You loved her as the sassy teen daughter of Tucker McCord in DAMNED IF I DO, now Zoe has her own book!
Blurb ~
Zoe McCord has a crush on Zack.
Only one problem—he’s been her best friend and neighbor since she was little. How do you make a guy see you as more than just the girl next door? Is it ever possible to find your way out of the friend zone?
Zack Isaaccs has always thought Zoe was cute.
But when did she become so hot? He can’t believe he’s even having thoughts like that about his best friend. Is there any chance that Zoe feels the same way?
But when trouble is coming at the McCord family from all sides, will it bring Zack and Zoe closer together, or rip them apart?
No one can hurt you quite like THE DEVIL YOU KNOW….
Excerpt ~
Zoe McCord bit her lip, holding her breath and watching the wall as she lay in bed. The shadow of tree branches danced across the paint, created by a streetlight beyond her window. Where was he? She could hardly stand this waiting. It was excruciating. He worked ‘til ten and it was ten-thirty. The Starbucks was only three blocks away. Did he have to walk home? If she only had her phone. But it was sitting on her dad’s dresser. Confiscated.
The tyranny around here is driving me crazy.
Only one problem—he’s been her best friend and neighbor since she was little. How do you make a guy see you as more than just the girl next door? Is it ever possible to find your way out of the friend zone?
Zack Isaaccs has always thought Zoe was cute.
But when did she become so hot? He can’t believe he’s even having thoughts like that about his best friend. Is there any chance that Zoe feels the same way?
But when trouble is coming at the McCord family from all sides, will it bring Zack and Zoe closer together, or rip them apart?
No one can hurt you quite like THE DEVIL YOU KNOW….
Excerpt ~
CHAPTER ONE
Zoe McCord bit her lip, holding her breath and watching the wall as she lay in bed. The shadow of tree branches danced across the paint, created by a streetlight beyond her window. Where was he? She could hardly stand this waiting. It was excruciating. He worked ‘til ten and it was ten-thirty. The Starbucks was only three blocks away. Did he have to walk home? If she only had her phone. But it was sitting on her dad’s dresser. Confiscated.
The tyranny around here is driving me crazy.
And all for some smartass comment she made to Dani, her new stepmom. Zoe’d been a smartass all her life. This was the first time it cost her a phone. Okay, not the first time, but….
She flopped on her side and pulled on a loose thread on the tattered end of the quilt her grandma made her. In the beginning, she’d been happy about the marriage. Ecstatic, really. And she was glad her dad found somebody to spend the rest of his life with. And Dani was pretty awesome. But still…it was weird having some other woman take care of him. She couldn’t say she was jealous, because that would be ridiculous. But she did feel…territorial.
Wait.
Her gaze darted to the wall. She thought she caught just a quick sizzle of light. Had she imagined it?
Her eyes widened. Like a fairy ball it zipped in from out of nowhere, cutting through her sheer curtains, and dancing around like a firefly jacked up on Mountain Dew. She’d never been so glad to see the beacon before. Her heart sprung like a pole vaulter seeking the state record and air rushed into her lungs, expanding them to normal proportions. She suppressed a squeal and threw back the quilt.
Zack! All luscious six-foot-one, one hundred and seventy-three pounds of him.
She sighed. Unfortunately, he’d never be hers, so she needed to stop looking at him that way. But, really, who could help it? Blond hair with just a hint of wave in it, Golden Boy, captain of the football team, fabulous body…. And here she was, his neighbor since childhood, forever caught in the friend zone.
Ehh. It could be worse. She did get to spend time with him.
She jumped out of bed, grabbed her denim shorts off the floor, and hopped around on one foot, trying to pull them on. She put a hand on the bed to steady herself. She couldn’t be too loud or the Nighttime Nazis/her dad and stepmom, would be on her case.
Oh. She needed to signal back. She snatched her flashlight off the bedside table and pointed it at the window. She flipped it on and off in the code they set up when they were eight. But the appropriate signal didn’t flash back. Strange.
She moved to the window, skirting her desk so she could get close enough to peer down to the base of the big tree between their houses. Hmm. No Zack. Then she saw his light bobbing around in the backyard, headed for their “clubhouse.” He usually waited for her. Was this a good sign? Or a bad sign? She would find out shortly. Impatient, she jerked on the window. It always stuck because of a bad paint job. It made a loud creak and she cringed, waiting to be found out. After several seconds passed with no footsteps pounding down the hall, she moved the window up as far as it would go, with only a little more squeaking.
