VBT# Insanity - Lauren Hammond

Today's VBT# is a spotlight on Lauren Hammond's new book "Insanity".

Synopsis: Insanity - Lauren Hammond- Book #1 Asylum Series - May 2012

Sometimes love...can drive you crazy.
Adelaide Carmichael and Damien Allen couldn't be more opposite.
Adelaide's mother abandoned her when she was ten years old, leaving her to be raised by her abusive and alcoholic father.
Damien on the other hand came from a wealthy family, was a local celebrity, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.
Despite their differences, Adelaide and Damien were young, wild, and fiercely in love.
And they had a plan.
They were going to run away.
Be together forever.
And their plan was set in motion, until tragedy struck and for some reason, Adelaide wound up in The Oakhill Institution for the insane.
Adelaide has no idea what she did to wind up at Oakhill, but she knows one thing for sure...
She wants out.
And after Damien follows her there to aid her in escaping, Adelaide slowly begins putting together the pieces of her memory that are missing.
And it doesn't take Adelaide long to figure out that sometimes...
That one true love never dies.

Book Excerpt:

Thank you so much for having me on the blog today!

I’m so excited to share a little piece of Insanity with you!

Sliding my knees to my chest, my whole body vibrates with a mixture of fear, anger, and a hatred so intense I feel like a balloon, so full of helium that I'm about to pop.

I cry.

Quietly.

Out of pain or hatred, I'm not sure.

Daddy doesn't notice.

Thank God.

I've learned through the years that crying never helps. To Daddy, everything I do is wrong. Everything is always my fault. According to him, crying is a sign of weakness. And any weakness in a person, man or woman, needs to be broken.

Dishes clink and clank against the counter. I lift my head, peeking through my trembling fingers, as, Daddy, removes all the dishes from the cupboard and stack them in a messy pile next to the sink. One dish teeters on the edge of the counter, wobbling back and forth back and forth. Oh no. It's slipping. My hand juts out, but not in enough time to catch the plate before it crashes into the hardwood floor, smashing into a million ceramic pieces.

It's my fault the dish fell.

Daddy twists around and a loud slap rings out as his palm connects with my cheek. My skin tingles and burns and instinctively, I place a hand on my cheek, hoping that my cool palm will put out the fire. It doesn't.

“Clean this s*** up!” he shouts and stomps off into the other room.

With arms and legs like jelly, I try to pick myself off the floor and let out a sob when I only make it halfway, and fall back down. I try again, using the counter as an aid and manage to pull myself up, scaling the length. When I make it to the sink, I turn the water on. Then I sob, not too loud, but I've reached the point where I'm sobbing so hard that I'm dry heaving.

I mouth, “Damien,” and use my arms as a bandage to keep myself together. To make myself feel whole. Even though I'm anything but whole. If you held me up to the sun you could see the bright shimmering rays of light peeking through me. I'm just as broken as the ceramic plate in pieces decorating the floor.

Two weeks.

Two weeks.

It feels like the days are dragging on forever.

That my escape will never happen.

Two weeks.

And all I keep thinking, is that I hope between now and then that, Daddy, doesn't kill me first.

Check out Insanity and the sequel, White Walls on June 19th!