This dark contemporary romance follows PRELOAD, quickly ascending the charts as the most explosive rock band of their generation. But fame has done little to overcome the traumas of their past. Traumas that have the power to decimate the band, and themselves, unless love can heal them first.
Dear Reader,
I know how much you loved the couples at Second Circle Tattoos. So for my next series, I wanted to give you more of the characters you have already come to care about. Welcome to Preload. For those who have read The Purest Hook, Preload is hero Dred Zanders’ band. And yes, for all of you who wrote to me asking for the band members to each get their own stories after reading The Purest Hook, here they are. Jordan is up first and will be followed by Elliott, Nikan, and Lennon. I can’t wait for you to get to know and fall in love with these men who grew up in a group home together and the women who bring them to their knees.
And for those who haven’t read The Purest Hook, it doesn’t matter because these stories are all completely stand-alone.
XOXO—Scarlett
Title: Jordan Reclaimed
Author: Scarlett Cole
Series: Preload #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub. Date: February 28, 2017
Synopsis:
Jordan Steele’s life began when he was ten. When he was taken from his parents and a house that was never a home. When he met his brothers, the other lost and abandoned boys in his group home. When he learned what friendship and family and love looked like.
Now he’s made good, touring the world with the band he and his brothers formed in that crowded group home. No one but his found family really knows the man under the fame and fortune, the scars he hides behind the rockstar lifestyle. Until he sees her through the windows of the National Ballet, dancing, and suddenly the world doesn’t seem so dark.
Aleksandra Artemov ticks all the ballet boxes. Father a legendary Kirov dancer. Check. Prepping since birth for classical ballet. Check. Compulsive control over the food she eats. Check. Principal dancer at The National Ballet of Canada. Check. But what she craves is freedom.
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Exclusive Guest Post:
Want to know what happens when a broken rock star meets a ballerina fighting her own battles? Well, look no further than JORDAN RECLAIMED, the first book in my steamy new PRELOAD series.
This darker contemporary romance follows the band PRELOAD, quickly ascending the charts as the most explosive rock groups of their generation. But fame has done little to overcome the traumas of their past. Traumas that have the power to decimate the band, and themselves, unless love can heal them first.
This series is a lot new, and just a little bit familiar! Those already acquainted with my Second Circle Tattoos series might remember that Dred Zander, hero of THE PUREST HOOK, is lead singer of the band who all met growing up together in a Toronto group home. All of them had ended up in long term care after surviving torturous childhoods and failed fostering situations. At the behest of their social worker, Maisey, and Ellen, Maisey’s wife and head of the group home they grew up in, they became a family of their own.
When Dred’s story came out, I was inundated with requests to write Jordan, Elliott, Nikan, and Lennon’s stories. So, here they are, starting with Jordan. All the stories are stand alone, and you don’t need to have read The Purest Hook to enjoy this series.
Which brings me back to JORDAN RECLAIMED. Behind the rock star who lives for his music, Jordan is a man filled with pain, after suffering years of abuse as a child at the hands of his parents. Until he meets Lexi, a principal dancer at Canada’s leading ballet company, who is stuck pursuing her father’s dream. He sees in her everything he never thought he could have. Because of her, he wants to be better, and for the first time in his life, he realizes he needs to painfully fix the parts of him that are still broken. They have music, and dance, and no end of passion. Sparks fly, and emotional wounds heal. But sometimes that isn’t enough, especially when their demons have the power to tear them apart.
Excerpt from JORDAN RECLAIMED:
Copyright © 2017 by Scarlett Cole
He got it.
He finally got it.
He got why John Lennon left the Beatles for Yoko.
He got why Dred wrote a love song for Pixie.
From the moment Jordan’s lips touched Lexi’s, he couldn’t imagine anything else feeling and tasting quite so perfect for the rest of his life.
He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and she groaned, opening for him. He thrust his hands further into her hair as their tongues touched. She tasted of wine and sweetness, and he couldn’t get enough.
While her eyes were closed, his were open, unwilling to miss a single moment of what was happening between them. He angled her head, and she rose up on her toes to meet him. He thought he was going to faint as the blood rushed from his brain to his cock, which ached for contact.
Lexi’s arms wound their way around his waist, her hands finding the way under his leather jacket and sweater to rest upon his back. Skin on skin. How he wanted them to be. Naked. Exposed. Nothing between them as he made love to her in a huge bed that they could stay in for days.
Except he didn’t have a huge bed. And he didn’t have the kind of room she deserved to stay in. He had an attic. And a box under his bed that held his most treasured possessions that nobody else would understand. A secondhand copy of Scales, Chords & Arpeggios, and the first birthday card he ever received from Maisey and Ellen. Random shit nobody else would care about.
Jordan pulled away slowly and looked carefully at Lexi. Her lips were pink and plump, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide.
“Jordan,” she whispered.
“I gotta go. Bye, Lexi,” he said. He needed to get home and then drink enough to forget about her. Banish the stupid idea swirling around in his mind that they could have any kind of relationship. He should never have kissed her. It was hard enough to walk away before, but now that he had a clearer idea of what it was he was actually walking away from, it hurt all the more.
“Wait,” Lexi said as she grabbed his arm.
The small voice in his brain told him to keep walking, but he couldn’t. Instead, he turned to see what she wanted.
Lexi grabbed a pen from her purse, the one she had given him to sign the napkin in the restaurant. She reached for his hand and turned it over so his palm was facing up and quickly scribbled something on it. When she was done, she stood on her tiptoes again and kissed his cheek.
Weakness was a new sensation, but he felt it down to his boots as, against his better judgment, he leaned his cheek ever so slightly toward her lips.
“Good night, Jordan,” she said and bounced up the porch, grabbing her hat from the chair where Jordan had tossed it.
She paused in the doorway to wave good-bye and then closed the door silently shut.
Only when he was certain that she was definitely gone did he allow himself the luxury of seeing what she had written on his hand. It was a phone number. Despite himself, he felt a murmur of excitement that she found him worthy of a second date.
Jordan turned toward home. As snow began to fall again, he hurriedly made the short hike across the Don Valley river and ravine to his neighborhood, trying to halt the avalanche of emotions because of ten hand-scribed digits.
About SCARLETT COLE
Scarlett Cole is a writer of contemporary romance and a two-time RITA finalist. Her debut, THE STRONGEST STEEL, has already become an Amazon best seller in romantic suspense, was a Best Debut Goodreads Author Finalist 2015, and Authors On The Air Global Radio Network Contemporary Romance Pick of 2015.
When Scarlett isn’t writing, she spends her time reading, hoarding mason jars, and working out to off-set an epic sour candy habit. She likes hot men, cold beer, and expensive shoes.
Having travelled the world for work and fun, Scarlett is a citizen of both Britain and Canada. A true city-dweller, she considers Toronto and Manchester home and likes to set her books in vibrant locations such as Miami and Los Angeles.
Rep’d by Beth Phelan at The Bent Agency, and published by St. Martin’s Press.
She’d love to hear from you on twitter @itsscarlettcole
Connect with Scarlett: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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About Lauren Blakely:
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifteen novels including the Avoiding series and the Record series. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, geeking out over Star Wars, binge-watching Supernatural, and dancing in her spare time.
About Jill Shalvis: