What Does Music Mean To You?
What is it about music that makes even the worst day better? Genre doesn’t matter all artists croon about the same things with a different delivery. Be it the crooner, the screamer, the thrasher, total metal, acoustic or Acapella their main goal is to pull us into their spell, to evoke emotion we don’t even know we possess, to feel even if we’ve never been heartbroken, angry, euphoric. A good album will take us on a roller coaster of emotions from beginning to end. We live to feel the crescendo.
Under their spell we find Nirvana. We shed tears and believe we personally know the artist we’re drowning in. Maybe that’s how my obsession started. There’s just something about a good line of lyrics we will scour the net for the exact meaning the artist wanted to convey. Even though perception is in the eye of the beholder.
They, the individuals of the band make us believe we are worshiping God’s or Goddesses. Because surely they are meant to be iconic, unforgettable, immortalized by the words, by the composition of the drums, the rhythm guitar, the bass, the keys, and another instrument pieced together on that stage.
It’s as if they can see our souls and we are kindred. Those moments in the audience when eye contact is made (or we totally swear they are looking right at us not above the crowd).
Sometimes if we’re lucky we get to know the men and women behind the scenes, behind the smokescreens an realize they are mortal, and flawed and wholly wonderful in their own unique way that cannot be shaken no matter how much they try to hide behind their music, behind their words and their definition of unsurpassed talent.
Without music, we’d be lost.
Book Three of the Kiss Me Series
One gigantic mistake threatens to bring Carlie Steven’s world crumbling down. Everywhere she turns she’s faced with reminders of the drunken moment leaving her friendless, expelled from her Ivy League College. With Jackson out of the country singing for the troops, his empty home will give her the breathing room she needs while coming up with a game plan to fix her situation.
Playing guitar used to be enough for Jackson Laurant. For years he’s played the part of not giving a fuck. Too many one night stands in the bag leave him wanting what his two friends have found. With only a handful of shows left on the tour, his mind wanders to the off limits Carlie Stevens. For years, he’s denied the brewing attraction. When he finds she’s taken up residence in his home. He may have the in he’s wanted for too many years to count.
Available at: Amazon Publisher All Romance Ebooks
Excerpt
The smell of ocean welcomed him. He stepped out of his service car, hoisted his backpack and clicked the handle on his suitcase. Why carry something that had rollers. The house was dark in the early afternoon, making him wonder if he still had a houseguest.
He entered and placed his things in the foyer. Emotions long forgotten tugged at him. Every time he stepped foot in his childhood house, he expected to see his mother come down the stairs to greet him with a warm smile on her face, smelling like an afternoon spent baking. And, as always, reality cruelly crashed down, reminding him of fate’s viciousness. With a sigh, he looked toward the staircase. Carlie. Carlie. Carlie.
Jackson walked up the stairs, toward his bedroom, noting how everything looked to be in in place, as if Carlie didn’t dare disturb anything. He passed by his mom’s bedroom, now a guest room. He ruminated on things, what to say, what would her reaction be to seeing him?
What he loved most about flying was sleeping, but thanks to one overprotective brother he barely rested at all, with his mind obsessing over the sweet woman in his bed.
A foul odor hit his nose upon opening the door to his bedroom. He ignored the stink and approached his bed covered in chocolate wrappers, empty bags of fast food and the girl sleeping on top of the covers in the same clothes he saw her in online while he was in Afghanistan.
Garrick always boasted of his ‘sleep like the dead’ sisters. He decided to test out the theory. He tapped her and got nothing. He picked her up. Her head lolled over, a halo of hair fanning out. A loud snore popped out of her mouth. He tried to smooth her tangled hair out of the way and carried her into his bathroom. With one hand, he turned on the shower and stepped into the cold water fully dressed, holding her.
Carlie screamed. Her beautiful eyes popped opened as she came to and began thrashing in his arms.
“Sorry, princess. You need a shower, you stink.” Jackson whipped her soaking wet shirt over her head and unsnapped her bra with one hand while she shivered and glared daggers at him. He bent down and whisked off her leggings and thong, and then threw all the pieces out of the shower.
