Excerpt from LOVE and CANDY by Elizabeth Famous:

That night her dad was working late and her mom was busy constructing a costume for Annabelle who was playing the wolf in Peter and the Wolf.  Samantha sat quietly at her desk, procrastinating on starting her homework and thinking about what had happened. His sweaty hairline, simmering eyes and momentarily scowl were hard to wipe from her mind. She fancied reaching her hand to his cheek to comfort him, and maybe dab the sweat from his brow. The way he handled the situation made her want him more.  

             Her lips swelled up when she thought about what her dad would say about her conduct. She decided that she should apologize one more time to make it clear that she was sincerely sorry. She'd seek Delaney out and make a private apology.

            At the end of the next day, she went down to the basement and found him by himself, on his knees, reaching to the back of his locker.   

            She walked up to the opened locker door and, not waiting for him to look up, said, "Hi."

            He leaned back on the balls of his feet and looked at her, his blonde eyebrows slanted in a frown.  No less than she'd expected.  

            "I just wanted to tell you that I'm really sorry about losing my temper yesterday.  I really didn't mean to hurt you or anything.  I….I just get really frustrated.  Our team has lost every game, you know.  And you keep stealing the ball from me.  But still, I shouldn't have aimed for your head.  I'm sorry."

            As he listened to her speech, his mouth bent into a wry grin.  "Forget about it.  It's no big deal.  I don't mind if you try to hit me, as long as I can do the same."  

            "Ohh.  Well, I shouldn't have … and I won't do it again."

            He seemed to find her earnestness amusing. "No, it could be fun.  See if you can knock me down."

            "No, I shouldn't have done it."

            "But I give you permission."

            "No," she said, shaking her head with a hint of a smile.

            "Coach doesn't care.  Believe me, he has more important things to worry about."  He grinned.  "Take your best shot."

            She lost hold of her appearance of seriousness. "No, I'm not going to do it again. I'm sorry," she insisted with a big, shaky smile.  

            "So, I can't retaliate?"

            "Umm, you don't have to."

            The final bell rang.  "Yeah, you guys really do suck.  Maybe you should go out for badminton or something.  Your team is hopeless."

            "No," she insisted.  "I want to play a real sport, not something lame like cheerleading."

            With a squint, he nodded his head. "Yeah, okay, whatever.  See ya around."

Elizabeth Famous is a bestselling author of raw love stories about flawed characters.  She likes the challenge of dealing with situations that seem untouchable in traditional romance.

Love & Candy by Elizabeth Famous

Samantha Montclare is not who she thought she was.  Straitlaced and academically minded, she's knocked to her knees by an unexpected infatuation with the star of her local soccer team just as she discovers that her biological father is not the loving dad who raised her but a forbidding Italian aristocrat.  

Within the social hierarchy of a wealthy suburban high school, Delaney Troy is so superior to a naive freshman such as Samantha that she can't speak to him without provoking taunts from his friends.  Her feisty earnestness sucks her into tiffs with Delaney's girlfriends and makes her a target for bullying.

Delaney is gorgeous, but much of Samantha's fascination stems from his brazen honesty and bristling wit.  His air of confidence inspires so powerful an interest he draws her in without even looking at her.

But how could she possibly date a guy like Delaney who insists he only wants to hook up -- and doesn't believe in love?

Will the scandalous truth about her conception threaten her happy home life?  Must she find a place in her life for a strange new "father"?

Character Spotting has photographs of the character, allegedly, including Samantha, Delaney, Anton, Robert and Catherine.  

You can buy the ebook edition here.  It's available for Amazon Kindle.  

When you've finished reading LOVE and CANDY, check out the EPILOGUE and a Anton Deleted Scene or a Prom Deleted Scene.

If you have something to say to Delaney, you can go here and speak with him.

The Reviews are in!  www.Goodreads.com has over 70 reviews.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Famous grew up on a family farm in rural USA before dashing off to the big city and going Ivy League.  Never satisfied with doing things the usual way, she married a man from the other side of the globe and won a doctoral fellowship in humanities.  Raising her lively and opinionated children is the greatest challenge of her life.