Tag Archives: Nashville Dreams series

Book Review – Can’t Let Her Go

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Can’t Let Her Go

A Nashville Dreams Novel

by Sandy James

In Nashville the music is louder, the dreams are bigger, and love can bring a cowboy to his knees.

Ethan Walker is Nashville royalty. Born to the King and Queen of Country Music, he’s spent his life trying to escape the spotlight of his parents’ fame, even walking away from his own promising singing career. He’s the kind of cowboy who prefers flannel to flashbulbs, hay fields to hit records, and the solitude of his horse farm to the nightlife along Music Row. The last thing he wants is attention, especially when it comes from country’s latest star…

Chelsea Harris’s meteoric rise up the charts and string of celebrity boyfriends mean that wherever she goes, the paparazzi follow. A duet with Nashville’s favorite son is exactly what her new charity album needs, but when she approaches Ethan, he turns her down flat. To win the camera-shy cowboy over, Chelsea will have to approach him on his terms. Trouble is, the more time she spends on his farm, the more Ethan wants to keep her there.

The Nashville Dreams series: Can’t Walk Away / Can’t Let Her Go / Can’t Fight the Feeling

Usually with romances you can find a bit of yourself (or a bit that you wished was you) but this one was a little different.  It’s all about dealing with the side effects of fame.  Ethan experienced it thanks to his parents and decided it definitely wasn’t something he wanted.  Chelsea sees it as just a by-product of her singing career.  She’s worked hard to get where she is and understands that it is her fans that got her there … she just has to accept that it comes with paparazzi and people who think they have a right to comment on her private life.  Obviously with two such differing opinions there is going to be trouble when Ethan and Chelsea fall in love.

While I have no experience to draw on to relate to either of them, James does a fantastic job of giving you well-developed characters so you understand where both of them are coming from.  It is totally understandable why Ethan would do everything he can to stay out of the spotlight and ignore any press, but after seeing how the world is now, especially with the access of social media, people like Taylor Swift are the perfect example of why Chelsea feels the need to support the machine.  When the trouble hits, I have to admit that I felt more for one of them than the other … both of them are stubborn and it doesn’t lead to an easy compromise but it seemed one of them tried even less than the other 🙂

With a totally awesome HEA moment and characters that I loved, Can’t Let Her Go is not to be missed.

Book Review – Can’t Walk Away

22 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Can’t Walk Away

Nashville Dreams #1

by Sandy James

In Nashville the stars shine a little brighter, songs sound a little sweeter, and love lasts a lifetime.

Young, rich, and better looking than a man has a right to be, successful songwriter Brad “Hitman” Maxwell was once Nashville’s biggest celebrity. Then a heartbreaking loss and a shocking betrayal caused his light to go out. Now, instead of pouring his soul into song, he pours beers at Words & Music. His bar is the perfect escape–a place to forget his past–until the night she takes the stage…

Savannah Wolf used to dream of becoming Nashville’s hottest star. Now, as a young single mom, she dreams of a steady income and being home to tuck her daughter into bed. So when Brad Maxwell offers her the gig of a lifetime–playing as the headliner at Words & Music–Savannah discovers the best of both worlds. And she refuses to ruin this opportunity by falling for her sexy boss. Except that Brad suddenly starts writing music again… music inspired by her.

Both Brad and Savannah have super trust issues, which you can imagine what that means.  Yep, just a few bumps that end up being a bigger deal than maybe they should have been.  Part of their problem is that they have a pretty hard time ignoring their attraction to each other so they are moving pretty fast.  Leading to lots of assumptions and jumping to conclusions that is only exacerbated by their trouble with trusting each other.

Granted both of them have their reasons.  Brad’s marriage wasn’t what he thought it was and when he finds out it changes a lot about how he sees the world.  It also damaged his confidence and he tried to get it back with women … lots of women.  And since Savannah’s last relationship was with a scoundrel who took off with all of her money and left her alone, she’s not exactly feeling all that sure of herself either.

The nice thing though is that James does a great job of having Savannah stand up for herself.  She knows what she wants and she’s not willing to back down.  She just has to make sure that Brad actually hears her, which isn’t always the easiest of things.  He’s not completely clueless though and does figure things out eventually 🙂

Make sure that you are ready for a lot of ups and downs, because things are not easy for these two.  But I found the ride differently worth the bumps.

Spotlight – Can’t Walk Away

10 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

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We’ve got a couple of great books to look at today – I’m actually about halfway through this one and it is fabulous!

*****

Can’t Walk Away

Nashville Dreams, Book 1

by Sandy James

October 10, 2017

Forever Yours eBook

$3.99

Blurb:

In Nashville the stars shine a little brighter, songs sound a little sweeter, and love lasts a lifetime.

Young, rich, and better looking than a man has a right to be, successful songwriter Brad “Hitman” Maxwell was once Nashville’s biggest celebrity.  Then a heartbreaking loss and a shocking betrayal caused his light to go out.  Now, instead of pouring his soul into song, he pours beers at Words & Music.  His bar is the perfect escape—a place to forget his past—until the night she takes the stage…

Savannah Wolf used to dream of becoming Nashville’s hottest star.  Now, as a young single mom, she dreams of a steady income and being home to tuck her daughter into bed.  So when Brad Maxwell offers her the gig of a lifetime—playing as the headliner at Words & Music—Savannah discovers the best of both worlds.  And she refuses to ruin this opportunity by falling for her sexy boss.  Except that Brad suddenly starts writing music again…music inspired by her.

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2u5osnC

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2v128y5

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2vtMXyb

iBooks: http://apple.co/2v3CqHJ

Google: http://bit.ly/2wpKSjW

*****

Excerpt:

By the fifth take, Brad was losing his patience.

Had he been wrong in thinking Savannah was something special, something new? He sure as hell didn’t think so.

Then why couldn’t he get her to sing with the passion she’d shown back at Words & Music?

Maybe it was the song. “That Smile” was his first attempt at writing in a long time. Perhaps it wasn’t up to snuff?

No. When Brad had heard Savannah sing it earlier, he’d known he’d written a strong song with a good melody and a catchy beat.

Something was clearly blocking her talent.

“I’m sorry, Brad.” She dropped the headphones from her ears to let them rest around her neck. Then, head bowed, she started shuffling through the sheet music.

He’d never seen her look defeated before, and he didn’t like it. This wasn’t the Savannah who’d been his muse. This wasn’t the woman who brought back his music.

This was…a disaster.

But why?

He watched her closely, trying to find some telltale clue as to what was going on today that had robbed Savannah of the passion and talent he’d counted on. Her hair was braided, the braid an eclectic mixture of blond and blue. A blush tinted her cheeks, and he could hear her nervousness through the quaver in her voice, especially in the last notes of her fifth recording.

Something was definitely wrong, and he was going to have to find a way to fix it. But he couldn’t do that from another room. Even though he could see her, something told him she needed something more personal. Unsure of whether being closer to her would make a difference, he figured it was worth a shot.

Brad started a new recording so he could capture the song if he was able to help her, pushed himself away from the console, and headed to the recording booth with his remote control in his pocket. He pulled the door open and stepped inside.

Savannah glanced up from the music, offering him a wan smile that made his frustration evaporate. She knew something was wrong, too. Maybe if they put their heads together, they could get back the magic.

By the fifth take, Brad was losing his patience.

Had he been wrong in thinking Savannah was something special, something new? He sure as hell didn’t think so.

Then why couldn’t he get her to sing with the passion she’d shown back at Words & Music?

Maybe it was the song. “That Smile” was his first attempt at writing in a long time. Perhaps it wasn’t up to snuff?

No. When Brad had heard Savannah sing it earlier, he’d known he’d written a strong song with a good melody and a catchy beat.

Something was clearly blocking her talent.

“I’m sorry, Brad.” She dropped the headphones from her ears to let them rest around her neck. Then, head bowed, she started shuffling through the sheet music.

He’d never seen her look defeated before, and he didn’t like it. This wasn’t the Savannah who’d been his muse. This wasn’t the woman who brought back his music.

This was…a disaster.

But why?

He watched her closely, trying to find some telltale clue as to what was going on today that had robbed Savannah of the passion and talent he’d counted on. Her hair was braided, the braid an eclectic mixture of blond and blue. A blush tinted her cheeks, and he could hear her nervousness through the quaver in her voice, especially in the last notes of her fifth recording.

Something was definitely wrong, and he was going to have to find a way to fix it. But he couldn’t do that from another room. Even though he could see her, something told him she needed something more personal. Unsure of whether being closer to her would make a difference, he figured it was worth a shot.

Brad started a new recording so he could capture the song if he was able to help her, pushed himself away from the console, and headed to the recording booth with his remote control in his pocket. He pulled the door open and stepped inside.

Savannah glanced up from the music, offering him a wan smile that made his frustration evaporate. She knew something was wrong, too. Maybe if they put their heads together, they could get back the magic.

*****

Author Info:

Sandy James lives in a quiet suburb of Indianapolis and is a high school psychology teacher.  She owns a small stable of harness racehorses and enjoys spending time at Hoosier Park racetrack.  She has been an Amazon #1 Bestseller multiple times and has won numerous awards including two HOLT Medallions.

www.sandyjames.com

www.twitter.com/sandyjamesbooks

www.facebook.com/sandyjamesbooks

Add Can’t Walk Away to your shelf on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2u8qK9q

Follow Sandy James on BookBub: http://bit.ly/2vuaGOF

Follow Sandy James on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2u8HL3g

*****

Giveaway:

Enter to win 1 of 15 free ebook downloads of Can’t Walk Away!

http://bit.ly/2yEbU8o

*****