by Henry, Max
“I forgot to tell you, babe. There’s some mail on the counter for you. Came today.”
“Is there?” Alice rises from between my legs, Mosaic sharing my sentiments as we both turn our head to watch her go.
She redirected her mail when the girls officially shifted out of their apartment last week. I’ll admit it: seeing that first piece arrive with her name and my address. Yeah. It was awesome.
“Holy shit.” She collapses where she stands, crouching with her back against the wall. “Hol-ee shit.”
“What is it?” I step over Mosaic and cross to where she sits.
“A class action has been started against Mary-Anne.” She scans the letter shaking in her hand. “Previous clients got together and crowdfunded for the suit. This is from their lawyer, asking if I want to be involved.”
“Of course, you do.” I grin. “Right?”
“I need to call the girls, see if they got one too.” She erupts from the wall, breezing past to retrieve her phone.
I take a step back and ease against the counter, arms folded, to watch her share her joy with first Shanae and then Fria. The smile on her face is infectious, Mosaic even wagging his tail as he watches her chatter.
We agreed when we slid into what is now our norm that there would be no more secrets between us. No matter what, no matter how hard, we’d talk it through until everything was out on the table.
But this. This is one secret I’ll never share.
Ten years of hell with the woman, and I can say that I got at least one good thing out of my wasted time with Deanna.
Stacey: the lawyer.
She couldn’t do anything herself, but she knew a guy who took on cases like this every year pro bono to use as studies for his first-year interns.
Getting the girls the money they’re owed is only step one in what I’ve dubbed Emery’s Master Plan for Exoneration. The ultimate goal?
Getting my baby back on the stage where she damn well belongs.
A talent like her’s should never be wasted.
And a love like this? It’s equally a once in a lifetime experience.
One I plan to enjoy every damn day for the rest of my life.
Sober.
Still wanting more?
The final book in the Dark Tide series will belong to Toby.
After years of being the only responsible one holding the band together through thick and thin, chaos is sure to ensue when he decides to put his needs first for a change.
To make sure you don’t miss out on being notified when it’s live, sign up to my mailing list here: http://bit.ly/2mr9BUs
POSTFACE
(A word from me to you)
It’s become a habit of this series that I do a wee end note about the major theme of the book. Unlike Rey and Kris’s stories, the topic in this one might not be so obvious.
Self-belief. Confidence. The knot in your gut that says you know what’s best for you.
Any way you label it, it appears more prevalent every day that people are encouraged to minimize their needs. We hold value in being humble, putting others before ourselves, and we quite often discount our feelings when something in our life is lacking. We care more about how what we do or say will be perceived than how it will make us feel.
We railroad our happiness for no more than what we think another person believes about us.
Sure, pleasure can be found in the joy we spread through others, but in the quiet hours the only way we can truly be happy is if we feel content with what our life has become/is becoming.
Who we are.
Remember that kid you once were who wasn’t afraid to dream? At some stage in your young life, you had grand ides about who or what you’d be when you grew up.
And you believed it, because when we’re a child our life seems so long and full of infinite possibilities.
It’s only as we age and mature that we begin to find more comfort in justifying why we can’t rather than why we should.
We tell ourselves a story that makes us comfortable with whatever decision we made, and we stick with it. We recite it over and over until it becomes as factual as green grass or the blue sky.
Eventually, the fear of the unknown outweighs the niggling realization that perhaps, we could be wrong and we stop trying.
Now reverse that. Imagine if as a child you’d cite all the reasons why you shouldn’t do something rather than giving it a go. We’d never learn to ride a bike from fear of failing. We’d never know how to write or read through shame that others already know how, and we don’t. We’d never draw crazy monsters and magical creatures. We’d never play pretend.
We wouldn’t have lived.
If I want you to take anything away from Bottleneck, it’s that it’s never too late to go after what you truly want. I’m not saying remortgage your house and quit your day job on a whim. All I urge you to do is to set fear and convention aside and ask yourself, “What if I did just give it a try?”
Because at the end of the day, you’ll never know if you’ll succeed if you don’t dare to fail.
Much love,
Max
ALSO BY MAX
STANDALONE
Malaise
Tough Love
Echoes in the Storm
ARCADIA HIGH ANARCHISTS (Mature YA)
Good Girls
Bad Boys
Rich Riot
Loyal Love
COMING SOON
Done Deal
DARK TIDE (Rock Star) SERIES
Down Beat
Amplifier
COMING SOON
Bottleneck
TWISTED HEARTS (Age Gap) DUET
Desire
Regret
BUTCHER BOYS (Suspense) SERIES
Devil You Know
Devil on Your Back
Devil May Care
Devil in the Detail
Devil Smoke
FALLEN ACES MC SERIES
Unrequited
Unbreakable
Tormented
Existential
Misguided
YET TO RELEASE
Redundant
RED HOT READ
One More Night
Playing with the Boss
Lady Killer
Physical Therapy
THE MUSIC
Listen to the songs that inspired the book here: https://spoti.fi/34JaIBY
“The Acrobat & The Philosopher” – Johnny Stranger
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” – The Doors
“All My Life” – Ozzy Osbourne
“Bad Girls Club” – Falling in Reverse
“Bad Machine” – Boston Manor
“Black Sheep” – Gin Wigmore
“Blue Monday” – Orgy
“Bullet With A Name” – Nonpoint
“Crazy Bitch” – Buckcherry
“Don’t Let Go” – Deepfield
“Don’t You Want Me” – The Human League
“Do What You Want” – The Cool and Deadly
“The Drug in Me Is You” – Falling in Reverse
“Flawless” – Dorothy
“Girl All the Bad Guys Want” – Bowling for Soup
“Good Girls Bad Guys” – Falling in Reverse
“The Great Leap” – Mortiis, Godflesh
“Hammer” – Point North
“Hard Act to Follow” – Grinspoon
“Heads Will Roll” – Sum 41
“An Honest Mistake” – The Bravery
“If I Can’t Have It No One Can” – Boston Manor
“I Hate Myself for Loving You” – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
“In A Spiral” – Phantogram
“Infected” – Bad Religion
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It” – Leo
“Kickstart My Heart” – Motley Crue
“Knights of Cydonia” – Muse
“Misery Business” – Paramore
“Now We Conquer” – SETMEONFIRE
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br /> “Once Bitten Twice Shy” – Great White
“One Week” – Barenaked Ladies
“Pressure” – Muse
“Rock Bottom” – grandson
“The Rush” – JJ Wilde
“Save Me” – Shinedown
“Self Esteem” – The Offspring
“Shakin’ Off the Dust” – The Blue Stones
“Shot Down” – BRKN LOVE
“Situations” – Escape the Fate
“Slave” – Gnarlah
“Song #3” – Stone Sour
“Still of the Night” – Whitesnake
“Thank God I’m Not You” – Himalayas
“Thrash Metal Cassette” – Dinosaur Pile-Up
“Typical Story” – Hobo Johnson
“Uh Oh” Puddle of Mudd
“Under the Graveyard” – Ozzy Osbourne
“Wild Child” – W.A.S.P.
“Woman Like Me” – Little Mix, Niki Minaj
“Your Fault” – Burden Brothers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and bred in Canterbury, New Zealand, Max now resides with her family in beautiful and sunny Queensland, Australia.
Life with two young children can be hectic at times and, although she may not write as often as she would like, Max wouldn’t change a thing.
An avid lover of stories from a young age, she enjoys nothing more than to get lost in the pages while the characters dictate what direction she takes. Her favourite genre to write is young/new adult and the events in her stories may or may not be related to real life experiences (only she will ever know for sure).
In her down time, Max can be found at her local gym brainstorming through a session with the weights. If not, she’s probably out drooling over one of many classic cars on show that she wishes she owned.
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