February 15. I dreamt of an angel last night. An angel of fair skin and long auburn hair with a white gown made of delicate lace and gossamer wings that took my breath. Her arm was outstretched before her, a key dangled from her fingers. Not a car or a house key. Not a key of gold or fancy jewels. A silver key about an inch in length and of plain design. A simplified skeleton key. I awoke before I could take her offering and immediately began to sketch my angel. To capture on paper the image so clear in my mind. But somehow I have lost the memory of her face – the angle of her cheeks or the shape of her lips – and only that key remains. That silver, uncomplicated form hanging from a basic chain. Why was she offering it to me? What did it represent? I’m afraid to speculate, for deep down, I believe I know. I saw my oncologist yesterday. My treatment isn’t working, just prolonging the inevitable. And so I made the decision to opt out of further treatment and accept my fate. Then I dreamt of an angel, and a key.
~~~
Wrecked:
Blind Man's Alibi 1
By Sarah Grimm
I considered this novel romantic suspense, although I'm not sure it falls in the genre traditionally. From the first page, this reader was held in suspense...it opens with an angel, maybe some miracle will happen...
Only one thing was lacking for me...the music, at least some titles played at events, that should have accompanied the main rock star character... So, of course, I had to add...I chose The Police, (mostly) because of their songs that seem to fit the story...
Only one thing was lacking for me...the music, at least some titles played at events, that should have accompanied the main rock star character... So, of course, I had to add...I chose The Police, (mostly) because of their songs that seem to fit the story...
April 3. “Sorry, but sucking off a narcissistic asshole who’s so damn drunk he can’t recall the words to his own song is not my idea of a good time.”
His bark of laughter echoed in the empty hall. “You really are a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”
God, what a terrible idea this had been. Hoping to put some distance between them, Emma Travers quickened her pace, only to stumble over the uncustomary height of the heels her best friend Alison had convinced her to wear. Her ankle screamed in protest, forcing her to skid to a halt. Balancing precariously so she didn’t face plant on the concrete, she struggled against the zippers, finally succeeding in pulling the rhinestone studded stilettos from her swollen feet. She barely resisted the urge to turn around and throw them at the head of the man who’d pissed her off faster than a Bugatti Veyron went from zero to sixty, and instead tossed them aside and continued her escape in bare feet.
“Come back and see me sometime, Emma,” Joe Campbell, lead singer of the British alternative metal band Blind Man’s Alibi, called out to her.
Fat chance!
“I could use a bit of sunshine in my life.” The murmur hit her ears like a shout, and stopped her in her tracks. Well, shit. Emma remained rooted in place, unable to decide if he was for real or filling her with pretty words in order to get her to stay...
~~~
Emma did her best to ignore the brute and focused on the singer. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
“What did you expect?” Good question.
“I guess I hoped the stage show was just that, a show, and that there was a decent guy behind all of that. Maybe I wanted to believe the ‘I’m too sexy for my own good’ attitude was just publicity.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” His tone didn’t sound regretful at all. He strode toward her, moved with such a fluid grace Emma’s heart thumped in response. His long legs closed the distance in half the time it had taken her to get this far. She made herself stand her ground as he stepped in close, closer than she’d yet allowed him to get. Close enough she caught the subtle hint of soap on his skin and whiskey on his breath.
“You’re right about one thing, I’m an asshole. But it wasn’t the alcohol that caused me to lose my words tonight, Emma Travers. It was you.”
~~~
And they were both afraid but could not turn away...
Joe could not give up her sunshine...
Emma was afraid to tell him her secret...
His bark of laughter echoed in the empty hall. “You really are a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”
God, what a terrible idea this had been. Hoping to put some distance between them, Emma Travers quickened her pace, only to stumble over the uncustomary height of the heels her best friend Alison had convinced her to wear. Her ankle screamed in protest, forcing her to skid to a halt. Balancing precariously so she didn’t face plant on the concrete, she struggled against the zippers, finally succeeding in pulling the rhinestone studded stilettos from her swollen feet. She barely resisted the urge to turn around and throw them at the head of the man who’d pissed her off faster than a Bugatti Veyron went from zero to sixty, and instead tossed them aside and continued her escape in bare feet.
