Shona Husk’s sexy new adult series about emerging rock band Selling the Sun concludes this month with a story about a woman who doesn’t want to connect, a man who’s forgotten how and the friendships that save our lives.
Dan Clarke knows he doesn’t have a problem, regardless of whatever his band members, his friends, his family and everyone else thinks. Drinking isn’t keeping him from doing what needs to be done, and it helps keep the anger and pain of his ex-girlfriend’s betrayal at bay. If only she would stay away as well, but, since the band’s return to Fremantle, she’s everywhere-on the phone, in his apartment, at his parents’ house-begging for another chance, reminding him of how good they had been together, holding him hostage to the past. It’s no wonder he needs a beer now and again.
Indigo Matthews is all about control: she trains hard, she works hard and she plays hard. Men are for fun, not forever, and she will never end up like her mother, trapped and miserable. A huge Selling the Sun fan, Indigo knows when Dan wanders into her bar that he is a conquest that she has to make. But their connection is stronger than just sex, and regardless of her credo Indigo finds herself going back for more. Then truths about Dan’s life start to emerge, and Indigo finds herself in the one position she swore she’d never find herself.
A DUI, a drunk one night stand and an ultimatum from the band bring Dan’s life to a halt. Picking up the pieces is something he can’t do alone, and there’s only one person that he trusts to give a damn. The one person that he hurt the most. Indigo.
~*~
At the man’s table she stopped, hip cocked to the side. ‘My buddy over there says that you’re no one famous. I think you are.’
He smiled, but it was cautious. ‘Who do you think I am?’
‘I have five bucks that says you’re the bass player from Selling the Sun.’ There was no money on the table, and the guy she was working with didn’t give a damn, but that didn’t stop nerves from pushing her heart harder or her hands from feeling a little slippery on the tray.
‘And if I am?’ He leaned back and his smile broadened.
‘A free beer?’ She put the one he’d ordered on the table.
He nodded. ‘I am.’
‘Prove it.’ Anyone could say that they were.
‘Drivers licence okay? Or do you require a full hundred points?’ He was still smiling as though this was a game. ‘But that will only work if you know my name. Do you?’
‘What kind of fan wouldn’t, Dan Clarke?’
He lifted one eyebrow as he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open, covered his address with his thumb and showed her his name. Daniel Sean Clarke. ‘Happy?’
She nodded, more than happy. Her happy was doing its own happy dance. Now for part two of her daring plan. She’d never slept with any one close to famous, and while she’d fancied Dan from the audience of the concerts, he was here now, right in front of her. She could reach out and touch him. She resisted. Just. ‘What are you doing later?’
‘How much later?’ His blue eyes took on a guarded look, as though he wasn’t sure where this was going.
She didn’t buy that for a moment. He’d broken up with his girlfriend and he must get hit on all the time. Indigo checked her watch. An hour and a half left of her shift. That was probably too long, yet there was no way she could have him out the back of the pub in the middle of the afternoon—no matter how appealing that seemed right now.
‘I finish in ninety minutes.’
‘And then?’ He drew a line in the condensation on his glass, his gaze firmly on her. He was waiting for her to make it clear. Maybe he wasn’t that interested. She could walk away, opportunity taken and declined. But he hadn’t said no.
So she gave a shrug as though the outcome didn’t matter. ‘We do whatever two consenting adults feel like.’
‘Are you hitting on me?’
‘Did I not make it clear enough for you?’ Did he not want to be hit on or was he not as smart as he appeared? She didn’t like either of those options.
Then he smiled and gave her a slow, lingering look that seemed to take in everything, from the top of her head down to her ass. ‘Just checking … I get that free beer while I wait?’
She nodded. She’d kind of promised him that anyway. Was he more interested in the beer than her? She drew in a breath, ready to blow him off at the first sign of rejection. Get in first before she got hurt was her motto.
Dan picked up the glass and took a sip, his gaze still on her. ‘Well, I guess the only question left is your place or mine.’
A little of both. I like to know my characters and the main plot points before I start writing, but how I get to those main points is a mystery and there is often a bit of scene shuffling in the middle to get it all together.
Coffee, tea or wine?
Hot chocolate. I don’t like coffee or teas (except peppermint tea) and I don’t drink very often—I don’t mind a good chocolate martini, I have had bad ones ☹
Where did the idea for this story come from?
Out of Chances is book 4 in the series. When I wrote book 1 (Out of Rhythm) I know all the characters really well, but I hadn’t planned on writing their stories (of course when Escape Publishing asked for them I said yes). Dan was in a difficult situation. And I could’ve forced the story to take another route, but I haven’t shied away from writing real issues in this series (it’s NA and people are finding their adult feet, mistakes are made and people have to move on, that’s life). Dan was a complex hero, although some people may not see him as heroic at all, he does grow and change and realize his mistake which shows a strength of character.
Where is Fremantle, WA and why there not somewhere more well-known?
Fremantle is near Perth Western Australia. I chose to set the books there instead of Sydney or Melbourne because I love Freo (as the locals call it) and it has a great live and local scene. Lots of great bands got their start there, so it seemed like a good starting point for my fictional band Selling the Sun.
You seem to like heroes that are a little broken…why?
I don’t like my heroes or heroines to be too perfect. Flawed people are always more interesting—and we are all flawed in our own way. Even though I might write paranormal or sci-fi I want the characters to be relatable. When writing contemporary romance I want the reader to feel as though the character could be a friend or their neighbour or someone they went to school with.
What’s next?
I’m working on Ripley’s story (he is one of Dan’s friends). I’m also working on the sequel to Desire to Fall (science fiction romance), which is getting quite dark.
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SHONA HUSK is the author of the Shadowlands, Court of Annwyn and the Face the Music series. You can find out more information about Shona at www.shonahusk.com or follow her on Twitter @ShonaHusk, or Facebook www.facebook.com/shonahusk
Face the Music, a contemporary romance series, finishes in November 2015 with Out of Chances.
New SFR series coming soon with Desire to Fall.
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