"When I tell you that he hates me, you'll probably assume it's because he's a jerk...but you'd be wrong. He's not a jerk. I am." --- Several years ago tragedy struck Emma's home, leaving her broken... like a cup with cracks spiraling and slithering around the edges. Slowly, bitterness crept in like tar, hardening between each fracture to resemble a deceitful wholeness. She became a monster, and targeted her venom on the sweetest person she could find: Trinity Nixon. Too bad the boy Emma longed for was Trinity's brother. Now, as Emma fights to win the heart of the boy who despises her, she's forced to hide her demons. She paints her fragile cup in pinks, yellows, and oranges - all the colors of the sun. She paints on a smile, and an unusual sense of humor, so that the world will view her as bright and cheerful, when in reality she's breaking. But she's completely unprepared for the acidic truth that melts away the tar, demolishing her shell, and awakening the Emma White buried deep inside. --- Book 1 in The Dismantled Pride series *Story was previously titled "Faking It"

"Mommy tell us your favorite story" I smile. "Well my mother always told me the story of Cinderella the brave and kind girl with no mother or father. Just her ugly step mother and sisters. They mistreated her very badly. But she stays kind and happy through it all. Then there is a royal ball and she wants to go but her step mother doesn't let her. So her fairy godmother comes and makes her a lovely dress and carriage and glass slippers. She danced with the prince all night long then at 12 she ran off but lost her slipper. So the prince searched the whole kingdom for this maiden who fit the slipper and when he did Cinderella escaped her step mother an sisters she lived happily ever after" they giggle. Then my Prince Charming comes. "You know kids mommy has her own Cinderella story" they gasp. "Really tell us mommy tell us" I giggle. "Ok ok the story starts like this" I take a breath. "On the morning of the first and most beautiful day of spring. With the birds chirping and flowers blooming over the never ending meadows. Animals coming out. The Lucius green grass across the fields. The trees in there full grown glory. Two beautiful babies were born..."

With his pride and her prejudice, what could possibly go wrong? When the arrogant Blake Hansen steals Addie Preston's promotion at the library, he pretty much rubs her nose in it. But Addie, who dreams of being a full-fledged librarian, decides to stick it out. She loves surrounding herself with books and keeping her father's memory alive in the building where they spent so much time together. Soon, Addie learns that her beloved library will be torn down to make room for a larger facility, and she has to make a choice. Fight, or let go? To complicate things, she finds herself attracted to Blake, who is engaged to someone else. Will Blake and Addie ever resolve their differences? This is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, with hints of the other Jane Austen books as well.