Today we have author Ann Lister joining us to share her new release of “Rebel Heart”, check out the exclusive excerpt and have a chance to win one of the ecopies she brought with her for our readers!
welcome Ann 🙂
Release Date: June 21st , 2021
Buy Link: Amazon
Brett “Rebel” Hart has never been one to abide by social norms, whether it’s professionally with his band, Rebel Heart, or in his private life. He’s had an ongoing relationship with his music collaborator for many years but never fully committed to him nor said those three all-important words. Now Rebel’s longtime love is gone, and he’s left picking up the pieces of his life while settling his friend’s estate.
Jacob McKinney owns the local cafe. He knows who Rebel is the moment he walks into his restaurant and also knows why the famous musician is in town. They were formally introduced years ago, but he doubts Rebel remembers him, which is fine. Although Rebel and Jacob live in two very different worlds, there was one person who’s tied them together.
John Kirby was a talented award-winning lyricist who worked with many musicians throughout his long career. Born with a heart defect, he made the most of his time, but in the end, left behind two very different men to process their loss. Kirby’s one wish was to bring Rebel, the only man who owned his damaged heart, and Jacob together somehow—first, as a way to help each other mourn, but then as a new opportunity at love.
Can two grieving men find lasting love together and uncover the connection Kirby already knew existed between them? Dead men can’t talk, but their dreams can still come true—even from the beyond.
Rebel Heart is a stand-alone rockstar romance with a slow burn, high emotions, grief/comfort, and an HEA.
Author Note:
This story has been re-released with a new title. No new content has been added with the exception of very minor changes made to the title and the name of the main character.
~ Rebel ~
I’d been thinking crazy things today, but the one thing that I kept circling around to was that I wanted something real with Jacob. I wanted dinners at sunset, breakfasts in bed, and naked lunches down by the river. I wanted promises and commitments and whispered I love yous shared with warm embraces. I wanted a lifetime of loving him. I needed to confess this truth to him before my bottled up feelings suffocated me.
“Jake?”
His eyes flashed with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I am so in love with you it hurts,” I whispered then worried my bottom lip.
His fingers went to my face and then his thumb trailed over my lips. “I’ve been wrestling with the very same feelings,” he answered me. “I was afraid to put a name to it for fear if I did, it wouldn’t be real, but I love you too—so fucking much.”
Hearing his words made the tears in my eyes spill and his fingers were right there to wipe them away. My heart was so full, but there were still a lot of things we needed to resolve if we were going forward.
” Does this mean you’ll be putting down some roots here with me?” he asked.
And there it was: the million dollar question hanging between us like a tight rope across the Grand Canyon. I wrapped him up in my arms and rubbed my face against his. The scrape of our beard stubble elicited a low moan from him, and I grinned.
” I don’t have a need to wander anymore, Jake, because I no longer feel lost,” I said with absolute conviction. “I found my heart—and my home, right here with you. As ridiculously clichéd as that sounds, it’s true.”
I dragged the back of my fingers across his cheek and was about to lean in to seal my confession with a kiss when Jacob bristled and took a half-step back. “You’re wearing Kirby’s ring?” he asked and took my hand to study it.
” It was in the box he gave to his lawyer,” I explained.
Jacob’s fingertip ran over the smooth turquoise stone. “He never took this off and then a few weeks before he died, I noticed he wasn’t wearing it,” Jacob said. “I didn’t have to ask him why he’d taken it off. I knew that was his way of preparing for what was coming.”
” I’ve been wearing it for most of the day,” I said. “It’s weird to see it on my hand and not his. Did he ever tell you the story behind this ring?” Jacob shook his head, so I continued. “I gave this to him after one of our tours. It came with a promise that I’d always find my way home to him.”
Jacob looked at me with watery eyes. “That’s a beautiful story,” he whispered.
It was a beautiful story, but the one I was creating with Jacob was even better. The colors of the world around me were much more vibrant and the feelings I had felt even deeper. I hated having to lose Kirby to find my way to the place I was today, but I’d be forever grateful that he showed me the path to get here and to know Jacob. Kirby loved me enough to give me the gift of a true soulmate—even when it wasn’t him. I’d never forget that—or him.
Standing there staring into Jacob’s warm, expressive eyes, I swore I could see the future and then I felt the cooling brush of a summer breeze swirl around us both. It lifted the fine hairs on my arms and the gust even made the leaves on the nearby trees flutter. I knew without a doubt it was Kirby. He was here with us, giving us his blessing and nudging us forward. I’d never been this sure of a decision in my life, and that was when I decided to take things a step further.
Ann Lister is a native New Englander currently living in Florida with her husband. She has pulled details from her years living in the New England area and uses many local settings and landmarks in her novels.
After graduating art school, marrying, and raising two daughters, she established her own video production company. Her nearly two decades working in video production included work within the music industry and won her a coveted Telly Award. Her ‘behind-the-scenes’ exposure to the music world and her love of rock music is the inspiration for her erotic rock star romances.
Her rock star romance, “Fall For Me”, Book One in The Rock Gods series, was a Finalist in the 2013 Rainbow Award and Book Three, Make You Mine, established her as an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author. Her stories focus on what it truly means to love; love unconditionally, love without restrictions or labels, love without fear or judgment – to just simply love.
www.annlister-author.com
Ann brought a fabulous giveaway with her!
Have a chance to win one of 3 ecopies of Rebel Heart!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Wow the blurb and excerpt pack a punch. We may all be wrecked after reading this
Sounds like a very good story.
Sounds like a very good book.
I loved the Rock Gods series and this sounds like a great read as well!
Sounds good!
love this series from Ann
Such an emotional excerpt with threads of a lost love and the beginnings of. new one. Beautifully written.