SYNOPSIS
Chained To The Past.
On the brink of going pro in MMA, Tyler Graves has defied his past—a past where
going to jail for beating the hell out of his foster father took him away from
the girl he loved and swore to protect, leaving her in the house of the man who
abused them both.
Chained To Regret.
No matter how much time has passed, Danielle Debasco weighs on Ty’s mind and
conscience. He was supposed to save her, instead he abandoned her.
Chained To Love.
To free Danny from the abusive man who still haunts her, Ty’s faced with
sacrificing his future by finishing what he started four years ago—taking
vengeance. But, this time will be different. This time he won’t stop until the
horrors of their past are sealed not just in blood, but in death.
BUY LINKS
ABOUT KELLI MAINE
Kelli Maine is the erotic romance author of
USA Today Bestseller and #1 Nook book, Taken, and the Give & Take series,
along with the Dolls & Doms novellas and Chains. She lives in Northeast
Ohio with her husband and kids. When she's not writing, Kelli enjoys watching
reality T.V., getting lost in random Wikipedia pages and searching online ads
for vintage muscle cars.
Favorite Author: Diana Gabaldon
Favorite Food: Japanese
Favorite Superhero: Spiderman
Favorite Place I've Been: Yucatan
Peninsula
Writing Must Haves: Coffee and chocolate
Plotter or Pantser: Proud Pantser
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kellimainebooks
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kellimaine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KelliMaine
Website: www.kellimainebooks.com
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/0v8A5
EXCERPT
“Did you ever try
to find your mom?” Danny asked me. She’d insisted on coming downstairs for
lunch the next day.
“Sip slow,” I told her, handing her a cup of chicken broth. “No. I never tried to find her.”
“Do you ever think about it?” she asked, taking a couple crackers out of the box I set on the table.
“No. She took off on me. I don’t want to force my way into someone’s life who doesn’t want me there.”
She made an, “Mmm,” sound, nodding and staring into her mug. “What about you?” I asked. “Have you talked to your mom?”
Danny was taken away. Her mom wanted her, but she couldn’t take care of her. When we were with Striker, she’d make wishes on stars and dandelion fuzz and birthday candles for her mom to take her back home, but her mom never got her shit together.
“A couple years ago,” Danny said, “Striker told me she overdosed.”
I put down the glass of water I’d poured her a bit too hard, with a thunk that echoed. “She’s dead?”
“That’s what he said.”
I watched her take a sip of her broth, hesitant to say what I was thinking. But it was Danny, and she’d have already thought it, too. “Was he lying?”
She shook her head. “I looked it up online at the library. Found her obituary. It didn’t mention a daughter.”
I sank into the chair beside her and took her hand. “You know what sucked the worst about my mom leaving me? She didn’t want to know me anymore. I mean, it was fucking shitty of her to abandon her kid, but after that, when I was alone at night in the dark I thought about how she didn’t know I liked to draw.”
“You lived to draw,” Danny said, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, and she had no idea. She didn’t know that when she left the lady next door made me sleep on an old dog bed infested with fleas and sprayed me off with the hose instead of letting me shower.”
“How can people be so cruel? You were a little kid.”
“We were both little kids, Dan. People are fucking animals. They take care of their own and screw everyone else.”
“Not everybody,” she said.
I thought about Mike. “No, I guess not everybody. Most people.”
“I thought my mom wanted me,” she said. “I thought she’d try to get me back. When they took me away, she cried and promised she’d do everything she had to so we’d be together again.” She looked up at me with watery blue eyes. “She lied. She never tried to get me back.”
The pained expression on her face gripped me inside and twisted. I hated her mom. I hated Striker. I hated my own mom. How could they all do this to us? Then it hit me. I promised to go back for her, and I never did. Just like her mom.
I leaned forward, pressing her hand against my chest and my lips to her temple. “I want you, Danielle. I want you in my life. I always have. I was selfish and caught up in setting things right first, but I never forgot about you.”
She turned to me and stroked my cheek. Her eyes roamed my face, her sorrow of past memories gone. She watched her fingertips grazed my lips and lifted her eyes to mine, asking permission.
My heart drummed. I took her hand away and cupped her face, bringing her close enough to feel her breath on my cheek. I ran the tip of my nose up and down the ridge of hers before tilting her head and securing my lips against hers.
It was like breathing in life. Like I’d only been keeping myself alive with air in my lungs, food and water, but this—Danny in my arms with our lips seeking and discovering—this was really being alive.