“What are you doing?” Carlie hissed the words thorough chattering teeth. She gave up attempting to cover her nudity with her hands and wiped her plastered hair away from her eyes.
“Right now I’m standing in my shower under freezing water with a smelly girl.” He reached up and adjusted the blasts to give them warm water. Jackson stepped out to get a clean cloth and returned to her. Her skin flushed with the steam pouring through the glass enclosed shower.
“I mean what are you doing home?”
He chuckled. “I didn’t know I needed permission to come to my house.” He grabbed his body wash and lathered up the cloth.
“I swear I’m going to kill you for tossing me in a cold shower.” Anger blazed in her flushed face as she stared him down.
“That’s good then, means you’re no longer cowering in your stupid self-pity party.”
“What, are you going to do with that?” She eyed him nervously, ignoring his words.
“Well, I figured your hands must be broken or something so I’d wash you, since you can’t do so yourself.”
“Uh-uh, no way. Give me that.” She tugged at the sudsy cloth in his hand, his gaze dropping to her lush breasts.
“Nice.” He winked at the way they bounced with her efforts to take the wash rag. He let her have the wet cloth and watched the recoil, suds covering her chin, dripping down her neck, between the valley of her tits, and the path downward. Damn she was in great shape.
“Get. Out.” She pointed to the door, her face flushing a deep red.
“I don’t mind helping, not at all.” The sheer stubbornness in her glare told to him to surrender. With a sigh, he stepped out of the stall. “Get clean. We’ll talk after you’re done.”
“Fine. Privacy would be nice. Please close the door behind you.”
“See you soon.” He stripped off his clothes on the other side, knowing she had a direct view of him. His dick jerked in the cool air. At her gasp, he noticed her riveted gaze stayed on his Prince Albert and beads. He quirked a brow at her, ready to answer any questions she might have. “Done staring at my dick?” The crass words caused her head to jerk and her gaze to land on his.
“Could you be more of an asshole?”
He smirked in response, snagged a towel and walked into his bedroom. Carlie’s continued rant echoed in his bathroom, the sound carrying into his master bedroom.
“Perfect princess, you know this is who I am and you still wanted to jump my bones.”
“I hate that nickname. Whatever. I don’t want to jump anything on you.”
While she screamed expletives at him from the other side of the door in a righteous fit of temper, he dried off and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt, impressed that she knew such a dirty range of swear words, and used them. Ten minutes later, Carlie emerged with a huge fluffy towel around her lithe body.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a new notch for your bedpost, don’t ever strip me naked again. I made a stupid drunken comment months ago that will not happen in this lifetime. Got it? Better yet maybe you should move to the other room while you’re here.”
“Don’t hole yourself in my bedroom like a hoarder,” he snapped back, grabbed his trashcan from the bedside and began tossing wrappers and leftover crap inside. He stopped to gift her with a glare. “This is my room. You don’t dictate where I will or won’t sleep in my fucking house, princess. Got it?” He resumed his task and counted backward from twenty to cool his temper. The heady scent of innocence dripped from her delectable body, driving him mad. He needed his hands occupied to prevent him from lashing out at her in sexual frustration.
Rhapsody
Book One of the Kiss Me Series
Neveah Harris finally has her chance. Two albums in a row she’s
worked with Crimson Rage’s Vocalist/lead guitarist. From his perfectly
styled hair to the faded jeans and tee’s he sports, she’s quickly becoming
groupie fan number one.The only problem is, he doesn’t notice her dropped jaw
every-time he enters the same room. Her age and weight are issues she must face
in order to drum up enough courage to get his number. Wade ‘Garrick’ Stevens is psyched to work on the newest cover for
his band mates. They have a vision that only one sexy graphic artist can bring
to life. The last two sold goldmines thanks to her brilliance. Underneath her
professional front he senses she may be into just more than a working
environment, which is just fine with him. Years younger than her, he plans to
convince her on one date. He's sure sparks will ignite.
