Tempest

My best friend and I want the same girl. But Lace Lowell is mine. She was mine first. She’ll be mine forever. Sure, she was his friend when they were kids, long before I ever met her. But that’s in the past. This is now. I’m Warren Jinkins. War. My name is my battle cry. I take what I want. I don’t ask, and I want her.

Two years ago, everything changed for the remaining members of the Seattle rock band Tempest. Two years is a long time. Too long to keep on remembering. Not nearly long enough to forget. In trouble, with nowhere else to go, songstress Lace Lowell seeks refuge with the band during their stop in New York City.

To the talented vocalist Justin Jones, love is merely a game that he plays by his own rules. But to Bridget Dubois, love and heartache are one and the same. Broken too many times before, the delicate beauty keeps her emotions carefully concealed. Bridget has her own set of rigid rules when it comes to men. She prefers to avoid them altogether, especially dangerously seductive auburn-haired, emerald-eyed players like Justin. But the new lead singer of the rising rock band Tempest doesn't like to be ignored.

Warren “War” Jinkins is that guy. The bad one. Tempest’s ex-front man, an arrogant rock god. The only thing larger than his ego is his capacity for self-destruction. His bad attitude has cost him. His woman. His best friend. His band. Everything. Shaina Bentley is that girl. The good one. Hollywood’s pink candy-coated sweetheart. She’s been practically perfect since that horrible day. But she’s starting to crack under the strain of being everything to everyone. Is love a current too dangerous to cross or will it be the bridge that brings them together?

The one she really wants is out of reach. The one he really needs is already taken. Dizzy Lowell, rhythm man for the rising rock band Tempest is a wizard on the guitar and a wonder with women. But the hookup specialist hides his emotional scars beneath his suave exterior. He never lets anyone truly touch him. April Reynolds, the confident bartender of the Diamond Mine, knows her way around a cocktail, but Dizzy has her all mixed up. She knows what’s safe. She’s tired of settling, though.

Sager Reed, the strong and silent bassist of the rock band Tempest, is well acquainted with loss. The thoughtful artist’s own tattoos only hint at his turbulent youth. He buries his guilt about it deeply within his troubled heart. Melinda T. Belle, the daughter of a dysfunctional rock legend, as a rule avoids emotional entanglement. In fact, she has turned her back on nearly everyone and everything she has ever known. Now she is alone, trying desperately to find fulfillment in the one dream she has left, competitive skiing.

Juaquin Acenado. A drummer. A rapper. A rock king. My brother’s best friend. Arrogant. Forbidden. Do-not-go-there-trouble. The sexy Latino was too old for me when we first met and I was in high school. But he was my first love. I’ve never gotten over him. Miriam Jackson. Stripper. Exotic dancer. Her stage name is Queen. My bandmate’s little sister. Spicy and sweet. The spark that fires my inspiration. The rhythm to my beat.