The tip of her tongue edged along my bottom lip and started a fire in my gut. I dropped my hands from her face and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Our tongues darted in and out, shy and bold at the same time, learning the feel of each other. How could Danny—my Danny—still have part of her for me to discover?
The thought sent my mind south of her navel. Danny wasn’t the girl she used to be. If I were honest, I’d admit to myself that I’d noticed it when we were teenagers. She’d gotten hips and breasts and a firm, round ass. By the time she was fourteen, it was hard to look at her like she was the same little girl anymore. I never thought of her as a sister. Maybe if we’d lived in a house that was like an actual family instead of an abusive nightmare.
Sitting here with her ass pressed against my crotch and her lips and tongue slick and hot against mine, I was so fucking happy I’d never thought of her as my sister, or I’d be in for some serious guilt. There was no way I was turning back from being this close to her.
I wanted more.
I wanted closer.
I wanted inside her.
She parted her lips from mine, panting, and looked at me with hazy eyes. The last thing I wanted was to pressure her, scare her. “Should we stop?” I asked, hearing the deep rasp of lust in my voice.
She gazed into my eyes for a moment before shaking her head and falling back into our kiss.
I stood, picking her up in my arms, and carried her upstairs. In the bedroom, I laid her down on the bed and straddled her, sitting on my knees with my hands on either side of her head. “I need you to tell me if you don’t want to do this,” I said. “Or if you want me to stop.”
She gave me a sinful smile and looked up at me with those lusty, hooded eyes. “I’ve wanted this for as long as I knew what sex was, Tyler.” She ran her hands up my thighs. “I wanted this to take away what I didn’t want. To replace it with you. Someone who cared. Someone safe.”
“Sip slow,” I told her, handing her a cup of chicken broth. “No. I never tried to find her.”
“Do you ever think about it?” she asked, taking a couple crackers out of the box I set on the table.
“No. She took off on me. I don’t want to force my way into someone’s life who doesn’t want me there.”
She made an, “Mmm,” sound, nodding and staring into her mug. “What about you?” I asked. “Have you talked to your mom?”
Danny was taken away. Her mom wanted her, but she couldn’t take care of her. When we were with Striker, she’d make wishes on stars and dandelion fuzz and birthday candles for her mom to take her back home, but her mom never got her shit together.
“A couple years ago,” Danny said, “Striker told me she overdosed.”
I put down the glass of water I’d poured her a bit too hard, with a thunk that echoed. “She’s dead?”
“That’s what he said.”
I watched her take a sip of her broth, hesitant to say what I was thinking. But it was Danny, and she’d have already thought it, too. “Was he lying?”
She shook her head. “I looked it up online at the library. Found her obituary. It didn’t mention a daughter.”
I sank into the chair beside her and took her hand. “You know what sucked the worst about my mom leaving me? She didn’t want to know me anymore. I mean, it was fucking shitty of her to abandon her kid, but after that, when I was alone at night in the dark I thought about how she didn’t know I liked to draw.”
“You lived to draw,” Danny said, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, and she had no idea. She didn’t know that when she left the lady next door made me sleep on an old dog bed infested with fleas and sprayed me off with the hose instead of letting me shower.”
“How can people be so cruel? You were a little kid.”
“We were both little kids, Dan. People are fucking animals. They take care of their own and screw everyone else.”
“Not everybody,” she said.
I thought about Mike. “No, I guess not everybody. Most people.”
“I thought my mom wanted me,” she said. “I thought she’d try to get me back. When they took me away, she cried and promised she’d do everything she had to so we’d be together again.” She looked up at me with watery blue eyes. “She lied. She never tried to get me back.”
The pained expression on her face gripped me inside and twisted. I hated her mom. I hated Striker. I hated my own mom. How could they all do this to us? Then it hit me. I promised to go back for her, and I never did. Just like her mom.
I leaned forward, pressing her hand against my chest and my lips to her temple. “I want you, Danielle. I want you in my life. I always have. I was selfish and caught up in setting things right first, but I never forgot about you.”
She turned to me and stroked my cheek. Her eyes roamed my face, her sorrow of past memories gone. She watched her fingertips grazed my lips and lifted her eyes to mine, asking permission.
My heart drummed. I took her hand away and cupped her face, bringing her close enough to feel her breath on my cheek. I ran the tip of my nose up and down the ridge of hers before tilting her head and securing my lips against hers.
