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A Tragic Wreck
(Beautiful Mess #2)
by

T.K. Leigh

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: February 4, 2013

~ Synopsis ~

How can you continue living when you’re living a lie? How can you convince your body to stop feeling, your soul to stop caring, and your heart to stop beating? Haunted by her past, Olivia Adler flees Boston for a beach in Florida, leaving everyone behind, trying to shut the world out. Remaining a relative recluse in her self-imposed prison, she tries to turn everything off, wanting to feel nothing. But a new acquaintance won’t let that happen. After being away from Alexander for a month, his voice constantly ringing in her head, reminding her that her inability to confront her demons will not only destroy her, but also him, can she really be expected to want to feel again when it brings nothing but pain? Back in Boston, everywhere he turns, Alexander Burnham is reminded of Olivia… His Olivia… He tries to dull the ache left in his heart the only way he knows how… in the bed of a beautiful woman. But Alexander isn’t about to lose his Olivia. After a clue comes to light regarding Olivia’s whereabouts, can he convince her to return to Boston with him? When a force that has laid dormant for months resurfaces, can Alexander still protect her from the unknown danger? And when Alexander comes face to face with a shadow of both his and Olivia’s past, will he be able to tell her the secret that is threatening to tear them apart? A Tragic Wreck is the continuation of T.K. Leigh’s heart-breaking Beautiful Mess series.

“Well, then, what do you want from me, Olivia?” he asked loudly, watching her walk away. She spun around abruptly and searched his eyes. “I don’t want you to always feel like you have to come and help me, Alex,” she whimpered, her throat beginning to close up again, thinking about the man who was no longer hers. “I just want you to stand by my side while I try to help myself.” Her eyes narrowed, staring at him as he remained silent on the busy Boston street. “Do you think you can do that?” She looked at him as snow continued to blanket the sidewalk, desperately wanting him to say that yes, he could do that. That he would stand by her side. That he would forget all about her running out on him. And that he would do anything he could to make sure she never did the same thing again. But instead, Alexander just stood there and stared, not saying anything. Several moments passed, the silence deafening. “That’s what I thought.” Her eyes fell as she turned and continued to walk, shivering from the snow and the last shattered pieces of her heart being stomped on. Alexander tried to open his mouth to say something. Anything. Tell her to wait. Stop. He made a mistake. But nothing came out. He knew he had just let the only woman he would ever truly love walk out of his life. And he did nothing. He watched his entire world fall apart and he didn't do anything to stop it. All of a sudden, he felt more lonely than he had ever felt in all his thirty years.

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~ Excerpt ~

“What, Alex? What do you want?” Olivia asked, choking the words out through her tears. She crossed her arms over her stomach, trying to keep herself warm. She felt Alexander approach behind her, the familiar electricity present.

“What do I want?!” He grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face him. “Haven’t I made myself perfectly clear over the past several months?!” He ran his fingers through his hair.

Olivia stared at him, tears streaming down her face as she leaned against the brick building.

He slowly walked up to her and placed his hands on either side of her head, leaning over her. “You, Olivia! I want you!” he exclaimed passionately. “I want you every second of every day. I want the good. I want the bad. I want the sweet. I want the ill-tempered. I want the hot. I want the cold. I want the crazy, irrational, exasperating pain-in-the-ass girl that I love with my entire fucking heart.” He took a deep breath before lowering his voice, the look on his face sincere. “I want the sexy, beautiful woman that makes me whole, Olivia. And I am not going to stop until you admit that you love me. I know you do so stop running from it. You’ve been running from love all your life. It’s standing right here in front of you, embracing you. What are you so scared of?” He stared into her eyes as they searched his, looking for an answer. “What are you scared of, love?” he whispered in her ear.

“What do you want me to say, Alex?” she asked quietly.

“I just want you to tell me how you feel, Olivia. The truth.”

Several intense seconds passed as Alexander stared down at her, bracing for her answer. Her eyes traced over his face. His green eyes were so full of sadness. She could see the hurt all over his body. He looked good, but there was something missing from his usual spark.

