Description

Random thoughts on our impending doom and everyday life, courtesy of a Romance Writer who occasionally feels the need to talk like a Sailor.

Lick



LICK, my New Adult Contemporary Romance, is out 1st July 2013. It's now available for Pre-Order...


Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hang-over to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened. 

One this is for certain, being married to rock and roll’s favourite son is sure to be a wild ride.

REVIEWS:



Both light-hearted and deeply passionate, this book was pure rocker perfection. Natasha is a Book Junkie
LICK is one of those books you stay up to the wee small hours reading.  Book Chatter Cath
Lick is a one sitting read that will have glued to the pages and forgetting about everything around you… - Worlds of Wonderment
I can't tell you all the great scenes and the chemistry between the two of them. You really and truly need to experience it for yourself. Twinsie Talk BookReviews




Alrighty, just to show you how nice I am, here's the first half of Chapter One ... what do you think?


I woke up on the bathroom floor. Everything hurt. My mouth felt like garbage and tasted worse. What the hell had happened last night? The last thing I remembered was the countdown to midnight and the thrill of turning twenty-one, legal at last. I’d been dancing with Lauren and talking to some guy. Then BANG!
     Tequila.
     A whole line of shot glasses with the lemon and salt on the side.
     Everything I’d heard about Vegas was true. Bad things happened here, terrible things. I just wanted to crawl into a ball and die. Sweet baby, Jesus, what had I been thinking to drink so much? I groaned and even that made my head pound. This pain had not been part of the plan.
     “You okay?” a voice enquired, male, deep, and nice. Really nice. A shiver went through me despite my pain. My poor broken body stirred in the strangest of places.
     “Are you going to be sick again?” he asked.
     Oh, no.
     I opened my eyes and sat up, pushing my greasy blonde hair aside. His blurry face loomed closer. I slapped a hand over my mouth because my breath had to be hideous.
     “Hi,” I mumbled.
     Slowly, he swam into focus. He was built and beautiful and strangely familiar. Impossible. I’d never met anyone like him.
     He looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties—a man, not a boy. He had long dark hair falling down past his shoulders and sideburns. His eyes were the darkest blue. They couldn’t be real. Frankly, those eyes were overkill. I’d have swooned perfectly fine without them. Even with the tired red tinge they were a thing of beauty. Tattoos covered the entirety of one arm and half his bare chest. A black bird had been inked into the side of his neck, the tip of its wing reaching up behind his ear. I still had on my pretty dirty white dress which Lauren had talked me into. It had been a daring choice for me on account of the way it barely contained my abundance of boobage. But this beautiful man easily had me beat for skin on show. He wore just a pair of jeans, some scuffed black boots, a couple of small silver earrings, and a loose white bandage on his forearm.
Those jeans … he wore them well. They sat invitingly low on his hips and fit in all the right ways. Even my monster hangover couldn’t detract from the view.
     “Aspirin?” he asked.
     And I was ogling him. My gaze darted to his face and he gave me a sly, knowing smile. Wonderful. “Yes. Please.”
     He grabbed a battered black leather jacket off the floor, the one I’d apparently been using as a pillow. Thank God I hadn’t puked on it. Clearly, this beautiful half naked man had seen me in all my glory, hurling multiple times. I could have drowned in the shame.
     One by one he emptied the contents of his pockets out onto the cold white tiles. A credit card, guitar picks, a phone and a string of condoms. The condoms gave me pause but I was soon distracted by what emerged next. A multitude of paper scraps tumbled out onto the floor. All had names and numbers scrawled across them. This guy was Mr Popularity. Hey, I could definitely see why. But why on earth was he here with me?
     Finally, he produced a small bottle of pain-killers. Sweet relief. I loved him, whoever he was and whatever he’d seen.
     “You need water,” he said, and got busy filling a glass from the sink behind him.
     The bathroom was tiny. We both barely fit. Given Lauren’s and my money situation, the hotel had been the best we could afford. She’d been determined to celebrate my birthday in style. My goal had been a bit different. Despite the presence of my hot new friend, I was pretty sure I’d failed. The pertinent parts of my anatomy felt fine. I’d heard things hurt after the first couple of times. They sure as hell had after the first. But my vagina might have been the only part of my body not giving me grief.
     Still, I took a quick peek down the front of my dress. The corner of a foil package could still be seen, tucked into the side of my bra. Because if it was sitting there, strapped to me, no way would I be caught out unprepared. The condom remained whole and hearty. How disappointing. Or maybe not. Finally plucking up the courage to get back on the horse, so to speak, and then not remembering it would have been horrible.
