Rock with the Rhythm by M.J. Schiller is a Spring Break Bookapalooza pick #rockromance #islandromance #romance #mustread #giveaway
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  • N. N. Light
    • Apr 9
    • 5 min read

Rock with the Rhythm by M.J. Schiller is a Spring Break Bookapalooza pick #rockromance #islandromance #romance #mustread #giveaway



Title: ROCK WITH THE RHYTHM

 

Author: M.J. Schiller

 

Genre: Romance, rock romance, romantic suspense, island romance

 

Book Blurb:

 

Rock star Phoenix Blackstone never thought he’d fall in love with the designated driver.


Sure, she’s strait-laced and uptight, maybe even a little prickly at times. Not the best fit for a “rock star”, right? But that’s part of the appeal. There was always something about Savanah. In high school I worshiped her from afar. But while I was the boy from Last Chance Beach’s version of a ghetto, she was born into a 24-carat crib. She was the beautiful princess in the castle; I wasn’t fit to live in her gatehouse. Although Savanah had never seemed like the rest of the glamor girls, she was still untouchable. But now I’m coming back to the island having garnered fame and fortune. Maybe my platinum records will tip the scales in my favor.


Savanah Drew never wanted the silver spoon stuck in her mouth.


But it’s not like I could do anything about it. And Phoenix’s dad may have worked on the docks, but Phoenix was the one who was unapproachable. His good looks, charm, and charisma, made him popular beyond my reach—I always knew he would go far. But when we were growing up, some people looked down on him because his dad wore a slicker and not a three-piece suit. One thing I can tell you, the Blackstones would be the first to come to the aid of someone in need. The people on my side of the island? If they can’t throw money at it to fix it, they don’t want anything to do with it.


But no amount of money or charisma can keep you safe when someone is out to get you, and someone on the island is gunning for the band members of Insatiable Fire, and anyone they’re close to. Is Savanah the next target?

 

Excerpt:

 

Phoenix

 

I was being ridiculous. She was a girl. Just another girl. Still…there was something about her…like I sensed that underneath that rigid, incredibly capable exterior was someone who was not as put together as she projected.

 

The image of her on the beach, the wind lifting her hair, took me back to one of the first times I felt drawn to Savanah in high school…

 

Dak and I were sitting on top of a picnic table, our boots on the bench, talking to a guy from our neighborhood, Milo Pynsiski. School had dismissed a few minutes before. It was one of those bright, perfect autumn days…the sun was shining through the branches of the tree next to us, painting our ripped jeans in a patchwork of light. I was wearing my leather jacket. It was too heavy for the weather, but I didn’t have another one, so I dealt with it. Milo had cracked some kind of joke and we were laughing.

 

Something alerted me—I guess my Savanah-senses were tingling—and I turned my head. Savanah was walking across a grassy area between trees, hugging a stack of books to her chest. The breeze was blowing the hair from her face. Feeling me ogling her, I guess, she looked my way, catching my gaze. For a moment it was like life was playing in slow motion. Her lips parted into barely a glimmer of a smile. My smile faded because it was hard to smile and drool simultaneously. She was just so beautiful, her skin fresh and dewy…a hint of makeup, she never wore much… I remember her outfit exactly, because I’d replayed that ten-second encounter in my mind, over the years, a couple hundred-thousand times. A short, pleated, navy skirt showed off her great legs and she wore a tan cable-knit sweater vest with a starched, white button-down under it. It was totally reserved and totally hot at the same time.

 

I fantasized about her sitting next to me on the picnic table. Of course, in my fantasy it was only the two of us, no Dak and Milo around to interfere. I slid one hand up her leg until I was an inch or so beneath the magical fabric of that short skirt. With the other, I dove beneath her hair to the back of her neck, drawing her in as I kissed her. She leaned into me and her lips were soft and supple when I covered them with mine…

 

“Who are you staring at, Phoenix?” Milo asked, turning to track my line of sight. Savanah’s smile dimmed and she hastened her steps to the parking lot. “Savanah Drew? That bougie bitch wouldn’t let you fill her sweet little two-seater’s tank at the Shell station.” I had a part-time job running the register at the gas station/convenient mart. He looked at me with an incredulous expression and laughed. Then we all three watched as Savanah plunked her books into the passenger seat of her white convertible. “Not that I wouldn’t like to fill her tank myself, if you know what I mean.” He pulled his hands into his hips and thrusted crudely.

 

Tim Bolton had walked up behind Milo and caught the tail end of the conversation. His attention was on the parking lot too. “Heck yeah.”

 

Dak thwapped me on the head. “Dream on, little brother.” They all had a laugh at my expense and the conversation shifted to the home basketball game scheduled for that evening against Summerville’s rival. I interjected a comment or two but subtly followed Savanah as she left the parking lot.

 

Even now the memory had me all hot and bothered. My thoughts had wandered off and as I refocused on Savanah, I realized she was walking toward me.

 

Shit. I don’t want her to think I’m stalking her.

 

A thousand thoughts raced about my mind at once. Some of them even related to each other.

 

What should I say to her?

 

I’ve got to play it cool, not be the dumbshit I was last night.

 

Should I hide? Where can I hide?

 

I hunted around, estimated whether a planter was large enough to conceal me, decided it wasn’t, and searched for something else as I shrank behind a mound of sea oats, and then she was walking through an archway right next to me onto the patio. When she saw me, she jumped and shrieked.

 

Buy Links:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If money were no object, where would you go for a Spring Break vacation and why?

 

Two places I’ve always wanted to visit are Greece and Hawaii. Both look beautiful and I think it would be interesting to learn about volcanoes and study the history of Hawaii. And Greece. I think both would be fascinating!

 

Why is your featured book a must-read this spring?

 

Because who wouldn’t love to go on Spring Break with a rock star? Especially with Phoenix Blackstone. Jaw-droppingly handsome, and sweet on top of it. Sure, he has a bit of a temper at times and says things he shouldn’t, but who hasn’t done that? He’s considered the good Blackstone brother, but in this book, he begins to see himself in a different light…

 

Giveaway –

 

One lucky reader will win a $25 Amazon gift card

 

 

Open internationally.

 

Runs April 1 – 30, 2024

 

Drawing will be held on May 1, 2024.

 

Author Biography:

 

M.J. Schiller is a retired lunch lady/romance-romantic suspense writer. She enjoys writing novels whose characters include rock stars, desert princes, teachers, futuristic Knights, construction workers, cops, and a wide variety of others. In her mind everybody has a romance. She is the mother of a twenty-eight-year-old and three twenty-six-year-olds. That's right, triplets! So having recently taught four children to drive, she likes to escape from life on occasion by pretending to be a rock star at karaoke. However…you won’t be seeing her name on any record labels soon.

 

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