Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for grabbing your copy of A WICKED SONG! I’m so excited to see what you think about the next book in Kace and Aria’s story! If you haven’t already, please be sure you’ve read A RECKLESS NOTE (book one), it does need to be read prior to this book, and prior to continuing this letter as I’m about to give a short recap of book one.
Aria Alard is really Aria Stradivari. She and her brother, Gio, are the last remaining family members of the Stradivari family, the family whose ancestor, Antonio Stradivari, created the infamous Stradivarius violins. Those violins are revered by artists worldwide, they now auction for millions of dollars and are coveted by those who have obtained ownership of the few that remain.
Aria and Gio’s father went missing years ago, and their mother woke them in the night, and they fled to the states, to New York City, for safety. In New York, they started a new life, and hid, after their mother gave them the painful news that she believed their father was dead. For years, she taught them how to hide, and forbid them to be involved with music in any way, shape, or form. Years later, one fateful night their mother was killed in a mugging.
Aria and Gio stuck together. They bought a building, running a collectibles shop, where they now live and work, hunting for treasures for collectors. Aria lives by her mother’s creed and keeps a low profile. Gio lives wild and free, bedding women, and taking risks.
When book one opened, readers learned that Gio has been missing for a few weeks and Aria is desperately worried. While hunting for clues to find him in his office, she finds a romantic, sexy letter from a woman named Sofia written to Gio. To Aria’s anger and shock, the letter mentions a hunt to find the secret formula to create the Stradivarius instruments. Obviously, Gio has taken risk to a whole new level. There is also a mention of a violin going up for auction at the elite Riptide Auction House. Nervous about exposing herself, but seeing no other option, Aria heads to Riptide in hopes of finding clues that lead her to her brother. While her first contact, does not offer such results, she discovers there will be a VIP auction for the violin. She has to attend. Surely her brother, or maybe Sofia, will be there. This means earning an invitation from the ever-so-arrogant and pompous owner of Riptide, Mark Compton.
She does so by charging into the restaurant he’s at and walking right up to his table. Mark is sitting with the famous artist Chris Merit, and the enigmatic, Kace August: a world-famous rock star violinist. Kace is a direct link to her past, to music, to her history, and a dangerous connection for her to make, but even in their first encounter, there is a spark destined to become a fire.
Through the slow burn of them getting to know one another, Aria is also trying to keep her business, Accent Collectibles, which she runs with Gio, afloat. In doing so, she attempts to bid on a rare wine for a client of hers, but is outbid by Alexander Voss. Someone both her client and Kace August have a tenuous history with, though she doesn’t know much detail about either. Just that Kace and Ed don’t want her between them and Alexander, or with Alexander at all.
Thanks to Mark Compton’s wife, Crystal, Aria gets the invite to the VIP auction, and it turns out both she and Kace are set to big on the Stradivarius violin. As part of the auction, Aria is allowed an early look at the violin, and searches for the very distinct markings that would confirm it is a real and true Stradivarius, sadly, she finds this one is a fake, and tells Mark as such. He refutes her claims, but she tells Kace anyways, and he trusts her enough to not bid on the violin.
In a whirlwind of surrender and passion, Aria and Kace give in to their desires, and she ends up in Austin, TX with him for another of his charity concerts that he puts on with Chris Merit. Their time in Austin pulls them closer, and despite Aria’s reservations due to Kace being so engrained in a world that is still a threat to her, she is finding herself falling for this man.
Kace eventually breaks Aria down and convinces her to