Wicked Beat by Olivia Cunning (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Fan girl moment! Please give a screaming welcome to the rockinly awesome Olivia Cunning, joining us with her sinfully sexy Sinners and a special treat for readers!

It’s the End of the Series, but Not the End of Sinners

When you spend three years centering your life around a group of fictional characters, it’s hard to say good-bye to them when you finally reach the end of the series. For me, I have a hard time saying goodbye to a character at the end of a book. Saying goodbye to all the characters at the end of the series was crushing. I suffered through the depression of leaving my characters behind when I finished writing the books almost two years ago. Fans of the series are just now dealing with their goodbyes.

Now that all five books of the Sinners on Tour series have been released, fans of the series are finally able to finish it off. I’ve been getting a lot of messages from readers saying how bittersweet reaching the end is for them. They’re happy that all five members of the fictional band, Sinners, have found love—often unconventional love, but still love—but they want to know what’s next for these guys. Did they marry? Did they have kids? How many? Did they stay together as a band for all eternity or move on to other ambitions? Did they move to Siberia? What happens to Sinners after Double Time?

There is a reason why I wrote Double Time to be the last book of the series. And a reason why the heroine of Double Time is a temporary member of a different band, Exodus End.And a reason why the rhythm guitarist for Sinners and the lead guitarist for Exodus End are brothers. And a reason why the two bands just kicked off a world tour together at the end of the Sinner series. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there will be a spin off series about the four members of Exodus End. So while we’ve reached the end of the Sinners’ books, we have not reached the end of Sinners. They’ll have cameo roles in the Exodus End series. So even though you won’t be completely entrenched in the naughty, loving heads of the five rock gods of Sinners, you’ll get to check up on them while falling in love with a whole new band.

A new band that includes the talented, gorgeous and marvelous Dare Mills. If you’ve read the Sinners series, you know Dare Mills. If not… trust me, you want to learn more about this man. You have to be pretty awesome to put up with a little brother as naughty as Trey (he’s the rhythm guitarist of Sinners and the hero of Double Time).

You might be wondering why I keep referring to Double Time, when the book that just came out was Wicked Beat. The series was released out of order. So if you are new to the series, do yourself a favor and read them in order.

#1 Backstage Pass
#2 Rock Hard
#3 Hot Ticket
#4 Wicked Beat
#5 Double Time

Or if you like reading things out of order, at least read Double Time last. It wraps things up for the entire Sinners series and leads into the next series about Exodus End.

So how much of Sinners will you see in Exodus End? How about I provide a very short, never before seen teaser from the Exodus End series and you can be the judge?

From the book Insider, book one of Exodus End World Tour (*titles and content subject to change). Hint: Bobbie is the heroine of Insider and very much a girl. Logan is the hero and the bassist for Exodus End. In this scene they are eating breakfast with the other members of the band and Bobbie is interviewing them for the really cool interactive book she’s writing about the band. Lucky woman.

