Twisted by Cari Quinn & Taryn Elliott
Publisher: Rainbow Rage Publishing
Release Date: December 2nd 2014
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Erotica
Synopsis:
He’s always saved her. Now she’s going to return the favor…
Gray Duffy never thought he’d end up as the co-lead guitarist of Oblivion, one of the hottest rock bands in the country. Even better? He’s sharing the experience with his best friend, Jazz. Since the day she’d showed up as his family’s new foster kid, Gray has protected her. Loved her. And not just platonically either. After all these years of wanting her in his bed, he still doesn’t know what it would be like to have her mouth on his.
Except for that one time. The time he’d shared her with Nick. The best worst night of his life.
Now they’re living their dream. They’re making music together and spending every waking moment trapped in tight quarters. With success at their fingertips, the time is right for him to finally make his move toward the woman he needs.
He just never figured he would lose control. Or that she would find out.
They’ve loved each other through everything. But what if this time love just isn’t enough?
Blog Post:
Hi everyone! Thanks so much for stopping in to let me talk a little bit about TWISTED. I’m Taryn Elliott and I co-write the Lost in Oblivion series with Cari Quinn. We started this crazy idea thanks to our mutual obsession with music. We both came up with individual ideas for musicians and decided…hmmm. Well, that’s stupid. We work well together already as critique partners. Oh, and we’re best friends.
Why aren’t we doing a project together again?
Now the danger, of course, is jumping into bed with your best friend. In our case…trust and being co-chairs of our mutual admiration society keeps us pretty happy. That and we have the truly eerie ability to read each other’s mind. I kid you not—it could be a party trick at this point. It’s a little crazy.
There’s a lot of different ways to do the co-authoring thing. Our process?
We both wanted to make music the actual focus of the series.
No, really. Music.
I know…this is a little shocking, but there are many rock star romances out there that barely touch on the actual music making. AND we wanted it to be a bit grittier than what we’ve seen out there in our e-readers.
With that in mind we make a loose outline of where we want to go with the series. And seriously, I do mean loose. Holy change of heading, Batman! Boy do we throw monkey wrenches in our stories! But instead of arguing about huge changes, or plots that run off the rails…we simply reassess and find that the story is actually better for it in the long run.
The first book, SEDUCED, we wrote together. That book was a beast of a different color in all ways. She was the character of Nick Crandall and I was Simon Kagan. We alternated chapters and stayed strictly in our own character’s point of view. That worked pretty well, but the alternating chapters kind of stilted our writing a little bit. Oh and the introduction novel became a whole different kind of love story. It wasn’t two characters falling in love—it was a band forming, or…for all intents and purposes…falling in love.
After we were finished with that book we knew we needed to focus on the relationships we’d established in SEDUCED. So we decided to take on the full novels and alternate writing that way.
I wrote ROCKED – Harper Pruitt and Deacon McCoy’s story this past April.
Cari wrote TWISTED – Jazz Edwards & Grayson Duffy’s story which comes out December 2nd.
I will take over again and write DESTROYED this upcoming spring – Simon Kagan & Margo Reece’s story.
Then Cari will bookend the series with SHATTERED next winter –Nick Crandall & Lila Shawcross’s love story.
In between, we also write novellas because we juuuuust can’t let go of our characters. At this point, you’d think we were COMPLETLY sick of our characters. 400 pages? Nahhh. I neeeeeeed more!
Then…don’t get us started on the spinoffs. This whole musical world opened up so many different stories for us. If you saw our storyboards and One Note files you’d weep. It’s a sickness. Oone that I NEVER want a cure for. Cari and I will never be one of those writers that says, “I’m out of ideas.”
Seriously…TOO many ideas are rambling around in our heads! And man…we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Thanks so much for having us! And we hope you enjoy our next installment of the Lost in Oblivion series, TWISTED!
Excerpt:
Jazz frowned. Splitting up the band? What the hell?
Deacon lumbered to his feet. “What is that supposed to mean? You can’t split us up.
That’s not your call to make.”
One of Lila’s pale blonde eyebrows lifted. “Oh, you’d be surprised what calls I can make,
Mr. McCoy. However, in this case, you misunderstand me. I’m not splitting up the band.” A hint
of a smile crept across her mouth. “For long.”