It was like breathing in life. Like I’d only been keeping myself alive with air in my lungs, food and water, but this—Danny in my arms with our lips seeking and discovering—this was really being alive.
The tip of her tongue edged along my bottom lip and started a fire in my gut. I dropped my hands from her face and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Our tongues darted in and out, shy and bold at the same time, learning the feel of each other. How could Danny—my Danny—still have part of her for me to discover?
The thought sent my mind south of her navel. Danny wasn’t the girl she used to be. If I were honest, I’d admit to myself that I’d noticed it when we were teenagers. She’d gotten hips and breasts and a firm, round ass. By the time she was fourteen, it was hard to look at her like she was the same little girl anymore. I never thought of her as a sister. Maybe if we’d lived in a house that was like an actual family instead of an abusive nightmare.
Sitting here with her ass pressed against my crotch and her lips and tongue slick and hot against mine, I was so fucking happy I’d never thought of her as my sister, or I’d be in for some serious guilt. There was no way I was turning back from being this close to her.
I wanted more.
I wanted closer.
I wanted inside her.
She parted her lips from mine, panting, and looked at me with hazy eyes. The last thing I wanted was to pressure her, scare her. “Should we stop?” I asked, hearing the deep rasp of lust in my voice.
She gazed into my eyes for a moment before shaking her head and falling back into our kiss.
I stood, picking her up in my arms, and carried her upstairs. In the bedroom, I laid her down on the bed and straddled her, sitting on my knees with my hands on either side of her head. “I need you to tell me if you don’t want to do this,” I said. “Or if you want me to stop.”
She gave me a sinful smile and looked up at me with those lusty, hooded eyes. “I’ve wanted this for as long as I knew what sex was, Tyler.” She ran her hands up my thighs. “I wanted this to take away what I didn’t want. To replace it with you. Someone who cared. Someone safe.”
“Did you ever try
to find your mom?” Danny asked me. She’d insisted on coming downstairs for
lunch the next day.
“Sip slow,” I told her, handing her a cup of chicken broth. “No. I never tried to find her.”
“Do you ever think about it?” she asked, taking a couple crackers out of the box I set on the table.
“No. She took off on me. I don’t want to force my way into someone’s life who doesn’t want me there.”
She made an, “Mmm,” sound, nodding and staring into her mug. “What about you?” I asked. “Have you talked to your mom?”
Danny was taken away. Her mom wanted her, but she couldn’t take care of her. When we were with Striker, she’d make wishes on stars and dandelion fuzz and birthday candles for her mom to take her back home, but her mom never got her shit together.
“A couple years ago,” Danny said, “Striker told me she overdosed.”
I put down the glass of water I’d poured her a bit too hard, with a thunk that echoed. “She’s dead?”
“That’s what he said.”
I watched her take a sip of her broth, hesitant to say what I was thinking. But it was Danny, and she’d have already thought it, too. “Was he lying?”
She shook her head. “I looked it up online at the library. Found her obituary. It didn’t mention a daughter.”
I sank into the chair beside her and took her hand. “You know what sucked the worst about my mom leaving me? She didn’t want to know me anymore. I mean, it was fucking shitty of her to abandon her kid, but after that, when I was alone at night in the dark I thought about how she didn’t know I liked to draw.”
“You lived to draw,” Danny said, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, and she had no idea. She didn’t know that when she left the lady next door made me sleep on an old dog bed infested with fleas and sprayed me off with the hose instead of letting me shower.”
“How can people be so cruel? You were a little kid.”
“We were both little kids, Dan. People are fucking animals. They take care of their own and screw everyone else.”
“Not everybody,” she said.
I thought about Mike. “No, I guess not everybody. Most people.”
“I thought my mom wanted me,” she said. “I thought she’d try to get me back. When they took me away, she cried and promised she’d do everything she had to so we’d be together again.” She looked up at me with watery blue eyes. “She lied. She never tried to get me back.”
The pained expression on her face gripped me inside and twisted. I hated her mom. I hated Striker. I hated my own mom. How could they all do this to us? Then it hit me. I promised to go back for her, and I never did. Just like her mom.
I leaned forward, pressing her hand against my chest and my lips to her temple. “I want you, Danielle. I want you in my life. I always have. I was selfish and caught up in setting things right first, but I never forgot about you.”
She turned to me and stroked my cheek. Her eyes roamed my face, her sorrow of past memories gone. She watched her fingertips grazed my lips and lifted her eyes to mine, asking permission.
