Five Weeks
(Seven Series, Bk #3)
By Dannika Dark
Thanks for joining us on the Blog Tour for Five Weeks. We have something special for you today. Dannika has written a Guest Post sharing with us the Playlist for Five Weeks. We also have an excerpt and a grand Giveaway.
Blurb:
Izzy has always loved the freedom and adventure of life on the road, but she’s recently decided to settle down—as much as a rogue wolf can. When her boyfriend gets her a job working at a hot Shifter bar, she runs into the last person on earth she expected to see again.
Jericho isn't the famous rock star he once was, though he still plays in a local band and loves to party. Beautiful women come and go, but music is his only passion—until a sassy redhead named Isabelle Monroe shows up unexpectedly.
Fate reunites two former friends living with one foot in the present and the other in the past. But will they have a future when one of them is forced to choose between life and death? Old habits die hard, and sometimes the toughest addictions to shake are the ones that control our hearts.
Available for purchase at
Five Weeks Playlist by Dannika Dark
I don’t listen to
music while writing, but I love hearing an amazing song that fits a scene
perfectly. Over the years I’ve been adding music to “book” playlists for fun,
but it’s also a great way for a reader to slip into a scene from the author’s
perspective. This one ended up growing a little longer than my others, but
music is at the heart of the story.
Five Weeks centers
around a rock star named Jericho— a man who once had a taste of success.
Unfortunately, that fame came at a price and almost cost him his life. Now his
gigs are local, but his life still revolves around music.
This story is about
a couple torn apart by misunderstandings and time. They weren’t in the right
place in their lives to be together, so a lot of songs reflect that, like
“Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” and “With or Without You.” The tune “Yesterday”
encapsulates their relationship best and sets up a scene in the book. I can’t
listen to that song without thinking of Jericho and Izzy.
In the end, “Love
Will Find a Way.”
PLAYLIST
“Night of the
Hunter” by Thirty Seconds to Mars
“Somebody That I
Used To Know” by Gotye
“Yesterday” by the
Beatles
“Your Wildest
Dreams” by The Moody Blues
“Babe, I’m Gonna
Leave You” by Led Zeppelin
“Clementine” by
Sarah Jaffe
“With or Without
You” by U2
“If You See Her,
Say Hello” by Bob Dylan
“Far Behind” by
Candlebox
“Let her Go” by
Passenger
“How Can I tell You
(That I love you) by Liz Durrett
“She Wolf (Falling
to Pieces)” by David Guetta
“I just Want to
Make Love to You” by Foghat
“This Love” by
Maroon 5
“Love Will Find a
Way” by Tesla
“You were Always on
my Mind” by Willie Nelson
“Closer” by Nine
Inch Nails
“Love Me Again” by
John Newman
“Isabelle” by
Michael Kaeshammer
“Thinking out loud”
by Ed Sheeran
As the men dispersed, a warm feeling slid over my body when I looked up at Jericho. His eyes were hooded and low, but when he melted me with a possessive gaze, my feet cemented to the floor.
He moved toward me with the grace of a panther—slow and predatory. The external noise from the bar faded away, and all I heard were his silken words as he caressed the ends of my hair, looking at it between his fingers.
“You haven’t changed,” he said in quiet words.
“What do you mean by that?”
Jericho bent down and his mouth brushed against my ear. “Still sexy as sin and making me protect you.”
Goose bumps erupted over my arms. “No one said you had to protect me. I’m not the shy girl you once knew.” My heart raced. The inflection in my tone wasn't as harsh as I’d planned it to be, my words breathy and unsure.
His warm body pressed against mine and when I stepped back, I bumped into a wooden post that pinned me to him. Tingles raced through my body uncontrollably, and I lost the ability to think rationally when I smelled his cologne. Men never had this kind of effect on me. His power slid down my body like hands against my naked flesh.
Jericho had a smile that aroused, and combined with his voice, it became an aphrodisiac.
Or maybe it was the way his callused fingers lightly stroked the back of my neck, as if I were an instrument. As he played me, memories flooded my mind, and I shoved him away, panting and trembling.
Jericho worked his jaw in a frustrated manner, his brows slanting down with a look of disbelief. He shook his head and then backed up.
A brunette appeared out of nowhere in a revealing top that displayed her breasts like cookies in a bakery: warm, tempting, and something you’d regret later.
“How’s my sexy man?” she asked, tucking her fingers possessively in his jeans and nipping on his arm. “You want to go have some fun?”
His eyes stayed locked on mine as he circled his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She moaned playfully as he squeezed her hip, testing if I had my temper under control.
So I played his game.
“Can I get you a drink, honey?” I asked her. “Maybe some milk in a dish?”
Sometimes I could spot the cats. It was all in the purr and the way they slinked their bodies.
“No, thanks,” she replied. “I have something else in mind I want to put in my mouth.”
When she stroked his crotch, I blinked in surprise. Not just because she had the audacity to do that in front of me, but the fact that Jericho tilted his head and gave me a “so what?” look.
So what?
Maybe he was right. All that connected us were five amazing years, and that was a lifetime ago. Seeing him made me raw again. Those feelings caught up with me like a shadow that had never let go. Part of me wanted to squeeze him tight and tell him how much I’d missed him—because I had. Jericho had shown me the private side of himself he never gave to others, and I’d done the same for him. Another part of me wanted to hate him for the anguish he’d put me through. And yet, I couldn't help but feel elated knowing that despite his insolence, Jericho wasn't lying in a grave as I’d imagined. He’d somehow assembled his life into something meaningful and gotten a grip on his demons.
Meanwhile, my demons were currently on the rampage and waving pitchforks.
So I said cutting words that hurt because I meant them, and yet I didn't.
“I wish I’d never met you.”
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This is the segment where you learn a little more about who I am, so here's what I can tell you: I drink copious amounts of vitamin water placed precariously close to my laptop while writing. These are two healthy habits I have no intention of breaking. I'm a transplant living in the south, but I was born in the 70's to a military dad who moved us around the world.
When I'm not writing (which is all the time), I'm hunting down Indie music, watching movies, reading, eating Tex-Mex, discovering new ways to humiliate myself bowling, and burning up my laptop battery on the Internet. I have a relaxed, easy-going personality and don't like drama. I live with a cat who thinks she is a dog, or a goat (she eats plastic, so I'm not sure which).
Throughout my life, I've had insomnia. Counting sheep never worked and eventually I would imagine those sheep were the sole source of food after an apocalyptic battle where only thousands survived. I made up stories in a futile attempt to bore myself to sleep. The problem was, I got so wrapped up in my "head stories" that I would continue them through the following nights, changing it up each time to make it more exciting. Eventually, I started writing my ideas down - creating short stories, and then I discovered my love for poetry.
It's almost embarrassing how many spiral notebooks and stacks of paper I have of poetry and lyrics.
Another passion: digital art. I design all my book covers, marketing, and series art. I'm a very visual person and pursued photography as an avid hobby for many years.
I am not a YA author (I feel like I have to state this only because I've had a few people ask), but I think it's wonderful there are so many books available to teens in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal.
I am finally doing what I have always wanted to do: giving my characters a pulse through writing full time. I focus on adult urban fantasy romance, but I don't like labels and I enjoy blending genres to break out of the confines of predictability.
But it's what I love to do.
Danni
You can find Dannika here:
