Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Name: Diana Gardin
Mentee Name: Rhonda Shaw
Title: PROMISE ME ALWAYS
Category: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 87,000
Pitch:
Best-selling rap artist Danny Anderson believes he has everything he needs. But a surprise reunion with Gabrielle, the woman who owns his heart and is now a single mother, leaves him shell-shocked. Refusing to let his true desires, love and family, continue to elude him, Danny will stop at nothing. Even if it means confronting his past once and for all.
Excerpt:
Danny – Six Years Earlier
I walked along the deserted streets, riding the shadows to remain unseen, the white puffs of my breath against the black night the only sign of my presence. Even though my mind raced, the constant whirling making me sick, I had no answer. The expectations of me tonight were clear, but there was no way I could go through with it.
Refusal meant death, but conformity guaranteed a life sentence. If I ever wanted a chance at having a life, to be someone outside of this godforsaken place, I needed to walk away. But, my ticket to freedom wasn’t there yet, and if I backed out now, I would have to look over my shoulder, more than I already did, until that day came—if they even let me live through the night.
No matter what I did, I was fucked. Everyone expected me to take this path, so why the fuck not? Acceptance provided the family—the belonging—I never had, even if it wasn’t the family I dreamed of.
But this wasn’t what I believed in. There was no trust, no security, no unconditional love in this family. Only constant fear, distrust and death.
Always death.
At the end of the sidewalk, I paused. A trail of sweat rolled down my back and my heartbeat jackhammered in my ears. My fate waited for me in the alley and I had to decide.
It was now or never.