My heart drummed. I took her hand away and cupped her face, bringing her close enough to feel her breath on my cheek. I ran the tip of my nose up and down the ridge of hers before tilting her head and securing my lips against hers.
It was like breathing in life. Like I’d only been keeping myself alive with air in my lungs, food and water, but this—Danny in my arms with our lips seeking and discovering—this was really being alive.
The tip of her tongue edged along my bottom lip and started a fire in my gut. I dropped my hands from her face and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Our tongues darted in and out, shy and bold at the same time, learning the feel of each other. How could Danny—my Danny—still have part of her for me to discover?
The thought sent my mind south of her navel. Danny wasn’t the girl she used to be. If I were honest, I’d admit to myself that I’d noticed it when we were teenagers. She’d gotten hips and breasts and a firm, round ass. By the time she was fourteen, it was hard to look at her like she was the same little girl anymore. I never thought of her as a sister. Maybe if we’d lived in a house that was like an actual family instead of an abusive nightmare.
Sitting here with her ass pressed against my crotch and her lips and tongue slick and hot against mine, I was so fucking happy I’d never thought of her as my sister, or I’d be in for some serious guilt. There was no way I was turning back from being this close to her.
I wanted more.
I wanted closer.
I wanted inside her.
She parted her lips from mine, panting, and looked at me with hazy eyes. The last thing I wanted was to pressure her, scare her. “Should we stop?” I asked, hearing the deep rasp of lust in my voice.
She gazed into my eyes for a moment before shaking her head and falling back into our kiss.
I stood, picking her up in my arms, and carried her upstairs. In the bedroom, I laid her down on the bed and straddled her, sitting on my knees with my hands on either side of her head. “I need you to tell me if you don’t want to do this,” I said. “Or if you want me to stop.”
She gave me a sinful smile and looked up at me with those lusty, hooded eyes. “I’ve wanted this for as long as I knew what sex was, Tyler.” She ran her hands up my thighs. “I wanted this to take away what I didn’t want. To replace it with you. Someone who cared. Someone safe.”
“Sip slow,” I told her, handing her a cup of chicken broth. “No. I never tried to find her.”
“Do you ever think about it?” she asked, taking a couple crackers out of the box I set on the table.
“No. She took off on me. I don’t want to force my way into someone’s life who doesn’t want me there.”
She made an, “Mmm,” sound, nodding and staring into her mug. “What about you?” I asked. “Have you talked to your mom?”
Danny was taken away. Her mom wanted her, but she couldn’t take care of her. When we were with Striker, she’d make wishes on stars and dandelion fuzz and birthday candles for her mom to take her back home, but her mom never got her shit together.
“A couple years ago,” Danny said, “Striker told me she overdosed.”
I put down the glass of water I’d poured her a bit too hard, with a thunk that echoed. “She’s dead?”
“That’s what he said.”
I watched her take a sip of her broth, hesitant to say what I was thinking. But it was Danny, and she’d have already thought it, too. “Was he lying?”
She shook her head. “I looked it up online at the library. Found her obituary. It didn’t mention a daughter.”
I sank into the chair beside her and took her hand. “You know what sucked the worst about my mom leaving me? She didn’t want to know me anymore. I mean, it was fucking shitty of her to abandon her kid, but after that, when I was alone at night in the dark I thought about how she didn’t know I liked to draw.”
“You lived to draw,” Danny said, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, and she had no idea. She didn’t know that when she left the lady next door made me sleep on an old dog bed infested with fleas and sprayed me off with the hose instead of letting me shower.”
“How can people be so cruel? You were a little kid.”
“We were both little kids, Dan. People are fucking animals. They take care of their own and screw everyone else.”
“Not everybody,” she said.
I thought about Mike. “No, I guess not everybody. Most people.”
“I thought my mom wanted me,” she said. “I thought she’d try to get me back. When they took me away, she cried and promised she’d do everything she had to so we’d be together again.” She looked up at me with watery blue eyes. “She lied. She never tried to get me back.”
The pained expression on her face gripped me inside and twisted. I hated her mom. I hated Striker. I hated my own mom. How could they all do this to us? Then it hit me. I promised to go back for her, and I never did. Just like her mom.
I leaned forward, pressing her hand against my chest and my lips to her temple. “I want you, Danielle. I want you in my life. I always have. I was selfish and caught up in setting things right first, but I never forgot about you.”
