Ginger Voight's Blog, page 16
December 19, 2014
Southern Rocker Showdown, series conclusion, available NOW!
Well, kids, I started 2014 with a series (The Fullerton Family Saga) and I have now ended it with another series (Southern Rockers,) which has turned out to be one of my more ambitious projects. It was challenging and demanding to write, but also a lot of fun. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and it was a heartfelt way to end the year.
I had originally intended that all three books in the Southern Rockers series could have been read alone, but the third book rather demands that you know both Jonah's and Lacy's stories going into it. Lacy Abernathy has been put through it, and the emotional payoff in SRS packs more of a punch if you were there every step of the way. If you haven't read SOUTHERN ROCKER CHICK, I'd definitely recommend giving it a one-click first. I love unraveling difficult characters, and Lacy idles at difficult.
For all those who are caught up, SOUTHERN ROCKER SHOWDOWN answers any lingering questions you may have about this tangled love affair and even more twisted history. My GROUPIE and FIERCE fans especially will get to spend time with old favorites (Vanni, Graham, Jorge,) as new characters all clamor for our attention to tell their story.
The canvas is full. The stakes are high. Buckle in, kids. It's about to get complicated.
Jorge Navarro was the stylist to the stars, and had been working, successfully, with several hit TV shows, including Dixie, Love Plus One and the first season of Fierce. But he was still a dude, whose dark eyes glittered as they danced over her, contemplating the possibilities of what he could do with this blank slate.
She’d made up her mind when she was fourteen that no one was going to sex her up to sell her like some blue plate special. She was a serious artist. That’s all the audience needed to know.
Jorge saw things a little differently. He was just as stubborn as he had been the first day they met, during the audition process. He wanted to glam her up with some forties retro hairdo and ball gown, where as she wanted to keep her leather and her studs and show off her tattoos.
And now that Tony Paul was a part of the deal, she was even more determined to sell her voice and not her body.
“I am not a blowup doll!” she finally exploded.
“No. You’re a character.”
“No. I’m Lacy.”
“No, you’re a feeling,” he shot back as they stood practically toe to toe. His brown eyes, lined with dark guyliner, matched the fire in her own. “That’s what you’re selling out there, sweetheart. You’re not selling a lyric or a chord, a song or a CD. You’re selling a moment in someone’s life. You’re more than just a voice. More than just a singer. You’re love and rage. You’re sex and pain. You can be anyone. Do anything. Say anything,” he added. “Fuck you isn’t exactly what you want to tell a legion of potential fans.”
Their first consultation was a complete bust. She left without agreeing on anything, from wardrobe to makeup. He was ready to put her in some dumb cat suit like Gay, to make her just sexy enough to forgive her bad attitude.
But she didn’t want to be forgiven for it. She didn’t even want to be understood.
She wanted to be strong. That’s all that mattered.
Unfortunately Jorge was just as obstinate as she was. He held out like he was waiting for her to finish the last Brussels sprout on her plate.
Eventually Vanni Carnevale had to intervene. He showed up late Saturday night, when dress rehearsals were running long, but she hadn’t even circled around to a wardrobe selection. Vanni walked her outside to the food truck to buy her a taco. He eased in gently. “I hear that there’s a bit of a problem.”
“Lemme guess. Jorge tattled.”
“You really shouldn’t piss off your fairy godmother,” Vanni advised. “I’m not really sure if he can turn you into a pumpkin, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Her eyes met his. “You say that this is a show about the talent, not the image. That’s what I’m going for here. They don’t have to like me, but they do have to respect me. I’m not some vapid paper doll.”
“Sweetie, they’re never going to know your name. You go out onto that stage, guns blazing, and you’re going to make all the others look tame by comparison. When it comes to root for someone, how do you think that will stack in your favor?”
She sighed. “So what am I supposed to do? Flirt with everyone in the front row like you do?”
He grinned. “I’ve always found this extremely successful.”
She shook her head and chortled in response. He was irrepressible. “Vanni.”
He touched her elbow with his hand. “I believe in you. I know you have what it takes to win this thing. But I’m also scared you are going to do everything in your power to get voted out of here. You get one shot at this, Lacy. We gave it to you because we think you have something special, something that needs to be shared. You need to stop fighting this invisible war with everyone.”
She softened as she stared up at him. “Fine.”
“Good girl,” he grinned, before wiping away the sauce at the corner of her mouth. “Give it a week or two, get past the quarterfinals, then you can come out guns blazing. I’ll even loan you the bullets,” he added as he bent forward to whisper it conspiratorially.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” she warned.
He smirked. “Make sure that you do. Because if you get voted off first, I’m going to kick your ass back to Austin.”
***
This is a story of what happens when you're forced to confront your demons, bursting through the wall of your past to claim your future. Fortunately for Lacy, she's not alone anymore. It just may take her a while to truly believe it... because doesn't it always??
“Why can’t you leave me alone?” she exploded.
“You know why,” he told her. “I love you. I haven’t stopped. Not for one fucking day since I first walked into Southern Nights. And you love me too, even if you’re too damned stubborn to admit it.”
She snorted. “You certainly sound sure of yourself.”
“You can lie to yourself, Lacy, but you can’t lie to me. Your body betrays you every time I touch you.”
“Then stop,” she snapped.
“Why?” he asked softly.
“Because you’re not my priority right now, Jonah. And I’m not yours. Not really. If it comes down to it, you will choose to stay in this competition. You have to. Your sister needs you to. Your mother needs you to. You’re not going to sacrifice your family over some convenient lay.”
He laughed out loud. “You think you’re convenient? Nothing about you is easy, darlin’.”
“Take the hint,” she said, accentuating every syllable.
He stared into those dark eyes, taking notice of every copper fleck that floated there. He had memorized every detail about them, so much so that he still saw them in his dreams. She was here, right here beside him, flesh and blood. He could take her into his arms if he wanted. He could even steal another kiss. But her heart was as far away as the moon. It always had been.
“So that’s just it, then? We’re done?” She didn’t want to say the words any more than he wanted to hear them. Finally, softly, he asked, “Is there someone else?”
Her mouth fell open as she stared at him. Could he really believe all those horrible things about her, even now? And if he could, how could he say he loved her? “Does there need to be? Does someone else need to mark their territory for you to leave me alone? And here I thought you were better than Tony Paul.”
He grabbed her by the arm and brought her to his chest. She gasped at how hard he held her as his eyes bored into hers. “If you still feel the need to compare us, you never knew me at all.” He thrust her away and scooted to the corner of the seat. He didn’t say another word until they reached the mansion. He slammed out of the car and stalked off to his room.
***
Did I mention things get a little complicated? Tony Paul is back. And he's got a few ideas how to claim what he thinks is his.
When she got back to the house, she ended up running into Tony Paul. He was dressed in swimming trunks and heading toward the pool. He wore a big smile for her as she approached. “So how was practice? I hear the musical director is a hard-assed bitch,” he confided as he leaned closer. She recoiled away from him instantly. “Hard to beat Mama in that department, though, isn’t it?” “I think your mother may have met her match,” Lacy mumbled. She sidestepped him, but he grabbed her arm anyway.
“Hey, if you’re done for the day, maybe you could join me in the pool. I hate to swim alone,” he added with a playful pout.
Really? Well, I hate raising a child alone, she thought to herself. He was just damned lucky there were too many eyes and ears in the house for her to say what she was thinking right to his hateful face. “Let me go,” she gritted between clenched teeth.
“Come on now,” he cajoled. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We were friends once. We can be friends again.”
Friends?! “We were never friends,” she informed him coldly. “I was an idiot and you were a lying sack of shit. The end.”
“I never lied,” he corrected. “I meant what I said whenever I said it.”
She scoffed. “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night, Tony Paul?”
His hand dropped away from her arm. “I know I made mistakes, okay? But we’re here. We have a second chance. We can do things differently this time around.”
“There is no this time around,” she shot back. “We are here to compete against each other. That’s it.”
His voice softened. “It doesn’t have to be. That’s all I’m saying.” His eyes swept over her. “Don’t you remember how it was between us?”
She shivered. She never wanted to remember how it was between them. Just thinking about him made her skin crawl. She had lain with a snake, pure and simple. It was her own stupid fault she got bit.
But she would not get bitten again. That much was certain.
She stepped toward him, the look in her eye lethal. “Let me tell you something right now, Tony Paul Hollis. I don’t care what you think happened between us in the past. You and me, we’re done. If you touch me again, I’ll castrate you in your sleep, I swear to God.”
“Is there a problem here?” Jonah asked from the doorway, leading toward the kitchen. Lacy rolled her eyes. She couldn’t spit in any direction in this stupid house without hitting someone who had done her wrong. It was as though they sought her out to torment her. At this point she wouldn’t have been a bit surprised.
“I took care of it,” she muttered to Jonah before pushing past him and taking the steps toward the second floor two at a time. He looked at Tony Paul, who offered him a good-natured shrug.
“Women. Am I right?”
He hoisted a towel over his shoulder and headed outside toward the pool.
***
But where there is love, there is hope. Especially if there's a man like Jonah Riley, who is willing to fight for the woman he loves, despite all the complications.
“What they’re saying isn’t true,” she said softly. It mattered to her that he knew that.
His eyes swept over her, from the top of her head all the way to her feet. There were many things that he didn’t know about this unusual woman. She had closed herself off from the world, keeping everyone at bay, afraid to be hurt again. She was like a bird with a wounded wing. She’d peck your damned hand off just to make sure she could get away. She wasn’t malicious. He couldn’t love her if she was. And he would have known by now. “I know.”
His voice was so soft that she turned to face him. “You do?”
He nodded. He stepped closer. “I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through. I wouldn’t even try. But I’m here, Lacy. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”
She nodded. “I know.”
He sighed as he toyed with a long strand of her hair. “But you’re not going to take me up on my offer because it would just prove what they are saying is true.” Her sad eyes met his. He traced the curve of her beautiful face with his fingertip. “So I’ll wait, because no one else ever did. I’ll stay because no one else ever has. And when you need me, I’ll be here.”
He turned to leave but her soft voice stopped him. “I need you, Jonah.”
Her voice cracked. She barely eked out the words. But it was everything he wanted to hear. He took her into his arms and crushed his mouth on her softly parted lips.
***
Get SOUTHERN ROCKER SHOWDOWN now for your KINDLE, or through SMASHWORDS for your Nook.
I had originally intended that all three books in the Southern Rockers series could have been read alone, but the third book rather demands that you know both Jonah's and Lacy's stories going into it. Lacy Abernathy has been put through it, and the emotional payoff in SRS packs more of a punch if you were there every step of the way. If you haven't read SOUTHERN ROCKER CHICK, I'd definitely recommend giving it a one-click first. I love unraveling difficult characters, and Lacy idles at difficult.
For all those who are caught up, SOUTHERN ROCKER SHOWDOWN answers any lingering questions you may have about this tangled love affair and even more twisted history. My GROUPIE and FIERCE fans especially will get to spend time with old favorites (Vanni, Graham, Jorge,) as new characters all clamor for our attention to tell their story.
The canvas is full. The stakes are high. Buckle in, kids. It's about to get complicated.
Jorge Navarro was the stylist to the stars, and had been working, successfully, with several hit TV shows, including Dixie, Love Plus One and the first season of Fierce. But he was still a dude, whose dark eyes glittered as they danced over her, contemplating the possibilities of what he could do with this blank slate.
She’d made up her mind when she was fourteen that no one was going to sex her up to sell her like some blue plate special. She was a serious artist. That’s all the audience needed to know.
Jorge saw things a little differently. He was just as stubborn as he had been the first day they met, during the audition process. He wanted to glam her up with some forties retro hairdo and ball gown, where as she wanted to keep her leather and her studs and show off her tattoos.
And now that Tony Paul was a part of the deal, she was even more determined to sell her voice and not her body.
“I am not a blowup doll!” she finally exploded.
“No. You’re a character.”
“No. I’m Lacy.”
“No, you’re a feeling,” he shot back as they stood practically toe to toe. His brown eyes, lined with dark guyliner, matched the fire in her own. “That’s what you’re selling out there, sweetheart. You’re not selling a lyric or a chord, a song or a CD. You’re selling a moment in someone’s life. You’re more than just a voice. More than just a singer. You’re love and rage. You’re sex and pain. You can be anyone. Do anything. Say anything,” he added. “Fuck you isn’t exactly what you want to tell a legion of potential fans.”
Their first consultation was a complete bust. She left without agreeing on anything, from wardrobe to makeup. He was ready to put her in some dumb cat suit like Gay, to make her just sexy enough to forgive her bad attitude.
But she didn’t want to be forgiven for it. She didn’t even want to be understood.
She wanted to be strong. That’s all that mattered.
Unfortunately Jorge was just as obstinate as she was. He held out like he was waiting for her to finish the last Brussels sprout on her plate.
Eventually Vanni Carnevale had to intervene. He showed up late Saturday night, when dress rehearsals were running long, but she hadn’t even circled around to a wardrobe selection. Vanni walked her outside to the food truck to buy her a taco. He eased in gently. “I hear that there’s a bit of a problem.”
“Lemme guess. Jorge tattled.”
“You really shouldn’t piss off your fairy godmother,” Vanni advised. “I’m not really sure if he can turn you into a pumpkin, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Her eyes met his. “You say that this is a show about the talent, not the image. That’s what I’m going for here. They don’t have to like me, but they do have to respect me. I’m not some vapid paper doll.”
“Sweetie, they’re never going to know your name. You go out onto that stage, guns blazing, and you’re going to make all the others look tame by comparison. When it comes to root for someone, how do you think that will stack in your favor?”
She sighed. “So what am I supposed to do? Flirt with everyone in the front row like you do?”
He grinned. “I’ve always found this extremely successful.”
She shook her head and chortled in response. He was irrepressible. “Vanni.”
He touched her elbow with his hand. “I believe in you. I know you have what it takes to win this thing. But I’m also scared you are going to do everything in your power to get voted out of here. You get one shot at this, Lacy. We gave it to you because we think you have something special, something that needs to be shared. You need to stop fighting this invisible war with everyone.”
She softened as she stared up at him. “Fine.”
“Good girl,” he grinned, before wiping away the sauce at the corner of her mouth. “Give it a week or two, get past the quarterfinals, then you can come out guns blazing. I’ll even loan you the bullets,” he added as he bent forward to whisper it conspiratorially.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” she warned.
He smirked. “Make sure that you do. Because if you get voted off first, I’m going to kick your ass back to Austin.”
***
This is a story of what happens when you're forced to confront your demons, bursting through the wall of your past to claim your future. Fortunately for Lacy, she's not alone anymore. It just may take her a while to truly believe it... because doesn't it always??
“Why can’t you leave me alone?” she exploded.
“You know why,” he told her. “I love you. I haven’t stopped. Not for one fucking day since I first walked into Southern Nights. And you love me too, even if you’re too damned stubborn to admit it.”
She snorted. “You certainly sound sure of yourself.”
“You can lie to yourself, Lacy, but you can’t lie to me. Your body betrays you every time I touch you.”
“Then stop,” she snapped.
“Why?” he asked softly.
“Because you’re not my priority right now, Jonah. And I’m not yours. Not really. If it comes down to it, you will choose to stay in this competition. You have to. Your sister needs you to. Your mother needs you to. You’re not going to sacrifice your family over some convenient lay.”
He laughed out loud. “You think you’re convenient? Nothing about you is easy, darlin’.”
“Take the hint,” she said, accentuating every syllable.
He stared into those dark eyes, taking notice of every copper fleck that floated there. He had memorized every detail about them, so much so that he still saw them in his dreams. She was here, right here beside him, flesh and blood. He could take her into his arms if he wanted. He could even steal another kiss. But her heart was as far away as the moon. It always had been.
“So that’s just it, then? We’re done?” She didn’t want to say the words any more than he wanted to hear them. Finally, softly, he asked, “Is there someone else?”
Her mouth fell open as she stared at him. Could he really believe all those horrible things about her, even now? And if he could, how could he say he loved her? “Does there need to be? Does someone else need to mark their territory for you to leave me alone? And here I thought you were better than Tony Paul.”
He grabbed her by the arm and brought her to his chest. She gasped at how hard he held her as his eyes bored into hers. “If you still feel the need to compare us, you never knew me at all.” He thrust her away and scooted to the corner of the seat. He didn’t say another word until they reached the mansion. He slammed out of the car and stalked off to his room.
***
Did I mention things get a little complicated? Tony Paul is back. And he's got a few ideas how to claim what he thinks is his.
When she got back to the house, she ended up running into Tony Paul. He was dressed in swimming trunks and heading toward the pool. He wore a big smile for her as she approached. “So how was practice? I hear the musical director is a hard-assed bitch,” he confided as he leaned closer. She recoiled away from him instantly. “Hard to beat Mama in that department, though, isn’t it?” “I think your mother may have met her match,” Lacy mumbled. She sidestepped him, but he grabbed her arm anyway.
“Hey, if you’re done for the day, maybe you could join me in the pool. I hate to swim alone,” he added with a playful pout.
Really? Well, I hate raising a child alone, she thought to herself. He was just damned lucky there were too many eyes and ears in the house for her to say what she was thinking right to his hateful face. “Let me go,” she gritted between clenched teeth.
“Come on now,” he cajoled. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We were friends once. We can be friends again.”
Friends?! “We were never friends,” she informed him coldly. “I was an idiot and you were a lying sack of shit. The end.”
“I never lied,” he corrected. “I meant what I said whenever I said it.”
She scoffed. “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night, Tony Paul?”
His hand dropped away from her arm. “I know I made mistakes, okay? But we’re here. We have a second chance. We can do things differently this time around.”
“There is no this time around,” she shot back. “We are here to compete against each other. That’s it.”
His voice softened. “It doesn’t have to be. That’s all I’m saying.” His eyes swept over her. “Don’t you remember how it was between us?”
She shivered. She never wanted to remember how it was between them. Just thinking about him made her skin crawl. She had lain with a snake, pure and simple. It was her own stupid fault she got bit.
But she would not get bitten again. That much was certain.
She stepped toward him, the look in her eye lethal. “Let me tell you something right now, Tony Paul Hollis. I don’t care what you think happened between us in the past. You and me, we’re done. If you touch me again, I’ll castrate you in your sleep, I swear to God.”
“Is there a problem here?” Jonah asked from the doorway, leading toward the kitchen. Lacy rolled her eyes. She couldn’t spit in any direction in this stupid house without hitting someone who had done her wrong. It was as though they sought her out to torment her. At this point she wouldn’t have been a bit surprised.
“I took care of it,” she muttered to Jonah before pushing past him and taking the steps toward the second floor two at a time. He looked at Tony Paul, who offered him a good-natured shrug.
“Women. Am I right?”
He hoisted a towel over his shoulder and headed outside toward the pool.
***
But where there is love, there is hope. Especially if there's a man like Jonah Riley, who is willing to fight for the woman he loves, despite all the complications.
“What they’re saying isn’t true,” she said softly. It mattered to her that he knew that.
His eyes swept over her, from the top of her head all the way to her feet. There were many things that he didn’t know about this unusual woman. She had closed herself off from the world, keeping everyone at bay, afraid to be hurt again. She was like a bird with a wounded wing. She’d peck your damned hand off just to make sure she could get away. She wasn’t malicious. He couldn’t love her if she was. And he would have known by now. “I know.”
His voice was so soft that she turned to face him. “You do?”
He nodded. He stepped closer. “I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through. I wouldn’t even try. But I’m here, Lacy. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”
She nodded. “I know.”
He sighed as he toyed with a long strand of her hair. “But you’re not going to take me up on my offer because it would just prove what they are saying is true.” Her sad eyes met his. He traced the curve of her beautiful face with his fingertip. “So I’ll wait, because no one else ever did. I’ll stay because no one else ever has. And when you need me, I’ll be here.”
He turned to leave but her soft voice stopped him. “I need you, Jonah.”
Her voice cracked. She barely eked out the words. But it was everything he wanted to hear. He took her into his arms and crushed his mouth on her softly parted lips.
***
Get SOUTHERN ROCKER SHOWDOWN now for your KINDLE, or through SMASHWORDS for your Nook.
October 13, 2014
SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY excerpt - Lacy and Jonah meet. #fireandice
Excerpt from SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY, releasing OCTOBER 17, 2014!!
***
I headed out to my truck by ten-thirty. Before I could turn the key, I spotted someone across the parking lot kicking and screaming at a POS special with its hood up.
That someone was wearing ripped blue jeans and a hoodie.
I started the truck and drove slowly over to her section of the darkened, mostly abandoned parking lot. Most of the crowd, including those who were giving her the most grief, were all inside getting their buzz on, listening to the next act.
I rolled down my window as I got to her. “Having trouble?”
She whirled around to glare at me. When she saw my face she rolled her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said as she turned around to the stalled vehicle.
I stopped the truck and slid out. “You may be fine but your car is on its last leg.” I glanced down at the engine, which looked to be about a hundred years old. “Let me give you a ride.”
She glanced me over with disdain. “Yeah, no thanks.”
“Fine, then how about a jump?”
“How about get lost?” she snapped. “Go play Boy Scout somewhere else.”
She was clearly pissed, but I would have been too after what happened after her gig. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help,” she spat.
“Look, I know it’s been a rough night…,” I started but she whirled around, a tiny, fiery bundle of fury.
“Do you understand English? Get lost!”
My blood started to boil. “Fine! Stay here all night. See if I care.” I turned toward the truck, but before I got to the driver’s side I stopped myself. She wasn’t angry with me, I tried to remind myself. I couldn’t very well leave her there, not with all the aggressive drunks who had tried to get at her in the club. They wouldn’t stop at no, and that was no kind of guy to run into in a dark parking lot. I took a deep breath before I turned back and walked over to the car.
Her eyes widened as I approached. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m helping you,” I told her before I circled her waist with my hands and lifted her away from her car so I could figure out what was wrong with it. “Too bad you’re too damned stubborn to see that.”
“Fuck you!” she spat, hissing at me like an angry cat.
I ignored her as I fiddled with the engine. I sidestepped her to climb inside and turn the key. Nothing. I got out, rounding to the front of the car to test the connections. Despite the ancient car, the battery was new. I retrieved my tools from my truck and within a minute her car fired to life. She stood staring at me, stupefied.
“Connection was loose,” I told her as I put my tools back in the box. “Shouldn’t give you any more trouble.”
I put the tool box back in the bed of the truck before I hopped in the cab and gunned my own engine. She walked, reluctantly, to my window. “Thank you,” she managed.
I looked her in those big doe eyes, which were a lot more contrite than angry. “You’re welcome.”
“I’d offer you money, but…,” she trailed off, looking embarrassed.
I held her gaze for just a minute longer before I said, “Don’t worry about it. Finding out you are a woman and not just a feral cat was payment enough.”
I left her sputtering behind me as I squealed out of the parking lot.
***
Pre-order SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.
***
I headed out to my truck by ten-thirty. Before I could turn the key, I spotted someone across the parking lot kicking and screaming at a POS special with its hood up.
That someone was wearing ripped blue jeans and a hoodie.
I started the truck and drove slowly over to her section of the darkened, mostly abandoned parking lot. Most of the crowd, including those who were giving her the most grief, were all inside getting their buzz on, listening to the next act.
I rolled down my window as I got to her. “Having trouble?”
She whirled around to glare at me. When she saw my face she rolled her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said as she turned around to the stalled vehicle.
I stopped the truck and slid out. “You may be fine but your car is on its last leg.” I glanced down at the engine, which looked to be about a hundred years old. “Let me give you a ride.”
She glanced me over with disdain. “Yeah, no thanks.”
“Fine, then how about a jump?”
“How about get lost?” she snapped. “Go play Boy Scout somewhere else.”
She was clearly pissed, but I would have been too after what happened after her gig. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help,” she spat.
“Look, I know it’s been a rough night…,” I started but she whirled around, a tiny, fiery bundle of fury.
“Do you understand English? Get lost!”
My blood started to boil. “Fine! Stay here all night. See if I care.” I turned toward the truck, but before I got to the driver’s side I stopped myself. She wasn’t angry with me, I tried to remind myself. I couldn’t very well leave her there, not with all the aggressive drunks who had tried to get at her in the club. They wouldn’t stop at no, and that was no kind of guy to run into in a dark parking lot. I took a deep breath before I turned back and walked over to the car.
Her eyes widened as I approached. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m helping you,” I told her before I circled her waist with my hands and lifted her away from her car so I could figure out what was wrong with it. “Too bad you’re too damned stubborn to see that.”
“Fuck you!” she spat, hissing at me like an angry cat.
I ignored her as I fiddled with the engine. I sidestepped her to climb inside and turn the key. Nothing. I got out, rounding to the front of the car to test the connections. Despite the ancient car, the battery was new. I retrieved my tools from my truck and within a minute her car fired to life. She stood staring at me, stupefied.
“Connection was loose,” I told her as I put my tools back in the box. “Shouldn’t give you any more trouble.”
I put the tool box back in the bed of the truck before I hopped in the cab and gunned my own engine. She walked, reluctantly, to my window. “Thank you,” she managed.
I looked her in those big doe eyes, which were a lot more contrite than angry. “You’re welcome.”
“I’d offer you money, but…,” she trailed off, looking embarrassed.
I held her gaze for just a minute longer before I said, “Don’t worry about it. Finding out you are a woman and not just a feral cat was payment enough.”
I left her sputtering behind me as I squealed out of the parking lot.
***
Pre-order SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.
October 3, 2014
SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY teaser "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
Excerpt from SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY, releasing OCTOBER 17, 2014
***
“So was this a date or some kind of a goodbye?”
She looked away. I had my answer. And it pissed me off.
“So let me get this straight. Because some other asshole screwed you over, you’re not even going to give me a chance. Is that it?”
Her eyes flashed at me. “Not just some asshole. The asshole. It started this same way. He invited me to perform in his band. He thought I had ‘it.’ That I could be a star. Meanwhile I played backup while he got to soak up the spotlight. And Gay was right there the whole way, making sure he got the opportunities I didn’t.”
“Why would she do that?” I asked.
Her eyebrow cocked. “You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that,” I corrected at once. “But it is in her best interest for you to do well. Why would she play favorites?”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me, as if she was trying to piece together a puzzle. Finally she looked away. “Because I’m a harder sell, that’s why.”
It echoed what Gay had said to me. It didn’t make sense when she had said it, and it didn’t make any sense when Lacy repeated it. “Why are you a hard sell?”
“Because I won’t play the game,” she said. “I don’t care to wear slutty outfits or flirt with all the boys in the crowd. I just want to sing, get paid and go home. That’s it. I never wanted to be famous, Jonah. That’s not my scene. Fame changes people. When the people around you stop telling you no, it’s that much easier to stop telling that to yourself. So it’s no holds barred. Real life rules don’t apply. Look at us. We’re reduced to some booty call in a hotel because it would hurt your image to be seen with a steady companion who isn’t somehow more famous than you.” My eyes narrowed as she went on. “You know that’s why you’ve gotten all this recognition right? It’s because of Ariel Acardi and Jasper Carrington.”
That rubbed me the wrong way. “Gee. And I thought it had something to do with me being talented.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she snapped.
“Then what do you mean?” I snapped back.
“You’re not an artist, Jonah. You’re a paper doll that Gay can dress up, or strip down, just to fill her club.”
My heart plummeted as I stared at her. Was this really what she thought of me?
“I see,” I gritted through clenched teeth. I buttoned my shirt, which had come unbuttoned when I tried to seduce her.
It was clear that was no longer on the agenda. At least she had the decency to look chagrined and turned away. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I’ll pay you back for the room.”
“I don’t care about the fucking room,” I snarled.
“Then what do you care about?” she shot back.
I stomped over to stand almost nose to nose with her. “I cared about spending some time with the Lacy I thought I knew, not this cold-hearted bitch who comes out to play every time your pride gets a little wounded.”
There was a resounding crack throughout the room as her hand flew across my face, slapping me hard before I could stop her. “Do it again,” I dared, before I breathed “bitch,” to seal the deal.
Her other hand raised but I caught it. I curled her arm easily behind her back, bringing us face to face. “Is this some kind of fucking foreplay with you, lady?” I said under my breath as I studied her eyes.
“You’re an asshole,” she hissed.
“Then why are you here with me?” I asked as I held her even closer. As mad as I was, she still felt like heaven in my arms. That body… that fire… all I wanted to do was throw her on that bed and make her mine. It wasn’t just a fight with her anymore. It was a fight for us. “If I’m some talentless hack, some witless paper doll, why did you come here? To rub my nose in it, like some dog that pissed on the carpet?”
“No!” she denied instantly.
“Then tell me,” I commanded in a soft voice.
Her eyes darted between mine until I saw tears form at the edges. Finally she said, “I wanted you to prove it wasn’t true. That you’re not him.”
It was the most honest thing she had ever said. “You want proof?” I said before I lifted her in my arms and tossed her onto the bed. I followed her down, pinning her to the mattress with my body. “Here’s your proof.” I crushed her mouth under mine for a punishing kiss that would silence any of her doubts.
***
Pre-order SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY now from Amazon! Coming soon to B&N and iTunes!
Enter to win one of three signed copies via Goodreads! Giveaway ends 10/31/14.
***
“So was this a date or some kind of a goodbye?”
She looked away. I had my answer. And it pissed me off.
“So let me get this straight. Because some other asshole screwed you over, you’re not even going to give me a chance. Is that it?”
