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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Ultimate friends to lovers romance. - Crimson Melodies: Record Label Romance (Red & Black Series #2) by Grace Harper

She sets the rules and is only prepared to have a fling, keep it quiet from the public, just a bit of fooling around. The plan is going well until one of them falls in love.
Then both their lives change forever.

Description:

Crimson Melodies (#2)

Donovan Dreamboat Carter's ambition in life wasn't to become the lead singer of the band Maverick. His plan to move to Brighton to assist his aunt run a halfway house was to get away from his past. He'd finished his degree, had the skills to help his aunt. Life for him would be settled.

When he saw Alex Devlin, lead singer of the globally successful rock band, Fragile, peeling carrots at his aunt’s kitchen sink, he faltered on the threshold.

His knew with certainty that his life would change forever.

Leia Bryant, the internationally famous supermodel, has the world at her feet. However, her agent thinks otherwise and systematically drops her from all her campaigns, citing Leia is too old to model. 

Devastated that she is now unable to walk down the best Milan runways, Leia is surprised when Red & Black record label want to meet her. After a single meeting, Leia is cosseted into the family of the record label. But, it’s her passionate encounter with Donovan Carter that changes her life forever.

Leia resists Donovan's crazy idea of dating, telling him she is too old for him. A decade younger than Leia, Donovan doesn't see what the problem could be.

She sets the rules and is only prepared to have a fling, keep it quiet from the public, just a bit of fooling around. The plan is going well until one of them falls in love.

Then both their lives change forever.

Maverick quickly reach stardom, but at what cost? Especially as Donovan replaced the previous lead singer of Maverick, Casey Lowe, much to Casey's aggravation. They knew each other a long time ago.

Old wounds split open. There is more than one man out for revenge. Whose lives are about to change again?

EXCERPT
Leia 

Margo: Are you there yet? 
Me: No, I saw you ten minutes ago 

The journey to Brighton took an hour by train, and then a taxi ride out to the business premises. Red & Black based their headquarters in a mansion, in the middle of nowhere. Brighton was filled with the same looking houses as mine. Four and five storey houses, on terraced streets. If they were anything like mine, the homes used to have whole families living in them two hundred years ago but now were split into flats. When I gave the address to the taxi driver, he told me it would be a half hour drive and to get comfortable. 

Driving along the gravel path to the mansion and across the car park, my mouth was open with awe at the architecture of the old building. Maybe in my previous life, I lived in the 1800s and owned a house like mine when it was brand new. They drew me in, fascinated me to the point I wanted to scour every inch of the place. I’d hoped to find a hidden box of letters in my house and discover a mystery from years gone by, but never did. 

I paid the driver and stood looking up at the large windows, craning my neck back, scanning the rooms and the gargoyles that protected the building. A woman waved from the window to my left, she had a handsome man stood to her right who nodded in my direction. It was difficult to tell who they were as the sun glinted off the leaded windows. I waved back and ducked in through the main door to reception. 

“I’m here to meet with Erin Devlin, my name is Leia Bryant,” I said to the girl behind the desk. 

“I know who you are, Ms Bryant, I’m a big fan. It’s great that you agreed to the meeting, I hope you say yes to what they’re proposing,” the young girl said. 

Her nose ring glinted in the overhead light, making her nose look cute. She rounded the desk where I could see her short blue tartan over thick white tights. I was sweltering in my light jacket, I couldn’t imagine how warm she would be in her thick roll neck white jumper. It was April but felt like summer. 

“I’m Becky, if you need anything at all while you’re here, let me know,” she said over her shoulder. 

Leading the way through the corridors, we passed recording studios and what sounded like a kitchen. Turning the corner, I was met with a glass-walled meeting room. On one side of the glass table sat four very recognisable faces. I was only expecting to meet with Erin. 

Becky held the door open for me to walk through and left me standing on the other side. 

“Hi,” I said. 
My meek voice betraying the intimidation I felt. 

I was a massive fan of Fragile and to see two of the band members on the other side of the table. Shaking their hands felt surreal. Seb introduced me to his fiancé, Tara, who looked heavily pregnant, and I greeted Erin last. 

“I wasn’t expecting to see all four of you, I’m delighted to meet you all,” I said in a more firm tone. 

“We thought we would come in numbers to persuade you to say yes,” Erin offered first. 

Grateful for the glass and a pitcher of water, I poured myself a drink and listened to their idea. Erin wasted no time telling me their plan and when she finished, there was a hushed silence for a few moments until Tara groaned. Seb immediately checked she wasn’t going into labour and then stood behind Tara to rub her shoulders. While I watched the love dance back and forth between them, I felt a spike of envy. I had given up any hope of finding a decent man to marry, spending too many years on the road and never in one city for longer than a week. Having a holiday was a luxury. There was always another sought-after modelling job that I knew would dry up one day. I figured I would sleep when my contracts stopped. Now that I had the chance to take time off, the hottest record label in music was offering me a starring role in a music video for Maverick. I was to be Donovan’s love interest, a story that spanned eighty years in a six-minute video. My first thought was that Margo would be pissed off when she found out what they expected me to do with Dreamboat Donovan. I hoped she forgave me because I was saying yes to this job. 

Me: They want me to kiss Donovan 
Margo: SAY YES 

“How far along are you, Tara?” I asked to distract my attention away from my overzealous sister and her constant stream of GIFs of pop video kisses. 

“I’m due any minute, it could happen at any moment, Leia. The twins are kicking the hell out of my bladder, and I will give them their first telling off as soon as I give birth. I swear they already know how to bicker and fight like proper siblings.” 

I laughed at her comment, nodding. 
“I have six siblings, I can relate.” 
“Six,” Seb said. “Don’t get any ideas,” his comment was aimed at Tara. 
“You know how babies are made, right?”

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About the author:
Grace Harper is a British author who loves to write about strong women and handsome men. She writes steamy romance novels that will warm your heart.

Writer of the Brodie Saga and the Geary Series, Grace immerses you in stories of love, or rather, love's pursuit to bring together two people who were meant for each other. It's not always quick or easy but it will happen eventually.

When Grace is not writing, she can be found mooching about in stationery stores. Grace might have a Maltesers addiction but is not ready to stand up and own that just yet. 

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3 comments:

Laura said...

This would be a good series to snuggle up with. Sounds like fun:)

Stephanie LaPlante said...

Sounds very interesting.

Terri. said...

These sound great.