The Road to Her (34 page)
Authors: KE Payne
“I love that photo of you.” I pointed a lazy finger at the page. “Read some more?” I asked, adding, “Please?” when I saw Elise mock-roll her eyes behind her glasses.
“Let me see…” She studied the article. “Okay:
Elise (19) told us: ‘Holly is everything to me, and I have to pinch myself every day at just how lucky I am to have her in my life…’”
“I love that bit,” I said quietly.
Elise read on. “‘
Our popularity has rocketed since we first went public about our love for one another, and we’ve both received so many messages of love and support from people telling us how happy they are for us. We’re ecstatic at just how amazing our fans all are!’
Isn’t that the truth?” Elise puffed her cheeks out.
“And didn’t I always tell you it would be okay?” I said, reaching out and stroking her leg.
“
In the last month the public has taken the real-life couple to their hearts, culminating in Elise winning Best Actress at last week’s Go Soaps! awards and, with Holly, also scooping the Best Couple award…
Ha!” Elise put the magazine down and propped her herself up on her elbow, taking my hand and threading her fingers through mine. “What a night that was, hey?”
“The way things are going,” I said, “there’ll be lots more nights like that, too.”
“And we’ll be together for each and every one of them,” she said before leaning down and giving me a long, lazy kiss that seemed to go on forever.
“It really can be like this all the time, can’t it?” I said dreamily when she finally pulled away, gazing back up at her.
“It can be like this forever and always,” she said. “I told you before, now I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go ever again.”
“Hollise forever?” I asked, pulling her down to me again.
“Hollise forever,” Elise grinned.
About the Author
KE Payne
was born in Bath, the English city, not the tub, and after leaving school she worked for the British government for fifteen years, which probably sounds a lot more exciting than it really was.
Fed up with spending her days moving paperwork around her desk and making models of the Taj Mahal out of paperclips, she packed it all in to go to university in Bristol and graduated as a mature student in 2006 with a degree in linguistics and history.
After graduating, she worked at a university in the Midlands for a while, again moving all that paperwork around, before finally leaving to embark on her dream career as a writer.
She moved to the idyllic English countryside in 2007 where she now lives and works happily surrounded by dogs and guinea pigs.
What Reviewers Say About KE Payne’s Work
365 Days
“One of the most real books I’ve ever read. It frequently made me giggle out loud to myself while muttering, ‘OMG, RIGHT?’”
—After Ellen
“Payne captures Clemmie’s voice—an engaging blend of teenage angst and saucy self-assurance—with full-throated style.”—Richard Labonte,
Book Marks
“A fast-paced read [that] I found hard to put down.”
—C-Spot Reviews
“A wonderful, thought-provoking novel of a teenager discovering who she truly is.”
—Fresh Fiction
Another 365 Days
“Funny, engaging and accessible.”—
Kirkus Reviews
Soliloquy Titles From Bold Strokes Books
The Road to Her
by KE Payne. Sparks fly when actress Holly Croft, star of UK soap Portobello Road, meets her new on-screen love interest, the enigmatic and sexy Elise Manford. (978-1-60282-887-2)
Kings of Ruin
by Sam Cameron. High school student Danny Kelly and loner Kevin Clark must team up to defeat a top-secret alien intelligence that likes to wreak havoc with fiery car, truck, and train accidents. (978-1-60282-864-3)
Swans & Klons
by Nora Olsen. In a future world where there are no males, sixteen-year-old Rubric and her girlfriend Salmon Jo must fight to survive when everything they believed in turns out to be a lie. (978-1-60282-874-2)
The You Know Who Girls
by Annameekee Hesik. As they begin freshman year, Abbey Brooks and her best friend, Kate, pinky swear they’ll keep away from the lesbians in Gila High, but Abbey already suspects she’s one of those you-know-who girls herself and slowly learns who her true friends really are. (978-1-60282-754-7)
In Stone
by Jeremy Jordan King. A young New Yorker is rescued from a hate crime by a mysterious someone who turns out to be more of a something. (978-1-60282-761-5)
Wonderland
by David-Matthew Barnes. After her mother’s sudden death, Destiny Moore is sent to live with her two gay uncles on Avalon Cove, a mysterious island on which she uncovers a secret place called Wonderland, where love and magic prove to be real. (978-1-60282-788-2)
Another 365 Days
by KE Payne. Clemmie Atkins is back, and her life is more complicated than ever! Still madly in love with her girlfriend, Clemmie suddenly finds her life turned upside down with distractions, confessions, and the return of a familiar face… (978-1-60282-775-2)
The Secret of Othello
by Sam Cameron. Florida teen detectives Steven and Denny risk their lives to search for a sunken NASA satellite—but under the waves, no one can hear you scream… (978-1-60282-742-4)
Andy Squared
by Jennifer Lavoie. Andrew never thought anyone could come between him and his twin sister, Andrea…until Ryder rode into town. (978-1-60282-743-1)
Sara
by Greg Herren. A mysterious and beautiful new student at Southern Heights High School stirs things up when students start dying. (978-1-60282-674-8)
Boys of Summer
, edited by Steve Berman. Stories of young love and adventure, when the sky’s ceiling is a bright blue marvel, when another boy’s laughter at the beach can distract from dull summer jobs. (978-1-60282-663-2)
Street Dreams
by Tama Wise. Tyson Rua has more than his fair share of problems growing up in New Zealand—he’s gay, he’s falling in love, and he’s run afoul of the local hip-hop crew leader just as he’s trying to make it as a graffiti artist. (978-1-60282-650-2)
[email protected]
by KE Payne. Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met? Imogen Summers thinks so because it’s happened to her. (978-1-60282-592-5)
Swimming to Chicago
by David-Matthew Barnes. As the lives of the adults around them unravel, high school students Alex and Robby form an unbreakable bond, vowing to do anything to stay together—even if it means leaving everything behind. (978-1-60282-572-7)
365 Days
by KE Payne. Life sucks when you’re seventeen years old and confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. Then in walks sexy new emo girl, Hannah Harrison. Clemmie Atkins has exactly 365 days to discover herself, and she’s going to have a blast doing it! (978-1-60282-540-6)
Cursebusters!
by Julie Smith. Budding psychic Reeno is the most accomplished teenage burglar in California, but one tiny screw-up and poof!—she’s sentenced to Bad Girl School. And that isn’t even her worst problem. Her sister Haley’s dying of an illness no one can diagnose, and now she can’t even help. (978-1-60282-559-8)
Who I Am
by M.L. Rice. Devin Kelly’s senior year is a disaster. She’s in a new school in a new town, and the school bully is making her life miserable—but then she meets his sister Melanie and realizes her feelings for her are more than platonic. (978-1-60282-231-3)
Sleeping Angel
by Greg Herren. Eric Matthews survives a terrible car accident only to find out everyone in town thinks he’s a murderer—and he has to clear his name even though he has no memories of what happened. (978-1-60282-214-6)
Mesmerized
by David-Matthew Barnes. Through her close friendship with Brodie and Lance, Serena Albright learns about the many forms of love and finds comfort for the grief and guilt she feels over the brutal death of her older brother, the victim of a hate crime. (978-1-60282-191-0)
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