Brought up in a traditional family Carrie Stevens
fights the bounds of propriety and flaunts her deviance with no regard to
personal consequences. With one exception…her big brother’s wishes where his
band is concerned. The sparks that fly when she’s around the one taboo she’d
love to date are only a tempting siren’s song, until she sees there’s more to
Shea than she’d originally thought. The sexy drummer might just make her lose
her heart, if he can put her past to rest. Shea McNamara has been
in love with Carrie Stevens for years. Running in the same circle as her isn’t
easy. Her choice in men irks him but she’s in his blood as much as the drums he
loves to beat. All he has to do is convince her there’s more to life than the
fast lane. With her flirty attitude he refuses to allow her to call the shots. AVAILABLE AT:
Publisher | Amazon | All Romance Ebooks
Rhapsody
Book One of the Kiss Me Series
Neveah Harris finally has her chance. Two albums in a row she’s
worked with Crimson Rage’s Vocalist/lead guitarist. From his perfectly
styled hair to the faded jeans and tee’s he sports, she’s quickly becoming
groupie fan number one.The only problem is, he doesn’t notice her dropped jaw
every-time he enters the same room. Her age and weight are issues she must face
in order to drum up enough courage to get his number. Wade ‘Garrick’ Stevens is psyched to work on the newest cover for
his band mates. They have a vision that only one sexy graphic artist can bring
to life. The last two sold goldmines thanks to her brilliance. Underneath her
professional front he senses she may be into just more than a working
environment, which is just fine with him. Years younger than her, he plans to
convince her on one date. He's sure sparks will ignite.
Shut Up and Kiss Me
Book Two
of the Kiss Me Series
Brought up in a traditional family Carrie Stevens
fights the bounds of propriety and flaunts her deviance with no regard to
personal consequences. With one exception…her big brother’s wishes where his
band is concerned. The sparks that fly when she’s around the one taboo she’d
love to date are only a tempting siren’s song, until she sees there’s more to
Shea than she’d originally thought. The sexy drummer might just make her lose
her heart, if he can put her past to rest. Shea McNamara has been
in love with Carrie Stevens for years. Running in the same circle as her isn’t
easy. Her choice in men irks him but she’s in his blood as much as the drums he
loves to beat. All he has to do is convince her there’s more to life than the
fast lane. With her flirty attitude he refuses to allow her to call the shots. AVAILABLE AT:
Publisher | Amazon | All Romance Ebooks
What does music mean to you?
Leave a comment with your email address.
I’ll random pick a winner for a copy of a backlisted title.
TOUR GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Mahalia is giving away the following prizes when her tour ends:
3 winners will receive an eBook of choice from the KISS ME series and their choice of any one Mahalia's backlist eBooks.
3 winners will receive an eBook of choice from the KISS ME series and their choice of any one Mahalia's backlist eBooks.
2 runners up will receive a SWAG pack (US/CANADA ONLY) If winner is international they will receive an eBook of choice instead.
About the Author: Being smart and sassy with a great sense of humor comes easily for Mahalia Levey. An avid reader of books, she found herself enchanted with disappearing completely into the worlds authors created. One day she vowed to herself she'd be one of them. Then family life came, and college right after. Swayed from her childhood course of action, it took many years for her to get back to that place she held dear as a child. Now she is running full steam ahead to keep up with the many ideas flowing freely. She plans on taking her work to higher levels and expanding her genres. Her main focus is giving her readers variety. Her works in progress include paranormal, fantasy and mainstream romance. Taking characters and watching them grow past what she’s imagined is her true passion. In her personal life, she vowed never to own a minivan and has so far succeeded in not being the soccer mom. The proud mother of one teen and two pre-teens is not easily flustered. Between sports and art classes for the eldest, she takes time out during the day for herself. Her one love, best friend of twelve years has finally caught her. They bought their first house together and are compromising over interior decorations. Connect with Mahalia: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
KISS ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT
Blog Tour Schedule - 8/01 - 8/10
8/01- Vampires, Werewolves & Fairies Oh My!
8/02 -Book Monster Reviews
8/10- Sassy Book Lovers
Thanks for hosting me! Have a fabulous day :P
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful series. Who doesn't love musicians! Shared and tweeted for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by the blog and having us on your tour. Seems the older I get the more music means to me. I love all types of genres but my first love in music is country music
ReplyDeleteI shared on my FB page. I wish you lots of luck :)
ReplyDeleteGioconda Lyss