Cruel Destiny
a love story
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
★★★★★ "Wow. Just wow. If that could be my review, that is all I would write." (Goodreads)
★★★★★ "Emmanuelle has done it yet again. She found a way to slip into my mind and heart with her words and the creation of characters you can't help but fall in love with." (Goodreads)
I never thought I’d start over. Not in this quiet town, not as a single mom, and definitely not after everything I lost.
Once, music was my life. My voice filled sold-out stadiums. Now, I spend my days running a cozy shop in Green Mountain, Tennessee, trying to build something stable for my son… and stitching together the broken pieces of my heart.
Love? That was another lifetime.
Then Nick Peterson walked in...literally, by mistake.
He looked like every woman’s warning sign: brooding, beautiful, and carrying something too heavy for words. But behind those haunted eyes was a tenderness I didn’t expect…and a connection I couldn’t ignore.
Neither of us was looking for anything. We were too busy surviving. But somehow, in between late-night talks, slow smiles, and the silence that understood us both, friendship became something more.
Now, I’m terrified. Because falling for Nick means risking everything I’ve rebuilt—and I’ve already lost it all once.
And Nick... he has his own ghosts. Ones that don’t let go easily.
But what if fate brought us here for a reason? What if this messy, beautiful thing between us is worth fighting for?
This is our beginning. And I don’t know how it ends.
But I do know this: I’ve never felt anything like this before.
Cruel Destiny is a deeply emotional, soul-stirring romance about finding light in the aftermath of grief, choosing love when it’s easier to run, and the kind of connection that doesn’t come around twice.
Perfect for readers who crave slow-burning tension, aching vulnerability, and characters who feel like they could walk right off the page.
🩷 strangers to friends to lovers
🩷 small town
🩷 second chances
🩷 found family
🩷 life after grief
🩷 soul mates
For fans of Jennifer Hartmann, Rebecca Yarros, Paige Toon, Nicholas Sparks, and Mia Sheridan.
Cruel Destiny is the first book in the Second Tear duet—a breathtaking tale of love, loss, and the undeniable pull of two hearts meant to find each other. This is the introduction to Nick and Dahlia’s beautiful and heartbreaking love story. It begins where Sweet Agony ends.
Customer Reviews
Very good
J’aime lire l’histoire des différents personnages qui sont au cœur de ceux-ci! It’s very good
The first half of Delilah’s tragic backstory. Bring tissues and wine!
Formerly Whiskey & Country, now Cruel Destiny, the first half of the Second Tear duet.
Book 3 in the Carter Hills Band series, and the second flash-back book giving us more about Delilah’s history. Book 2 (Princess and Country) is her and Carter’s friendship and growing up, and her and Jeff’s (Carter’s brother) love story, and the tragedy that happened here. This book is how she carries on, her and Carter and her son Jack and how their family continues living, and how she moves on with her life after having loved the way she did. She meets Nick when he shows up at her new shop one day, “by accident “.
Nick himself is reeling after a huge loss - which is actually the first third of the book - finding himself and who he is and where he truly belongs. He ends up being sent by a friend to a small town to take a construction job for the friends dad, and that is where he spots Delilah. He doesn’t recognize her as the rockstar he’s been interested in, at first.
With their shared similar pasts, the pair bonds, much to Carter’s dismay - but with Emmanuelle’s typical amazing writing, she is able to write such a great plot and so many twists (some really exciting things you could never imagine!), keep your interest the entire time - I was glued to my Kindle the whole 600 pages! - and not let you down from the adrenaline high between the chemistry, the steam, the unexpected turns!
A definite recommendation, but you will want to read the two previous books in the series first, to understand the background.
Thank you, Emmanuelle, for an ARC copy of Whiskey and Country! Everything here is my honest review and feedback.