Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Melody Of The Heart by Blake Allwood
Melody Series, Book 1
Jonas:
Yeah, life sucks. I’ve lost everything: my inheritance, my career, my dignity – if I’m not careful I’ll even lose my father’s prized Steinway… Now I’m supposed to sacrifice my pride by trying to turn a backwoods mechanic from a honky-tonk piano player to a classical virtuoso in less than a year. An impossible task I’d been duped into by my orchestra conductor who also happens to be my ex.
I travelled to West Virginia and convinced the poor mechanic to let me take over his life for my challenge and quickly realized he had more to offer me than I did him. Now, I feel guilty about it all. Guilty or not, my only choice is to win the challenge, or face career suicide and financial ruin.
Will I be able to teach the sexy mechanic how to compete or is this just a fool’s errand?
Orlando:
My world turned upside down when the little piano man burst into my shop demanding that I learn classical piano; all because one of my students entered some contest she didn’t even want to win.
It’s not like I didn’t love playing the piano, but classical? No… not my thing. Give me good old dirty blues or honky-tonk but I’d rather pull my oil stained fingernails out one at a time than play his kind of music.
I was ready to say no, except he seemed desperate, and I’m very gullible whenever a cute man is in distress. I hadn’t anticipated how much he would change my world. Not only has he opened my eyes to his style of music, but my heart now soars with the melody of his music.
The real question is, how am I supposed to survive when he inevitably leaves our small town and me, for good?
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When he stopped, I nodded. “Now, look at your hands. You’re playing like your hands are a rigid board. Fingers, like your body, must be able to move with the music. Rigidity in the fingers stifles the music.” I showed him how to make a relaxed bow with his hands. “Imagine you’ve got a baseball sitting in the palm, and you’re playing around it,” I said and pushed the back of my hand into his rough palm.
I’d done this literally a thousand times with student after student, but the feel of his coarse hands on the back of mine caused a jolt of sexual desire to course through my body.
My muscles tensed, but I forced myself to ignore the reaction, and after clearing my throat, I continued the lesson. “The hands should maintain that shape, unless you are reaching with the pinky to hit a note far away, but the hand should always come back to that position.” He tried, and I couldn’t help but laugh when he struggled. “No worries, this is the kind of thing that takes practice.”
I sat down on the sofa, and looked at him for a long moment. Honestly, I needed time to get my libido back under control. “You know, working with a younger student would be easier. They are more malleable. They often haven’t had time to learn the wrong techniques that they then have to unlearn. In my experience, bad techniques are harder to unlearn than to learn correctly in the first place. If you take this on, do you have time to practice? Do you have the motivation to learn?”
Orli shook his head. “No, I’ve not thought about it, to be honest. My great-granny was my teacher, and I loved her, so I was always eager to learn. I never practiced ’cause I wanted to be a master musician, I practiced ’cause I loved it, and knew my great-granny would be sitting somewhere, grinning as she heard me learn to play the old songs she loved so much.”
“I can’t say learning these pieces will be fun or nostalgic. The truth is, they’re ruthless, forcing you to move your fingers in almost impossible ways. If Ella were willing to try, I’d have had a long conversation with her parents about the endless hours of practice it would require. She’d have to practice every night after school, several hours a day on weekends, and there would be very few days off. I’m afraid since you’re literally going to have to battle old habits you’ve been using for years, it will be even more time-consuming.”
“Are you trying to talk me out of it?” he asked furrowing his brow.
I smiled and shook my head. “No, I really do need you to agree to this. If you don’t, I could lose my father’s Steinway piano. That’s something I can’t… won’t let happen.” I pushed down the flaring feeling of guilt. I’d created this contest as a way to collect the insurance money, not that I would ever admit it out loud. I faced Orli again. “But, you should know the commitment you’d be making if you decide to do this.”
To celebrate the release of Melody Of The Heart, Blake is giving away an e-copy of Melody Of The Heart. 3 winners will be chosen!
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About the Author:
Blake Allwood was born in west TN, then moved to Kansas City MO after attending college in Iowa. He met his husband, Shaun, in 1995 and they officially married in 2015, once the United States legalized gay marriage.
In 2017, he and his husband sold their home, purchased an RV and began traveling the country with their two dogs. Their travels provide the inspiration and settings for many of his novels.
Typically, Blake can be found writing in the RV or by the fire
with his laptop and their Jack Russell Terrier, Buddy, curled up between his legs or demanding his attention. Denver, their Siberian Husky mix is often asleep at his feet or playing tug of war with Shaun.
Aiden Inspired (Apr 2019) is his first published novel, featuring two disparate characters from New York and Washington State who meet and develop an unlikely bond.
His second novel, Suzie Empowered (Feb 2020), is a follow-up novel featuring Aiden’s sister Suzie as she overcomes her fear of relationships with straight men due to a sexual assault in high school.
Blake returned to gay romance with his release of Bobby Transformed (Mar 2020) about an Iowa farm boy and a big city publisher.
These first three novels share characters and can be read as a series or each as a stand-alone novel.
Romantic Renovations (June 2020), is a stand-alone novel that features a popular home renovation star and a large property owner in Seattle, Washington. Blake veers from his contemporary romance themed novels and dips his toes in the crime mystery troupe for this one. He is currently working on two additional books to make this into a series.
His Chance series was released in the summer of 2020, consisting of three books: Love by Chance, Another Chance With Love, and Taking a Chance For Love
The Big Bend series, based in the area around Big Bend National Park in Texas will be released over three months beginning June 2021.
Please let us know how you enjoy Blake’s books by using the contact us page or join the discussion of Blake’s and other M/M romance author’s books by connecting with Blake Allwood’s Book Club on Facebook.
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