Get Out Of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior

All of us have weaknesses that sever our confidence. But what if you have a certain weakness that people hold against you and bully you all your life for? Carolyn has such weakness— She was fat and had a face full of acne. People laughed at her body. They looked at her with disgust and compared her to her beautiful twin sister. Her own family treated her like a burden. When all of this became too much, she decided to kill herself. Except that.... They did it before she could!

After her mother shoved her away, Astrallaine moved in with a woman she didn't know. She must be self-sufficient and capable of standing alone — without leaning against other walls. Will she be able to continue in life when a man appears and makes her even more miserable? Will she be able to let go of the wretched version of herself?

After Nathan Seville stands me up for the seventh time we're supposed to register our marriage, I finally cut all ties with him—completely and on my own terms. If he shows up at a gathering, I don't go. If he's invited to perform at the college anniversary, I leave early. The moment my company decides to work with him, I resign on the spot. Even on Christmas Eve, when he shows up at my house with gifts, I make up an excuse about needing to visit someone. Calls? Blocked. Socials? Deleted. My strategy is simple—cut it all off. I don't reach out, and he has no way of finding me. For the first 30 years of my life, I spent most of it loving him with everything I had. I cared for him, supported him, and waited for him. But after being left hanging for the seventh time at the City Hall, I finally wake up. I don't want to live like this anymore. Even if I end up alone, it's still better than spending night after night waiting in an empty house that never feels like home!

I always had it all. I never expected for everything to change after only one night. One second I'm out having fun and the next I'm knee deep in crap with only a boy I just met to help me see it through.

I'm learning to swim when my childhood friend, Vivian Thorne, fakes a cramp. My boyfriend, Oliver Wilde, suddenly lets go of my hand and swims toward her. I'm left alone in the two-yard-deep pool, completely stunned. After Oliver carries Vivian ashore, he smiles as he watches me thrash around. "Vivian says you rely on me too much and need a push to learn, so just swim over here yourself." I choke on water and sink. At the sight of my struggle, Vivian laughs so hard she slaps her thigh. Oliver says something to her, then drapes a towel over her shoulders in resignation. Even though I can't hear what he says, I bet it must be, "Now that you've had your laugh, don't tease her the next time. Aria is already pitiful enough with her fear of water." It's true that I was born with a fear of water. I've known them for seven years. All this time, Oliver and Vivian have been tormenting me under the guise of helping me overcome my fear of water. In college, at the beach, Vivian deliberately pushes me off the speedboat. Oliver jumps in to shield her and watches me swallow a bellyful of seawater in the waves. On the graduation rafting trip, Vivian suddenly capsizes the kayak. Oliver swims over to pull her up and watches me slam into a rock, my leg bleeding nonstop. Last year at the water park, Vivian shoves me down the waterslide. Oliver slides down to catch her and leaves me in the pool, nearly suffocating with fear. Every time, my fear and despair are met with a burst of laughter from Vivian. Meanwhile, Oliver stands behind her, always saying the same thing. "No more next time." However, the next time always turns into Vivian's new way of having fun at my expense. Water floods into my mouth and nose, the suffocation shooting straight to the top of my skull. But suddenly, I realize that I can actually float on my own. I grab the safety rope and haul myself ashore. Two pairs of hands reach out to pull me up, but I push them away. "From now on, I don't need you two to help me build up my courage anymore."

For years, I’ve shut off my emotions, too scared to bare my heart to someone else. Because the last female I trusted, broke it into pieces and scattered it around for me to pick it up. Work is the only thing that kept my head sane. That is until she walked in. She was no longer a shy teenager, but a beautiful and confident woman. I should’ve known resisting her was impossible. But, it happened too quickly for me to comprehend. Arianna Swanson lights my dark world with a simple smile. I see her and I see hope. My heart doesn’t hurt when I’m around her. But she is off-limits. My cousin's best friend. I should’ve stayed away because she deserved better. I tried and succeeded until one day, her lips whispered my name. I’m not the man she needed while nursing a broken heart, but I am drawn to her like a moth to the flame. Then, I caught the web of deception around her and that brings out my protective instincts at full force. And I realize I’m exactly the man she needs now. This is a standalone HEA romance novel with no cliff-hangers