“Come back and see me sometime, Emma,” Joe Campbell, lead singer of the British alternative metal band Blind Man’s Alibi, called out to her.
Fat chance!
“I could use a bit of sunshine in my life.” The murmur hit her ears like a shout, and stopped her in her tracks. Well, shit. Emma remained rooted in place, unable to decide if he was for real or filling her with pretty words in order to get her to stay...
~~~
Joe had seen her, there in the front row, just watching, not screaming like the hundreds that surrounded her... And when he saw her, he forgot the words...although nobody knew until later that it was because of her--he couldn't do anything but look at her...
Emma had decided to live! She had been told by her oncologist that there was nothing more they could do. But Emma wasn't the type to just lay down and wait...
| She was certain he had no interest in knowing ever since the day her oncologist had informed her there was nothing more that could be done, she swore to pack as much living as she could into the time she had left. To squeeze every last drop of juice out of life. |
She was going to live and spend as much time as she could out there doing things that she never would have considered doing...before...
Emma did her best to ignore the brute and focused on the singer. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
“What did you expect?” Good question.
“I guess I hoped the stage show was just that, a show, and that there was a decent guy behind all of that. Maybe I wanted to believe the ‘I’m too sexy for my own good’ attitude was just publicity.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” His tone didn’t sound regretful at all. He strode toward her, moved with such a fluid grace Emma’s heart thumped in response. His long legs closed the distance in half the time it had taken her to get this far. She made herself stand her ground as he stepped in close, closer than she’d yet allowed him to get. Close enough she caught the subtle hint of soap on his skin and whiskey on his breath.
“You’re right about one thing, I’m an asshole. But it wasn’t the alcohol that caused me to lose my words tonight, Emma Travers. It was you.”
~~~
Emma was keeping a journal from the day she decided to live, and the book moves from her writing there back to the story. In the journal, she ends with "Days since I decided to live," Days since I met Joe," and...a ranking of how she was feeling that day...
It was Joe that had sent one of his men to bring her back stage. She had come, but she was quite ready to deal with what she thought would be happening...she had already seen the women pawing and scratching at them and some even had signs, that they seemed to wear proudly, that they were willing to give BJs! But she didn't plan to participate in all that!
On the other hand, Emma was indeed looking to find a way to... feel...alive, to make her forget what her body was doing to her life... The book is sexy and the erotic action is almost constant once Joe and Emma begin to tear down the walls between them. But the author writes those sexy scenes within the context of their love story and it's fun and delicious to watch their initial lust turn to so very much more... until Emma had Joe wrapped around her finger...
Joe could not give up her sunshine...
Emma was afraid to tell him her secret...
If you have at least one romantic bone in your body, this book is bound to grab you at the first page. It's funny in many ways; yet heartbreaking in others. Grimm has surrounded the two main characters with those who complement and reveal both the rough action that surrounds music concerts, as well as the awareness that his crew cared about Joe, and later, Emma, as they struggle through the myriad range of feelings that Joe and Emma faced...and that also affected the entire group and crew.
I loved this one--Grimm has written a novel that reflects the dirty underside of fan groupies, doing anything and everything with regard to even the players...The connection between rock singers and sex is...just...obscene... But Grimm pulls the couple through the garbage of that scene and moves forward to provide a contemporary "love story" that I believe will pull your heartstrings even more than that original book. Praise to Grimm's writing and story development! She's done an outstanding job setting the scene and allows the passion of sex and love to move forward toward a destined finish that was expected, yet, so very, very sad...
Romance lovers, I consider this a must-read for you... Highly recommended to all...
GABixlerReviews
Sarah can't remember a time when she wasn't writing. In fact, her siblings believe she began writing in utero to pass the time. As a child, Sarah wrote constantly, littering the house with bulging spiral notebooks and ignoring the ribbing of her mother and sister who routinely said 'romances?' in a somewhat scornful tone.
Sarah believes in love, not just as a fundamental part of human relationships, but as a force that can heal emotional scars. She truly believes someone exists for each of us—a person we are destined to find. Our other half. A soul mate. The road to happy-ever-after isn’t always an easy one, so when you pick up one of Sarah’s books, expect her characters to have to earn their happy ending.
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