“Some people are good at school,” she said. “Some people are good at other things.” Bobbie could feel the heat rise up her neck as she thought of all the other things Logan was good at. Bass guitar was only one of his talents.
“What did you major in?” Logan asked, ignoring Steve’s barbs. It was as if he thought they were alone. Or maybe he just didn’t much care if everyone listened in on their conversation.
She laughed. “The more appropriate question is what didn’t I major in?”
He reached across the table and took her hand. “So what didn’t you major in?”
“Physical Education.”
She’d meant it as a way to point out that she was not athletically inclined, but his naughty grin told her that his mind had gone in a different direction. “I have some expertise in that subject if you’d like some lessons.”
“Ugh,” Reagan groaned. “Will you stop with the lame come-ons, Logan? I’m trying to eat my disgustingly healthy breakfast.”
Bobbie didn’t mind his lame come-ons one bit. “I know who to ask if I decide I need more physical education.”
Had she actually just flirted with him? And found it fun?
He grinned. “So what kind of things can you teach me?”
“Nothing physical.” She laughed. “I started as a pre-med major, switched to Russian literature, then computer programming and graphic arts. I then decided I liked to write, so switched to a double major in English and Journalism. I ended up with a pretty worthless liberal arts degree.”
“Do you have a hard time making up your mind about things?” he asked.
“Not really. I just have so many interests.”
“Am I one of your interests?”
“Ugh!” Reagan cried and started hitting Logan repeatedly in the arm. “I can’t take it. Stop hitting on her at the breakfast table.”
“I think you’re the one hitting on me,” he complained, unable to avoid Reagan’s blows as he was trapped in the booth by Dare.
“Logan,” Bobbie said. “You can hit on me later. In private.”
He grinned. “Can do.”
Okay, back to business. It was completely surreal that he was hitting on her in the first place. And that she was interested in physical education for the first time in her life.
“So,” she said, forcing herself to take a bite of her spinach and tomato omelet. “I did all the background research on how the band formed and everything, but I’d like to hear you guys tell it.” She didn’t want her introduction to read like a Wikipedia entry. She wanted some insider information that had never been shared with the general public before.
“The band was started by Dare,” Steve said.
“Why didn’t you start a band with your little brother?” Bobbie asked. She had always wondered why Trey and Dare were in different bands. They both played guitar, but Dare had always played lead and Trey played rhythm.
“Because he sucked,” Dare said.
This earned him a smack in the back of the head from Reagan. “Trey does not suck.” She chuckled and rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Okay, he does—in the best possible way—but the way he plays guitar doesn’t. Trey is amazing at both sucking and playing.”
“Now who’s getting inappropriate at the breakfast table?” Logan asked.
“I said he sucked. Past tense,” Dare said. “Trey didn’t figure out how to get a unique sound until he was sixteen and by then he really only sounded good with Sinclair. Trey and I never had a complementary sound. Not even when my mom first taught us to play folksongs on acoustic guitars.”
“So no chance you’ll ever play in a band with your brother?” Bobbie asked.
“I wouldn’t say no chance, but fairly slim.”

*****
So there you have it, you will learn more about Sinners in the Exodus End series, but you’ll mostly learn more about Exodus End. Hope you have fun on Sinners tour bus and will consider joining Exodus End on their private jet as the tour all over the world.

Saying goodbye isn’t always a bad thing. It sometimes opens up a world of new possibilities.

Wicked Beat
(Sinners on Tour #4)
by Olivia Cunning
Paperback, 416 pages
Published August 6th 2013 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
original titleWicked Beat
ISBN 1402245866
Amazon - Kindle - Barnes&Noble - iTunes - TBD

From the moment he lays eyes on Sinners’ new front of house soundboard operator, drummer Eric Sticks knows he has to make Rebekah his. Unfortunately, she’s too busy trying to seduce guitarist Trey Mills to pay him much attention. Rebekah never planned to fall for the tall, goofy drummer with the weird sense of humor and a heart the size of the galaxy. But Eric makes her laugh and his constant attention makes her feel sexy and irresistible–exactly what she needs after the things her last lover said to her. A woman who gives as much as she takes, Rebekah makes Eric feel like a total stud–exactly what he needs after surviving a decade of watching the incredibly talented members of Sinners from the wings.

About this author:

Combining her love for romantic fiction and rock ‘n roll, Olivia Cunning writes erotic romance centered around rock musicians. Raised on hard rock music from the cradle, she attended her first Styx concert at age six and fell instantly in love with live music. She's been known to travel over a thousand miles just to see a favorite band in concert. As a teen, she discovered her second love, romantic fiction -- first, voraciously reading steamy romance novels and then penning her own. Growing up as the daughter of a career soldier, she's lived all over the country and overseas. She recently moved to Galveston, Texas. http://www.oliviacunning.com/

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Sourcebooks is giving away one copy of Wicked Beat to one reader! (US/CA only please.) To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Who's your favorite Sinner? And which Exodus End bad boy are you looking forward to reading about? Or just leave some love for the awesomesauce Olivia Cunning! And then fill out the rafflecopter below. Good luck!

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