The man handed me the glass of water and placed two pills into my hand. He then sat back on his haunches to watch me. He had an intensity to him that I was in no condition to deal with.
     “Thanks,” I said, then swallowed the aspirin. Noisy rumbles rose from my belly. Nice, very ladylike.
     “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. His glorious mouth twitched into a smile as if we shared a private joke between us.
     The joke being me.
     All I could do was stare. Given my current condition, he was just too much. The hair, face, body, ink, all of it. Someone needed to invent a word superlative enough to describe him.
     After a long moment it dawned on me, he expected an answer to his question. I nodded, still unwilling to unleash my morning breath, and gave him a grim smile. The best I could do.
     “Okay. That’s good,” he said.
     He was certainly attentive . I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve such kindness . If I’d picked up the poor guy with promises of sex and then proceeded to spend the night with my head in the toilet, by rights, he should be a bit disgruntled. Maybe he hoped I’d make good on the offer this morning. It seemed the only plausible explanation for why he’d linger.
     Under normal conditions, he was light years out of my league and (for the sake of my pride) worlds away from my type. I liked clean-cut. Clean-cut was nice. Bad boys were highly overrated. God knows, I’d watched enough girls throw themselves at my brother over the years. He’d taken what they’d offered if it suited him, and then moved on. Bad boys weren’t the stuff serious relationships were made of. Not that I’d been chasing forever last night, just a positive sexual experience. Something not involving Tommy Byrnes being mad at me for getting a smear of blood on the backseat of his parents’ car. God, what a horrible memory. The next day the douche had dumped me for a girl on the track team with legs like a gazelle. He then added insult to injury by spreading rumors about me. I hadn’t been made bitter or twisted by this event at all.
     What had happened last night? My head remained a tangled, throbbing mess, the details hazy, incomplete.
      “We should get something into you,” he said. “You want me to order some dry toast or something?”
     “No.” The thought of food was not fun. Not even coffee appealed and coffee always appealed. I was half tempted to check myself for a pulse, just in case. Instead, I pushed my hand through my crappy hair, getting it out of my eyes. “No, I … ow!” Strands caught on something, tugging hard at my scalp. “Crap.”
     “Hang on.” He reached out and carefully disentangled my messy do from whatever it was causing the trouble. “There we go.”
     “Thanks.” Something winked at me from my left hand, snagging my attention. A ring, but not just any ring. An amazing ring, a stupendous one.
     “Holy shit,” I whispered.
     It couldn’t be real. It was so big it bordered on obscene. A stone that size would cost a fortune. I stared, bemused, turning my hand to catch the light. The band beneath was thick, solid, and the rock sure shone and sparkled like the real deal.
     As if.
     “Ah, yeah. About that …” he said, dark brows drawn down. He looked vaguely embarrassed by the ice rink on my finger. “If you still wanna change it for something smaller, that’s okay with me. It is kinda big. I do get your point about that.”
     I couldn’t shake the feeling I knew him from somewhere. Somewhere that wasn’t last night or this morning or anything to do with the ridiculous beautiful ring on my finger.
     “You bought me this?” I asked.
     He nodded. “Last night at Cartier.”
     “Cartier?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “Huh.”
     “You don’t remember?”
     I really didn’t want to answer that. “What is that even? Two, three carats?”
     “Five.”
     “Five? Wow.”
     “What do you remember?” he asked, voice hardening just a little.
     “Well … it’s hazy.”
     “No.” His frown increased until it owned his handsome face. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. You seriously don’t know?”
     What to say? My mouth hung open, useless. There was a lot I didn’t know. To my knowledge, however, Cartier didn’t do costume jewelry. My head swam. Bad feelings unfurled within my stomach and bile burnt the back of my throat. Worse even than before.
     I was not puking in front of this guy.
     Not again.
     He took a deep breath, nostrils flaring. “I didn’t realize you’d had that much to drink. I mean, I knew you’d had a bit, but … shit. Seriously? You don’t remember us going on the gondolas at The Venetian?”
     “We went on gondolas?”
     “Fuck. Ah, how about when you bought me a burger? Do you remember that?”
     “Sorry.”
     “Wait a minute,” he said, watching me through narrowed eyes. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”
     “I’m so sorry.”
     He physically recoiled from me. “Let me get this straight, you don’t remember anything?”
     “No,” I said, swallowing hard. “What did we do last night?”
     “We got fucking married,” he growled.
     This time, I didn’t make it to the toilet.

