Title: The One Thing I Know

Series: B-Sides, Book One

Author: Keelan Ellis

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: Aug 14, 2017

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 66600

Genre: Historical, romance, gay, bisexual, historical-1970’s, California, musicians, rock star, drugs/alcohol use, enemies to lovers, road trip

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Synopsis:

Talented studio musician, Henry Cole, is offered the dream job of touring with popular rock band, the Vulgar Details. Things aren’t all rosy, though, as he is hired to replace Dell Miller, creative force behind the band, who recently flamed-out in a car accident.

Henry is all too aware that he’s no replacement for someone like Dell. He’s not the only one who feels that way, either. Terry Blackwood, band front man, has been giving him a hard time even before the tour start. He seems to resent Henry’s presence beyond all reason. What Henry doesn’t know is that Terry and Dell’s relationship was both intensely close and fraught with conflict.

Terry’s grief over Dell’s death is overwhelming and threatens to destroy not only the band but his life. It doesn’t help that the new member of the band makes him feel things he doesn’t want to. Worse, when he sings, Henry sounds just like the man Terry cared so deeply for.

With so much at stake, everything could come crashing down around them and mean the end for the Vulgar Details. Or, just maybe, Henry and Terry will find the one thing they need most.

Sometimes redemption comes from the last place you expect to find it.

Excerpt:

The One Thing I Know
Keelan Ellis © 2017
All Rights Reserved

Exclusive

Henry sat in the dressing room with his head in his hands, trying to get his breathing under control. The crowd out there was fucking huge and incredibly loud. This shouldn’t have been news to him. He’d been going to rock shows his entire adult life. Now, the reality of what he was going to have to do had finally sunk in, and he felt like running away.

“Here.” Someone nudged his shoulder, and he looked up. Benton was holding a shot glass full of something clear in front of his face. “You look like you’re about to bolt.”

“Yeah,” Henry said, laughing weakly. “I mean, no. I won’t bolt. But I wish I could.” He looked down at the glass. “Will this help?”

“Maybe,” Benton said. He flopped down on the chair next to Henry. “But in my experience, the only thing that’s going to help is getting out there. You can play. You’ll do fine.”

Henry nodded. He took the shot, coughed, and handed Benton the glass. “Thanks.”

“Anyway, they’re only looking at Terry. The rest of us could go out there naked and they’d never notice.”

Henry didn’t have too much more time to worry. Before he knew it, they were all heading on stage, assaulted by the screams of thousands of fans. Henry made a beeline for his area, which was toward the back of the stage. Blackwood was saying something to the crowd, but he couldn’t hear it above the ringing in his ears. Everything was muffled, and he could see stars swimming behind his eyes. He sat down at the pedal steel and closed his eyes until his heart slowed to something close to normal and he could hear properly. When he looked up, he saw Benton had been exactly right. The lead singer had the attention of everyone in the hall.

Henry had never seen the Vulgar Details play live. Generally speaking, he preferred smaller, more intimate shows in bars or small halls. And while he loved some of their music, their brand of over-the-top showmanship had never been a big draw for him. In that moment, all of that changed. Blackwood used the stage like he’d been born there. The way he moved his body was blatantly sexual and surprisingly graceful. Under a gauzy cotton shirt, left unbuttoned, his lean stomach gleamed with sweat. His hair fell over his eyes and made him look younger, less hardened, than he was up close. He’d given no clue to any of this during rehearsals, saving it all for his adoring fans. More than the way he looked, or the way he danced, it was his complete confidence that was so mesmerizing.

Henry’s nerves had disappeared the moment he started playing. This was what he did best, what he loved most, and in the end, it didn’t matter if he was on a stage or in a quiet studio. He liked playing with the band more than he’d expected; he couldn’t deny that. It was satisfying to lay down a perfect isolated track and hear it later on the finished song, but that didn’t compare to the rush of immediate gratification live music provided.

It seemed barely any time had passed before Blackwood was saying, “Goodnight, Oakland! We love you!” and they were walking off stage. The crowd roared for an encore while the band got drinks and toweled off. They’d agreed on two songs from their first album for the encore that night, plus a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman.” The two early Vulgar Details songs had been reworked to bring them more in line with their current sound, mixing in the country influences they’d adopted. When they walked back out on stage, the audience went nuts again. The electricity coming from them was palpable, and Henry wondered what it was going to be like when this was all over—when he had to return to the quiet life he’d cultivated for himself.

Review:

The One Thing I Know by Keelan Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The One Thing I Know (ARC) was graciously provided to me by IndiGo Marketing & Design for an honest review.

“Love is you, you and me. Love is knowing we can be.”
(John Lennon..Love 1970)

The One Thing I Know is one of the most heart-wrenching, heart-breaking and beautiful love stories I’ve read in a long time. To say that I experienced an over-abundance of emotions would be an understatement. I cheered, I melted, I laughed, and I also..bawled my eyes out. Having this book take place in the early 70’s, as this is a favorite time of mine, did help with the pain that I was experiencing..a bit. But, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t experience massive amounts of heart-ache, and, was unable to completely read what was right in front of my face, at times, due to all of the tears. It was a tough read, one filled with bravely fought experiences, as well as, honorable end results.

The One Thing I Know, by Keenan Ellis, is a story, upon first glance, about a band. An energetic and popular band. Which is true, but, that’s only part of it. As it is about a popular band, The Vulgar Details, and their struggles with survival, it’s much more than that. It is definitely a love story. The beginnings of a love story between two men, during a time when it wasn’t quite the norm to have different kinds of love. And so, it’s a story about how to live, and how to function and how to deal with who you are and who you love, and, how to safely go through life as you wish. I’m glad that I still find myself coming across stories of this nature, pretty frequently, and as the importance of them remain paramount, they will continue to be at the top of my list of must-reads.

The One Thing I Know, is a massive story about love, about being comfortable with not only yourself, but with others, as well as with society. And..it’s also about the consequences and the heart-ache of what happens when this comfort can not be completely obtained. No matter how many times one reaches out and tries to grab and latch on to what one desires, sometimes it’s not enough. No matter how many times this is attempted, that warm, comfortable and soothing blanket is just still too slippery.

As this story takes place during a time when floral dresses, long hair, bell-bottomed jeans, and when great music runs rampant, it was also a time when music spoke from the heart. The kind that had you swaying side to side as you sang along with the lyrics. It was powerful music. With that, came many different types of bands and musicians. One such musician, and one of the mc’s, is Henry Cole, a talented, great, and young studio musician, who loved playing back-up for different bands. Not only did he enjoy playing back-up, but, he was also a talented producer and writer, despite preferring to be in the shadows more so than in the limelight. He was a musician with a past, who wore his heart on his sleeve.

Another great musician, or mc, is Terry Blackwood. Lead singer for The Vulgar Details. Terry was a broken young man who was drifting down a very dark and narrow road, and, was beginning to show signs of destruction. During one of the times when he tried to seek comfort from different types of dangerous methods, Terry found himself drowning, and, was unable to hoist himself up onto dry land. For that reason, Terry and the band desperately needed help…

When The Vulgar Details reached out for help, they ultimately decided upon a hauntingly amazing musician, by the name of…Henry Cole. Despite having trepidations about playing in public with the band, Henry agreed to help. Throughout the story, Henry finds himself fighting his past, trying to find joy in his music, and, doing his best to try to help others..for the right reasons. And, one such individual who he sought to help was..Terry Blackwood. And, that was not easy. As Henry attempted to help and guide Terry through..his own hell, Henry also went through a lot of self-discovery, as well as, many dark clouds of self-doubt. It was beautiful to see the progression of growth when it was desperately needed.

There were many different secondary characters, and, while there wasn’t a whole lot of character development nor background information with many of the characters, I still enjoyed them and would welcome seeing them again in future books.

Despite my watery, heart-felt and positive opinion of the story while reading, I hadn’t always felt that way. I was, at times, frustrated and disappointed. I found myself having to frequently re-read something due to the clarity of the writing. I also found myself shaking my head as if to clear it while wondering, “wait a minute…what?” Even though the pace was pretty much smooth sailing, and there were times when I just didn’t want to stop reading, it was so incredibly frustrating to have to stop and re-read something because it was confusing. I found myself also needing and hoping to read, and, actually missing the various parts which were clearly skipped over.

The One Thing I Know was a heart-breaking and beautiful story. It was a story of love, heart-ache, hope and growth. It was a story about music. About how through music, heart-felt memories will remain positive ones. My heart broke for every single person who was a broken soul, and, I felt such pain for those who were not able to love as they should have been able to love and live. Even though there were things that were lacking and had confused me, and, collectively did affect my overall rating, I was glad to have read it, and, will now go break out my records from the 70’s..’cuz that was just the coolest time for music, and, I’m so glad to be able to enjoy it again..:)

Purchase:

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author:

Keelan Ellis is an author of romance and detective fiction, who is always seeking to expand her literary horizons. She is a lover of music and food, and has an intense love/hate relationship with politics. Her stories reflect her passions.