Can heavy metal rock God, Dred, put his turbulent upbringing in a Toronto group home behind him long enough to fall in love and save Pix from her past? Find out in THE PUREST HOOK by RITA nominee, Scarlett Cole and St. Martin’s Press. Fans of Laura Kaye’s Hard Ink series or Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive books will fall in love with the tattooed heroes of the Second Circle Tattoos!
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Can a love built on secrets survive?
Rugged, hot, and rock hard, Dred Zander is exactly the type of man that normally sends Pixie running. Not dreaming about running her hands down his washboard abs...and lower. The lead singer and guitarist for the band Preload embodies trouble behind his quick smile and guarded eyes, and Pixie left trouble behind her years ago along with the name Sarah Jane Travers and the pathetic trailer her mom called home. With her abusive past in her past, she has a new life, a new family at Second Circle, and a dream of opening her own business. She needs capital and time. What she doesn't need is a tempting long-haired rocker or the paparazzi that follow him around.
But Dred has other ideas. Pixie's sweet hazel eyes, purple hair and kaleidoscopic tattoo of exotic flowers that swirl up her arm haunt his dreams, and he knows she wants him too. He just has to convince her. But as a juicy exposé threatens to expose their pasts, and a blackmailer terrorizes their present, Pixie and Dred have to decide what really matters and fight like hell to keep it.
Excerpt:
Pyrotechnics went off all the way around the stage as the crowd screamed and cheered. He hugged each of the guys, then ran off the stage to pull Pixie from Harper and Drea. The break between the end of the act and the encore was approximately four minutes, and he had plans to use them wisely.
Pixie looked at him, her eyes wide in shock as he grabbed her hand.
“Quick,” he said to her, tugging her down the stage steps. There was no way he could make it back to his dressing room in time, so he hurried them along the black curtain that surrounded the stage into a darkened corner. He pushed her gently against the wall, trapping her in his arms.
“Watching you watch me, Pix . . . drove me crazy. You going to let me kiss you?” he begged.
“Please.”
Pixie looked at him and put a hand against his cheek. “Yes.”
He slid both hands into her hair and pressed his mouth against hers. Energized from the performance, Dred struggled to rein in the need to kiss her fiercely. When he heard her groan, felt her lift up on her toes to loop her arms around his neck, he was done for. She was more than he’d dreamed of, and he’d dreamed a hell of a fucking lot. And yet none of his half-asleep fantasies could match the emotions currently blazing through him. Her tongue tentatively brushed against his so gently it was almost innocent. Well, as innocent as it could be when what he really wanted to do was take her against this black curtain.
It was fucking heaven.
He slid his hands down her body. Pixie giggled when he gripped her waist to pull her close. Ticklish. He’d have to remember that.
Not that he wanted to, but he needed to get back onstage. Fucking encore. He kissed her one more time, tasted the whiskey he’d given her earlier. The telltale thump of Lennon’s bass drum started to sound. He pulled back, willing his hard-on to take it down a notch before he got back onstage.
“That was quite the kiss,” Pixie said shyly.
He took her hand and led her back to the stage, positioning her right where she had been. It was impossible to resist kissing her again, and he grinned when Trent raised an eyebrow in his direction.
“Agreed. As beginnings go, Pix, it was pretty fucking epic,” he said with a wink, and walked back onto the stage to face the screaming fans.
I pretty much fell in love with this series from the very first chapter of the first book. Since then I have no shame in saying that I've been stalking the shit out of the author waiting for the next release. When I got this book I jumped on my Kindle and ignored the world for a few hours while I immersed myself into Pix and Dred's life. And I loved it!
This book follows Pix, the receptionist at Second Circle Tattoo's, as she tries to navigate through her attraction to Dred Zander. Dred is the too-hot-for-his-own-good rockstar that works with her boss on a tattoo show. He's been flirting with her for awhile but she keeps turning down his advances, knowing that someone like him would be very bad for her, someone that doesn't want to be hounded by paparazzi and have her life out there for anyone to know about.
But Dred doesn't give up very easily, not when he see's something he wants. And Pix is the only one he wants. When she gives in to him will it be both of their downfall, like she expects? With Pix's past coming to haunt her again, she's pretty sure the answer to that question is a solid "yes." But leaving Dred is harder than she thought it would be. It's been about a week since I read this book and I still can't get Dred and Pixie out of my mind. I loved how sweet and gentle Dred could be with Pix and let her work up to a serious relationship at her own pace. After a past like hers, even though he didn't know all the details at the time, it was just amazing to see him handle her with such care. The great thing about these characters were that they weren't your typical Hero and heroine. Dred wasn't the cliched rockstar playboy, that we had to dig deep into to find the sweet side to. It was just there and evident at all times. And Pix wasn't the shy heroine that could get on my nerves, she was strong and independent, and didn't run from her issues.
I'm pretty sure that I say this in every review I do from this series, but I love Scarlett Cole's side characters. She makes them interesting enough for me to want to know more about them, but doesn't give an overload of information about them, taking the focus off of the main characters. In this book we got to meet even more characters when we met Dred's band and I loved all of them. I really hope she'll end up doing a book for them because they were all amazingly intriguing.
Overall, I loved this story and the characters and I really hope everyone else will too. The story was full of emotional times mixed in with the humor and sexiness that I've come to expect from this author. There was a little bit of angst thrown in too that had me captivated and I think even people that hate angst will be okay with it.
About Scarlett Cole:
The tattoo across my right hip says it all really. A Life Less Ordinary. Inked by the amazingly talented Luke Wessman at the Wooster Street Social Club (a.k.a. New York Ink). Why is it important? Well, it sums up my view on life. That we should all aspire to live a life that is less boring, less predictable. Be bold, and do something amazing. I’ve made some crazy choices. I’ve been a car maker, a consultant, and even a senior executive at a large retailer running strategy. Born in England, spent time in the U.S. and Japan, before ending up in Canada were I met my own, personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. Both of us are scorpios! Yeah, I know! Should have checked the astrological signs earlier, but somehow it works for us. We have two amazing kids, who I either could never part with or could easily be convinced to sell on e-bay. I’ve wanted to be a writer for a really long time. Check through my office cupboards or my computer and you’ll find half written stories and character descriptions everywhere. Now I'm getting the chance to follow that dream.
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