Victoria Sue’s Pure Innocence

I’m so excited to have Victoria Sue stop by today. The third book in her wonderful Pure series is out now and I absolutely cannot wait to read it. She joins me for a super fun interview that I know you’ll enjoy. Afterwards, read all about Pure Innocence and an excerpt so full of emotion you’re not going to want to stop. At the very bottom enter for a chance to win a copy of all three books in the series!

Amanda C. Stone: Good morning Victoria! I’m so glad to have you here today. I love your series and am totally fangirling here! Ok, questions. If you were a candy bar what would you taste like?
Victoria Sue: Well, if you asked me that question, Amanda I’d say decadent. If you asked my husband – he’d probably say “nutty.” On a total side note – what’s with American chocolate? (shudders)
ACS: Good freaking question. I always stock up on chocolate when I travel abroad.
VS: Did they run out of milk for it or something? Give me a decent bar of Cadburys any day. (My favorite happens to be called “Fruit and Nut” I know! Go figure.)
ACS: Hahaha! It is telling that your favorite is so appropriately named. Then again mine would be called the same so we shall be nutty together. You are a super hero! What’s your super hero name and secret talent?
VS: Well (takes a deep breath and settles in) I would be a dieting superhero. All the things that are really bad for you would suddenly become the calorie equivalent of celery. Pizza? No problem. Ice-cream? Want fudge with that because that will make the calories really fly off? Wine – keep going – you’ll be a size six before you know it. I mean, sure – scaling tall buildings, x-ray vision, and saving little old ladies from purse snatchers are all really cool – but ask any woman? I bet they want CALORIE COUNTER – One flash of that cape and chocolate (see Cadbury reference above) and there isn’t a woman on the planet, and probably a few men, that wouldn’t be putty in my hands.
ACS: Ooooh. I like the way you think Victoria. I’m so on board with your super hero powers. You are traveling with The Doctor (or any other time traveling person).  
VS: I just want to say here and now – I HATE Dr. Who.
ACS: WHAT?! Oh my gosh NOOOOO!
VS: My dad and brother made me suffer through that show as a kid for years. I still have nightmares about the one with the giant spiders… So, I’m sorry wouldn’t be going anywhere
ACS: But, that’s like. *sniffle* No traveling at all? Ok, I can accept that even if I’m a massive Dr. Who (and all Whovian spin off shows as well) fan. Who would you call for bail money? Don’t have to give names if you prefer not to, but the role this person plays in your life and maybe how you met or why you’d go to them for bail money?
VS: It would have to be my CPA, who is the coolest guy on the planet (he just had the fourth legal gay wedding in Florida on the day they legalized it) and probably the only one I know with any money. (Except he’d just use mine) Is bail money tax deductible, Amanda?
ACS: Sadly I am not sure.
VS: What do you mean you don’t know? That’s not what I heard…
ACS: Shhh! That was supposed to be our secret! Don’t tell them! Nothing to see here, let’s move along with the interview! Last question. If you could have a cocktail with someone from history, what drink would you have? NO! Just kidding. Who would you have a drink with?
VS: It would have to be Oscar Wilde – that man said some seriously funny shit. One of my fave quotes from him is “Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you’ll never get invited to a party.”
ACS: I’m a fan of his quote about sex. I find that’s pretty much spot on every time.
VS: And to answer your first question – champagne of course – favorite drink evvah…
ACS: I’ve only ever found one kind of champagne I enjoyed and it was at the wedding of a very good friend. Might just have to ask what she had. Anyway, it was LOVELY! having you here with me today Victoria. Thank you for agreeing to be here.

Blurb:
They’d finally caught the madman who had been kidnapping, torturing and murdering submissives. Damon had knelt in that warehouse, clutching Oliver, the boy barely alive, and somehow in the weeks that followed Damon never seemed to be able to let him go.

Oliver is broken, in body, mind, and spirit. And for the first time since he brought him home from the hospital, Damon starts to question himself. Is he going to be enough for Oliver? If he can somehow find all the pieces of Oliver’s broken soul, will he be able to mend them? Or have the horrors that ripped through Oliver left too many holes for Damon to repair? And finally, if he tries and fails to put Oliver back together, will Damon be able to stop his own heart from shattering in the process?

Excerpt:
Oliver breathed. A breath so shallow and so insignificant, the urgency and determination with which his lungs insisted on it surprised him, because breathing had been so hard. It had become so impossible to expand his lungs fully; the futility finally stopped him from trying.

He took another small hesitant breath, and stilled in shock, almost. He hated the dampness, the cold, and he tried to protect his lungs against that, but he’d caught a scent of something else—something clean, fresh, that came with a strong voice and gentle hands that didn’t hurt. Oliver desperately wished it was real.

Pain.

Just four letters. Such a small word for something that filled his mind and summed up his existence. It wasn’t just the horrific hot pokers that stabbed at his fingers and needled his heart. It was the black feeling that caged him, wrapped him up and would never let him go. He wanted to die, but it wasn’t just him—everyone wanted him to die. From the time he was little, his mom had screamed, “I wish you were never born.” He hadn’t been old enough to understand the words but he knew what she meant. Then came the nightmare that was school. He had no idea why he’d been picked on.

Yes, yes I did. The bullies knew he was from the trailer park, and knew no one would complain. It wasn’t just his looks; he knew what the word “fag” meant before sixth grade. When his mom had said he was done with school at twelve, he’d been secretly relieved, until he’d found out what she’d expected him to do instead. That was the first time he’d started wishing he was dead instead of just listening to other people say it.

He moaned, and tried to bite the sound back. If he made a noise the nightmare would come back, and when he just lay quietly, he could pretend the nightmare didn’t exist. He had screamed for so many days at first when no one had heard him, then he had tried to be as desperately still and quiet as he could. He tried not to drink the water but he’d made him. All he’d had to do was touch his fingers, and the pain would have made him do anything. His throat burned; he was so thirsty but he couldn’t swallow. Panic wove an insidious path through his arteries. Some machine beeped faster in time with his heart.

“Hey, hush. You’re safe.”

Oh. Oh. The voice, that voice. He was back, but it wasn’t real—he wasn’t real—this was all something Oliver’s imagination had sent to taunt him, make him believe the quiet words and the gentle touches were really for him, but he knew they couldn’t be. It was the drugs—it must be—conjuring something he could never have. Playing with him. Toying with him. He tried to move his head, but everything seemed so heavy, numb.

Something had touched his cheek. He—it was soft, no not soft, that wasn’t the right word. Almost warm, almost…comforting. Oliver could vaguely hear other voices, felt movement around him, which was confusing, because it had just been him and the nightmare for so long, and he didn’t know where he was. He tried to work it out…who, or what…but he was so tired, so desperately tired…

Something touched him again, and not in anger, not trying to hurt—it was a hand. Not just any hand, his hand—the one who came and talked to him, the voice, the source of comfort. Oliver leaned, ever so slightly. He didn’t have the strength to do more, and the hand held him still, warm, safe. He breathed in a little. Yes, the same clean smell.

“You going to open your eyes today, gorgeous?”

Gorgeous? Him? He couldn’t mean him. It was a mistake. Now he knew he had lost his mind. The guys that came this close to him never smelled good, and they were definitely never gentle.

Oliver’s heart started beating faster, and he could hear some machine with its annoying beeping getting louder. He couldn’t open his eyes. If he opened them everything would become real, and he couldn’t cope with any more reality. Not yet, maybe not ever. Mind numbing terror met him whenever he opened his eyes.

“I know you’re awake. It’s like being fastened to a lie detector.” The amused voice carried on. “Would you like some water?” Oliver opened cracked lips painfully to refuse, he didn’t trust the water, but felt something cold and wet touch them, and it robbed him of sound. It was ice, and cool trickles dropped onto his parched tongue. “Those lips look sore.”

Oliver was confused with the voice, tried not to trust the soothing words. Then his heart slammed in his ribs as he felt the cold swipe of something brush his lips. Slow, confident, but infinitely gentle. It was almost…almost caring. Which was completely ridiculous. No one cared about Oliver. No one had cared about Oliver in a really long time, which was fine, because Oliver didn’t really care about Oliver any more.

“Ice is good, but water would be better.”

Oliver held his breath a little at the sound of the voice. He wanted to believe it was real, that it belonged to someone who cared.

Could he? Dare he? Oliver parted dry lips again and closed them over a straw. He sipped slowly, a tiny mouthful. The taste was different, better, fresh.

“Much better.”

He was glad he didn’t seem to need an answer, but the hand had been taken away to get the water. The water was wonderful, but he wanted, needed, the touch more. The hand moved back and the beeping slowed. Just a gentle tick. He heard a soft click and then a thumb gently smoothed something cooling over his dry lips.

“There. You tell me if anything else hurts.”

Oliver didn’t have the strength to reply, and wasn’t sure he could get his voice to work anyhow. He could feel his mind slipping away again, but he didn’t care. He moved his face a fraction, and settled deeper into the touch. Warmth seeped into him, and he heard a soft chuckle. He could have smiled almost as the warmth from the sound wrapped him up.

Whatever this was, whoever he was, if he could just hold on to the thought that someone cared for a little while longer before it was taken away…

About Victoria:
MM Love stories – because the only thing better than one hot guy is two of them.
Has loved books for as long as she can remember. Books were always what pocket money went on and what usually Father Christmas brought. When she ran out of her kids’ adventure stories, she would go raid her mom’s. By the age of eight she was devouring classics like Little Women, and fell in love with love stories.

She’s still in love with them. Any size, any shape, any creature – love is love, no matter what it says on the box.
In fact if they don’t fit very neatly into any box she loves them even more!

She has a very patient husband and three wonderful children. In 2010 in search of adventure they all moved from the UK to the US and are happily settled in Florida. Finally, after reading love stories for so long, she decided to write her own.
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor
Twitter: @vickysuewrites
Website: www.victoriasue.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9792476.Victoria_Sue

Buy Links:
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/pure-innocence
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-pureinnocence-1824066-147.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Innocence-Victoria-Sue-ebook/dp/B00YZKURQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433585494&sr=8-1&keywords=pure+innocence+sue
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pure-innocence-victoria-sue/1122071926
Dark Hollow Press: http://www.darkhollowspress.com/#!pure-innocence/cgwa
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/548620

Tour Stops:
15-Jun: Parker Williams
16-Jun: Love Bytes, Amanda C. Stone, MM Good Book Reviews
17-Jun: Havan Fellows
18-Jun: Hearts on Fire, Mikky’s World of Books, BFD Book Blog
19-Jun: Inked Rainbow Reads, Happily Ever Chapter, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
22-Jun: Divine Magazine
23-Jun: Rainbow Gold Reviews
24-Jun: Molly Lolly
25-Jun: Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, Kimi-Chan
26-Jun: Bayou Book Junkie

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