One night with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love him or if he’s just the consolation prize.

Coming Soon

Finding Serenity

(A Contemporary Standalone Romance)

More to come from The Salvation Series

Defenseless

(Mark & Charlie)

Indefinite

(Ashton & Quinn)

Corinne Michaels is the USA Today Bestselling Author of The Salvation Series (Beloved, Beholden, Consolation and Conviction). She’s an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun loving mom of two beautiful children. Corinne is happily married to the man of her dreams and is a former Navy wife. After spending months away from her husband while he was deployed, reading and writing was her escape from the loneliness.

Both her maternal and paternal grandmothers were librarians, which only intensified her love of reading. After years of writing short stories, she couldn’t ignore the call to finish her debut novel, Beloved. Her alpha Navy SEALs are broken, beautiful, and will steal your heart.

Connect at corinnemichaels

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My attempt to keep this short and sweet should be interesting.

My readers: I can never fully explain what it means to me that you not only took a chance on me, but that some of you have stuck with me. I know I tend to keep leaving you with these crazy cliffhangers and you still love me. The support that you give me is astonishing and humbling. I love you so much!

My beta readers: I really am the luckiest person because of you. Jennifer, Melissa, Katie, Roxana, Linda, and Mandi . . . you make me laugh, keep me on my toes, and always striving to impress you. You are some picky bitches but I wouldn’t know what to do without you.

My early readers: Melissa & Alison, you guys are the first to get a full glimpse and each time I bite my nails. Thank you for dealing with my neurosis and messages. I love you to the moon!

Laurelin Paige: Without you, my world would be a dull place. Your support, friendship, and wisdom are insurmountable. You make me a better person and writer. You deal with my insecurities and constant crying but still love me and for that I’m eternally grateful. (I hope you at least pricked a damn tear at this.)

Christy Peckham: No words can explain how much your friendship means. None can come close. You make me smile daily, put up with my hilarious messages <-- admit it they’re funny, and still stick around.

Melissa Saneholtz & SFab Team: The word publicist doesn’t seem fitting for what you do. You run my life pretty much and I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing this with me. To the team . . . oh, how we laugh. I love you guys and can’t thank you enough for all the support.

Stabby Birds: You guys are the best people I know. You’re my sisters through and through. We laugh, cry, and bond together like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I love you!

My Fairy Godmothers: Laura, Lauren, and Christine . . . you are the true meaning of friendship. You were behind me each step of the way. Cheering me on, messaging me, and making me smile. I learned so much from you and love you three!

FYW: The writing world could only be so lucky to know people like you. Thank you for being who you are. #WednesdaysWeWearPink

Claire Contreras, Mia Asher, Whitney Gracia Williams, Rebecca Yarros, Mandi Beck, Kyla Linde, Kennedy Ryan, SL Scott, Lucia Franco, EK Blair, Kristy Bromberg, Pepper Winters, Elisabeth Grace, Livia Jamerlan, & Angie McKeon—thank you for making me smile, laugh, talking through one of my crazy ideas, and just being my friends. I’m truly blessed to have you in my life.

Jesey: I haven’t been able to do this until now. Thank you. Because of something we dreamt of two years ago, look where we are. It’s amazing to think the friendship we’ve had has somehow twisted our worlds to this place. I love you!

My Instagram girls: You make the absolute most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. EVER! I love you all so much!

tiffany.the.bibliophile

smuttybooklover

fixtion_fangirl

dragonflyreads,

butthisbook

macie.reads

thereadingruth

jengare

demeriahh & so many more.

My editor: Lisa, you make editing fun and often funny. Thank you for the support and friendship through this process.

My formatter: Christine, I learned page breaks! Seriously, you are first-class in this business. Your professionalism and attention to detail are above and beyond. You work tirelessly and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

My cover designer: Sarah, thank you for making two of the most beautiful covers ever.

My photographer: Lauren, thank you for capturing everything this story entails.

My proofreader: Ashley, thank you for finding all the errors and making it shine.

Lisa from The Rock Stars of Romance: THANK YOU! Your support has meant everything to the success of this series. I can’t begin to thank you enough. I love your face!

Reanell: Thank you for letting me use your name and I didn’t even make you a villain!

Bloggers: I don’t think you guys understand what you do for the book world. It’s not a job you get paid for (well, not nearly what you deserve). It’s something you love and you do because of that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my husband and children, I’m so lucky to have you. You probably bear the worst part of this process. I love you three more than anything in this world. Thank you for putting up with all that you do. I know I need to put the computer and phone down more because you deserve that. Thank you for being here and supporting me day after day. Thank you for letting me cry when my feelings are hurt. Smile when something amazing happens. But mostly thank you for loving me and believing in me.

Available on all major platforms

Shit happens.

I never really understood that saying. Yeah, there were certain situations in life that were shitty, but they were just that; they were life. So it really wasn’t the shit in life that was, well, so shitty. It was life itself.

Life happens. That was much more appropriate.

Unfortunately, many of us found that out earlier than some. We found out just how awful life could really be. We found out that monsters were, indeed, real. They walked among us. They looked just like you and me. They came in the form of the people that we loved and trusted the most. The people whose only job was to love and protect us.

Funny thing about life is that it never turns out the way you want it to. It’s never fair. It’s harsh and brutal. It kicks you when you’re down. It makes you wish you could give up and part with it just to have a semblance of peace.

I almost felt that peace unintentionally. And if I had known exactly what I was fighting against, I would have succumbed to it. I would have traded my young, shitty life for the peace that came with death.

I should have. I would have been free.

 © 2013 Syreeta L. Jennings

Chapter 1

I needed a drink. A strong one.

One that could possibly knock me on my ass and make me forget what I had done just 20 minutes ago. This was always the hard part. The guilt, the self-loathing. Sometimes it strangled me. I hated what I did. I hated the pain I inflicted but it was part of the process, part of what came with being me.