NEW RELEASE
START OF A NEW SERIES
BY
S L DANIELSON AND CHERYL HEADFORD
UPSTAGED I – OPENING ACT
BOOK NAME Upstaged I – Opening Act
AUTHORS S L Danielson and Cheryl Headford
PUBLISHED BY Extasy Books
WORD COUNT Approx 75,000
NUMBER OF PAGES 246
GENRE New Adult. Contemporary Romance.
HEAT RATING 3
Wannabe singer and band front man Erik Von Nordgren hates snarky brit Asher Berkley with a passion. From the moment he turns up at practice with his twin sister Daisy, who is one of the band the two have hated each other.
Through a series of 'tit for tat' incidents they annoy, frustrate and exasperated each other. The die hard goth with purple eyes and the hard core rocker with dreams of the big time have nothing in common and no need to cross paths. Except to wind each other up.
Until the day that Erik throws Asher in the school pool, when everything begins to change. Erik is so far in closet he's in Narnia and Asher has a dark past and trust issues that stand in the way of any relationship, let alone one with the brash American who hurts him every time they try to get together.
A relationship doomed from the start, or so you'd think.
eXtasy Books
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BookStrand
Kobo
Pre-Order 1-click @ Amazon - available April 6
Amazon Canada
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU
Erik’s lips hung open, his eyes wide when he saw his fist in Asher’s much smaller hand. His attention was caught and held by a surprisingly calm glare. Funny, he’d never noticed Asher had such weird eyes. Words escaped him as he fell into the scintillating beauty of the teen’s violet gaze. They were beautiful, haunting…and pained.
Erik paused, his breath taken hostage by the moment. A strangled cry escaped him when, in another blindingly unexpected turnaround, Asher kissed him. He wanted to pull away at first, especially since they had an audience, yet he didn’t. Some part of him wanted to stay. Asher’s lips were so soft, not even the chill of his lip ring could take away from the searing heat of the kiss.
Erik’s demeanor softened, and he uncurled his fist in Asher’s hand. Other parts of his anatomy stood up and took notice, too. He prayed nobody in the band saw that. Especially…well. No. No one was allowed to see.
All too soon the kiss ended, and Asher broke contact with a loud smacking sound. Erik stood in silence, his mind whirling while he retreated. His mouth opened and closed as he fought for words, but before he could utter any of them, Asher’s cool hand patted the side of his face in an almost patronizing manner, and with a cheeky wink he turned. Walking away, he called over his shoulder to his sister.
“I’m off, Dais. Can’t stand the boredom. Give me a ring when you’re ready to be picked up. Try not to die of excitement in my absence.”
Erik watched him go, stupefied and still frozen to the spot. He suddenly became aware of the unnatural silence around him. Reality crashed back and crushed him under a wave of panic. What the hell had he done? A warm hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked down into Daisy’s face.
“Sorry, Erik. He can be such a prick. You know he didn’t mean it, right? I promise you.”
“Are you all right?” Billy asked. His tone was genuine concern and one he didn’t want to deal with right now.
Their eyes met briefly. They had a history of their own beyond friendship. Like the times they’d smoked joints in his room. Not only had their demeanors relaxed, so had their inhibitions. They’d evaporated, in fact, to where they had not only kissed, but had given each other their first time, and a few more times beyond that.
Erik’s mind flooded with images of those days when they’d lived for their sleepovers—how buzzed they’d been, how good they’d felt, how right Billy’d felt in his mouth and his arms… It had started to go beyond just the physical, to something he couldn’t handle. There was a ton of baggage there that he didn’t want to think about anymore. Then this fucker kisses him…shit. He shuddered and forced his mind back to the present. That was his and Billy’s secret only. No one on earth needed to know he was gay. Like fucking hell they’d find out now.
“No. I’m not all right. Shit!” He glared at Daisy, daring her to have an excuse for her twin’s infuriating behavior. He stood back from the group. “Whatever. He’s just a prick trying to make a fool of me. Fine. Two can play that game.”
S L Danielson
S. L. (Stephanie) Danielson began writing at the tender age of five. She knew it was her calling from the moment she put pen to paper. In her teens she began writing alternative works and the genre stuck. She created ever more elaborate tales and finally in her early 20’s years began to create works with her new love; male/male romance. She has since written more than 30 works (both solo and collaborations).
Stephanie is classically trained in business, accounting, and HR/training, possessing both an undergrad and graduate degree. She also owned and operated Romance First Publishing where the ultimate goal was to help other unknown, as well as known authors get their start in the publishing world.
Beyond writing, her other hobbies include: painting, gaming, and spending time with her husband and two cherished cats.
Cheryl Headford
Cheryl was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.
Cheryl has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.
Later in life, Cheryl became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.
It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.
In present times, Cheryl lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son, dog, bearded dragon (called Smaug of course) and three cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. She’s never been happier since she was made redundant and is able to devote herself entirely to her twin loves of writing and art
S L Danielson
Cheryl Headford
Thank you. This looks amazing!!
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