String Boys by Amy Lane
Dreamspinner Press
Publication: May 28th 2019
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Buy Links– Dreamspinner Press | Amazon
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Amy Lane back again and blogging with us on tour for her new wonderful release, String Boys. Welcome, Amy!
Hanging by a Thread
By Amy Lane
So when you are very young and very in love, one of the most difficult things to deal with is temptation.
Seth and Kelly have seen people they love do pretty unforgivable things by the time Seth has to go away to school. They’ve watched Seth’s father work hard to atone for his fall from grace, and they’ve seen Kelly’s brother spiral into guilt and substance abuse because he can’t deal with the things he’s done.
They know that the consequences of a misstep far outweigh the rewards for giving in.
So when that temptation comes knocking—in the pretty coworker who’s kind to Kelly or the rakish redneck that Seth finds himself playing with in a honky-tonk dive, they totally see how the other person could be tempted.
They’re so young. It’s not like they’re unaware that cheating can be a thing.
So they develop a code phrase for, “Is it too hard to do this? Do we need to end this thing that started when we were too young anyway?”
They ask, “Do you need me to walk away?”
And the response is always, “No! I will never need you to walk away.”
And some people might think that’s doubt talking. It is, in fact, maturity. They would rather “walk away”—part on good terms, say goodbye while they still love each other—than do the unforgivable thing.
So much of String Boys is about holding onto love by a thread. There is so much against Seth and Kelly—and as the boys themselves acknowledge, the world is wide and they are very small. They couldn’t have made it without the thread of communication. Without having a code phrase or a way of dealing with even the possibility of infidelity that didn’t cause them to lose everything they love about each other.
They may have been hanging on by a thread, but there’s nothing saying that thread can’t be forged by tensile-strength steel.
Seth Arnold learned at an early age that two things in life could make his soul soar—his violin and Kelly Cruz. In Seth’s uncertain childhood, the kindness of the Cruz family, especially Kelly and his brother, Matty, gave Seth the stability to make his violin sing with the purest sound and opened a world of possibility beyond his home in Sacramento.
Kelly Cruz has loved Seth forever, but he knows Seth’s talents shouldn’t be hidden, not when the world is waiting. Encouraging Seth to follow his music might break Kelly’s heart, but he is determined to see the violin set Seth’s soul free. When their world is devastated by a violent sexual assault and Matty’s prejudices turn him from a brother to an enemy, Seth and Kelly’s future becomes uncertain.
Seth can’t come home and Kelly can’t leave, but they are held together by a love that they clutch with both hands.
Seth and Kelly are young and the world is wide—the only thing they know for certain is they’ll follow their heartstrings to each other’s arms whenever time and fate allow. And pray that one day they can follow that string to forever… before it slices their hearts in two.
Rolling Thunder passes by my parents farm every year on their way into the District and my father, a veteran of the Korean war, goes outside and salutes them as they pass by. Our media here in the metropolitan area is full of pictures and videos marking the solemn day of remembrance as flags are put at every grave at Arlington and the crowds swell at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as well as that of the World War II one nearby. If you have never visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, then you have not experienced the power and overwhelming sense of loss that pervades that site. The Wall itself a marker of the high cost of valor and service to our country in the names of the men and women lost reflected back to us. In that black stone reflection, we see the list of names in chronological order and our own reflections, the recipients of their sacrifice. For me, never has a memorial to our dead felt so alive, awash in grief, and sorrow and gratitude.
They were raised to hate each other, but love has other plans.
Take one former bully, unable to forgive himself for the sins of his past…
Caleb Masterson is, by all accounts, a successful adult. He graduated college, found a job he loves, and has a place to call home. Unfortunately, he knows what he desires in a relationship is considered too “high-maintenance” for most men and he has decided to not even bother looking. He’s happy with his decision until a sexy man with salt-and-pepper hair limps into his physical therapy office and turns his world upside down.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 