VIP by Riley Edgewood
(Rock & Release, Act #1)
Publication date: November 17th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance
(Rock & Release, Act #1)
Publication date: November 17th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
VIP is the first act of Rock & Release, Riley Edgewood's three-part new adult romance serial!
When Cassidy Evans scores VIP tickets to a concert, she decides to use them for one carefree night before beginning a summer internship at her father’s Fortune 500 company. But one carefree night turns into a few too many martinis—with two unexpected twists: A steamy encounter with Gage Logan, sexy singer and guitarist, and a tempting job offer from Gage's boss to work at the concert venue she now knows quite intimately.
She definitely can't take the job. Her internship is an opportunity any business major would kill for. But the thought of working with her father, a man furious with grief over a family tragedy that struck six months ago, fills her with dread.
Then there's Gage. Working with him all summer could be hot. Cassidy can't stop flashing back to their night together. Molten kisses. His hands smoothing across the skin of her belly. The weight of his body above her own…
And suddenly the decision about how to spend her summer is much, much harder to make.
*********************
VIP (Rock & Release, Act I) is out now!! The final two acts of the Rock & Release serial, Starstruck
What inspired you to write VIP
(Rock & Release, Act I)?
My
(awesome) friends gave my husband and me VIP tickets to a concert (Steve Miller
Band & Journey—fantastic show, by the way), and at the pre-concert VIP bar,
I sat there watching the college-aged staff working their shifts and realized
it could be really fun setting for a story. Drinks, musicians, that "new
adult" period of life… I let my imagination run away and it came back with
Cassidy.
This is a serial, right? Why did
you serialize Rock & Release into three acts?
Well…I
do call it a serial because the plot arc reaches across all three acts of Rock
& Release. Each act is between 30 & 40k words and each releases two
weeks after the last. (In order: VIP, Starstruck, & Show
Stopper). At first I planned to put it out as a novel all at once, but a
writing friend suggested it worked well in three parts. PLUS, this way, since
I'm a debut author, readers can pick up the first act (VIP) for cheap
(only $0.99) and decide if they want to keep going from there. I thought it
might be a better way to allow readers to take a chance on a debut without
forcing them to spend the full cost of a novel the first time.
Tell us something you love about
your main characters that we can't tell from the blurb?
Hmmm.
Let's see… Cassidy loves whiskey. Not that it plays a huge part in the story,
but it's always been interesting to me because I couldn't STAND whiskey when I
was in my young twenties. (Don't love it now, either.) But there's a reason for
it, and it's something she shares with her father, which is cool. Gage is sexy
and sweet (that's in the blurb!) but he has some serious stuff going on with his family. And then there's Luca James, who's
not in VIP but plays a very prominent role in Starstruck and Show Stopper. He's got a few dark
secrets…and that's really all I can say about that.
Obviously, authors love their main characters—but
who are your favorite secondaries?
This
is too hard to answer! I love so many of my secondary characters—and even the
tertiaries, too. Let's see… There's Vera, who doesn't necessarily have the best
taste in guys, but is super team girls supporting other girls, which is
a trait I adore. Teagan, Cassidy's oldest friend who has some issues and can
come across a little rough, but came to me so fully formed she'll be getting
her own book in the future. Clark, who's more of a tertiary character so I
couldn't push more of his story into this one, but he's funny and a flirt and I
just love him on and off the pages. Zach. Zoey. Katy… I could go on and on—I
really do love all my characters! Even most of the bad ones.
Tell us three things about yourself
we can’t discover by reading your author profile.
Ummmm…
I went skydiving on my 21st birthday, and it was amazing. (Not sure
I have the guts to do it again though!) I competed as a gymnast while growing
up. (I even competed at the same competition as Dominique Dawes once! #amazing.
I also was on an Olympic training team for a while.) I have four tattoos,
including a little star on the inside of my middle finger, and I love it.
What are your favorite new adult
titles by other authors?
I
*loved* All Lined Up by Cora Carmack. (I have the second book of that
series lined up (pun = totally
unintentional at first) and waiting on my kindle as my prize for finishing my
next book). Easy by Tammara Webber. All of Chelsea Fine's NA, too. And More
than Exes, Elizabeth Briggs' new adult rock star novella that just came
out.
What's next from Riley Edgewood?
Well,
Starstruck (Rock & Release, Act II) comes out on December 1, and I'm
really excited about it! In this act, international rock star Luca James sweeps
into town, and he's just…yummy. Show
Stopper (Act III) releases December 15 as the final part of Cassidy's
story. And the next book in this series, a companion novel (full-length, this
time) is coming soon! This one's a sexy lil beach romance! (New Adult, of
course.)
Anything else you want to share
with readers?
I
love hearing from readers—so drop me a line anytime!
Email:
rileyedgewoodauthor at gmail.com
Newsletter:
http://eepurl.com/5iSKn
Twitter:
twitter.com/rileyedgewood
Excerpt 1: from VIP (Rock & Release, Act I) by Riley
Edgewood
"You should stay and have a
drink." The words tumble from my mouth before I can stop them, tripping
over my tongue and cartwheeling past my lips and if I could grab them and
swallow them back down I would.
Or… Maybe I wouldn't. Maybe I like
this bold version me who says what she wants to.
He meets my gaze, half of an amused
smile across his lips, revealing white teeth, with one slightly crooked cuspid,
and, no, I actually don't regret my words at all. His mouth. Those lips. That
perfectly imperfect smile… If what I said convinces him to stick around, I'd be
nuts to be sorry for what I said.
"As long as I don't have to
drink anything quite this pink." He taps the rim of my glass with a long,
slender finger.
"I'm Cassidy." I stick my
hand out to him—because if I'm going all confident and carefree Cassidy here,
I'm not holding back.
"Gage." He doesn't
hesitate to reach out this time around, which makes me a little giddy though I
hide it by swallowing the rest of my drink, which thankfully goes down smoothly
this time. When he holds my fingers a second longer than necessary, I
don't mind at all. And when he keeps his gaze on mine as he slides into the
seat next to me, his expression friendly—and a little suggestive—my lips curve
up in response.
Excerpt 2: from VIP (Rock & Release, Act I) by Riley
Edgewood
I wonder if he's going to kiss me.
I hope he's going to kiss me.
I try to convey the message with my
eyes, but he's a little blurred around the edges and I'm not sure I'm even
focusing exactly where I should be, much less able to send any sort of meaning
through a glance.
He keeps talking, talking, talking.
Something about bands. Something about where he's from. Something, something,
something, but I keep forgetting his words the moment they breeze through his
mouth.
He's asking me questions. I'm
giving him answers, though I can't be certain of their accuracy. We're laughing
a lot, so I must be keeping him entertained. Or maybe it's the other way
around.
It's quiet for a beat too long—he's
waiting for me to say something else, to answer a question, but I've lost track
of all our words again.
And he's meeting my eyes and then
gazing lower toward my mouth. I realize I'm biting my lip, but it's got his
attention so I keep it between my teeth, tugging a little.
"There you go distracting me
again." His mouth parts into a wolfish grin. "But this time you're
doing it on purpose, aren't you?"
Maybe, I almost tell him, but Demi
Jade's first chords strike through the air, interrupting the word before it has
a chance to come out.
"So much for making the
concert," I say instead.
"So much for it," he
agrees.
We stare at each other for a moment
that yawns out into eons. One second we're listening to Demi Jade sing about
her lost lover and the next the world goes silent around me. There's an
electric pause—like that moment after a violent thunderclap, when everything
else is sucked away—and then my mouth is on his, or his is on mine, and he's
teasing my lips with his tongue. I let him in, and he tastes like beer and like
salt and like mint.
Jesus, he's talented with his
tongue.
His hands wrap around my waist and
he yanks me toward him and my hands are in his hair and I want to eat his
fucking mouth, he tastes so good.
Excerpt 3: from VIP (Rock & Release, Act I) by Riley
Edgewood
I sit opposite him on the bed,
leaning against the headboard. I clutch a pillow against my lap. "Last
night was…" I stop for a moment as it hits me. Last night was the first
night I've had in ages where I didn't feel sad. Or anxious. Or tense. Though
it's all flowing back now. I do my best to stem it and force myself to keep eye
contact with Gage. "I don't regret last night—not a single part of
it."
"Maybe not right now,
but—"
"I wouldn't regret it even if
you hadn't stopped us from going further." I rub the fabric of the
pillowcase between my fingers. So much for not talking about it. But he feels
so bad, I can't let him think he made any sort of mistake. But I also can't
look at him with my next words. "I wanted you to…touch me. Long before I
got so drunk."
The sharp tug in my belly—cutting
through the nausea of my hangover and blossoming hunger—makes me realize just
how much I'd like him to touch me again.
"Really?" He sounds
relieved, and I risk a glance at his face. Worry in his expression's been
replaced with a wicked little glint. "Does that mean I can see you
again?"
"I think I'd like that."
I know I would.
"We can try sober next time,
with dinner instead of drinks."
"Oh, I see. Somewhere public
then? You don't want me back in bed?" The happiness flushing through me
brings out my flirty side. He wants to see me again. This wasn't just a
one-night stand. Or whatever a non-sex one-nighter is called. Even if I can
have one more night with him—one more night like last, where all I have to care
about is having fun and the way Gage's lips feel, the way his mouth tastes. His
gorgeous, nimble fingers… Sign me right on up.
"It didn't seem to me that
public places really stop you." He's grinning now, and my lips curve up to
mirror his expression.
"Then we'll definitely need
drinks with that dinner."
"No. If I'm going to take
advantage of your ridiculous body, I want those pretty green eyes clear while
you watch." He stands, holding a hand out. "And, in case that didn't
spell it out enough, I want you back in bed."
I lace my fingers in his,
hesitating a moment to enjoy the glow blooming between my ribs. "If I
wasn't so hungover—and if I wasn't so mortified that we stole Vera's bed—I'd
pull you back in here and give you your chance right now."
"If I hadn't heard your
stomach rumbling for the past five minutes, I might have taken it."
Oh damn. Stupid hunger noises.
He yanks me up and leans in close,
whispering, "And if you keep talking that way, you'll force me to sit
through a very uncomfortable breakfast."
Purchase:
AUTHOR BIO:
Riley lives in the DC area and spends most of her time with her characters, playing with her toddler and husband, and pretending she knows how to be an adult. Former dancer. Current writer. Lifelong lover of accessories, books, and the beach. And cats. Can't forget the kitties. Of which she has two.
Sign up for Riley's newsletter and never miss out on new book releases and other fun things: http://eepurl.com/5iSKn
You can also find her online:
rileyedgewood.com
twitter.com/rileyedgewood
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Sign up for Riley's newsletter and never miss out on new book releases and other fun things: http://eepurl.com/5iSKn
You can also find her online:
rileyedgewood.com
twitter.com/rileyedgewood
facebook.com/
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