By: Amy Knupp
Releasing March 7, 2017
Self-Published
Self-Published
One and Only
Hale Street Series
Drummer Micah Sullivan lost his music and his dreams when his wife died unexpectedly. In the emotional aftermath, he quit his successful country band and pushed away his family and friends. Three years later, he’s opened a music shop on Hale Street in Nashville and tells himself he’s content trying to make it a hit. What he failed to consider is that success requires connections—including the very ones he turned his back on.
Sloan McGuire is up for a new challenge…never realizing it might lead to heartbreak. When she takes a job as entertainment manager at a bar not known for its music, she doesn’t bargain for running into Micah, whose late wife was her best friend. She can tell within minutes that he’s still grieving. Out of love for her friend, she attempts to reconnect with the reclusive drummer. Falling for him isn’t in the plans, though—not only because he was married to her friend but because she’s been second-best before, and she never wants to play that role again.
As Micah starts finding his rhythm, life throws him a different beat. But with a little improvisation and a lot of courage, he just might tap into the one and only connection he needs.
“It’s not every night a girl gets an offer to spend time with the world-famous Micah Sullivan and his family.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” His heart hammered in his chest and lust pounded through his veins as he breathed in her scent, a light, floral something that made him feel more alive than he’d felt in forever.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, her lids lowering halfway and her voice going quieter, more private as he slid his hands to each side of her tiny waist. “I forgot you prefer Just Micah.”
He couldn’t answer, wasn’t even sure what she’d said, because his gaze had homed in on her plump bottom lip, where there was still the hint of a sheen from her lip gloss, and he suddenly wanted more than anything to taste her.
He dipped his head down and touched his lips to hers, only intending a quick taste, but when he felt her arms go around his neck and sampled the sweetness — chocolate and a faint hint of strawberries — he couldn’t have backed off if someone held him at gunpoint. He swept his tongue over her lower lip, teased the seam, and when she pressed the tip of her tongue to his and they swirled together, he couldn’t hold back the rumble that came up from his throat.
“You’re too tall,” Sloan said, pulling away only enough to get that out before she pressed her lips to his again.
“You’re too short,” he managed, not recognizing his own voice. He braced his hands on the backs of her upper thighs and lifted her so that their mouths lined up perfectly, then took a couple steps so her back was to the wall as he sealed his mouth to hers again, angling his head for better access. Sloan’s legs wrapped around him, and he was suddenly so hot it felt like the house was on fire.
Amy lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenage sons, four cats, and two box turtles. She graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in French and journalism. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, breaking up cat fights, watching college hoops, and annoying her family by correcting their grammar.
How did you come up with the
concept and the characters for the story?
Micah Sullivan, the hero, showed up
in my first book in the series (Sweet Spot) wanting to rent space for
a music store on Hale Street. Whenever a new character is mentioned
in a scene, I go to Pinterest and find inspiration for the character
so I can better describe him or her. The photo I found of Micah is
(of course) hot, but in it, he’s not happy, and that got my
imagination going. Why isn’t he happy? (Turns out his wife died
unexpectedly three years ago.) He’s also wearing a hood in it, and
that led me to think about why he might be “hiding.” (In a
nutshell, grief, sadness, and a little bit of guilt.) His journey
drives the story, so in this case, the picture was sort of worth
75,000 words.
What did you enjoy most about
writing this book?
The Hale Street series is a
multi-author series I’m writing with two of my best friends, Emily
Leigh and Natasha Lake. While each story is stand-alone, we
collaborate constantly on the setting and character crossover, and
the collaboration is the very best part. The synergy the three of us
have makes writing kind of magical, even on the hard days. If I’m
struggling with a plot point, my girls are all over it with me
because they know my characters almost as well as I do. Plus we do
girls’ writing retreat weekends a few times a year and a weeklong
private writing retreat in a lake cottage each summer. Not only is it
great for the writing but it’s soul time.
What gave you the most trouble
with this story?
It was a challenge to take Micah
from a grieving, hiding-from-life man to a happy, in-love one. You
can’t rush grief. Further complicating things was that his heroine,
Sloan, was his wife’s best friend. That’s not the main conflict
between them, but I couldn’t gloss over it either.
What 5 things should readers know
about you?
1. ONE AND ONLY is my 18th
published book and my favorite one (at least today!)
2. I have four cats and have told my
husband he can never leave me or I’ll be a cat lady.
3. Making decisions is often
excruciating for me. I can weigh pros and cons until my eyes cross.
4. I have an obsession with office
products—pens, Post-its, pretty notebooks, gel pens, colored binder
clips, penguin-shaped paper clips…
5. I live in Wisconsin, the cheese
state, but I can’t eat dairy. Before that, I lived in Kansas, the
wheat state, but I can’t eat gluten.
What do you like best about being
a writer? What is the most challenging part?
This might be revealing my inner
geekiness, but I love the psychology aspect of writing two people who
fall in love. When two people come together with an assortment of
baggage, you’ve got a lot of stuff to work through, and I love the
puzzle of it all and figuring out how the pieces go together. I love
it especially after the hard part’s all done!
What do you do when you are not
writing?
Work-wise, I’m a full-time
freelance copyeditor, so I read all day every day (and correct
grammar, etc. to my OCD heart’s content). I get to read/edit just
about every genre/sub-genre imaginable, though more than half my
projects are romance. Tough job but somebody has to do it! I feel
blessed that I can say honestly I love what I do. Between
freelancing, which can mean working weekends and holidays, and
raising two teenage boys with my husband, I manage to maintain a
fairly high level of crazy.
Can you tell us about your
upcoming book?
I don’t know a lot yet because I’m
in the early stages of writing it, but my next book, out this summer,
is a novella about two characters from ONE AND ONLY. Lena Kessler is
the oldest of four sisters and the only one still single. She longs
for love and babies like the rest of her family has. Former NHL
player Ash McGuire is the last person who could give her what she
dreams of but the only one she wants.
Rafflecopter Giveaway (a $10 Gift Card to eBookseller of choice, Digital copies of SOFT SPOT, and SWEET SPOT (Two Winners)
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