And now, an exclusive look at Amy’s upcoming release, Smash and Grab, releasing July 19, 2016:

Ocean’s Eleven meets the star-crossed lovers of West Side Story. Grab some popcorn and get ready for an adrenaline-filled heist!

LEXI is a rich girl who loves a good rush. Whether it’s motorcycle racing or BASE jumping off a building in downtown Los Angeles, the only times she feels alive are when she and her friends are executing one of their dares. After her father’s arrest, Lexi doesn’t think twice about going undercover at his bank to steal the evidence that might clear his name. She enlists her hacker brother and her daredevil friends to plan a clever heist.

CHRISTIAN is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The local gang has blackmailed him and his friends into robbing banks, and he is desperate for a way out. When the boss promises that one really big job will be the last he ever has to do, Christian jumps at the chance for freedom. In fact, he’s just met a girl at the bank who might even prove useful…

Two heists. One score. The only thing standing in their way is each other.

And here is Amy’s bonus sneak peek: Chapter Seven, when Lexi and Christian literally collide as he’s leaving the bank he’s just robbed as she’s trying to enter it. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Seven

Lexi

I run up to the bank’s front doors when they burst open, and a group of men come careening out, all dressed in matching jeans and black hoodies. Their faces are weird. . . burned? Wait. They’re masks—five men wearing identical zombie masks. But what are they doing? I can’t make sense of anything. At first I think maybe they’re part of a flash mob or something, about to break into some weird dance in the middle of Figueroa with a whole bunch of other zombies I somehow failed to notice before now. I strain to hear the opening beats of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. But then the one in the lead raises his hand like he’s waving me out of the way, and I realize that he has a gun. . . and I’m standing directly in his path.

My brain wants to turn and run, but my body is having a hard time doing it. Go! Move! I think. It’s too late. Zombie guy is right in my face, his body slamming into mine, and the gun is flying out to the side, landing a split-second before we do. My head connects with the concrete and bounces. The world goes blurry and I can’t breathe. I gulp for air as my vision clears. For a moment all I can see is that mask and his dark eyes because his sunglasses slipped a bit in the fall. He blinks and we lock eyes. What’s happening?

“Sorry,” he says breathing hard as he untangles himself from me. His voice is low, gruff, muffled by the mask. “You okay?”

I stare mutely at him trying to focus, and then I manage a slow nod. I have this urge to reach up and take off his mask, to see his entire face, but my arms are pinned to my sides.

“Just stay down, okay?” he says, sounding concerned. “I’m not gonna hurt you… at least not again. Sorry.” He pushes the sunglasses back up, and I see my reflection in them, my head still reeling, my mind slowly putting the pieces together. He had a gun. It’s next to me now. He’s a bank robber! My brains buzzes with a swarm of panicked thoughts. Did he use that gun inside? Kill someone? Am I next?

He stands quickly, scoops up his gun, and catches to the other guys with duffel bags on their shoulders, now running for a minivan parked at the end of the sidewalk. He looks back once and waves at me, a little wiggle of his gloved hand before he ducks inside the van. It’s such a weirdly benign gesture that without thinking, I wave back. On the driver’s-side door is a square sign with script lettering; MARY KAY CONSULTANT—that’s what it reads. I blink a couple of times to make sure I read it right.

That guy. And the others. They just robbed the bank with my account and Quinn’s. Which means I won’t be able to get my money now, at least not right now, not here. The police will be coming. This is a crime scene.

The van screeches out onto the road and disappears. I stare after it and try to make sense of the last few minutes.

“Oh my god, are you okay? I’m calling the police, honey—just stay put.” A woman crouches down beside me, coffee in one hand, her cell phone in the other. “Hey, watch where that van goes, those guys just robbed the bank!” she yells at anyone within earshot. A few guys start chasing after the van, but I’m sure it’s already too far away to catch on foot. I start to get up while she dials one-handed, and then, unbelievably, she hands me her coffee to hold while she finishes up. My head’s all cottony and achy. I manage to stand, but I’m all off balance. I stumble a little.

“I think I need to again.” I sink down onto the curb. Quinn and my mother are by my side, finally having caught up.

“Oh my god! Lexi, are you all right?”

How can so many bad things happen in so little time? I open my mouth to say yes, that I’m okay, even though I am most definitely not, but nothing comes out. No words. Instead, I start to cry uncontrollably like someone’s pulled the zip cord on my emotions and now they’re just billowing out of me.

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