In honor of the release of Darby Davenport's first novel, "Walk Away With Me" here's a peek at the first chapter just for ...

In honor of the release of Darby Davenport's first novel, "Walk Away With Me" here's a peek at the first chapter just for you, so you too can dive into the loveable, sexy world that is this book!! (By the way there's a giveaway going on over this away!)

CHARLIE The scrawny Rottweiler's eyes connected with Charlie's through the TV screen, begging her to save him.

What if nobody else calls in? What if I'm his last chance at finding a home? Well, crap. I can't just let him die. She grabbed her cell phone, called the local news station hosting the adoptable pets segment, and signed on the dotted line. Not once did she think she might be making a mistake. Not once did she consider the fact she'd been unable to commit to a man—or even a roommate—longer than two measly months.

And now she planned to commit to a one-year-old canine coming straight from a neglected past?

Well, adventure had certainly found her, whether she'd asked for it or not.

The rescue volunteers didn't ask many questions before inviting her to visit the kennel and come pick him up. If they had, maybe she'd have changed her mind.

She might have seen this as a move with the potential of becoming the biggest mistake of her entire life. Worse than the time she'd left mid-semester her junior year to travel to India in search of the answer to life. Worse than the time she'd got so caught up in the cinematic excitement of V for Vendetta she'd shaved her head in homage. Even worse than the time she'd practically eloped with a guy she'd only dated three weeks, because it seemed like a good and wildly romantic idea at the time.

At least she'd talked herself out of that one.

But what good did escaping one bad decision do her, if she'd just replaced it with another by committing herself to a strange dog for, at minimum, the next ten years?

Charlie took a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. No going back now. She may have been impulsive, but she had a heart, damn it, and she wouldn't abandon a dog no one else wanted in the first place. Definitely too late to change her mind at this point. "Now or never," she said to the hula dancer figurine on her dashboard before grabbing her purse and slamming the car door behind her.

"Oh, you must be Charlotte Rockwell." A volunteer with a sloppy button-up shirt and a way-too-large smile greeted her the second she entered the shelter.

She nodded, pretending her feet were one million pound weights gluing her to the linoleum floor below—the only way she'd be able to avoid making a break for it.

"I'm Angela. Come on and follow me to the back." Her oversized smile grew even larger as she turned and trotted toward the back of the building.

Charlie's eyes darted to the floor to check if Angela's shoes sported actual springs.

"I'm sure Ruby told you everything you need to know when she stopped by for the home check, right?"

She nodded, even though she didn't have the slightest idea who Ruby was. The woman certainly hadn't been by her house for a visit.

"Perfect! Rugby's such a sweet boy once you get to know him. I'm so glad he's finally found a good home. You must be thrilled."

'Once you get to know him?' What does that mean? She was this close to changing her mind and dashing straight out of there, but when they pushed through the large metal door to the kennel, Rugby glanced up at her with those same sad eyes that had melted her heart in the first place.

She was screwed.

"Hi, Rugby," Angela cooed in a goochy-goo voice. "Look who it is. Your new mommy's come to take you home. Who's a good boy? Yes, you are."

Charlie sank to a squatting position and stuck her index finger through the metal fencing.

Rugby stretched and raised himself into a sitting position. He sniffed her hand delicately and gave her a huge sloppy lick.

"Oh, see. You two are perfect! Best buds already," Angela squealed. She rattled off a litany of instructions, shoved the folder of paperwork into one hand, and the leash to Charlie's new 115-pound baby in the other, and together dog and woman headed home.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------