“Okay!” Olivia shouted. “I love you, Alexander! Okay?! Is that what you want to hear?! You want to hear how I want to get married and have beautiful babies?! Because I do! I love you so fucking much that it hurts!” Tears continued to fall down Olivia’s face as Alexander pulled her close, stroking her hair and kissing her head, trying to calm her down.

“I’ve loved you since I saw you running that day back in August at Boston Common. And then I started to love you even more when you came and adopted Runner. I loved you so much that I ran from you. I fell in love with you even more when you came after me and found me, begging me to come home with you. And then it broke my fucking heart when I saw you with another woman because I loved you then, too.

“And every day I spend with you, I fall even more in love. And the days we’re apart, I feel like I could die from the fucking heartache because I’m missing such an important part of me. It feels like I can’t go on breathing or surviving when you’re not with me, and that’s what I’m fucking scared of. I’m scared that you’ll leave me, just like everyone else in my life that I’ve ever loved, and I’ll never survive.”

She cried into Alexander’s chest, soaking his suit jacket. “I’m scared to death to love you, but I’m more scared to walk away from you,” she sobbed out.

~ Playlist ~
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~ Review ~

This is the 2^nd installment in this series and let me just say that I kicked myself for waiting to so long to introduce myself to Alexander Burnham. OMGEEEEE this series is AMAZING!!! Now having waited to read A Beautiful Mess and A Tragic Wreck together I was spared the wait to see what would become of Alexander and Olivia’s separation. The story picks up right where A Beautiful Mess left off with Olivia running to protect herself from her fear of losing yet another person she loves. She finds herself hold up in a beach house trying just to exist. While there she catches the eye of Cam who wants nothing more that to “fix” Libby and she is willing because she is looking to feel anything besides her self-inflicted pain and heartache.

Alexander, using all of his resources finally catches a break on Olivia’s whereabouts, but he too has found comfort in the arms on an ex-lover to dull the ache of his loss. Will their reunion be all that Alexander hopes for or will they be forced to live their lives without each other in it?

There were most definitely moments throughout the story in which I wanted to shake and slap some sense into both Alexander and Olivia. I was not a fan of who Alex chose to spend his time with nor Olivia. Olivia just couldn’t seem to get out of her own way and Alex just seemed to be caught in the crossfire looking to find away to escape the pain.

When Olivia finally decides it time to stand by her man, she finds that someone is already standing in her place. But encouraged to at least try, she is crushed when Alex does exactly what Olivia did. He “runs”. Determined to protect himself from the next time Olivia will get scared and run pushes her away only to realize that she is the air he breathes and without her he cannot.

Reunited…..I was over the moon!! Finally…but while Alex and Olivia are trying to hash out their love life others are still planning Olivia’s demise and as more secrets from the past are revealed Alexander becomes more afraid for her safety. Can anyone outside of their immediate circle be trusted? Will Alexander find the courage to tell Olivia about her past or will his fear of losing her win the battle?

The story will take you on a roller coaster ride allowing you to feel pain, sorrow, joy, happiness and love all the while waiting for the next twist in the story to get your pulse racing and your anger flowing. I truly devoured this book just as I did A Beautiful Mess and I am sooooo looking forward to Gorgeous Chaos. Yes, I even told T.K. Leigh that I was not against begging for an early release of it so that I would not have to be without Mr. Burnham for too long. If you have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Burnham I urge you to do so…..you will not be disappointed and will probably berate yourself as I did for waiting so long.

~ Rating ~

~ About the Author ~

T. K. Leigh, otherwise known as Tracy Leigh Kellam, is a producer / attorney by trade. Originally from New England, she now resides in sunny Southern California with her husband, dog and three cats, all of which she has rescued (including the husband). She always had a knack for writing, but mostly in the legal field. It wasn’t until recently that she decided to try her hand at creative writing and is now addicted to creating different characters and new and unique story lines in the Contemporary Romantic Suspense genre. When she’s not planted in front of her computer, writing away, she can be found running and training for her next marathon (of which she has run over fifteen fulls and far too many halfs to recall). Unlike Olivia, the main character in her Beautiful Mess series, she has yet to qualify for the Boston Marathon.