Title: Finding His Redemption Author: Melanie A. Smith Genre: Contemporary Rock Star Romance
From award-winning and international best-selling author Melanie A. Smith comes a standalone steamy contemporary romance about a rock star, a former fan, and the real meaning of redemption.
Kristoffer “West” Westberg is just out of rehab and ready to reclaim his rock-god status. But when his return to fame is threatened by a former fan turned rock magazine writer — and huge critic of him and his band — West is forced to reckon with the reality that he’ll need to prove himself before earning his redemption.
Max Marshall is feisty, a little too honest for her own good, and so not here to babysit a fallen rock star. And nobody has fallen farther in her mind that Kristoffer Westberg. So when she’s forced to catalog his so-called “apology tour,” she has little hope that it’ll be anything but a headache dealing with the entitled, washed-up rock star she used to worship before she knew better.
If West hopes to have a snowball’s chance in hell of changing Max’s — and his fans’ — minds, he’s got some serious groveling to do. Will he manage to fake it till he makes it, or will he be exposed as the lost cause everyone is convinced he is? And will he learn the real meaning of redemption in time to win Max’s trust and her heart?
A few days later, I find myself back in the conference room discussing the apology tour project with Alexsis while we wait for West and the production company guy to show.
“So, like, what’s your deal with West?” Alexsis asks, veering abruptly off the topic of who will research what.
“We don’t have a deal,” I reply defensively.
She tilts an eyebrow. “You so have a deal.”
I shrug. “I was just a fan of the band for a long time, and then he broke them up. Kinda pissed me off and I don’t pay attention to them anymore. End of story.”
“Cute. But I meant now, not then.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about the sexual tension I could practically smell across the office both times he was here.”
I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “Then sexual tension must smell a lot like hostility because there’s a lot of that going in both directions,” I reply firmly.
“Oh please,” Alexsis scoffs. “It’s schoolyard basics. Boys only tease you when they like you.”
I look her straight in the eye. “That’s bullshit. Boys tease you to get a reaction out of you so they can fulfill their own need to feel in control. West is angry because I’m a female who doesn’t want to jump his bones. So he teases me to feel like he has some control over me. Same reason he wants me to do this whole ‘apology tour’ crap.”
“Well, that’s an interesting theory,” comes a voice from the door.
I look up to find West smirking at us.
For a moment, I’m tempted to be embarrassed. But you know what? Fuck that.
Melanie A. Smith is an award-winning and international best-selling author of steamy contemporary romance fiction. A voracious reader and lifelong writer, Melanie’s writing began at a young age with short stories and poetry. After college and a career as an aircraft engineer, she shifted to domestic engineering and property management and eventually found a balance where she was able to return to writing fiction. Melanie is also a Mensan and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and driving with the windows down and the stereo cranked up loud.
Title: Blackbird Author: Mia Kerick Series: If I Fell #2 Genre: LGBTQ+ Contemporary Romance
Sequel to Hide Your Love Away (If I Fell Series, book 2)
Timmy and Cole’s angsty love story continues…
Last year, in Timmy Hale’s junior year at Edgewater University, he set his romantic sights on Colton “Cole” Ledger—a burly and sometimes over-protective dormitory maintenance man. Cole soon had it bad for sleek and snarky Timmy too, and—despite a bumpy road (a frenzied stalker and an uncooperative son)—before year’s end they’d found love. Now, in Timmy’s senior year, the couple has left the dormitory behind. Cole is back to running his own custom construction company, and they’ve turned an antique Victorian home into a love nest. For a while, life is good.
But insta-love comes at a cost, and for Timmy and Cole it’s steep. Cole’s doubts haunt him: he’s almost certain he’s too old for Timmy, and that he’s pushing him into a life he’ll eventually resent, keeping him from spreading his newfound wings and taking flight toward his best future. Acting on his fears, Cole pressures Timmy to accept an internship in Manhattan—far from the home they’ve built together. He means well, but Timmy feels like a baby bird kicked out of the nest too soon.
