Zach. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I respect you. And I surrender. Every single day.

Mom, for the example you set. For being the wife that you were. For being the mom, the grandmother and the friend that you will always be.

To Carolyn, thank you for your endless work. Thank you for being unfathomably strong. For editing through cancer. For not hating me for asking you to. You are my hero.

To Caedus Design Co., you did more than create a cover. You molded a story. Thank you for always knowing what I need.

To Candice, Leigh, Miriah and Lenore. You girls. Seriously. You girls. I love you more than words. I love you more than confusing plot points and missing moments and all of the things that you catch and share and give. And on top of everything you are so careful with me. Me, the fragile, insecure artist. You are champions in my corner and I am so blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for your honesty. But most of all, thank you for believing in characters that are underdeveloped and words that are wrong, misplaced and grammatically incorrect. You believe in my stories before they’re anything. And you fall in love with characters before they are what they’re supposed to be. Thank you.

To my peers and my friends, Samantha Young, Shelly Crane, Lila Felix, Amy Bartol, Georgia Cates, and Heather Lyons, thank you for being people I can count on. Thank you for understanding my fears and insecurities. For listening to me while I talk about them. For believing in me. And for supporting me. You ladies are the very best that there is. I would be nothing but a hunchback hermit without you.

To Mark My Words Book Publicity, thank you for being the best. Thank you for believing in me enough to work hard for me. Thank you for being so incredibly cool.

Rachel Marks, my agent, you are awesome. I am so lucky to know you and work with you. Thank you for putting in all of these hours and phone calls and emails. Thank you for wanting the best for me.

To my Rebel Panel. I started a group to support my career, but instead I found support for my life. I could never have predicted the kind of community we’ve formed together. But I am constantly thankful for it. And for all of you. Thank you for always being there to answer my quirky questions and for loving me even when I disappear for way too long. Thank you for loving these words and these characters and for treating them like they are your own. I love each of you.

Reckless Rebels. Girls. You are the very best of the best. Thank you so much for treating me like a rock star and always showing up when I need you. Thank you for just being there and listening to me and encouraging me. You humble me. And you make me so endlessly grateful. Thank you so much.

And now, thank you dear Readers. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Thank you for spending your time with my words. That is the greatest gift you could ever give me and I am so, beyond blessed that you chose this book to read. You have changed my life. And with every single download of something I’ve written, you continue to change it. And me. And I can never thank you enough for that.

About the Author

Rachel Higginson was born and raised in Nebraska, but spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days raising their growing family. She is obsessed with bad reality TV and any and all Young Adult Fiction.

Please look for Rachel’s next contemporary romance, The Opposite of You, coming January 26th, 2016.

Other Books Out Now by Rachel Higginson:

Love and Decay, Season One

Love and Decay, Volume One (Episodes One-Six, Season One)

Love and Decay, Volume Two (Episodes Seven-Twelve, Season One)

Love and Decay, Season Two

Love and Decay, Volume Three (Episodes One-Four, Season Two)

Love and Decay, Volume Four (Episodes Five-Eight, Season Two)

Love and Decay, Volume Five (Episodes Nine-Twelve, Season Two)

Love and Decay, Season Three

Love and Decay, Volume Six (Episodes One-Four, Season Three)

Love and Decay, Volume Seven (Episodes Five-Eight, Season Three)

Love and Decay, Volume Eight (Episodes Nine-Twelve, Season Three)

Reckless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 1)

Hopeless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 2)

Fearless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 3)

Endless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 4)

The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 5)

The Relentless Warrior (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6)

Breathless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.5)

Fateful Magic (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 6.75)

The Redeemable Prince (The Star-Crossed Series, Book 7)

Heir of Skies (The Starbright Series, Book 1)

Heir of Darkness (The Starbright Series, Book 2)

Heir of Secrets (The Starbright Series, Book 3)

The Rush (The Siren Series, Book 1)

The Fall (The Siren Series, Book 2)

The Heart (The Siren Series, Book 3)

Bet on Us (An NA Contemporary Romance)

Bet on Me (An NA Contemporary Romance) coming fall 2016

The Opposite of You coming January 2016

Co

http://www.rachelhigginson.com/

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Rachel Higginson

Keep reading for an excerpt from The Five Stages of Falling in Love, a second chance adult contemporary romance and after that, please enjoy a preview of Rachel’s zombie novella series, Love and Decay.

Please enjoy a preview of Rachel’s second chance romance, The Five Stages of Falling in Love.

Prologue

“Hey, there she is,” Grady looked up at me from his bed, his eyes smiling even while his mouth barely mimicked the emotion.

“Hey, you,” I called back. The lights had been dimmed after the last nurse checked his vitals and the TV was on, but muted. “Where are the kiddos? I was only in the cafeteria for ten minutes.”

Grady winked at me playfully, “My mother took them.” I melted a little at his roguish expression. It was the same look that made me agree to a date with him our junior year of college, it was the same look that made me fall in love with him- the same one that made me agree to have our second baby boy when I would have been just fine to stop after Blake, Abby and Lucy.

“Oh, yeah?” I walked over to the hospital bed and sat down next to him. He immediately reached for me, pulling me against him with weak arms. I snuggled back into his chest, so that my head rested on his thin shoulder and our bodies fit side by side on the narrow bed. One of my legs didn’t make it and hung off awkwardly. But I didn’t mind. It was just perfect to lie next to the love of my life, my husband.

“Oh, yeah,” he growled suggestively. “You know what that means?” He walked his free hand up my arm and gave my breast a wicked squeeze. “When the kids are away, the grownups get to play…”

“You are so bad,” I swatted him- or at least made the motion of swatting at him, since I was too afraid to hurt him.

“God, I don’t remember the last time I got laid,” he groaned next to me and I felt the rumble of his words against my side.

“Tell me about it, sport,” I sighed. “I could use a nice, hard-”

“Elizabeth Carlson,” he cut in on a surprised laugh. “When did you get such a dirty mouth?”

“I think you’ve known about my dirty mouth for quite some time, Grady,” I flirted back. We’d been serious for so long it was nice to flirt with him, to remember that we didn’t just love each other, but we liked each other too.