Release Alert ~ How to Fall For a Rockstar is live!

How to Fall For a Rockstar is live!

Are you ready for Leia and Fender’s story? Leia isn’t. She doesn’t have time for the grumpy rockstar who just moved in next door. She’s too busy being a single mom. Too bad her daughter, Isla, thinks Fender is her next best friend. 

Need more convincing? I got you! Read the first chapter below!

Chapter 1

Leia – a single mom who doesn’t have time for a bass player who thinks he can tell her how to be a parent no matter how sexy he is

Leia

I smile as I dump the last box on the porch. It’s taken me a month to unpack all of our boxes but it’s done. Isla and I finally have our very own home.

It’s been more than eleven years since my daughter’s birth but I did it. I’ve fulfilled my dream. I have a job that challenges me and pays the bills. And we have our own adorable little house in the small town of Winter Falls.  

I tilt my head back and enjoy the view of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. I inhale and breathe in the crisp, fresh air. Isla and I are going to be very happy living here.

The door flies open behind me. “There you are.”

I ruffle Isla’s hair. “Was I lost?”

She rolls her eyes. Those blue eyes are the exact same shade as mine. Her blonde curly hair is the same as mine as well. She’s my mini-me. The only trait she has from her father is her height. She’s nearly as tall as me already. Which isn’t saying much since I’m barely five feet tall.

“Are you done?” Isla asks.

“Done with what?”

She motions toward the boxes. “Housework.”

I snort. I’m a single mom. I’m never done with housework. “Maybe,” I hedge.

“Good. Let’s play.” Subtlety doesn’t work on my daughter. It never has.

I still need to break down these boxes and haul them to the recycling center. I also need to finish a load of laundry, do the dishes, and clean the bathroom. And those are just my household chores.

I also have a ton of work from my boss, Brody Bragg. Being the personal assistant of a brilliant game developer with his own company is more than a full-time job. And Brody does not help matters. He assigns me tasks but never provides me with the information I need to complete them.

We’ve had more than one argument. If my life was a romance novel, he’d be the grumpy boss I fall in love with. But this isn’t a romance novel. Plus, Brody’s in love with Soleil, the mother of his daughter, Meadow, and he lives with them. Unlike my baby daddy who couldn’t escape quick enough once Isla was born.

I shove all thoughts of how demanding my boss can be and how much boring housework I have to do out of my mind. It’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I’m finally finished unpacking. We should be celebrating.

“What do you want to play?”

Isla beams up at me. “Tag.”

I groan. I hate playing tag and she knows it. Whereas my daughter loves to run, I hate it. When your legs are short stumps, running is no fun. As I discovered in high school when I thought joining the cross-country team was a great way to make friends my freshman year. It wasn’t.

“This porch is home base,” she says. “And you can’t stand here and wait for me.” She darts off to hide before I have the chance to protest.

I turn around to count to fifty. One, two, three…

“You have to count out loud!”

I start again. “One, two, three…”

I hit fifty and whirl around. “Ready or not, here I come!”

I hear a giggle near the side of the house. My daughter loves to play tag but she sucks at hiding. She thinks being a fast runner means she doesn’t need to hide well. She isn’t wrong.  

I pretend to search the area and circle the house in the other direction. As soon as I’m out of her view, I start running as fast as I can which, admittedly, isn’t very fast.

I race all the way around the house until I’m directly behind Isla. I slow and tiptoe toward her. I’ve nearly reached her when she glances behind and sees me.

“Gotcha!”

She squeals and dashes away. She doesn’t aim for home base, though. Not my daughter. She wants me to chase her around the yard. Since I can never say no to my girl, I do.

“I’m going to get you!”

She throws her hands in the air and giggles. “You can’t catch me!”

Probably not, but I don’t give up. She nears the street and I accelerate until I’m sprinting as fast as I can.  

“Don’t go in the street!”

A man rushes out of the house next door and runs to Isla. She screeches to a halt in front of him. I slow down but I can’t stop. My legs are not under my control. I slam into the man and we topple to the ground.

“I’m sorry.” I scramble to get off of him.

“Oof! Careful where you put your knee.”

I look down and realize my knee is in his crotch. My face heats and I quickly put all my weight on my other knee causing me to tilt over and fall on the grass.

“Mom!” Isla kneels next to me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Embarrassed but fine.

The man scowls at me. “This is your daughter?”

Here we go again. I got pregnant with Isla when I was seventeen. Some people can be unbelievably judgmental about teenage moms.

I get to my feet and wipe the grass off my jeans and shirt.

“You should be more careful,” the man growls.

I fist my hands on my hips and face off with him. I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind but stop when I catch my first sight of him.

Holy cows have come home and it’s time to do some milking! Someone is the definition of sexy. He’s tall with broad shoulders, a thick beard, defined cheekbones, and green eyes I want to drown in.

My gaze travels down his body and I can’t help but notice how powerfully built he is. Those arms appear strong enough to lift me up and push me against the nearest flat surface. My body warms as I imagine how it would feel to have his hard body pressed against mine.

“Are you listening to me?” he grumbles.

His deep, gruff voice almost has me shivering. I imagine him ordering me around in the bedroom with his gruff voice and my breath stutters in my chest. I want that. I want it bad.

He snaps his fingers in my face. “I’m talking to you.”

I clear my throat and force my thoughts away from sexy times with the stranger.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” he growls. “You need to watch your daughter better. She could have ended up in the road and gotten hit by a car.”

His comment causes my daydream of us sweaty and naked together to vanish. What a jerk! I fist my hands on my hips.

“I know how to care for my daughter.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“I’m her mom.” I slap my chest. “And look around.” I wave toward the street. “There are no cars here.”

He nods to the house next door where there’s a truck parked.  

I frown. This is Winter Falls. Trucks and cars are pretty much banned here since the town’s claim to fame is being the first carbon neutral town in the world. They are very serious about the environment here.

“You can’t own a truck.”

“We borrowed it since we’re moving in.”

“Moving in?”

I knew the house next door was available to rent but I figured it would be a while before anyone rented it. The place has five bedrooms and the rent is five times what I’m paying. Who can afford it?

He crosses his arms over his chest and grunts.

I ignore those muscular arms and concentrate on the problem here. He’s going to be living next door. The man who thinks he can tell me how to raise my child. Hold on. Maybe there’s a silver lining here. Maybe he has children who are Isla’s age.

“Do you have children?”

He grunts again.

“Grunting is not a proper answer.”

“No children.” He motions to the four men standing on the porch watching our encounter.

He’s living with four men? Are they roommates? Are they going to be loud and disrupt Isla’s sleep? I didn’t move to this small town to have a bunch of frat boys living next to me.  

One of the men waves and I realize I recognize him. He’s Cash from the rock band Cash & the Sinners. I narrow my eyes and study the rest of the men. Holy smoke! It’s the entire band.

The man standing in front of me isn’t just some grumpy neighbor who thinks he can tell me how to parent my child. My mouth starts to drop open but I snap it shut. I am not fangirling over the grump.

“Are you in the band?” I ask, although I already know the answer.

He nods. No wonder he’s sex on a stick. He’s a freaking rockstar.

A rock band is living next door to me and my daughter. The young woman in me wants to squeal in excitement. The mom in me knows better.

I narrow my eyes at him. “You better not throw parties at all hours of the night.”

“I don’t party.”

I motion to the guys on the porch. “What about them?”

He frowns. “No parties in the house.”

“Good. Thank you.”

I grasp Isla’s shoulder and steer her toward the house. At least, I try to. She plants her feet and refuses to move.

She stares up at him in wonder. “Are you a rockstar?”

He smiles at her and a dimple pops out on each cheek. Oh my. The sexy grump becomes devilishly handsome when he smiles.

“I’m Fender.”

“I’m Isla.” My daughter points to me. “This is my mom, Leia.”

“Your mom should make sure you don’t run into the street.”

We’re back to this again, are we?

“And you should keep your nose out of other people’s business,” I tell him before smiling down at my daughter. “Let’s go.”

“But I want to meet the band,” she whines.

“I thought you wanted to make chocolate chip cookies.”

It’s our Saturday tradition.

“I almost forgot.” She races toward the house. I follow at a normal pace.  

I glance back at the rockstar standing in my front yard. He hasn’t moved from where we left him. I make a shooing motion with my hand.

I don’t need a man like him in my life. I don’t need a man period. Learned my lesson there.

And I’m done with people who tell me what to do and order me around. He can go choke on his guitar for all I care. Being sexy doesn’t mean he can be an ass.