Her eyes flashed at me. “Not just some asshole. The asshole. It started this same way. He invited me to perform in his band. He thought I had ‘it.’ That I could be a star. Meanwhile I played backup while he got to soak up the spotlight. And Gay was right there the whole way, making sure he got the opportunities I didn’t.”
“Why would she do that?” I asked.
Her eyebrow cocked. “You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that,” I corrected at once. “But it is in her best interest for you to do well. Why would she play favorites?”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me, as if she was trying to piece together a puzzle. Finally she looked away. “Because I’m a harder sell, that’s why.”
It echoed what Gay had said to me. It didn’t make sense when she had said it, and it didn’t make any sense when Lacy repeated it. “Why are you a hard sell?”
“Because I won’t play the game,” she said. “I don’t care to wear slutty outfits or flirt with all the boys in the crowd. I just want to sing, get paid and go home. That’s it. I never wanted to be famous, Jonah. That’s not my scene. Fame changes people. When the people around you stop telling you no, it’s that much easier to stop telling that to yourself. So it’s no holds barred. Real life rules don’t apply. Look at us. We’re reduced to some booty call in a hotel because it would hurt your image to be seen with a steady companion who isn’t somehow more famous than you.” My eyes narrowed as she went on. “You know that’s why you’ve gotten all this recognition right? It’s because of Ariel Acardi and Jasper Carrington.”
That rubbed me the wrong way. “Gee. And I thought it had something to do with me being talented.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she snapped.
“Then what do you mean?” I snapped back.
“You’re not an artist, Jonah. You’re a paper doll that Gay can dress up, or strip down, just to fill her club.”
My heart plummeted as I stared at her. Was this really what she thought of me?
“I see,” I gritted through clenched teeth. I buttoned my shirt, which had come unbuttoned when I tried to seduce her.
It was clear that was no longer on the agenda. At least she had the decency to look chagrined and turned away. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I’ll pay you back for the room.”
“I don’t care about the fucking room,” I snarled.
“Then what do you care about?” she shot back.
I stomped over to stand almost nose to nose with her. “I cared about spending some time with the Lacy I thought I knew, not this cold-hearted bitch who comes out to play every time your pride gets a little wounded.”
There was a resounding crack throughout the room as her hand flew across my face, slapping me hard before I could stop her. “Do it again,” I dared, before I breathed “bitch,” to seal the deal.
Her other hand raised but I caught it. I curled her arm easily behind her back, bringing us face to face. “Is this some kind of fucking foreplay with you, lady?” I said under my breath as I studied her eyes.
“You’re an asshole,” she hissed.
“Then why are you here with me?” I asked as I held her even closer. As mad as I was, she still felt like heaven in my arms. That body… that fire… all I wanted to do was throw her on that bed and make her mine. It wasn’t just a fight with her anymore. It was a fight for us. “If I’m some talentless hack, some witless paper doll, why did you come here? To rub my nose in it, like some dog that pissed on the carpet?”
“No!” she denied instantly.
“Then tell me,” I commanded in a soft voice.
Her eyes darted between mine until I saw tears form at the edges. Finally she said, “I wanted you to prove it wasn’t true. That you’re not him.”
It was the most honest thing she had ever said. “You want proof?” I said before I lifted her in my arms and tossed her onto the bed. I followed her down, pinning her to the mattress with my body. “Here’s your proof.” I crushed her mouth under mine for a punishing kiss that would silence any of her doubts.
***
Pre-order SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY now from Amazon! Coming soon to B&N and iTunes!
Enter to win one of three signed copies via Goodreads! Giveaway ends 10/31/14.
October 2, 2014
October Newsletter, New Releases and Upcoming Appearances!
Hello, my lovelies. September was a bitch, keeping me sick almost all month with the flu, bronchitis and good ol' post nasal drip. But I am happy to report I got some major work done and you know what that means...
New books for you!
For everyone out there who started this journey with me with the GROUPIE series, you will NOT want to miss the new trilogy I have planned for you. If you've read a lot of my books, you already know I like to crossover characters and story lines. In fact I get a big kick out of it. I love to revisit those old characters just as much as you love to read them. Whether GROUPIE's Vanni and Graham, LOVE PLUS ONE'S Shannon, Jake and Jorge and FIERCE'S Jace Riga pop up in the epic billionaire FULLERTON FAMILY SAGA, or GROUPIE'S Graham and FIERCE'S Jace pop up in THE UNDISCIPLINED BRIDE, you are sure to see some old favorites as cameos, or even supporting characters, in surprising new stories. My new SOUTHERN ROCKERS trilogy will expand this seemingly infinite GROUPIE universe.
And, for the first time ever, I write from the male POV, to get you inside the head of my SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY, Jonah Riley.
I had a lot of fun getting to know Jonah through his story. I mean, it's a sexy southern boy and a 9-hour playlist of music that crosses genres from country, southern and classic rock and roll. For 24 chapters, I got to relive some of my glory days when I was a southern girl on the prowl... with all the angst and longing that implies.
And I'm pleased to announce that I will share that story with you all, across all platforms, OCTOBER 17, 2014!!
Like my bestselling and beloved FULLERTON FAMILY SAGA, the SOUTHERN ROCKERS trilogy will be released over three months. Jonah's story in October, Lacy's story, SOUTHERN ROCKER CHICK, in November and the third book, SOUTHERN ROCKER DUET, in December, when Lacy and Jonah hit the FIERCE stage to compete for a record contract.
As you already know, I'll be turning the angst up to 11. (Why? Because it goes to 11.) The hubby blew through book 1 in two days and called me more than once to bawl me out about it. The term "evil bitch" was bandied about more than once. He promises there will be a lot of broken Kindles by the time this book is done. It's going to be a wild ride with all the drama, angst, twists and turns for which you love to hate me.
*Author not responsible for broken e-readers.
And... oh yeah... Vanni's back. :EVIL GRIN:
The SOUTHERN ROCKER trilogy takes place in Austin, Texas, deep in the heart of my home state, which is where I'll be signing for all of you in February at the DEEP IN THE HEART INDIE AUTHOR EVENT. Get your tickets now!
(For $25, you can get VIP tickets to join us for the cocktail hour. Tickets are limited, so check out the FACEBOOK page to get them before they're gone.)
Who knows? Maybe we'll find a few Jonahs and Lacys of our own as we explore the iconic music scene there.
Don't forget to "like" my Facebook Author page. There are a lot of fun things coming up, blog takeovers, giveaways, and more information on upcoming appearances. Be the first to know!
See you in November, which is my birth month. We'll have LOTS of fun. I promise!
GV xoxo
New books for you!
For everyone out there who started this journey with me with the GROUPIE series, you will NOT want to miss the new trilogy I have planned for you. If you've read a lot of my books, you already know I like to crossover characters and story lines. In fact I get a big kick out of it. I love to revisit those old characters just as much as you love to read them. Whether GROUPIE's Vanni and Graham, LOVE PLUS ONE'S Shannon, Jake and Jorge and FIERCE'S Jace Riga pop up in the epic billionaire FULLERTON FAMILY SAGA, or GROUPIE'S Graham and FIERCE'S Jace pop up in THE UNDISCIPLINED BRIDE, you are sure to see some old favorites as cameos, or even supporting characters, in surprising new stories. My new SOUTHERN ROCKERS trilogy will expand this seemingly infinite GROUPIE universe.
And, for the first time ever, I write from the male POV, to get you inside the head of my SOUTHERN ROCKER BOY, Jonah Riley.