“I’ve had enough of this shit for one night. Call us back when you’re done speaking in
riddles.” Nick shoved out of his chair and had made it halfway to the door when Lila barked out
a command.
“Sit. All of you. And listen with the things on the side of your head instead of the big
gaping maws under your noses.”
Jazz sniffled and tried to discreetly run her thumbs under her eyes. Simon bumped his
chair into hers then slid his arm around her shoulders, giving her an excuse to lean into his
embrace. After the near band breakup a couple of months ago, things weren’t the same between
her and Simon anymore, but she wasn’t about to fight that battle right now. She was tired of
fighting to hold on to the pieces of her life.
It was nice, just now, to be held.
Her gaze connected with Nick’s across the table. His Adam’s apple bobbed in the
stubbled column of his throat but he didn’t look away.
After tonight, she had a feeling he was willing to hold her too, in a much different way
than Simon or Deak. Somehow he still was, even after that mess that had been the threesome
with Gray.
And what was stopping her from taking that comfort if it was offered? Why shouldn’t she
feel good too?
Because he’s not who you want and it’s not fair to either one of you to settle.
God, she hated that reasonable voice in her head sometimes. All the time lately.
“When I said I intend to split the band up, I meant temporarily. For the ultimate good of
Oblivion.”
“Should we pull our pants down and bend over now or should we wait?”
Jazz tried not to smile at Nick’s question but Simon choking his laughter into her hair
didn’t help. Deak, on the other hand, sat stoic, stone-faced to the end. He was the best negotiator
of all of them and wouldn’t concede even a smile until he knew what Lila had in mind.
Jazz had to admire him for that, just as she admired him for managing to build a family in
the middle of the craziness that was life for a new band on the road. If a little envy snuck in there
from time to time, she figured that was natural. Harper would be starting to show soon. Hell,
she was already glowing. They both were, Deak in a much more mansterly way, of course. They
were new too, their marriage, their life together. But they were a unit.
She wanted that so fucking bad.
Kinda crazy that she’d achieved the dream of being in a semi-famous band but the one
of settling down with a husband and family seemed to get farther away by the day. Not just any
husband. It would always be Gray for her. Always.
Lila sent Nick a withering look. “Please, don’t drop trou on my account. I’m not sure my
heart could take the thrill. Now if we can continue...”
Jazz blinked away the renewed prickling in her eyes and tried to focus on Lila.
“Shouldn’t we discuss this when Gray’s here?”
“I intended to do just that until he split when Granny fell ill. Unless you can get him back
here in the next ten, we proceed without him.”
“No,” she whispered. “He’s gone.”
Q & A with Nick and Deacon:
Want to know a bit more about the super sexy Lost in Oblivion NA rock star series? Taryn and I would love to share a bit about our boys – and girl – from Oblivion. We kicked off the Lost in Oblivion series summer 2013 with the full-length intro, SEDUCED, and Deacon’s book, ROCKED, released in April, followed up by ROCK, RATTLE and ROLL in July and now TWISTED in December.
In honor of the festivities, lead guitarist Nick decided to interview Deacon, bassist, peacemaker and all-around good guy with a streak of dirty. ;) Hope you enjoy!
1) Nick: So tell the loyal readers of this blog something, Deak - how the fuck did you get so BIG? Is it all the protein shakes, the obsessive working out or just genes that made you look like you gnaw on your bass for a bedtime snack?
Deacon: It takes double reps to deal with you idiots on the bus. Oh, and that's daily. So...you do the math, genius. *Deacon tosses medicine ball at Nick*
*Nick catches the 20lb exercise ball in the gut with a grunt* Okay, fine, this is about music, so we'll keep it about music. *winces slightly and tosses back* How'd you get so damn lucky to end up with such fine musicians, boy?
D: Is that what this is? luck? Well, I guess if I didn't have shit luck, I wouldn't have any at all. *smirks at Nick's raised brow* No, seriously. We were in the same neighborhood and I caught you and Simon on the pier playing for cigarette money. How many people our age know Bad Company and Sweet Child O' Mine? It was fate.
2) Nick: The bass is pretty cool and all but guitar players do it faster, you know. Did you ever want to swap out instruments and come at it from a different direction? (huh, that sounded dirty...something I'm always *up* for)
D: Perv. You're hanging with Simon too much.