47 comments:

  1. HOLY BATMAN!!! Kylie, you're such a tease! ;) I LOVE IT! I'm so excited I'm squirming in my seat! Haha! More please!

    Keep up the excellent writing!

    Tess xx

    tess_halim (at) hotmail (dot) com

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  2. Nooooo! I need to read more! I love it so far. Waiting until July 1 is going to be so hard.

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  3. I have GOT to read this book. I am dying that I don't already have it. Argh!

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  4. I just finished this book, thanks to Netgalley, and LOVED it! Read it in a matter of hours. My review will be up on my blog the week of publication. My only question now....when does book 2 come out?

    New GFC follower!

    Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

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  5. Found this book by accident and hope I can find more accidents as fabulous as this one. The book was amazing
    and it took me less than a day to devour it. The story development had me hanging on the edge of my seat literally.

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    1. Thanks, Rachael! That's fantastic, glad you enjoyed it. :)

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  6. I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I read it in one day and I can say I wasn't disappointed. I will be reading again and I can't wait for the next one. Thank you Kylie.

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  7. I could not put this book down! It was fabulous....one of my 5 top reads for this genre!!!! Are you writing a Stage Dive #2? I'd love to read the continuing saga of David and Evelyn. Does their marriage survive? Does David continue touring?

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    1. Excellent, Nancy! Thank you so much. Book 2 will hopefully be out early next year. (The marriage will absolutely survive, trust me.)

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    2. Is book 2 going to be about David and Evelyn or another member of the band?

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  9. Please say there is a book coming about Mal??????? He is so funny!!!! I enjoyed David and Ev and everything about them. I would love to read David's POV about the night in Vegas especially the wedding.I am hopeful since there is no epilouge that there is a book 2 about another band member with David and Ev future being played out in the background!!!!!!

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    1. Hey Kathi, there will definitely be a book about Mal. I'm considering doing David's POV. We will see. Thanks for the message. :)

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    2. II really enjoyed this read. I loved the characters just the right amount of rock n roll! I urge you to write next about Jimmy, a little more needy and troubled, me thinks it will made a good one. Maybe Ev should give up the coffee shop and start writing a book about her adventures with her rock star. ;D

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    3. II really enjoyed this read. I loved the characters just the right amount of rock n roll! I urge you to write next about Jimmy, a little more needy and troubled, me thinks it will made a good one. Maybe Ev should give up the coffee shop and start writing a book about her adventures with her rock star. ;D

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    4. Ohh everything that Kathi said...I would love a book about Mal and also Davids point of view would be great!!Loved it!

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    5. Yes please another book in this series soon!

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  10. I love this book , I can not wait for the next. What a wonderful story!!!

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  11. Amazing book!!I fell in love with David!!He was a cute hot rock star :))

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  12. I have a problem (my own problem) … and it’s that I stumble upon these treasures such as Lick. I start it, get immersed, can’t stand to put it down, read til all hours of the night after putting the baby to bed (finally no interruptions), and then it’s over. And that in itself leaves a hole and I find myself wishing that I had stumbled onto said treasure after there are two or three books in the series already out. I am not-so-patiently awaiting your next installment of Stage Dive. Thank you Goodreads/Amazon for the hint that I would like the book and a huge Thank You for writing a book I loved. Also, it has to be said that Mal is already one of my all-time favorite characters! I look forward to seeing what bad-ass woman catches his attention. Cheers!

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    1. Hi Erin, thank you so much for your lovely message! I promise I'm organising more as fast as I can.

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  13. I just finished re-reading Lick (again)and absolutely loved it. I can't wait to read more of your work, especially in this series. I can't wait for the next one to come out!

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    1. Thank you, Tiffaney. Hopefully it won't be too long!

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  14. I found this book on goodreads and let me just say Wow!!! This book was awesome!!♡♡ I can't wait for the next one!!