The breeze wafted in and she inhaled deeply. There it was. The sweet smell of freedom. Grinning, she carefully popped the latches on the sides of the screen and pushed it out of the frame. Tilted at an angle, it was just narrow enough to pull into her room. She put it on the floor, leaning it up against the side of her desk. Rather ungracefully, she climbed onto the rolling office chair in front of the desk, and then stepped up on her math homework.
This part always scared the crap out of her. She moved into a sitting position and stuck her legs out the window opening, scootching her backside along the desk until she was poised on the window sill. The wind played with her hair.
Don’t do it. Don’t—
She flopped on her side and pulled on a loose thread on the tattered end of the quilt her grandma made her. In the beginning, she’d been happy about the marriage. Ecstatic, really. And she was glad her dad found somebody to spend the rest of his life with. And Dani was pretty awesome. But still…it was weird having some other woman take care of him. She couldn’t say she was jealous, because that would be ridiculous. But she did feel…territorial.
Wait.
Her gaze darted to the wall. She thought she caught just a quick sizzle of light. Had she imagined it?
Her eyes widened. Like a fairy ball it zipped in from out of nowhere, cutting through her sheer curtains, and dancing around like a firefly jacked up on Mountain Dew. She’d never been so glad to see the beacon before. Her heart sprung like a pole vaulter seeking the state record and air rushed into her lungs, expanding them to normal proportions. She suppressed a squeal and threw back the quilt.
Zack! All luscious six-foot-one, one hundred and seventy-three pounds of him.
She sighed. Unfortunately, he’d never be hers, so she needed to stop looking at him that way. But, really, who could help it? Blond hair with just a hint of wave in it, Golden Boy, captain of the football team, fabulous body…. And here she was, his neighbor since childhood, forever caught in the friend zone.
Ehh. It could be worse. She did get to spend time with him.
She jumped out of bed, grabbed her denim shorts off the floor, and hopped around on one foot, trying to pull them on. She put a hand on the bed to steady herself. She couldn’t be too loud or the Nighttime Nazis/her dad and stepmom, would be on her case.
Oh. She needed to signal back. She snatched her flashlight off the bedside table and pointed it at the window. She flipped it on and off in the code they set up when they were eight. But the appropriate signal didn’t flash back. Strange.
She moved to the window, skirting her desk so she could get close enough to peer down to the base of the big tree between their houses. Hmm. No Zack. Then she saw his light bobbing around in the backyard, headed for their “clubhouse.” He usually waited for her. Was this a good sign? Or a bad sign? She would find out shortly. Impatient, she jerked on the window. It always stuck because of a bad paint job. It made a loud creak and she cringed, waiting to be found out. After several seconds passed with no footsteps pounding down the hall, she moved the window up as far as it would go, with only a little more squeaking.
The breeze wafted in and she inhaled deeply. There it was. The sweet smell of freedom. Grinning, she carefully popped the latches on the sides of the screen and pushed it out of the frame. Tilted at an angle, it was just narrow enough to pull into her room. She put it on the floor, leaning it up against the side of her desk. Rather ungracefully, she climbed onto the rolling office chair in front of the desk, and then stepped up on her math homework.
This part always scared the crap out of her. She moved into a sitting position and stuck her legs out the window opening, scootching her backside along the desk until she was poised on the window sill. The wind played with her hair.
Don’t do it. Don’t—
Shit. She did it. Looked down. She always told herself not to, but did it anyway. The grass and bushes beneath her swayed and blurred in her vision and she put a hand over her stomach which was trying to make a quick escape of its own. Or at least the contents thereof. It wasn’t that far down, really. But it sure felt like a long way when nothing was holding you up but a four-inch-wide window sill.
Do it for Zack.
Do it for Zack.
This, too, she always did. It was part of the ritual. Tell herself to not look down, do it anyway. Feel like she was going to hurl, and then motivate herself with the thought of Zack. She reached out to what she called the perfect branch….
To find out if Zoe makes it or breaks her neck, buy the book here:
Amazon: mybook.to/TheDevilYouKnowSchiller
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/the-devil-you-know-mj-schiller/1128864990?ean=9781947833500
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-devil-you-know-the-devilish-divas-series-book-3
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/mt/book/the-devil-you-know-the-devilish-divas-series-book-3/id1434161859?mt=11
I hope you enjoy it!
