Book excerpt: A college senior takes Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” a bit too literally in this smart, snappy new adult debut, the first in the Second Chances series, and finds herself sentenced to community service—where she meets a bad boy who might just be exactly what she needs. Avery Melrose is used to having it all. So when her boyfriend cheats on her, she reacts like any spoiled rich girl—she freaks out and vandalizes his new truck, Carrie Underwood style. Now she’s stuck with 300 hours of community service to repent her sins, and dreading every minute. Seth Hunter just got out of prison, and after a few hundred hours picking up litter on the side of the highway, he can finally put his mistakes behind him. If he can string together some kind of existence, maybe it’ll be enough to get his sister away from their stepfather, the man who sent Seth to prison in the first place. A romance between these two is doomed from the start. Girls like Avery want castles and white horses, but Seth is no prince charming. He’s not even charming. He’s pissed off, and he’s got a chip on his shoulder big enough to sink the Titanic. Spending time with Avery makes Seth think he could make something of himself, maybe even be good enough for a girl like her. But when broken promises threaten to tear them apart, will they lose their chance at happily ever after?