Without further ado, here's the excerpt for Heart Throb!
Brand glared at Viciöus’s lead singer in furious disbelief. Quinn had done it again. The arrogant, autocratic son of a bitch had made a decision without consulting the rest of the band. Like so many others, this pre-tour band meeting was nothing but an empty formality where Quinn told them, rather than asking them, what would be going down. And this particular detail was a big fucking deal.
“No.” Brand leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
One of Quinn’s black eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
Brand fixed the singer with a glare. “You can’t drop a huge disruption like this and expect us to be fine with it.”
“Disruption?” Quinn laughed and shook his head at Brand like he was a child. “I thought you’d all be happy to learn that an established filmmaker is going to do a documentary about Viciöus.”
Tony, the drummer, nodded with his usual cheerful grin. “I’m happy about it. That means more money and more exposure. What’s your deal this time, Brand?”
Brand’s frown deepened at the patronizing undertone in the drummer’s voice. “My deal is that first off, we weren’t consulted, and second off, having some jackoffs follow us around with cameras, asking stupid questions, is going to be disruptive as hell.”
Quinn held up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, you’re right. I should have told you and Tony about it, and yes, having the director and camera guys along will cause some distraction and crowding. But Brand, can you think about the long-term? Our reputation took a hit with our rift with Bleeding Vengeance—”
“Your rift,” Brand reminded him. Quinn’s wife and lead guitarist, Kinley, nodded in agreement and nudged Quinn with a stern frown.
Quinn had the decency to look ashamed. “You’re right. My rift.”
When Cliff Tracey, lead singer of Bleeding Vengeance, had begun dating Quinn’s little sister, Quinn went nuclear and declared Bleeding Vengeance, a band that had been their best friends in the industry, to be enemies for life. Quinn eventually pulled his head out of his ass and now treated Cliff like a long-lost brother, but the damage was already done. The media had had a field day amplifying the hostilities, and some fans turned against Viciöus because of Quinn’s behavior. Even worse, a planned collaboration album and joint tour was put on hold, costing both bands God knew how much money.
Quinn ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, I fucked up, I know that. But this documentary will go a long way in humanizing us, making us look friendlier to our fans.” At Brand’s scowl, Quinn smirked. “Okay, maybe not all of us, but hey, your ‘man who never smiles’ thing can be a good gimmick too.”
“Gimmick?” Brand growled. “Fuck you, Quinn.”
“I don’t think Kinley would approve,” Quinn retorted. “Anyway, your grump ass doesn’t change the fact that this documentary will be awesome good for us. Thing Productions won best documentary at the Emerald City Film Festival for Headbangers Abound, and the Audience Choice Award at the Seattle International Film Festival for their film on the history of the metal scene. That one’s on some streaming services and they told me the film they want to do on us is practically guaranteed to get the same. That means some good subsidiary income on top of a cut of the royalties from physical copies, which we can also sell with the rest of our merch.”
Okay. Quinn had a point. Brand’s shoulders slumped. Quinn usually did. That was why he was in charge of the band, for the most part. But the rest of them still should have a say in matters. Brand narrowed his eyes at Kinley. Why wasn’t she speaking up?
Kinley’s gaze flicked to meet Brand’s then darted away evasively, uncharacteristic of the direct woman he knew her to be.
Oblivious to the odd exchange, Quinn resumed his spiel on why having a film crew on the road with them was such a wonderful idea.
Brand only half listened. Justified as his irritation with the situation was, the documentary would be good for them. Fans bought those videos like hotcakes and a streaming deal could bring them new fans. Hell, Quinn even had a point about the documentary possibly redeeming them to those who viewed them sourly after the thing with Bleeding Vengeance. Maybe the director would stick around long enough to catch them when they started writing songs with the other band, show the world on screen that they were friends again.