I had a lot of fun getting to know Jonah through his story. I mean, it's a sexy southern boy and a 9-hour playlist of music that crosses genres from country, southern and classic rock and roll. For 24 chapters, I got to relive some of my glory days when I was a southern girl on the prowl... with all the angst and longing that implies.
And I'm pleased to announce that I will share that story with you all, across all platforms, OCTOBER 17, 2014!!
Like my bestselling and beloved FULLERTON FAMILY SAGA, the SOUTHERN ROCKERS trilogy will be released over three months. Jonah's story in October, Lacy's story, SOUTHERN ROCKER CHICK, in November and the third book, SOUTHERN ROCKER DUET, in December, when Lacy and Jonah hit the FIERCE stage to compete for a record contract.
As you already know, I'll be turning the angst up to 11. (Why? Because it goes to 11.) The hubby blew through book 1 in two days and called me more than once to bawl me out about it. The term "evil bitch" was bandied about more than once. He promises there will be a lot of broken Kindles by the time this book is done. It's going to be a wild ride with all the drama, angst, twists and turns for which you love to hate me.
*Author not responsible for broken e-readers.
And... oh yeah... Vanni's back. :EVIL GRIN:
The SOUTHERN ROCKER trilogy takes place in Austin, Texas, deep in the heart of my home state, which is where I'll be signing for all of you in February at the DEEP IN THE HEART INDIE AUTHOR EVENT. Get your tickets now!
(For $25, you can get VIP tickets to join us for the cocktail hour. Tickets are limited, so check out the FACEBOOK page to get them before they're gone.)
Who knows? Maybe we'll find a few Jonahs and Lacys of our own as we explore the iconic music scene there.
Don't forget to "like" my Facebook Author page. There are a lot of fun things coming up, blog takeovers, giveaways, and more information on upcoming appearances. Be the first to know!
See you in November, which is my birth month. We'll have LOTS of fun. I promise!
GV xoxo
September 13, 2014
My ultimate weakness. (Don't open if you don't want to see sexy men.)
Okay. I have a little confession to make. We've known each other a little while now, I feel I can share this information with you. If you've read more than one of my books, you know that there is one thing my heroes all have in common, regardless of any other characteristic.
All my heroes employ, expertly, the smirk.
You might wonder why I would use this over and over and over and over again in my writing. Is it just a convenient go-to phrase I overuse? Is it a lazy way to write, dusting off the same ol' storytelling devices again and again?
The easiest explanation? It's my own personal kryptonite. If a guy uses a smirk on me, I'm a puddle. Simply put, he couldn't be a man of my fantasies without it.
I'm not really a superficial person. I've had crushes on all types of men, all races, all shapes and sizes, all ages. But there are a few key things they all share between them.
They're usually smart, funny, have an innate "grr" factor communicated with intense eyes and a smirk they keep cocked and loaded to fire.
The reason the smirk is my undoing is that it is a smile with an invitation. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a smirk, it's a non-verbal way for a guy to communicate that he's up to no good... and he wants you to be a part of it.
Some men have got this look down to a science. These men often end up on my own personal laminated list. (Or at least the dry erase board.) And they stay there for decades.
The first such man to do this was Bruce Willis, when he portrayed David Addison on Moonlighting. Honestly I thought Maddie was an idiot. I would have jumped him on the pilot episode.
My newest book, THE LEFTOVER CLUB, features a hero that the heroine has built up in her mind as the ultimate. This is the guy we all knew and wanted at some point, who was so amazing, who crossed off every sexy trait on our own personal lists, that make them the epitome of walking, talking temptation.
Since this story takes us back to the radical 80s, I was able to travel down memory lane and study my various unrequited loves and idols. Bruce hit the radar again and again, and his smirk is one of the main reasons why.
Needless to say, my hero, Dylan Fenn, is an expert smirker.
And you can thank (or blame) the following for drilling that weak-kneed reaction into my life with each and every time they all did something like this...
Why do I write all my hot men with smirks?
Why, indeed.
All my heroes employ, expertly, the smirk.
You might wonder why I would use this over and over and over and over again in my writing. Is it just a convenient go-to phrase I overuse? Is it a lazy way to write, dusting off the same ol' storytelling devices again and again?
The easiest explanation? It's my own personal kryptonite. If a guy uses a smirk on me, I'm a puddle. Simply put, he couldn't be a man of my fantasies without it.
I'm not really a superficial person. I've had crushes on all types of men, all races, all shapes and sizes, all ages. But there are a few key things they all share between them.
They're usually smart, funny, have an innate "grr" factor communicated with intense eyes and a smirk they keep cocked and loaded to fire.
The reason the smirk is my undoing is that it is a smile with an invitation. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a smirk, it's a non-verbal way for a guy to communicate that he's up to no good... and he wants you to be a part of it.
Some men have got this look down to a science. These men often end up on my own personal laminated list. (Or at least the dry erase board.) And they stay there for decades.
The first such man to do this was Bruce Willis, when he portrayed David Addison on Moonlighting. Honestly I thought Maddie was an idiot. I would have jumped him on the pilot episode.
My newest book, THE LEFTOVER CLUB, features a hero that the heroine has built up in her mind as the ultimate. This is the guy we all knew and wanted at some point, who was so amazing, who crossed off every sexy trait on our own personal lists, that make them the epitome of walking, talking temptation.
Since this story takes us back to the radical 80s, I was able to travel down memory lane and study my various unrequited loves and idols. Bruce hit the radar again and again, and his smirk is one of the main reasons why.
Needless to say, my hero, Dylan Fenn, is an expert smirker.
And you can thank (or blame) the following for drilling that weak-kneed reaction into my life with each and every time they all did something like this...
Why do I write all my hot men with smirks?
Why, indeed.
September 12, 2014
THE LEFTOVER CLUB is available NOW. Adults Only Teaser HERE. "Insatiable."
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER
If you need a warning label to read a book, whether for language, sex, emotional trigger topics, the presence of cliffhangers, cheaters or triangles or the absence of a HEA, then this author's books are not the books for you.
He kneeled in between my legs as he slowly took off his shirt, revealing that amazing body as his eyes locked with mine. “Touch yourself,” he commanded softly.
I obeyed by cupping my breast with one hand, tweaking the hard nipple as he unzipped his jeans and slipped a hand inside to grab his prominent erection. He stroked himself slowly as he watched me. I groaned as I watched the head of his cock emerge from the top of his jeans. Want him? I thought I might die without him. I lifted up, reaching for a kiss, tasting myself on his lips and that forceful, driving tongue that pierced my lips.
My fingers fumbled to pull away the final barrier of clothes between us, his jeans and underwear, pulling him back down onto the bed on top of me until he was fitted nicely between my legs. We kissed so hard I could barely remember to breathe. I clasped fistfuls of his hair in my hands as I wrapped my legs around his hips.
This time I reached for the bedside table and fumbled for a condom. He watched me tear that sucker off with my teeth before I slid it onto him, luxuriating in the feeling of how hard he was in my hand. I squeezed and brushed and stroked until his eyes fluttered closed and he shuddered hard.
I felt him kick away the jeans at last as he positioned himself to enter me, which he did with a purposeful thrust that buried him deep inside. We both gasped at how it felt to be one at last, after all these months, all these years… all this time. He trembled against me.
“It could never be this way with anyone else,” he murmured, his eyes dark. “Tell me you know that.”
I nodded.
“My Roni,” he stated as he thrust hard, making me gasp. “I don’t care who you married. I don’t care who you’ve fucked. You’ve always been mine since that very first kiss.”
