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If you've read IN TOO DEEP, you are well-acquainted with Gracie, Noah and Jake. Well, their stories aren't over when you reach the last page... ON SOLID GROUND is the sequel due out in December. The cover reveal for ON SOLID GROUND will take place on numerous book blogs on August 20th!
So, for now, I leave you with the synopsis and a quick (previously posted) glimpse into the pages of of ON SOLID GROUND...
Synopsis:
Gracie
survived an emotionally abusive relationship that wrecked her. Her ex, Noah,
systematically chipped away at her self-esteem through intimidation,
humiliation and infidelity which left Gracie unable to trust her own perception
of his intentions. But after falling head over heels for Jake, her best friend
and the man who stood by her through it all, she is ready to experience life in
the way it was meant to be lived.
However, Gracie may find it impossible to simultaneously heal from the
trauma of abuse while navigating a relationship with Jake. Can she put her
heart on hold in order to heal her soul?
The
sequel to the five-star debut novel, In Too Deep, chronicles Gracie’s steps toward
recovery as she discovers new interests, reaches out for help, deals with the
return of unexpected exes, struggles through setbacks and reacquaints herself
with a sensual and talented soul from her past all in hopes of finding herself
on solid ground.Excerpt:
Calon: Yaz wants to do your guitar lesson at Mitchell’s tonight. 7:00 instead of 6:30.
That was odd. Why in the world would Yaz have Calon text
me?
I walked through the door of Mitchell's and could hear
voices. I got to the bottom of the stairs and realized it was Alternate Tragedy
but just the band, no Calon. I looked over at the bar just as Jake looked up.
He smiled at what he thought was a surprise visit just as his instructor told
them to practice something on their own while he took an important phone call.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had a lesson.”
“Calon texted me to meet Yaz here.”
“Oh. He’s in the back booth.” He motioned with his chin
toward the back of the bar and then smiled.
I turned to go see Yaz who’d just leaned out into the
aisle and caught a glimpse of me. He held up a finger to whoever he was talking
to. That was the only bad thing about the basement of Mitchell’s; the high back
booths. You couldn’t see into a booth unless someone was leaning out of it or
you were directly next to it. I didn’t know how the wait staff kept track of
their customers when they couldn’t even see if anyone was occupying the booths
in their section.
“Gracie, you ready?” Calon came
out of nowhere.
“Huh?”
Panic seized my chest and I stared at Yaz like a deer in the headlights waiting
for an explanation.
“You’re
practicing with AT tonight. Wednesdays are rehearsals for the weekend bands.
You’re going to rehearse with them in place of your regular guitar lesson.”
“Oh,
I can’t—”
“Oh
but you can. Grab your guitar and follow me.”
I could
barely breathe. This was ridiculous. I searched behind the bar for Jake but his
bartending class must have gone to the back room. The dimly lit room was empty
except for us. Me, the guys of Alternate Tragedy and Yaz.
“Guys,
this is Gracie. Gracie, this is Spider, Manny, Bones and Phil.” All the guys
said “hi” in unison. They smiled as though they were trying to comfort me. I
was positive there was no way I could hide how terrified I was.
“Can’t
I just watch tonight? I’m not sure I’m ready—”
“Gracie,”
Calon took me by the shoulders and spun me so I faced him. He tilted his head
down to catch my gaze. “have you ever seen the videos of the people who put
babies in pools and they instinctively swim?”
“I
nodded.”
“What’s
the reason for that?”
“Because
if …oh, wait, I know what you’re doing! Come on, guys!” I wiggled away from
Calon and hugged my guitar case close to me.”
“Finish
what you were going to say.” Calon smirked.
“You
are infuriating.” I tried to look my angriest.
“Baby,
you’re not the first person to tell me that. Now finish.”
I
sighed with a frustrated growl and spoke quickly, “They throw them in so it’s a
sink or swim kind of thing. Anyone can be taught through lessons but the sink
or swim technique makes swimming instinctive.”
“Right
on, G!” Spider called from his stool at the drums. I should have assumed a band
made up mostly of men with nicknames would grant me my very own nickname. G? It
could be worse.
I
saw the group of bartenders move out from the back room and take their spots
behind the bar. Jake looked up and smiled and winked but I wondered if he was
still bothered by my artistic connection with Calon.
Calon
ushered me to a stool at center stage with a mic stand directly in front of it.
He took Josephine out of her case and helped me under the strap Jake got for
me.
“Now,
if you decide you want to be our opening act, you will be playing acoustic.
Just you and Josephine on the stage” I was stunned he remembered what I’d named
my guitar. ”But if you want to mix it up a bit tonight, the guys have offered
to be back up for you for a couple songs. They’re going to play along tonight
just to take the pressure off a little.”
“Calon.
I didn’t prepare anything. I can’t—”
“Sink
or swim, Gracie.”
And
with that he stepped down off the stage and sat down in a chair directly in
front of me. He leaned back in the chair and started tapping one of his boots
loud enough for the band to hear. On cue, Bones came in with the bass guitar,
then Manny and Spider joined him with drums and Phil slammed a tambourine
against his palm. “Rearview Mirror.”
I
closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. I took so many deep breaths that the
guys had to do the whole eight measure intro three times before I was ready to
sing.If you are a book blogger and would like to join us on August 20th for the COVER REVEAL...please email me at michellebrownlow@yahoo.com
If you haven't already, you can check out IN TOO DEEP here!
