Title: Music from Stone
Series: University Square, Book Four
Author: Brenda Murphy
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 07/05/2022
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 67900
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Romance, contemporary, family-drama, BDSM, interracial, lesbian, stone mason, concert pianist, stalker, PTSD, over 40, performance arts, visual arts
Add to Goodreads
Description
Celebrated concert pianist Nüwa Zhou had it all. Until she didn’t. Forced out of the closet while testifying at the kidnapping and murder trial of her obsessive former assistant turned stalker, she retires from the high-pressure world of performing to recover at her parents’ estate.
Stone mason, and frustrated sculptor Julia Johnson, spends her days stone building walls and patios while dreaming of quitting her day job.
After a chance encounter with Julia leads to more, Nüwa imagines a life with Julia. When her stalker returns, determined to kidnap Nüwa and end anyone who stands in his way, Nüwa will do whatever it takes to keep Julia safe, but will it be enough?
Music from Stone
Brenda Murphy © 2022
All Rights Reserved
“I can’t believe you got such a good deal on the rent.” Nico placed the box labeled “kitchen” on the narrow countertop.
“I’m probably going to regret it when I’m working my ass off fixing the walkway and the terrace wall the storm took out. Sticks and Stones has a good chance of winning the bid from the city to redo the walkways and landscaping downtown.”
“Who needs sleep? We’ve been busy as hell with all the repairs. I heard Dale had to hire another two crews to keep up with everything.”
“There’s water in the fridge if you want.”
Nico opened the door and pulled out two bottles of water. He placed one on the counter before he cracked the seal on his bottle. He tipped the bottle back and took a long swallow. “When’s the first party?”
Julia used her hip to lever a plastic tote to the top of a stack of other totes to make a path between the cardboard boxes and storage containers. “Not anytime soon.” She lifted the edge of her T-shirt sleeve and wiped the sweat from her forehead before she crossed to the small kitchen area in the studio apartment.
“Have you driven by the Arboretum? There’s a fifty-foot-wide ditch where the tornado touched down. They lost so many trees. The arch where Tony and I got married? Gone. It looks like a war zone.” Nico rested his hands on his hips and leaned back into a stretch.
“Thanks for helping me.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah, the rest is just little stuff and my tools for the studio.”
“Can I see it? Tony wants me to convert our garage into a studio. Some asshole bought the building he’s been renting and is kicking everyone out so he can put in some fast-food places.”
“Like we need one more burger place. Fuck that.” Julia dug the keys for the garage out of her pocket. She led him down the stairs to the six-car garage under her apartment.
After unlocking the door, she flipped the overhead light switches. The faint smell of gasoline and motor oil lingered in the wide space. The concrete floor was stained and cracked. Wooden shelves, built-in tool cabinets, and workbenches with wide shallow drawers lined the sidewalls.
“Look at that joinery. When was this built?”
“Nineteen twenty-four.”
“People must have had a fuckton of money. Damn.”
“They even had their own gas pump. The original owners owned half of downtown.”
“Is that knob and tube?” Nico frowned at the outdated wiring still present in the ceiling. “That needs to be torn out. Look at where it’s burned through the insulation.”
“Yeah. It’s the old stuff. They didn’t remove it when they replaced the wiring. Don’t worry, it’s all updated. When Gerald and Lian bought in the ’80s, they gutted most of it, modernized everything in the house and out here. That firethorn maze we passed, that’s original to the estate. Covers the acre between here and the mansion. You should see the path. It’s hand cut cobblestone. Some of it’s trashed. Gerald bartered rent for repairing it.” Julia raked her hand through her hair. “I have no fucking clue where I’m going to source cobblestones to match. The wall around the terrace will be easy. Henderson’s tearing down an old bank barn and he’s going let me salvage the foundation.”
“I fucking hate firethorn. My grandma had a hedge of it around her yard. I can show you scars from when she used to have me trim it. And stop stressing, you’ll find something.” Nico gestured to the overhead engine hoist. “That’ll come in handy.”
“Right? No more using rollers to get my sculptures into the truck.”
Nico walked to the far side of the garage. “Look at that.” He picked up the receiver of a telephone and dusted it off before he lifted it to his ear. “Damn, it’s got a dial tone.” He held out the receiver.
“No kidding?” Julia crossed to where he stood.
Nico offered her the phone. “Listen.”
She pressed her ear to the receiver. “A working landline.”
“Why?”
“Who knows? Maybe they just pay the bill and don’t think about it.” Julia replaced the phone handset.
“Maybe. Tony has a showing at Rensler Hall next week. You down for helping us set up?”
“Sure. Message me the time.”
Purchase
NineStar Press | Books2Read
Amazon
Brenda Murphy (she/her) writes erotic romance. Her most recent novel, Double Six, is the 2020 Golden Crown Literary Society winner for Erotic Novels, and Knotted Legacy, the third book in the Rowan House series, made the 2018 The Lesbian Review’s Top 100 Vacation Reads list. You can catch her musings on writing, books, and living with wicked ADHD on her blog Writing While Distracted. She loves sideshows and tattoos and yes, those are her monkeys. When she is not loitering at her local library, she wrangles twins, one dog, and an unrepentant parrot
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
