Welcome to the blog tour for Rock Courtship, Nalini Singh's novella in her Rock Kiss Series.
Today we have a Excerpt, Review and Giveaway! Rock On!
Rock Courtship
by Nalini Singh
Book 1.5 in the Rock Kiss Series
SUMMARY:
What happens when the
Gentleman of Rock decides to play dirty?
A drummer for the hottest rock band on the planet, David has a single, powerful
weakness: Thea, the band’s publicist and the woman who steals his breath away
with her every move.
Only problem is, Thea doesn’t date clients—or musicians. Emotionally scarred by
a cheating ex, she’s not about to risk her heart with a man who has groupies
buzzing around him like flies. Even if his sexy smile ties her up in knots.
What she doesn’t know is that David is a one-woman man...and he’s madly in love
with her. David’s determined to prove he’s worth the risk, and willing to court
her, step by exquisite step. Thea’s about to discover just how long and hard
this handsome drummer can play.
The best review I can give this book is that when I finished, I
really wanted more. A step up from book
one, this novella has a little more nuance.
My favorite part of this book? David. David. David. David is the gentleman
of the band. More than just the drummer,
he also helps keeps the band on a steady beat.
Not given to wild antics or conflict (well, at least when it isn’t
warranted), David maintains the equilibrium. Coming from a lower-economic
neighborhood, David is the “scholarship” kid at the exclusive private school
where the band members first meet. He is not the priviledged kid, but he soon
falls in with the future members of the band. Back at home, in the working-class
neighborhood where David grew up, he has had to learn to be scrappy and persevere, skills necessary for his pursuit of Thea. I like that David is not like the other
members of the band with secret, and heretofore, unknown pain. David’s pain is trying to get Thea to let go
of her primary rule to not date clients.
Although some might consider it “overdone”, I liked Ms. Singh’s
use of electronic messaging to convey are characters’ thoughts to one
another. It stands as a commentary about
not only our obsession with electronic media, but also our willingness to
expose so much vulnerability when we don’t have to confront someone face to
face. I look forward to these little
messages because I know we will get to the truth of the characters’ feelings
toward one another.
As a contemporary romance this works for me because David is sweet and he is "all-in" to this relationship. As a rock and roll contemporary romance, I do miss a little of edge and angst. I imagine that the stories of the remaining members of the band might be a little more gritty. I'm ready for that.
IN A NUTSHELL:
A sweet, contemporary love story, featuring a highly likable hero, this is a great addition to the series.
EXCERPT:
“Beer—whatever you have on tap,” David said to the grizzled
bartender and grabbed a stool, his eye on the rugby game in progress on the TV
screen bolted above the bar.
He’d
hardly taken a sip of his beer, the dark liquid bitingly cold, when he felt a
presence at his back. Instincts honed by a childhood in one of the toughest
areas of New York had him focusing on the mirror behind the bar to check out
the situation before he turned. A big, bald, and heavily muscled male with a
spiderweb tattoo on his neck was standing behind and just to the side of David,
a smirk on his pockmarked face.
Belly
heating, David turned with a slight smile. “Problem?”
The
bald man bared his teeth and, laughing, looked to a table to his right. “Hear
that, boys?” he called out to his friends. “The pussy rock star here wants to
know if there’s a problem.”
Laughter
and shouts from that particular table, while the rest of the men in the bar
went quiet. David didn’t move, taking a measure of the players without letting
it show. “Always know your opponent” had been one of the first things his
father had taught him—Vicente Rivera didn’t believe in turning the other cheek;
he believed in teaching his sons how to put bullies on the ground and keep them
there.
“Yeah,
there’s a problem,” the bald guy said, shoving at David’s shoulder. “This is a
real bar for real men. Not pussies.”
Like
that, then. Good. He was in the mood
to do some violence. Lifting his beer, David took a long drink, then slammed it
down… and punched Bald Head in the jaw at the same time that he kicked out with
his foot to connect with the other man’s knee. The jackass went down like a ton
of bricks.
Roaring
in rage, the man’s friends came at David.
He
grinned and started to show them what this “pussy rock star” could do.
It
wasn’t until they’d broken a table and several chairs, and the bartender had
called the cops that David realized Thea would have to deal with the fallout
from this. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he thought as he was shoved into a cell alone, his
erstwhile opponents in the cell opposite. Sliding down the graffiti-marked wall
to the floor, he thought about the phone call the desk sergeant had said he
could make and decided against it.
Fox had
Molly with him—the band’s lead singer had been waiting for his girl to arrive
since the instant Schoolboy Choir set foot in the city. As for Noah and Abe,
they both had their own plans. He knew any one of the three men would drop
those plans in an instant to come to his aid, but since the cops had made it
clear he’d be spending the night in a cell no matter what, why mess up their
plans?
“You do or say anything
that’ll hit the media, you call me. Day or night. I hate surprises—so don’t you
dare surprise me.”
Thea
had given that order to all four of them when she’d agreed to act as their
publicist. Her up-front nature and dedication to her job was part of the reason
they’d hired her; Thea was the best and she didn’t take any shit from her
clients. He wasn’t doing himself any favors by not calling her.
Right
then, David couldn’t find it in himself to care. It wasn’t as if she could hurt
him any more than she already had. And Jesus, how long was he going to carry
this torch that was burning him alive? “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he said aloud,
banging the back of his head against the wall.
Additional Excerpt can be found on Nalini’s website HERE
NEW YORK TIMES AND USA Today bestselling
author of the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series Nalini Singh usually
writes about hot shapeshifters and dangerous angels. This time around, she
decided to write about hot and wickedly tempting rock stars. If you’re seeing a
theme here, you’re not wrong.
Nalini lives and works in beautiful New
Zealand, and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other
books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave
to Sensation is the first book in the
Psy-Changeling series, whileAngels’
Blood is the first book in the
Guild Hunter series. Also, don't forget to swing by the site to check out the
special behind-the-scenes
page for the Rock Kiss series,
complete with photos of many of the locations used in the books.
$50 Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway
