He pushes off the couch and offers his hand. "Drew Denton. Nice to meet you."
I shake. "Meg Smart."
"Miles giving you a hard time?" Drew asks.
"I can handle myself," I say.
"If you won't listen to reason—" Drew turns back to Kara "—then I will drive you home."
Kara looks Drew in the eyes. "You were drinking too."
"I can." I bite my tongue. Dammit, Kara's car is a stick. I can't drive us home. "Never mind."
Miles butts in. "I'll drive you guys home."
Drew's eyes narrow. He shoots Miles an incredulous look.
"Not letting you drive tonight." Miles throws back a stern look. "You'd do the same."
Slowly, Drew's protective expression melts. He and Miles share a look of understanding.
The cocky singer turns to Kara. "Your keys."
"It's a manual." She digs through her purse.
"That's fine." He smirks. "I know how to handle my stick."
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Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Dangerous Rock. I started this book with every intention of keeping it a light, fun, dirty romp. Let’s face it. Kit and Piper’s book was a little heavier (as it deserved, with Kit’s past). A little more slow burn. And that slow burn is really fucking delicious. But it’s as frustrating for me as it is for you. Sometimes, the hero and heroine just need to let their bodies do the talking.
If you’ve read my other books, you know they usually end up with a vibe a lot like this one—fun and sexy with a nice helping of emotional weight and character development. And maybe a little angst. (If you haven’t read my other books, you should— start the Dangerous Noise series with Dangerous Kiss). Joel and Bella had their own ideas about what they needed from me and from each other. They would not allow this book to stay as firmly in romp-land as I had hoped.
Bella is different than my other heroines in that she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. And she ends her story still uncertain of what she wants to do with her life but open to possibilities besides the one that was predetermined for her.
It was difficult for me to write this type of character—I’m incredibly type A and hyperfocused on exactly what I want to do—but I’m glad I did. It’s not easy being 22, having everyone’s expectations thrust upon you, not knowing if what you want is your voice or someone else’s. Even though I’ve always wanted to write, I felt that same pull after I graduated college. My dad, my boyfriend, my mom, my friends—they all had different ideas about how I should go about accomplishing my goals. Half the people I knew told me to forget everything else and follow my dreams. The other half told me to table my dreams as a hobby and go after something practical. But the idea of writing full time as a dream never clicked with me. A dream is a wish. A dream is out of your reach. A dream is not something you can accomplish with actionable goals.
What did I say—very type A, right? It took me a long time and a lot of mistakes and life experience to figure out how to hone in on my ideas and my intuitions (even if that meant blocking out advice of people with good intentions). This is always difficult, even for the most headstrong among us (that would be me). Especially for women—we are used to putting other people’s needs ahead of ours. We are used to hearing so many other people’s ideas of what we are supposed to prioritize.
If you’ve read my other books, you know that my heroines’ arcs are important to me. I want my heroine to come into her own as much as I want her to fall head over heels for the hero. I hope I’ve accomplished that with Bella.
And I hope you fell for Joel as hard as she did.
As always, thanks for joining me on this journey.
I hope to see you soon for Mal’s book, Dangerous Fling.
Acknowledgments
My first thanks goes to my favorite Hufflepuff (and a proud Hufflepuff too), my husband, for his support when I’m lost in bookland and for generally being the sun in my sky. The second goes to my father, for always encouraging my love of reading and for taking me to the bookstore when I was supposed to be grounded.
To my favorite Slytherin, Athena Wright, you are the best author BFF a girl could ask for. Thank you for your feedback, for being my chat buddy, and for always being there to give me the perspective I need. You gave me the kick in the ass I needed with this book AND you talked me down from the oh God, it’s not right yet, everyone will hate it ledge more times than I can count. If anyone else had told me that my ending sucked and needed to go, I’d have ignored them. But, girl, you and I are just on the same wavelength in a way that continues to blow my mind.
A special thanks to my fellow Ravenclaw, Molle, for fangirling over pop-punk albums with me, and for reminding me that loving my work matters as much as all the marketing money in the world. To my cover designer Skyla, thank you for your work in making my rock star series perfect. To Sara, my photographer, thank you for the gorgeous photo gracing this cover. To my editors, Tonya and Nicole, thank you for whipping the story and the prose into shape. And thanks to Giselle at Xpresso and to all the book bloggers who helped get the word out.
As always, my biggest thanks goes to my readers. Thank you for picking up Dangerous Rock. I hope you’ll be back for the rest of the Dangerous Noise series.
More Books by Crystal Kaswell
Dangerous Noise
Dangerous Kiss - Ethan
Dangerous Crush – Kit
Dangerous Rock – Joel
Dangerous Fling – Mal – coming summer 2017
Sinful Serenade
Sing Your Heart Out - Miles
Strum Your Heart Out - Drew
Rock Your Heart Out - Tom
Play Your Heart Out - Pete
Sinful Ever After – series sequel
Sign up for the Crystal Kaswell mailing list to get the extended epilogues to all Dangerous Noise books, and bonus scenes from the Sinful Serenade series!
Dangerous Rock: A Rock Star Romance (Dangerous Noise Book 3) Page 31