It's been twelve years since Tru Bennett last saw Jake Wethers, her former best friend and boy she once loved.
Jake Wethers, sexy, tattooed and deliciously bad lead singer, and brains behind The Mighty Storm, one of biggest bands in the world, left Tru with a broken heart when he moved from England to America with his family when they were both fourteen.
Sent to interview Jake for her music column by the magazine she works for, they are both unprepared for the sparks that fly the instant they reconnect. Only, there’s a complication to their instant feelings for one another – Will, Tru’s boyfriend of two years.
Then Jake makes Tru a job offer she can't refuse - travelling the world with him and his band. But taking the job means leaving Will behind, and being on the road with the band means spending an inordinate amount of time with Jake.
Is Tru strong enough to resist the delectable bad boy who once held her heart so completely, or will she willingly risk it all for one night with the worlds most notorious womanizer?
Excerpt
From Samantha Towie's webpage -“Holy shit!” Jake exclaims, his lips shaping into a heart-breaking smile. “When Stuart said the name of the interviewer was Trudy Bennett, I just thought – there can’t be that many Trudy Bennett’s here in the UK can there? – I mean there probably is but –” He laughs. Surprising to me, he sounds nervous. “But then I just thought it would be too much of a coincidence for it to be you, and shit … here you are.”
“Here I am.” Still echoing, sounding like some lame fucking parrot.
He comes over to me. Each stride he takes closer, my heart whams against my ribcage.
He stops in front of me, only inches away.
Holy crap, he’s so beautiful. And he’s so much taller now, but then he was fourteen the last time I saw him in the flesh. He looks even better than he does on TV.
Wow, he really has grown up.
He’s smells like of a mixture of cigarettes, aftershave, and mint. It’s a surprisingly alluring smell, and it’s doing all kinds of funny things to me.
“It’s been what – eleven years?” he says, his voice quieter now.
“Twelve.” I swallow.
“Twelve. Christ, yeah, right.” He runs his hand through his black hair. “You look different ... but the same – you know.” He shrugs.
“I know,” I smile. “You look different too.” I gesture to the tattoos on his arms.
He grins down at them, then back at me.
“But still the same.” I point my finger to the freckles on his nose.
He rubs his hand over his nose. “Yeah, no getting rid of them.”
“I always liked them.”
“Yeah, but you liked the Care Bears, Tru.”
I flush. I can’t believe he remembers that.
It’s crazy, that he, Jake Wethers, rock god extraordinaire, remembers that I liked the Care Bears when I was little.
“You remember that huh?” I murmur, cheeks flaming.
“I remember a lot.” He grins, devilishly. “Come on let’s sit down.” He grabs hold of my hand. Surprisingly, a jolt of electricity fires up my arm, searing into me.
Jake leads me over to the plush sofa and sits down, letting go of my hand. My hand instantly feels cold. I clutch hold of my bag and sit down beside him.
He turns his body toward me, resting his foot up onto his thigh. It’s only then I realise his feet are bare.
Seriously, what is it about men in jeans and bare feet which is so totally hot?
I take my bag off my shoulder and put it to the floor.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asks.
I shift my legs toward him, turning my body slightly to face him. His eyes are already on my face.
I flush under his stare. “Water would be great, thanks.”
I could actually do with a neat vodka right now to calm my nerves; my hangover suddenly disappearing. But it’s 10am, and Jake is a recovering alcoholic.
“Water? You sure you don’t want orange juice or something?”
I shake my head. “Water’s fine.”
“Stuart!” Jakes yells, making me jump a little.
Stuart appears a few seconds later.
Was he stood by the door waiting or something? Actually it’s only now I realise I didn’t even see him leaving before. The guy’s pretty stealthy.
“Can you get Tru a glass or water and I’ll have an orange juice, please,” Jake says to him.
Stuart nods, smiling at me, then disappears off again.