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  15. I was looking forward to a book two because I need more of DAVID and EVELYN! Well will there be a book two for them? Please please pleas let me know. Not to sound desperate or anything...(winks)
    I love love love this book!
    Thanks again,
    KrazyKat

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    1. Hey Kat, hopefully I'll have details for book 2 soon. It will be Mal's. And thank you so much!

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  16. Totally loved it!!! Stumbled upon this on amazon and I am hooked!! Couldn't put it down and can't wait to eat more in this series and others by you as well!! Great story, loved Ev and David!!
    Michelle

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    1. Thank you, Michelle. Really glad you enjoyed it. :)

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  17. I absolutely loved this book! I stumbled on to it and just loved the name of it but once I started reading it O how I love David:)

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  18. Loved this book and want more! More David and Ev but also Meal's story! Any idea when I can expect the next one?

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  19. Hi Kylie, really enjoyed your story. Looking forward to the entertaining stories on the other band members. What about Sam? He seemed to be very interesting and wondered if there was a story there as well. You know you can't seem to overlook the strong silent type. Lol Read that you liked B horror films. Check out a movie released last year called Snow White Deadly Summer with Eric Roberts and a new guy Chase Bennett, who happens to be my son. It's his first movie and he is a work in progress but graduated from The Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. The powers that be have great hopes for him. I keep pushing all these great books I'm reading at a director friend of his. There is some good material out there, and women are great supporters. :) It's high time for Hollywood to create the TRUE ROMANCE CHANNEL. LOL

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  20. Hi Kylie, really enjoyed your story. Looking forward to the entertaining stories on the other band members. What about Sam? He seemed to be very interesting and wondered if there was a story there as well. You know you can't seem to overlook the strong silent type. Lol Read that you liked B horror films. Check out a movie released last year called Snow White Deadly Summer with Eric Roberts and a new guy Chase Bennett, who happens to be my son. It's his first movie and he is a work in progress but graduated from The Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. The powers that be have great hopes for him. I keep pushing all these great books I'm reading at a director friend of his. There is some good material out there, and women are great supporters. :) It's high time for Hollywood to create the TRUE ROMANCE CHANNEL. LOL

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  21. i've read the book i find it really amazing ! i loved it for real !

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  22. Hi Kylie, it's just after 1am and I just finished Lick. I started reading it at 7 pm and wasn't able to put it down. All I can say is that I loved it and can't wait for number 2. Loved the characters and can't wait to read the stories of the other band members. Thank you for putting something so wonderful out there for me to read. You are a true artist as you had me captivated. Mandy

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  23. Just Finished Lick.. Read it in one night I couldn't put it down... Hope there are more to the series would love to see where their story goes.

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  24. Loved this story. Could not put it down finished in one night. Can't wait for a 2nd book. More David and Ev!!!

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  25. Hi Kylie,
    I just wanted to say how much I love your stories. I know if I have one of yours, I will be unable to put it down, will be up all night, and will probably hide from my family to finish. I read A LOT of authors and you stand out! You are so talented! Hurry! Keep writing, we need more!
    Karen

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  26. Hi Kylie,
    I just want to say how much I love your stories. I know that if I have one of yours, I will be unable to put it down until I have finished. I will not sleep, not do anything but read, and probably hide from my family until I am done. You are so talented and I read a lot of authors. Please! Hurry! Stop reading this and write more!
    Thanks!
    Karen

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  27. I found the book accidentally, bought it online .... and I loved it. I'm from Argentina, and I'm already your fan. When will "Stage Dive 2" is coming?

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  28. I loved this book. You have a wonderful talent for conveying the longing and emotion of the relationship. If I weren't married I would want a David of my very own ;) .

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  29. Simply beautiful! I loved it! The dynamic between David, Ev and Mal is amazing. I couldn't put it down until I was done! Which had me reading all night!. I hope we get sneek peeks of book 2. I would really love to hear more about how David and Ev handle everything now with the touring and all. Anything about Mal he needs to fall in love right?!? Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story! Again cant wait to read more!!!!!

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  30. I just want to say that I just read "Lick" and it was fab. I so love it. Now I am wanting more. Will there be more in the series cause I so need me some Mal? Please let me know. I have to plan accordingly to buy. Hubby put me on a limit, but for the next book I would make him use his Amazon card. :)

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