I nodded again. It was the truth. He branded my heart from the time I was nine. Everyone that followed had been a pale substitute. There would never be anyone else for me but Dylan.
Buy THE LEFTOVER CLUB NOW!!
If you need a warning label to read a book, whether for language, sex, emotional trigger topics, the presence of cliffhangers, cheaters or triangles or the absence of a HEA, then this author's books are not the books for you.
He kneeled in between my legs as he slowly took off his shirt, revealing that amazing body as his eyes locked with mine. “Touch yourself,” he commanded softly.
I obeyed by cupping my breast with one hand, tweaking the hard nipple as he unzipped his jeans and slipped a hand inside to grab his prominent erection. He stroked himself slowly as he watched me. I groaned as I watched the head of his cock emerge from the top of his jeans. Want him? I thought I might die without him. I lifted up, reaching for a kiss, tasting myself on his lips and that forceful, driving tongue that pierced my lips.
My fingers fumbled to pull away the final barrier of clothes between us, his jeans and underwear, pulling him back down onto the bed on top of me until he was fitted nicely between my legs. We kissed so hard I could barely remember to breathe. I clasped fistfuls of his hair in my hands as I wrapped my legs around his hips.
This time I reached for the bedside table and fumbled for a condom. He watched me tear that sucker off with my teeth before I slid it onto him, luxuriating in the feeling of how hard he was in my hand. I squeezed and brushed and stroked until his eyes fluttered closed and he shuddered hard.
I felt him kick away the jeans at last as he positioned himself to enter me, which he did with a purposeful thrust that buried him deep inside. We both gasped at how it felt to be one at last, after all these months, all these years… all this time. He trembled against me.
“It could never be this way with anyone else,” he murmured, his eyes dark. “Tell me you know that.”
I nodded.
“My Roni,” he stated as he thrust hard, making me gasp. “I don’t care who you married. I don’t care who you’ve fucked. You’ve always been mine since that very first kiss.”
I nodded again. It was the truth. He branded my heart from the time I was nine. Everyone that followed had been a pale substitute. There would never be anyone else for me but Dylan.
Buy THE LEFTOVER CLUB NOW!!
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
Well, a $25 Amazon gift card anyway. What you do with it is your business.
I've decided to give FIVE e-copies of THE LEFTOVER CLUB out as well, bringing the total # of prizes to SEVEN. Seems like a lucky number!
FIVE E-COPIES of THE LEFTOVER CLUB:
Brigette Madelaine
Meghan Catagnus
MJ Fryer
Jeff Mayo
Emmie LK
THE SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY
Nancy Hall
The $25 Amazon Gift Card
PAULA LOVE!
Congrats everyone! Contact me at ginger@gingervoight.com to provide emails/addresses to distribute your prizes.
I've decided to give FIVE e-copies of THE LEFTOVER CLUB out as well, bringing the total # of prizes to SEVEN. Seems like a lucky number!
FIVE E-COPIES of THE LEFTOVER CLUB:
Brigette Madelaine
Meghan Catagnus
MJ Fryer
Jeff Mayo
Emmie LK
THE SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY
Nancy Hall
The $25 Amazon Gift Card
PAULA LOVE!
Congrats everyone! Contact me at ginger@gingervoight.com to provide emails/addresses to distribute your prizes.
September 11, 2014
Teaser Three for THE LEFTOVER CLUB - "SexyBack"
After the club, we hit an all-night hipster diner in Santa Monica. Olive was knuckle-deep in her vegan nachos when she said, “This reminds me of the day we met. Remember?”
Both Bryan and I chuckled as we nodded. “Food’s better,” I quipped as I shoved more of my omelet into my mouth.
Our cute waitress stopped by the table to refill everyone’s water glass. “So is the view,” Olive said with a wink. “Remember when the best we could do was Dylan Fenn?” She laughed, because apparently she thought this was an embarrassing aberration of our youth. “Why were we all so hung up on him?”
“He was beautiful,” Bryan murmured wistfully.
“He was so popular any of his attention validated you by default,” I added.
“And he was completely out of reach,” Olive concluded. “Nothing safer than wanting someone who can’t possibly want you back, is there?”
“He got over that at the ten-year reunion,” Bryan confided. “When he infiltrated the crew.”
Her eyes opened wide. “If it is either one of you bitches I’m going to kick you right in the leftovers.”
Bryan shook his head. “No, we’re members of the crew tried and true.”
“Then who?” she asked before ticking each of us off on her fingers. Finally she put it together. “Charlie? Are you fucking kidding me? How is that even possible?”
I shrugged. “She lost a hundred pounds, bleached her hair and showed up looking like Baby Spice. He was a goner.”
Olive snorted. “Figures. Once a dog, always a dog.” She toyed with the straw in her glass before musing, “But no longer an unattainable one. Interesting.”
“That’s a look of pure evil if I’ve ever seen one,” Bry teased.
“What can I say? I’ve always loved a challenge.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I figured out a way we can make this twenty-year shindig a little more exciting. I think it’s time that all the Leftovers got their chance to sail away on the S.S. Fenn.”
I shook my head. “You’d have the best shot of any of us. I’m still nowhere near his type.”
“And I’m an outy, not an inny,” Bry reminded.
“Trifles,” she dismissed. “The bigger the obstacle, the greater the victory. You guys still talk to Fenn, right?”
“Roni does. She works at the agency that represents him.”
“Perfect! Lemme see your phone.”
“No way,” I protested immediately.
“Don’t be a chicken. This will be fun. Isn’t this the one thing you’ve always wanted?”
Well…
“Come on, come on, come on,” she insisted as she held out her hand. “It’ll be fun. I promise.” Then, with an arched eyebrow, “Have I led you astray so far?”
I sent a beseeching glance to Bry, but he was no help at all. He just shrugged. “It does seem kind of unfair that Charlie had all the fun. If she cracked the code, who’s to say we couldn’t?”
I shrugged. “The plan is inherently flawed. I’m fat and old, she’s a lesbian and you’re a guy. Even if we make the cut by default of our gender, you might not. I don’t think he’s bisexual.”
Another arched eyebrow from Olive. “Neither are you.”
“I don’t think he even knows I’m gay,” Bryan decided suddenly.
“Good,” Olive said. “Let him come to you.”
“How can he not know you’re gay?” I asked. It had been obvious to me even before I knew what gay was.
“One: people see what they want to see,” he told me. “Two: we only hung out together in high school, when I was pretty far back in the closet by necessity. Three: whenever he sees me now, it’s usually as your date.”
“Perfect,” Olive said again. “People are easier to manipulate when they’re jealous.”
“You’re kidding, right? You’re not really seriously suggesting that we make this some covert operation.”
“Operation: Fuck Fenn. I like it,” she grinned. “Now gimme your phone.”
I shook my head. “This is childish. We’re not in high school anymore. We’re all adults. I have a child, for chrissakes.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. Revenge sex can be a lot of fun. Just ask Bry. I’m sure he’s bedded a guy or two who used to call him ‘fag’ in high school.”
“She has me there,” he grinned.
“And nobody here has to sleep with him. You just have to make him want to sleep with you. To finally win the desire of the one who got away. You can reel him into the boat and throw him back immediately, kind of like he did to everyone in high school. Call it poetic justice. And you, my friend,” she said to me, “need to finally figure it out that you’re more than worthy to sit at the cool kids’ table.”
Bry nodded. “She’s right, Roni. You’ve been measuring yourself by his ruler long enough. Isn’t about time the tables turned?”
I shook my head. This was lunacy.
“You don’t know how liberating it is to defeat the fears that have chased you from your childhood. Bryan and I had big fears, about being accepted for being different. It was a more dangerous world for us to finally embrace and ultimately celebrate what set us apart. In your head, sleeping with Dylan is that mile you never ran. That trophy you never won. Imagine how much your life would change if you could finally figure out the only obstacles you have in front of you are the ones you’ve put there all along?”
I hesitated. She was right about that. Being singled out by Dylan had shaded my whole identity as I came of age. If he didn’t want me, who would? It was probably why I settled for so much less than I deserved with Wade. And it was neither Dylan’s nor Wade’s fault that I did so.
I decided a long time ago I wasn’t good enough for the ultimate boy, so it was okay for others to shortchange me as well, including my very own daughter.
“Come on. I don’t have cable. Throw me a fucking bone,” she added with a grin.
I sighed. “Fine. You win.” I handed her my phone.
She was mighty proud of herself as she scrolled through my contact list, landing at last on the object of our new, weird, impossible mission. “And that, my friends, is how you get someone to do what they don’t want to do. Take notes. There will be a test.”
She stuck her tongue out at us before she texted something to Dylan and handed the phone back to me.
I glanced down at the screen.
“Some old friends are treating me to dollar beer at the Karaoke Klubhouse tomorrow night, eight sharp. You are cordially invited.”
It only took a minute for Dylan to reply.
“Sounds like fun, count me in.”
I half-glared at Olive, who returned once again to her heap of nachos with a wide, shit-eating grin on her face.
THE LEFTOVER CLUB releases TOMORROW!! Get it while it's HOT!!
September 9, 2014
Teaser Two for THE LEFTOVER CLUB - "Naughty Naughty"
This time when Dylan asked to head down to the river, I didn’t hesitate. We headed down the hill together. The terrain was flat but rocky, with tall trees surrounding the area like sentries on guard. He lit up a joint, which I shared. I inhaled deep the smell of the trees and the dirt, feeling like we were at one with the universe.
“We should go rafting,” he suggested.
I shook my head. “This is perfect,” I said as I sat on one of the rocks near the foamy river. It was large and flat enough for me to lie on my back and stare through the tiny opening in the trees toward the blue, cloudless sky above. I took another hit and just allowed myself to be a part of it.
He joined me on the next rock over. “Where’s your spirit of adventure?”
“On dry land,” I clarified with a pointed glare. “This is perfect.” I kicked off my shoes and stuck my feet in the water. It felt like cool heaven against my skin, which had been warmed all day by the relentless summer sun. Dylan had an impish smile on his face as he studied me thoughtfully for a moment. Before I knew it, he was tugging off his shoes and tossing them on dry land.
I watched him shrug out of his shirt, baring that sculpted torso once more. “What are you doing?” I asked, much sharper than I intended.
“Going for a swim,” he said before he started to release the fastener on his jeans.
“It’s dangerous,” I said as he stripped to his briefs.
He shook his head. “You heard what the caretaker said. Guests love swimming in this area because it’s safe and it’s private. So no one,” he said dramatically before he pulled down his briefs, “is going to look.”
As God as my witness, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his naked form. I had dreamed about him in some form or fashion since I hit puberty, but there was nothing like seeing him stand before me, naked as a jaybird, offering his hand to me so that I can join in his spontaneous debauchery.
I shook my head. “No way.”
“Chicken,” he teased with a smirk I swore was going to be the death of me.
“Dylan, be serious.” There was absolutely no way I would get naked in front of him. Hadn’t he figured that out by now? Sometimes I swore that he did these things just to get a rise out of me.
“I’m serious as a heart attack,” he promised as he crossed his heart with his finger. “We’re adults now, Roni. Let’s live life on the edge.”
If he was near an edge, I would have pushed him off of it. The longer he stood there, the madder I got. “Don’t be stupid. This is not something that you and I should ever be doing.”
“Why not? Because we’re friends?”
“Yes,” I sputtered, as if the answer should have been obvious.
“I would think our being friends would make this a perfectly safe and innocent thing to do. I mean, what do we have to hide from each other, really?” He waded out into the water until he stood waist deep. “Truth or dare,” he called out.
“I’m not playing this stupid game with you,” I announced. “In fact, I’m sorely tempted to go back to the cabin until you stop acting like an idiot.”
He laughed. “You won’t,” he predicted easily before he dunked himself. “You want to stay right here.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You certainly sound sure of yourself.”
He shrugged. “If you were going to leave, you would have left already.”
I sputtered more as I stared at him. He had my number and I knew it. I grew hotter by the second. “Fine,” I said as I unbuttoned my shirt. Maybe it was the pot. Maybe it was the fact I was tired of him toying with me like a stupid cat with a timid mouse. He wanted to see me naked? Fine. Then maybe he’d stop teasing me at last and spend his time chasing after one of his endless size-2 cheerleaders.
I could feel my face burn as I unhooked my bra and tossed it aside before I lost my nerve. I couldn’t even meet his eyes as I squirmed quickly out of my shorts. I was in the water, quick as a shot. I heard him chuckle the closer I got to him.
“There,” I announced with a tilted chin. “Are you happy now?”
“Not yet,” he mused before he dunked me under water.
I came up gasping for air. He swam easily away from me so I chased after him until I dunked him in the water. The more we frolicked, the easier it was to forget we were both completely naked.
He gave me another heart-stopping smile. “Isn’t this better than sitting on the sidelines?”
I glared at him. “Yes,” I admitted at last.
He swam a little closer. “You know what your problem is, Miss Lawless?”
“I can’t wait to hear it, Mr. Fenn.”
“You make everything so much harder than it has to be. Why do you do that?”
“Because things do come harder for me,” I said softly, knowing he’d never understand. He was one of the blessed ones, one of the beautiful ones.
“It doesn’t have to,” he replied just as soft. “You can have anything you want. It’s all there for the asking.”
I shook my head. He had no idea.
“What’s standing in your way?” he wanted to know.
“Me,” I finally said.
His eyes glittered as he stared at me. “That’s the first honest thing you’ve said.”
I started to turn away but he pulled me back. “Truth or dare?”
I shook my head. “I’m not playing.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Neither am I. Truth or dare?”
If he asked me what it was that I wanted most, I would have been mortified to answer. I don’t think I would have even had the presence of mind to lie. Finally, with a hopeless shrug of my shoulder, I said, “Dare.”
Those dark eyes consumed me. “Come here,” he said softly.
THE LEFTOVER CLUB releases this Friday!! Pre-order NOW!
September 8, 2014
Want to win a $25 Amazon gift card? NAME THAT TUNE.
Since music has played heavily into the new book, THE LEFTOVER CLUB, we're going to play my own version of "Name That Tune!" I randomly offer lyrics from the many songs on my epic Leftover Club playlist, you use the comments to name the songs. By the end of the week, I'll offer prizes to some lucky participants, whether you answer on Twitter, in the comments of this blog post or on Facebook.
GRAND PRIZE: $25 Amazon Gift Card
1st PRIZE: Signed paperback THE LEFTOVER CLUB
Additional prizes: Three digital ebook copies of THE LEFTOVER CLUB
**Disclaimer, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger are NOT responsible for the prizes offered in this giveaway OR promote the game in any way.
Make sure you following me on Twitter @GingerVoight or have "liked" my Author page on Facebook to get your clues. The contest ends Thursday at 11:59PM PST.
The first clue will be posted at 6:00PM PST, September 8, 2014, on my Twitter account, with the hashtags #leftovers80party and #namethattune.
Let's get this party started.