I can see Jake’s leg jigging in my eye line. He seems a little on edge. I have the urge to reach over and put my hand on his leg settling him, but I don’t.
“So, this is a little crazy, huh?” he murmurs.
“Hmm. A little.” I press my lips together in a small smile.
Actually, I was thinking more – surreal, off the charts.
A silence falls between us.
Wow, twelve years apart and I’m just a barrel full of conversation aren’t I? It’s weird but I just can’t seem to find a thing to say to him.
“So how have you been?” he asks me.
“Good. Great. I’m music journalist now, obviously…” I trail off.
“You always were a good writer,” he says.
“I was?”
I didn’t even know he thought that.
“Yeah, those stories you used to make up when we were little, and then you used to make me sit and listen to you while you read them back to me.” He chuckles, eyes shining with the memory.
I feel my face go bright red. “Oh god,” I groan, embarrassed. “I was so lame.”
He laughs again, louder this time. “You were five, Tru. I think we can forgive the lame.” He drags his fingers through his hair. “And you always loved music so makes sense the two went together,” he adds.
My heart suddenly feels all warm and squishy. He remembers so much more than I thought he would.
“You still play the piano?” he asks.
“No. I stopped–”
I stopped playing after you left.
Jen's Review
What a way to bring in the New Year!! Why did it take me so long to read this book!!
WOW !
And to think, if The Mighty Jake Wethers didn't show up on Facebook, I might not have read this book for a few more weeks! MONTHS even!
So glad I did :) What a sweetheart Jake is!! I truly loved this book
The book starts off with Tru getting an offer from her boss/good friend Vickie to do an interview with the Famous Jake Wethers!! But to Tru, it's not as exciting as Vickie thinks.. in fact, it's down right scary!
Tru knows Jake. They grew up together and were best friends. Her dad practically took Jake under his wing and gave him his first guitar. Life was great back then. They had so much fun, and she was madly in love with him. But of course he never knew that. He wouldn't look at her that way. This was Jake! And when she was 14, Jake had to move away. Far, far, far away. They swore they'd keep touch, but back then, after a few long distant phone calls, and letters in the mail, Jake just kind of .. stopped replying. That hurt... a lot.
But Tru followed his music career. Since she wrote a music column at a magazine, this was her job. So of course she'd do the interview, but she was terrified of facing Jake again. One of the reasons was Will, she and Will have been together for 2 years, and things were grate with him. But just THINKING about Jake... *sigh* I know how she feels :)
As soon as their eyes met, he recognized her. Jake has lived a hard life. Once he left to live in the U.S. and he became a rock star, not just a little rock star, this is JAKE Freakin Wethers! He's THE rock star! And whatever Jake wants, Jake Gets!!
Jake had it all, sex, drugs and rock and roll. He thought he had it all, until one day when his lead gutair, and best friend died. Then all of a sudden, Jake just couldn't see straight. The women and drugs started getting worse and worse. Finally spending time in rehab, he's clean and now that Tru is right there in front of him, he's not going to let her go ever again.
Tru is still nervous to be around him. She can't tell if it's because she still has feelings for him, or because he's a rock star. But the sooner she gets the interview over with, the better.
But it doesn't stop there. Jake asks her out for dinner, just as friends to catch up over lost time.
Tru is actually excited about that... and awe - he takes her to a Special place!
*sigh* Ok there are a lot of "Awe" moments in this book - seems like Jake pulls out all stops when he's going after Tru to win her heart. But it's not like he has to try very hard. Tru's heart is right there, pounding away like she was a kid again. But this time, she has Will.
But when Jake offers her the opportunity of a life time, to write his Biography and tour with the band, she really can't say no to him.. and saying No to Jake seems to get harder and harder and harder to do once they get on tour :)
LOVED the story! REALLy worth the read and I'm totally looking forward to another Mighty Storm story!
Withering the Storm comes out in 2013 - Can't WAIT :D
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