Kelly Cruz has loved Seth
forever, but he knows Seth’s talents shouldn’t be hidden, not when the world is
waiting. Encouraging Seth to follow his music might break Kelly’s heart, but he
is determined to see the violin set Seth’s soul free. When their world is
devastated by a violent sexual assault and Matty’s prejudices turn him from a
brother to an enemy, Seth and Kelly’s future becomes uncertain.
Seth can’t come home and
Kelly can’t leave, but they are held together by a love that they clutch with
both hands.
Seth and Kelly are young
and the world is wide—the only thing they know for certain is they’ll follow
their heartstrings to each other’s arms whenever time and fate allow. And pray
that one day they can follow that string to forever… before it slices their
hearts in two.
Buy link:s Dreamspinner Amazon
Cat gives this one 5 Meows...
I 'm not going to give a
summary on this as the blurb pretty much says it all. The story begins with a call from Kelley
telling Seth that Matty wants to see him and it's important and that he only
has about a week, He promptly tells Kelley he will come back for him as e has
always promised. Heart-wrenching first
paragraph leaving me wondering WTH happened up to this point. I sat on the edge
of my seat through the entire story as we go back to the past and grow up with
this family. (stop at the store for lots of tissues and if going to be reading
out somewhere some travel size as well),.
Amy makes us nice and comfortable as she introduces us to Seth, Matty and Kelley and both boys’ families at school preparing for a concert as the string boys. Such a sweet scene, then the rollercoaster speeds up and starts taking us over hills and sharp curves of happiness sadness and smacks us into a wall of angst. Holy heck I know my heart bled during this book. I know I cried enough. I fell in love with all three boys, but man oh man the romance with Seth and Kelley was so sweet it rivals cotton candy. There were enough love and sweetness in the romance to help tamp down the darkness and angst. A balance that Amy Lane has a knack for. If you loved her Promise Rock books... Here ya go. Another book to help fill that void.
Amy makes us nice and comfortable as she introduces us to Seth, Matty and Kelley and both boys’ families at school preparing for a concert as the string boys. Such a sweet scene, then the rollercoaster speeds up and starts taking us over hills and sharp curves of happiness sadness and smacks us into a wall of angst. Holy heck I know my heart bled during this book. I know I cried enough. I fell in love with all three boys, but man oh man the romance with Seth and Kelley was so sweet it rivals cotton candy. There were enough love and sweetness in the romance to help tamp down the darkness and angst. A balance that Amy Lane has a knack for. If you loved her Promise Rock books... Here ya go. Another book to help fill that void.
I added this to my all-time
favorites pile and YA/NA books are not my favorite genre. And there is a little
surprise at the end that made me clap in glee when we find out who the officer
was that was wanting to help Seth.
If you like YA to NA
books, friends to lovers, angst, can tolerate some violence and off page
assault and sweet mm-sex and LOVE dark romance with a happy ending, you must read this one!
Excerpt…
Now
THE WIND hit
Seth solid in the chest as he emerged from the back entrance of David Geffen
Hall. Oh my God, the Hudson was unmerciful! Temperatures tonight threatened to
sink to the thirties, with a healthy dose of sleet to seal the ice in any
unwary traveler’s veins. It wasn’t even December yet—not even Thanksgiving.
It was
Seth’s first winter in New York, and his heart felt as cold as the wind.
“Hey! Seth!
Come on! You said I could crash on your couch!”
Seth looked
up and smiled gamely. “Yeah. Sorry. Just not used to the winters, you know?”
“You look
sad,” Caleb said perceptively. “You know, the offer still stands. I, uh, don’t
have to sleep on the couch.”
Seth’s heart
felt too heavy for Caleb’s usual flirting to even elicit a smile. “Definitely
the couch,” he said, pulling the solid wool of his coat up to his chin and
making sure the violin case he was cradling against his chest under the coat
was secure.
“Your
performance was good,” Caleb said earnestly, his pale face shining in the light
from a nearby streetlamp. Together they were walking toward the 66th Street
Subway Station. Seth’s agent had managed to find an apartment on the Lower East
Side—tiny, cramped, and stifling, even in April when he’d moved. It still
boasted just enough living space for one person.
Of course,
in New York that meant Seth had a bunk bed that he shared with his friend
Amara, who was alternate flute when they needed one. Caleb could sleep on the
couch.
Amara was
home in Sacramento, where Seth yearned to be, visiting her boyfriend and her
family. But Seth had two more weeks of performances on his contract.
He had
tickets to Sacramento in December. You’ve got to try, he told
himself. Maybe if he sees you, he’ll remember we’re stronger together. It
doesn’t matter if he told you it was done. Then, as he always did, he
heard, You’ll never stop trying. The insidious little voice
gave him hope, and he warmed up some.
“Thank you,”
he said absently to Caleb. “That’s kind.”
Seth was a
soloist, which was something he wasn’t supposed to be in his twenties—everybody
had said that as he was coming up. You had to be really good
to play solo, to be first chair, to get a job in an orchestra, to play in New
York at all. Seth had lived his life assuming he wasn’t the guy who got to do
those things special. It was always a shock to realize that every other
violinist in the world didn’t get the same opportunities he had.
Kelly had
always said Seth was meant to walk among the stars… but that had only seemed
possible when Kelly was there.
“It’s not
kindness,” Caleb argued. “It’s pure envy! My God—it’s like the only part of you
engaged is the part that connects with your violin!”
Seth
shrugged. Old news. His family all knew what was in his heart, and that had
always been good enough for him. Without Kelly there to understand the things
Seth didn’t say, it was like the good parts of Seth weren’t there at all.
As though
summoned, Seth’s phone buzzed. He stiffened, there on the sidewalk as they
approached the stairway to the subway station, because he knew. When it was
Kelly texting, he always knew.
He pulled it
out and read the message, biting his lip.
He’s got
maybe a week. Please, Seth, for Matty. Please come home.
Seth stopped
and shuddered, his heart finally converted to ice.
But that
didn’t stop him from writing the message. Didn’t stop him from pressing Send.
Not for
Matty. For you, Kelly. All you had to do was ask.
“What is
it?” Caleb asked, sounding worried. It didn’t take a genius to see Seth was
upset.
“I should
pack,” he mumbled, trying not to lose his head. “And I have to trade in my
ticket for one on standby. I need to go home.”
“Home?”
Caleb sounded incredulous. “Seth, I don’t even know where you come from!”
Seth shook
his head, trying to keep his breathing even. Always, always, that amorphous
threat, the long arm of the law reaching for a moment Seth couldn’t remember—but
it had never been enough to keep him away for this long.
“I come from
a shitty school in a cow town,” he said, knowing his voice was sharp and not
sure how to fix it. There was more to his home than that; there must have been.
He’d risked so much to return, time and time again. The last time, though, the
time Kelly had frozen his heart, had been the time he’d risked and lost it all.
“I never
fucking left.”
Angst and pain, Amy Lane. Amy Lane has two kids in college, two grade schoolers in soccer, two cats, and
two Chi-who-whats at large. She lives in a crumbling crapmansion with most of
the children and a bemused spouse. She also has too damned much yarn, a
penchant for action adventure movies and a need to know that somewhere in all
the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe into this
day! She writes fantasy, urban fantasy, and m/m romance--and if you
accidentally make eye contact, she'll bore you to tears with why those three
genres go together. She'll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are
worth the urge to write.
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great excerpt
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review! It sounds like a interesting read.
ReplyDelete