She turned to me and stroked my cheek. Her eyes roamed my face, her sorrow of past memories gone. She watched her fingertips grazed my lips and lifted her eyes to mine, asking permission.
My heart drummed. I took her hand away and cupped her face, bringing her close enough to feel her breath on my cheek. I ran the tip of my nose up and down the ridge of hers before tilting her head and securing my lips against hers.
It was like breathing in life. Like I’d only been keeping myself alive with air in my lungs, food and water, but this—Danny in my arms with our lips seeking and discovering—this was really being alive.
The tip of her tongue edged along my bottom lip and started a fire in my gut. I dropped my hands from her face and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her onto my lap. Our tongues darted in and out, shy and bold at the same time, learning the feel of each other. How could Danny—my Danny—still have part of her for me to discover?
The thought sent my mind south of her navel. Danny wasn’t the girl she used to be. If I were honest, I’d admit to myself that I’d noticed it when we were teenagers. She’d gotten hips and breasts and a firm, round ass. By the time she was fourteen, it was hard to look at her like she was the same little girl anymore. I never thought of her as a sister. Maybe if we’d lived in a house that was like an actual family instead of an abusive nightmare.
Sitting here with her ass pressed against my crotch and her lips and tongue slick and hot against mine, I was so fucking happy I’d never thought of her as my sister, or I’d be in for some serious guilt. There was no way I was turning back from being this close to her.
I wanted more.
I wanted closer.
I wanted inside her.
She parted her lips from mine, panting, and looked at me with hazy eyes. The last thing I wanted was to pressure her, scare her. “Should we stop?” I asked, hearing the deep rasp of lust in my voice.
She gazed into my eyes for a moment before shaking her head and falling back into our kiss.
I stood, picking her up in my arms, and carried her upstairs. In the bedroom, I laid her down on the bed and straddled her, sitting on my knees with my hands on either side of her head. “I need you to tell me if you don’t want to do this,” I said. “Or if you want me to stop.”
She gave me a sinful smile and looked up at me with those lusty, hooded eyes. “I’ve wanted this for as long as I knew what sex was, Tyler.” She ran her hands up my thighs. “I wanted this to take away what I didn’t want. To replace it with you. Someone who cared. Someone safe.”
Four star review of Chains by Kelli Maine
This book was my first Kelli Maine book (runs and hides in
the corner…) I know!! How could I not read any of her books? Well I will tell
you after this book, it won’t be my last one.
This book had it all. It was almost like a dark and twisty
fairy tale. One with a hero, a heroine, and a villain. It’s not a total dark
read- however, there are some dark elements to the story- that give it that
dark feel. It’s told in the hero’s point of view and I absolutely was
captivated from the beginning to the end. It’s a story of control- and trying
to break free from the proverbial chains that have the hero and heroine hooked
to the past.
Tyler struggles when he is young to protect his foster
brother and sister from the evil man that has been put in charge of their care.
He drew pictures to help keep the anger away, and his foster sister- would make
up fairy tale stories- set to the pictures. In between the chapters, were the
stories of how they would defeat the evil man that controlled them, and they
all would live happily ever after.
"Every footfall away from her left an empty, hollow longing in my
chest."
While Tyler and
Alex, his foster brother, escaped the evil that lurked in their home, Danny,
however was not of age, and couldn't leave. And though Tyler said he would come
back for her- he never did. There are some sensitive topics in this book- child
abuse, and dog fighting- which some may feel need a warning before hand- I,
however, read so much that I really wasn't fazed by it.
“I craved it like air, like breathing- taking the hit, absorbing the
pain, fueling the fury. I was a bomb and ticked down the hours until I could
find someone to explode on.” ~ Tyler
After one particular fight- he spots Danny- and she is a
hallow shell of the girl he used to know. As the story reveal- we get a glimpse
of the terrible things that went on in their foster home. Tyler, Alex and Danny
trudge through the story, trying to get past their own past. There is so much
drama, suspense and angst in this story. And we get to bear witness to their
reliving some of the horror. I also saw a lot of growth over the timeline of
the book, which I was totally happy with. I loved the back and forth of Danny
and Tyler. It could be harsh and scary at times, but above it all there was
love.
"I found you again, and I won't lose you, Danny. I should never
have lost you to begin with."
In the end Chains was
a very emotional read- so many feelings throughout the story. I am so lucky to
have been granted an advanced readers copy, in exchange for my honest review. And
I honestly can’t wait for more from Kelli.
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