Tensions rise until fear, resentment, and desire draw Timmy and Cole into explosive conflict. When the dust settles, will Timmy wing away like a young blackbird, or return to nest with Cole in their happy garden home?
Stay tuned for Book 3 in the IF I FELL Series, Come Together, coming in January, 2022.
Then the body in the bed rolls over in the direction of the door, and I see Timmy’s face. Not the same face I last saw—he’s pale and gaunt with dark rings encircling his eyes.
Although I’m shocked by the sight of him, the last thing I want to do is to shock him. So, I speak softly, “Timmy, wake up.”
His lashes flutter, and then his red rimmed eyes pop open and focus on me. “Fuck—I’m either dead or dreaming.”
“You’re very much alive…and awake.” I try to smile. “Want me to pinch you to prove it?”
“It…it might help.”
I step over to the bed. “May I sit down?”
“I guess.”
I perch my ass on the edge and administer a quick pinch to his upper arm.
“Okay, so I’m not dreaming. You’re really here. Now tell me why.” His breath reeks of stale whiskey.
No sooner has he issued his demand than he’s shoving me off the bed.
“Trash can—now!”
I jump to my feet, grab the trash can, and hold it beneath his face. Timmy proceeds to lose everything in his belly.
When he’s done, he falls back onto the bed. “I owe this Greg-dude a new waste basket.”
“I’ll take care of it. And I’ll pay for a thorough cleaning of his room.” It smells like a brewery in here, and God knows when the bedding was last changed. “But that’s the least of your worries right now.”
“I don’t get why you’re here, Cole.”
“I’m here because you need me.” And I need you.
Timmy shrugs and mumbles a predictable, “Whatever.”
“You’re coming with me. We’re gonna go somewhere you can get back on your feet without an audience.” No Robbie, EJ, Landon, or Beverly.
“No can do…Gotta work tomorrow.”
I shake my head. “Timmy, I don’t know how you feel about me at this point. And right now, I don’t much care because I’m pretty sure that, at a minimum, you still trust me to do right by you. No matter how much I screwed up. Will you come with me?”
He swallows hard and again reaches for the trash can. This time it’s a false alarm. “I…uh, don’t think I can get out of bed.”
“I’ll help you. My truck is right outside.”
“You drove here to save my sorry ass?” “I did.” And I should have done it weeks ago.
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children–all named after saints–and five nonpedigreed cats–all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young men and their relationships, and she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.
My themes I always write about:
Sweetness. Unconventional love, tortured/damaged heroes- only love can save them.
Mia Kerick focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young men within the boundaries of blossoming, supportive relationships. She believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. And Mia’s stories are centered around a certain theme: even heroes can be sweet. Sweet, but not completely innocent.
Pain is etched across his face, and I just want to erase it. I thread my fingers through his and he clasps my hand firmly. “You were only a kid, it was an accident, and you weren’t the only one involved.”
“None of that matters though.” He turns to me with tears in his eyes. “I still relive it all the time, and the guilt never goes away. I don’t think it ever will.”
My eyes search his and I can’t bear to see him hurting, so I fling my arms around him, without any hesitation, holding him tight.
Friends hug friends, right?
He leans his head on my shoulder, and I wrap my arms tighter around him. “Some days, I think all the guilt I’m carrying will eat me alive. Some days, it’s a struggle to get out of bed. After I lost you, music became my only salvation. I honestly don’t know if I’d still be here if I wasn’t a musician.”
“Don’t say that.” I hug him closer. “I can’t bear to think of a world without you in it.” “I can say the same of you, and I don’t ever want you to leave, Zeta, but I’m a selfish prick like that.”
Siobhan Davis is a USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Top 10 bestselling romance author. Siobhan writes emotionally intense stories with swoon-worthy romance, complex characters, and tons of unexpected plot twists and turns that will have you flipping the pages beyond bedtime! She has sold over 1.5 million books and her titles are translated into several languages.
