Muted Hopelessness

Never judge a book by its cover. One of the world's most common clichés. Though sage advice, the age-old aphorism is rarely followed. Take Tori McNabb and Ashton Spencer for instance, who, based on appearances, believe they have no reason to breathe the same air. But when startling circumstances align their paths on the campus of Blakewood State University, the two have no choice but to look beyond their exteriors. McNabb is a fighter in life as well as in the ring. She knows what she's capable of...and she doesn't want to be tested. Her only goal is to never return to Millville, New Jersey; she just wants to fly under the radar on the BSU campus. Spencer, the most popular athlete on campus, is well on his way to success as a professional athlete. He is confident that the stars are aligned in his favor. But being tested by the underdog is something he though he'd never fail at. Join this unlikely pair on a journey inside the pages of their ugly covers. This book contains some profanity and sexually explicit content. It is intended for mature listeners.

Okay...where do we pick up? Where we left off, of course. Tori's afraid, but putting forth her toughest exterior to forge ahead with the mess she's made. And Ashton? Well, he's confused and angry. It's his last semester, one that had been planned meticulously by himself and others well before she even knew what a Panther was. You think it's possible to put the genie back in the f--kin' bottle now? Here he was again, saying cryptic things, using phrases that went over her head. What more can I say? What do you want me to do?" Will Tori can fight her way out of the quandary she's created at BSU? Will Ashton's well-planned future be derailed by the new underdog-turned-"banger" on campus?

I believe it was the night before Thanksgiving of the year I'd fallen for a tomboy fighter from a trailer park in South Jersey. I was in your kitchen when you told me cheating is wrong, and it will never be right. But the biggest conflict is when you fall in love with someone who isn't yours. You said people fall in and out of love every day, and that most of it is bullshit...being more about passion and temporary emotions. But when the person you're cheating with is worth a commitment and a sacrifice, and when you're prepared in your heart and mind to walk through the fire of the mess, it might be something real after all. That was, and still is KaToria McNabb. Fate, via her inconceivable success, reconnected the unlikely pair. What has happened? Why didn't he call? Why didn't she reach out? Ashton and Tori unravel the paths their lives took after Blakewood State University. It's been a painful 12-year journey of loss, betrayal, miscommunication, and death. Within the devastation grew new lives, burgeoning careers, and millions being earned by them both. Nonetheless, can the wins override the pain in between? This book contains angst, profanity, and sexually explicit content.