QK Top 16: NA Urban Fantasy

Nickname: Kicking Ash
Title: Earth to Earth
Word Count: 62,000
Genre: NA Urban Fantasy

Query:

Getting over the death of your boyfriend is tough, especially when you're sure you just saw him outside of your new apartment.

Five years after Hailey loses her boyfriend, Ash, in a horrific car accident that almost claims her life, she is still struggling to put herself back together. At her breaking point, she moves from her small hometown to the big city, hoping to get lost in the crowd and start fresh. But things get complicated when she sees Ash. Or thinks she sees Ash. Swears she sees Ash.

After an exhausting search, she finally discovers the truth. The truth about Ash’s death, miraculous resurrection, and breathtaking wings that she’d never noticed before. As a guardian angel, Ash’s mission was to help Hailey in her time of death, but when he broke the rules and fell for her, all bets were off. In order to save her life, Ash makes a deal with the Angel of Death, with one heartbreaking condition. He has to leave Hailey, putting consequences into motion that he never could have imagined.

Now that they've found each other, the Angel of Death is out for revenge, setting her eyes on Hailey once again. Feeling betrayed by his lies and the time they've lost, Hailey must decide if she can trust Ash, or even really like him again. But when you're staring Death in her pretty, pale face, a rebellious Guardian Angel isn’t a bad thing to have around.

First 250:

The moment glass shatters is actually quite beautiful. The way the center splinters and spiders out before bursting into tiny stars glistening in the sunlight. Not many people really get the chance to appreciate the magnificence because everything happens instantly. So quick that you blink and it’s already done. But when you’re convinced you’re about to die, the world tends to move in slow motion.

I’m riding with my boyfriend down a curvy country road, taking in the warm breeze and the smell of the wildflowers nestled along the trees. The simplicity of summer surrounds us, promising nearly three whole months of freedom until we leave for college. Everything is perfect. Then, just like that, it isn’t.

I don’t see whatever makes him jerk the wheel violently to the left. The smell of burnt rubber assaults my nose as my body slams hard against the restraint of the seat belt. The car spins and rockets towards the guardrail separating us from the cluster of trees.

When I gaze over to the driver’s side, I expect to hear my boyfriend scream. A cry. Something. There is nothing but silence as he stares back at me, sporting a perfectly calm expression. No panic, no fear.

My head snaps forward as we hit the ground and roll. Once. Twice. The third time is when the glass of the windshield fractures, starting as the tiniest crack before imploding into a thousand tiny particles.