Even if they didn’t, the collaboration album was back on. The contract had been signed and they would be getting together as soon as Viciöus’s tour wrapped up. They’d even have a preliminary meet-up during the tour, when Viciöus would play at Bleeding Vengeance’s Denver gig.
Brand suddenly found himself looking forward more to writing songs with Bleeding Vengeance than touring. Even though he’d never been the best at making friends, he had to admit that he liked Bleeding Vengeance. The Quinn thing had bothered him more than Brand had expected. And then when it healed, he even found himself befriending Cliff when the guy had moved to Seattle to be closer to Christine, Quinn’s sister. The guy was a chatterbox, but not nearly as vapid as Brand had thought him to be. Reluctantly, Brand admired the guy for having the balls to pursue the forbidden princess. When Cliff and Christine moved to Denver with the rest of Bleeding Vengeance, Brand was surprised that he missed him.
That said, if it weren’t for this upcoming disruptive documentary, Brand would choose touring over song writing any other day.
Quinn could list all the financial benefits to the project that he wanted. That still didn’t make Brand comfortable with having a camera breathing down his neck day and night for the next several months. He was a bass guitarist. Not a fuckin’ movie star.
Also, something felt off about this whole thing. Brand glanced back at Kinley. It wasn’t like her to let Quinn do all the talking. He knew that now, but in the beginning of Kinley’s days with Viciöus, Brand had assumed that she would go along with whatever her husband said. She’d long since proven that she had her own opinions and often sided with Brand or Tony on decisions about what happened on the road and in the studio.
Brand’s eyes narrowed further. “Who did Thing Productions approach?”
Kinley finally spoke. “Me. The director and I have been friends online for a couple years.”
“Ah.” A mirthless laugh escaped his lips. Although Quinn was a bossy bastard, he’d submit to Kinley’s wishes almost every time. In fact, he’d eventually listened to her and made things right with Bleeding Vengeance, although it took Brand’s and Tony’s efforts, combined with Kinley’s, to talk sense into Quinn on that issue.
Brand turned back to Quinn, “So since the two of you were on board, you figured it was a done deal. This is why it’s bad to have a couple in a group. Totally destroys the democracy dynamic.”
Tony shook his head and laughed. “Oh, come on, Brand. We were never a democracy and you know it. In fact, we were more of a dictatorship before Kinley. She softened Quinn up.” He smiled at the singer. “Sorry, Quinn, but it’s true.”
Softened. Brand suppressed a sneer. Tony would know. Brand had to listen to the guy getting all sappy with his wife over the phone every night they were touring. And although Quinn hadn’t turned into a pile of mush with Kinley—that woman was too tough for that stuff—he had definitely changed since falling in love. And while the melting of Quinn’s brisk exterior was probably good in the long run, something about the change unnerved Brand in an unvoiced, yet primal way.
Turning his mind back to the situation at hand, he attempted another feeble protest to the documentary. “Is there even room for a film crew on the bus?”
Quinn sighed. “They’re bringing only four people. The director, who is also the producer, the co-producer, and two camera guys. The director and co-producer will be on the bus with us. The camera guys will be in the equipment truck with our merch crew. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but it’ll work.”
Finally, Tony had a complaint. “I knew we should have gotten around to getting a bigger bus.”
“With the money this documentary will bring us, we’ll be able to finally upgrade.” Quinn nuzzled Kinley’s neck. “We’ll get one with bigger bunks.”
Brand rolled his eyes at the happy couple. He hoped he never fell in love. He couldn’t go soft. Soft meant vulnerable.
And he’d long ago vowed never to be vulnerable again.
I hope you enjoyed the excerpt!
Don't forget to pick up Heart Throb today!
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Series by Brooklyn Ann
Scandals With Bite
(Regency paranormal romance)
Books do not need to be read in order
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Brides of Prophecy
(Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy)
Also don't need to be read in order until book 5...kinda
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Hearts of Metal
(Contemporary Romance)
Standalones that intertwine
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