Text
Series: Take It Off
Author: Cambria Hebert
Publication date: November 8, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Synopsis
One text can change everything.
Honor Calhoun never thought her life would ever be like the books she writes for a living. One morning while out for a run, she learns not all bad things are plots in novels. Some horrors can actually come true.
She faces off with a persistent attacker, holds her own, but in the end is taken hostage and thrown into a hole. In the middle of the woods.
But Honor didn’t go down there alone.
She took her kidnapper’s phone with her. With a spotty signal and a dying battery, her hope is slim.
Nathan Reed is an active duty Marine stationed at a small reserve base in Pennsylvania. All he wants is a calm and uneventful duty station where he can forget the memories of his time in a war-torn country.
But a single text changes everything.
Nathan becomes Honor’s only hope for survival, and he has to go against the clock, push aside his past, and take on a mission for a girl he’s never met.
Both of them want freedom… but they have to survive long enough to obtain it.
Excerpt
As I ran, something darted out from the side. I jerked, the sudden movement startling me. My stride faltered and I turned toward whatever it was, but I didn’t see it.
It plowed into me, knocking me over, my hip taking the brunt of my fall. I grunted in pain and scrambled to get up.
But someone pinned me down.
I shoved at the man, and he glanced down, his eyes meeting mine. There was something cold in his blue-eyed stare. Something empty and flat.
Panic bloomed in my chest, spiking through my body as my heart rate went wild and alarm bells started sounding in my head.
Yes, I read the stories. Yes, I saw it on the news.
Woman is kidnapped. Search for missing woman continues. Woman is found beaten and dead.
But that stuff didn’t happen to me. That stuff happened to other people. Unfortunate women… women that weren’t me.
This isn’t happening to me.
A surge of adrenaline had me bringing up my knee and catching the man in his balls. He made a high-pitched sound and fell to the side. I scrambled up and took off, racing down the path, toward the road that intersected it. If I could make it there, I could flag down a car. I could find someone to help me.
The earbuds had fallen out of my ears and hung around my neck, banging into my skin and reminding me that I had my phone. My phone! As I ran, my hand fumbled, trying to yank it out of the band around my arm. Finally, I managed to grasp it and I held it up in front of me, calling up the keypad and dialing.
9-1—
He tackled me from behind and I fell face forward, the phone tumbling out of my hands, just ahead, just out of reach. I cried out and stretched my hand toward my lifeline, desperate to finish the call.
“You’re going to pay for that, bitch,” the gruff voice said.
I’d never known such fear in all my life. I could barely think straight. Straight-laced dread and panic took over my body, making my limbs feel heavy and numb.
Don’t give in, the voice inside me screamed.
I bucked like a pony and reached forward, my hand closing over my phone. Yes! My joy was extremely short-lived when the man, who was still straddling my back, snatched it out of my hand and tossed it into the nearby creek.
“No,” I cried, watching it swept away beneath the surface.
“No one’s going to help you,” the voice above intoned.
About the Author
Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book.
Author Links
Guest Post by T.G. Ayer
Hey everyone!
As part of Text’s release day I thought I would share with you a little something about the main character, Nathan.
A few fun facts about Nathan:
- Nathan is a United States Marine.
- Nathan works out a lot. He’s hot.
- Guns are his hobby and his job.
- He loves apple pie.
Like the man is serious about his pie. He loves it. In fact, when I was writing Text I baked pies a lot. Ha ha ha. My family really enjoyed it. So today I brought along my recipe for Apple Pie. I’m calling it Nathan’s apple pie in honor of my main man in Text. It’s the perfect time of year to bake, eat and enjoy!!
Nathan’s Apple Pie
Ingredients
You can use store-bought crust or you can make your own.
To make a double pie crust:
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 6 tablespoons ice-cold water
Apple Pie Filling:
- 4-8 Granny Smith apples (depends on size)
- 4 tablespoons cut-up butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (Nathan likes lots of cinnamon. This can easily be cut down to taste.)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (This helps the sauce in the pie thicken.)
Directions
To make crust:
Cut together the flour, salt, butter, and shortening with a pastry fork until blended. Add water one Tbsp at a time and mix with fork until it firms into a ball. Separate the ball into two smaller balls. Roll each out onto a heavily floured surface, flipping over frequently. Place one crust in the bottom of a pie pan and reserve the other crust for topping the pie once it is full.
To make filling:
Peel and slice all the apples. Add all slices into a bowl. Mix the apples with the sugar, cinnamon, and flour until well coated. Dump apples into pie crust. Place the 4 tablespoons of cut-up butter around on top of the apples.
Cover the pie with the remaining crust. Crimp the edges together. With a sharp knife, cut a few slits in the top crust (to allow steam to escape while baking), and then you can brush the top of the pie with an egg wash (egg wash = a beaten raw egg). This will give the crust its golden-brown appearance. Also, sprinkle granulated sugar over the top of the crust—which will give the pie a nice flavor and sweetness.
Bake the pie in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes, depending on oven.
Let cool and enjoy!
Note: Nathan suggests serving your warm apple pie with a generous helping of French vanilla ice cream.
Cambria recommends enjoying with ice cream AND coffee.
Thanks for celebrating the release of TEXT with me!
Author Q&A
Name: Cambria Hebert
Occupation: Fairy Godmother --- Kidding! I’m an author
Favorite color: Orange (like a pumpkin)
Favorite food: Coffee
Height: 5’2
Weight: Yeah right, I’m not telling you!
Pet Peeve: (I’ll choose only one today, lol) When the food on my plate touches. (EW!!!!)
Please describe the following:
- Describe the night sky to someone who cannot see.
- The night sky on the clearest of night is like running your fingers through the softest of velvet. Its like sitting in a room completely still and void of sound – but you don’t feel alone. You feel surrounded by peace. It’s like drawing in a breath of crisp cool night air and feeling those wisps of breath travel down your throat and into your chest.
- Describe the feeling of silk for someone who can not touch.
- It’s the feeling of jumping into a pool and kicking your feet out and gliding through its depths. The way the water brushes against you – the way it curves to your skin – so cool and gentle – that’s the way silk feels when you brush your fingertips over it.
- Describe the sound of child’s laughter for someone who cannot hear.
- It’s the tightness in your chest that one feels when someone does something so kind for you without even being asked. It takes your breath and makes it hard to breathe because you are so taken aback that someone would be so kind. It’s the joy that makes your chest so tight – the joy that rings through your body – a child’s laughter isn’t so much the sound but the feeling it leaves behind.
- Describe the taste of chocolate for someone who cannot taste.
- It’s the feeling of being really cold, your fingers icy and then coming inside and warming them by a roaring fire. The way the heat trickles into your skin and the cold seeps away.
- Describe the scent of fresh cut grass to someone who cannot smell.
- It’s a blue cloudless sky, bright with the sun. Staring out over the most brilliant of green and seeing it all cropped the same, looking like a thick carpet that invites your bare toes.
- Describe love to someone who cannot feel.
- It’s watching a mother comfort her crying child or watching a couple hold hands on the street. It’s the sound of someone’s voice that you couldn’t live without. It’s the first bite of a really good dessert that you know is sinful and you shouldn’t eat at all. It’s knowing that someone is going to be at home waiting when you pull in the drive.
This or That
Night or Day? Night
Book or Ereader? Either!
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Cat or Dog? Dog
Summer or Fall? Fall
Chocolate or Flowers? Flowers
Spiderman or Superman? Spiderman
Paul Walker or Vin Diesel? Paul Walker
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