Title: Fighting Chance
Series: Fighting Chance, Book One
Author: Anni Lee
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 07/19/2021
Length: 50400
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, music industry, reality TV show, romantic comedy, rom-com, age gap, enemies to lovers, college, battle of the bands, billionaire
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Description
How can you write a love song before you’ve felt one?
Roland Finley is convinced he has what it takes to win the Battle of the Bands, a reality TV show where up and coming musicians compete for a record deal. But between college, work, and band practice, he hasn’t had time to experience any of the romance he sings about, and his amateur writing needs a lot of work. This is never more apparent than when a stranger in the park stumbles upon his notebook and tells it exactly like it is.
Jay McClintock wanted nothing to do with this silly reality show, but as the head writer for ALIVE Records, his boss had other plans. After being tasked with writing and coaching one of Roland’s biggest rivals behind the scenes, the only thing keeping him sane is teasing the strange (and low-key talented) young writer he encountered in the park.
Writing for the enemy should have been no big deal, but the more Jay accidentally (and not-so-accidentally) runs into Roland, the harder it is for him to come clean about his involvement with the show. Fortunately, there’s one medium through which they both know how to communicate: Song.
Logan fingered his guitar while leaning against the wall of the auditorium, knocking out a melody that sent chills down my spine. It was perfect for our new song.
“This song, these lyrics, the band name—what did you do with Roland, and where did all this inspiration come from?” He chuckled as he emphasized a final strum.
Where? A tingle ran down my body as my mind played back the taste and feel of Jay’s tongue sliding over my lip rings, pulling me into him. His fingers teasing my neck while his hard body moved against mine…
I turned away so Logan couldn’t see my flushed face.
“I guess all that criticism just got me fired up. That’s all.” I tapped keys on the keyboard to sync with the notes of my voice. Maybe I’d tell Logan about Jay eventually. When there was a bit more to tell, I mean. Maybe this was going to be our big break. He could be the connection we needed to take us from simply being talented to being known.
But I wanted to win the Battle of the Bands first. I wanted to prove we were worth his time. Even if I hadn’t won him over with my lyrics, I still wanted to win him over with my voice. That was the one strength I was truly proud of and the one talent where my confidence never wavered.
We hadn’t even made it to the chorus when a slow clap from the entrance of the room shot through my ears. I looked over to see my great day getting instantly more annoying.
“Did you steal a twelve-year-old’s diary for that opener? Good to see you’re upgrading.”
Lance Gold. He stood in the doorway in sarcastic applause, his half-long, half-shaved blond hair flowing down the side of his face. The designer leather jacket made him look like the punk rock stereotype that he was. Though I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t extremely talented. Dread Theory was one band who I would have to be legitimately worried about.
“Yeah, your mom found it in a shoebox under your bed and sent it over.” Logan chimed in. “It’s going to be real embarrassing when you lose to your own words, eh?”
Lance scoffed. “On the contrary. It’ll just reinforce the fact that the only person who is good enough to beat me is, well, me.” His grin was almost wide enough to reach the gauges in his ears.
A solid comeback. I wasn’t sure who had the upper hand in their exchange, but I was going to give it to Logan on principle.
“What do you want, Lance?” I interjected in hopes that I wouldn’t have to endure much more of his smugness.
Lance just smiled in response. He paced over to the stage and pulled a microphone from a hidden drawer before hoisting himself onto the platform with an acrobatic fluidity. He took center stage and touched the head of the mic to his lips.
And he sang. A short chorus was all he needed. His voice was perfect, strong, passionate. His words were crafted by poets. It was nothing like his usual grunge rock groans. Where the hell did that come from…
He threw his arm to the side and pulled the mic away from his mouth with a flourish, and then he looked me dead in the eye. It was as if he had found something that no one else had, and he was just itching to show it off. He was brilliant, and he knew it. Neither Logan nor I seemed to be able to form words in retort.
Lance jumped down from the stage and walked off. As he was one step from the door, he turned and gave us a nod.
“Good luck at the audition next week. But that record deal is going to be for Dread Theory.” Lance made his exit, and I plunked onto the floor to collect my nerves.
“He was just doing that to intimidate us.” I sighed, not wanting to admit how well it had worked. Logan already knew.
“Since when does Dread Theory sing ballads?” Logan shook his head. “I might need to ask you to dig a little deeper into that inspiration fountain if we’re going to beat that.”
Deeper into my inspiration fountain? Deeper into… Jay? I shook my head to throw out the thought. Not the time, Roland.
“We only just started working on this new song. By next month, it’ll be even better. He thinks he just put us in our place, but he really just gave up his ace in the hole.” I spoke with such authority that even I started to believe it. “Let’s take it from the top!”
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Whether she’s racing motorcycles faster than a RomCom lead’s beating heart, or scuba diving deeper than the pit of love they fall into, Anni Lee is always down for an adventure. She was born and raised in Los Angeles with four siblings and a single mother, which is probably why she has such a penchant for writing big city love and tenacious (albeit dysfunctional) heroes.
When she’s not typing away behind her laptop, she’s living out of a tent off the back of her motorcycle on her quest to ride around the world. The wilderness is the best place to catch up on reading, after all!
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