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A Graceful Mess Page 24


  Thank you to my personal cheerleader and best friend, Erika Ashby, for always believing in me and my stories, no matter what, and for being the definition of a loyal friend. A special thanks to J.L Brooks for not only believing in me as an author, but as a person, friend and child of God. And in no particular order, thank you to these other pretty ladies that jumped on the Nacole Stayton bandwagon and have held on tight: Dorissa Hobbs, Michelle Eck, Jenn Besterman, E.K. Blair, Jennifer Wolfel, Melanie Dawn, Anna Coy, Kimi Flores and the rest of my Indie Chixx girls.

  To my family and friends who have put up with me during this journey and once again supported my dream to write. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have each of you in my life. Mom, Dad, my sisters, Elizabeth, Chelsea and Taylor, my wonderful in-laws, grandparents, and everyone else in my crazy family who has my back, thank you. Again, I feel like I need to warn my family and ask that you not judge the sexy contents of my book!

  A huge shout out to the marvelous Toski Covey of Toski Covey Photography and Sommer Stein of Perfect Pear Creative. These ladies were given very little detail, and managed to create a cover I am absolutely smitten with. Thank you both for being angels during this process and for giving me a cover I adore. Also, thanks to my cover models and real life couple, Allison Rae and Brett Brock. You both worked the photo shoot like champs and gave me a perfect mix of classy and sexy. Because of your photogenic raw emotions, Toski was able to capture such exceptional photos. I will forever be indebted to you for allowing my dream cover to become a reality.

  Thank you to the entire team at Adept Edits for being a light at the end of a dark tunnel. It truly takes a lot of trust in someone to hand over your manuscript and expect them to help polish it in ways you never thought were possible. Lisa, that is what you did. I couldn’t be happier with the end result of AGM and it was because of you and your magic touches. Not only did you simply edit my novel, but you made me laugh and feel at ease during the process. I will forever be indebted to you because of this.

  Last but certainly not least, a big thank you to my readers who were exceptionally excited for A Graceful Mess to release. Thank you for not only reading my first novel, The Upside of Letting Go, but for having my back and supporting me during the release of this second novel. I write because I love it. I stay up until the dawn creeps its way through my windows, with an aching back and belly full of coffee because my characters beg for their stories to be told. The perk is delivering a meaningful novel to you. With that said, I sincerely appreciate you, and hope one day to meet you and thank you in person for your support.

  ~N

  Christian “Nacole” Stayton is twenty-something years young and currently resides in the Bluegrass state. She spends her days working at a local hospital in the billing department and nights working vigorously on her current novel. She has a passion for helping others and wears her University of Kentucky gear proudly. While her husband loves all things outdoors, Nacole enjoys the finer things in life, like getting pedicures while reading on her Kindle Fire. She is passionate about her faith, family, and The Bachelor. Her hair color changes with the seasons and she has a weakness for tattoos, iced coffee, and happy endings.

  Turn the page for a preview of Nacole Stayton’s third novel,

  Coming soon!

  Hensley Bradley lived an ordinary life. Her parents weren’t rich by any means, but they always made sure there was enough food on the table and clothes on her back. Because she didn’t care about material things, she found herself placed in the outcast group. Hensley’s popularity rank didn’t faze her and things didn’t seem to change when she graduated high school and applied at the local community college. She found her fulfillment on a street corner with her guitar. Music was her only passion until he came along.

  Colby Grant was a transfer student from Galveston, Texas. With All-American good looks and Southern charm, it didn’t take long for every girl on campus to focus their eyes on him. Even with his straight smile and perfect cheekbones, he didn’t seem like he fit into the perfect world that accepted him. After a fallout back home, he was eager to prove his father wrong and more determined than ever to prove he could be more than just a wanna-be country singer.

  A chance encounter causes Colby to cross paths with Hensley, but it wasn’t her natural beauty that first attracted him. It was her voice. When love and music mix, will the combination blossom into a beautiful melody or wither into a heart-wrenching tune?

  “The words he couldn’t say, he said in the lyrics.” –Hensley

  Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at

  www.nacolestayton.com