Nick: He doesn't shut the hell up. Yaps all damn night through the bunk on the damn bus.
D: 3 words. Noise cancelling earbuds. *smothers a laugh* You're learning that withering glare thing from Jazz. Impressive. *Sits back on couch and stretches out legs* I'm good with the guitar, and I can play the piano, but the bass feels right. And when it comes to music it's all about what feels right.
3) Nick: My first concert experience was Pearl Jam back when I thought wearing flannel made me look deep. What was yours? If you tell me something with Bret Michaels, I'll fear for your mortal soul, just FYI.
D: First show I paid for my own ticket? or first show I snuck into?
Nick: Both.
D: I had a growth spurt at 12.
Nick: Color me shocked.
D: Hey, being six feet tall gets you into gigs. And drinks.
Nick: And girls.
D: Maybe. But the first show was The White Stripes. First paid one was at sixteen. That one I drank way too much trying to impress a girl.
Nick: How'd that work out?
D: Puke and Black Eyed Peas. What do you think?
Nick: Your puke?
D: The girl.
* Nick claps loudly as he laughs*
4) Nick: Why the hell do you care so much about keeping the peace? Don't you ever want to let loose with me and Pretty Boy when we whale on each other? *looks off-camera* Okay, fine, this is supposed to be a semi-serious interview so I'll change that question to: What kind of satisfaction do you find from melding the tempestuous personalities of the great musical geniuses you have in your midst? *smirks*
D: If I don't keep the peace then the chaos takes over. I'm not letting this band fall into chaos. Period. It means too much. Besides, if I let loose you'd need more than a Band-Aid like when you fight with Pretty Boy.
5) Nick: So how do you feel about groupies? Also - what's your preferred way to FEEL UP groupies? I mean, now that we actually have some. You aren't really looking to get settled down right when we've finally hit the jack-off jackpot, are you? (I heard a rumor. No, of course I don't pay attention to gossip mags. Unless they have dirt on Simon - then it's ALL true.)
D: Settled down isn't a bad thing. A new woman in my bed or my bunk...or if you're Simon, whatever closet is available...isn't my bag. I like knowing just where to touch my girl and learning all the things that make her tick or make her sigh. I like seeing that same smile spread just for me. The same woman isn't a bad thing, bro. Not at all. The groupie deal is way overrated.
…See what I mean? Deacon’s a good guy who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to win over the heart of his woman. Which brings me to my question for the readers of this blog: do you like bad boys or good guys? Tell us why! All commenters who leave their email address will be entered to win a signed copy of SEDUCED plus some fun swag. So comment away! And happy one year anniversary to Tempting Reads—hope you all have a great ROCKTOBER!
Want to keep up with the band? Visit www.lostinoblivion.com
Visit Cari Quinn at www.cariquinn.com and Taryn Elliott at www.tarynelliott.com
Author Bio:
USA TODAY bestselling author Cari Quinn wrote her first story--a bible parable--in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. She attempted her first romance in junior high, long before she'd ever read one. Writing what she knew always took a backseat to what she wanted to know, and that still holds true today.
Though she also fires up her computer as a graphic designer, proofreader and editor, she can't resist the lure of disappearing into a world of her own creation. Now she gets to pen sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars.
The only thing she loves more than writing is hearing from readers! Please contact her through one of the ways below.
Taryn Elliott comes from the great state of New York—upstate, thank you very much. She’s usually busy making up stories with her best friend until the wee hours of the morning, or fangirling over her favorite TV show. She falls in love with each and every one of her leading men as she writes their book, and there’s always a soundtrack to match.
She loves talking to readers, so if you'd like to reach her, please visit her website and sign up for her newsletter, or drop her a line at taryn@tarynelliott.com.
She loves talking to readers, so if you'd like to reach her, please visit her website and sign up for her newsletter, or drop her a line at taryn@tarynelliott.com.
Giveaway:
Individual giveaway ENDS DECEMBER 17TH 2014
1. eBook copy of Seduced (The Prequel)
Leave you name, email and number starting from one in the comment section below.
Blitz-wide giveaway (US AND CANADA ONLY) ENDS DECEMBER 9TH 2014
1. Signed copy of Rocked (Book 1)
2. Lost in Oblivion sway and a guitar ornament
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