Author Interview- Intimate Choice by DC Stone #RomanticSuspense

 

What inspired you to become an author?

Trust me when I say, never in my life did I think I’d become an author. English class was not one I enjoyed in high school or college, and I was never a huge reader. However, one year while I was stationed in England on a little USAF base, I was bored and walking around the BX (what most people would refer to as a military Walmart or Target), and came across a pile of books. I started going through them and came across a Nora Roberts romance novel that looked interesting. If you put me on the spot, I will probably be able to figure it out by going through my Goodreads list, but off the top of my head, I can’t recall which one. She’s got like a gazillion. J I did pick it up, bought it, then read it overnight. The next day, I went back and picked up more. Always romance novels. Always read like I was some malnourished being who hadn’t eaten a single word for years—which, I guess could be true, since I hadn’t. This continued on through me leaving the Air Force, then getting pregnant and having my son. But there were certain books that always left me wanting “more.” Whether it be a different ending or another scene played out a certain way. Something. So one day, my husband put this nugget in my mind of “why don’t you just write your own book and end it the way you want?”

So I did.

Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life?

Funny enough, out of all my books in this series (there are seven), this book’s hero is based on a real-life person. It’s not a secret that in my day-life, I’m an investigator. In doing those duties, I work with a lot of law enforcement agencies. Years ago, and I’m talking like ten or so years ago, I met a Secret Service Agent who worked a case with me to prosecute someone for financial crimes. That may be something a good majority of folks are surprised to hear, that USSS also works financial crimes, but protection obviously always comes first. Anyhow, back to this agent…him and I became good friends over the years. I’ve watched him get married, move around the country, and eventually become a dad. He’s one of the most genuine, kind-hearted folks I know. But this character, who happens to have the same first name as him, was created years ago over lunch when he joked with me after learning I was a romance author. “You should base one of your characters off of me.” Me: easy. And it was, because like I said above, he’s a great guy. He’s had a feature on my past blogs, where we jokingly refer to him as “Agent Hottie.” And he’s hinted at making a splash into romance cover model.

With every hero I create though, there is always a hint of my own happily-ever-after, and a piece of my husband is set into either a scene, something the hero says, or a characteristic of them. It’s easy for authors to use real-life inspiration and it’s something I refer to time and time again. For Mike Gonzalez, it was just legitimately based on an entire person.

Of all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?

There would be two. This changes over the years, and it’ll probably change again. One of my first favorite characters was one by the name of Bari, from Feral Craving. He was just so outrageous and had this “IDC” type of attitude. But then I met Charlie from Intimate Danger, and she was a girl that no one wanted to mess with, and one that could hold her own in a room full of men. She reminded me a lot of Bari but in the female form.

However, to date, my two favorites of all time are Hailey and Luke in Intimate Addiction. Their story was super sensitive to write for several reasons. I won’t go into those reasonings here as it’ll give away the plot, but the genuine growth I witnessed from these two made them feel as they came alive for me on the page. They were so much fun to write, to challenge with each turn of the page, and to watch ultimately bend to my will and get their shit together. They weren’t easy to get to where they needed to be, but they will always hold a soft place in my heart.

If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?

This is the final book of this series! Took a long time for us to get here and I’m sad to put this piece of it to rest, but I’m looking forward to building out another series that will break off from this one. I’m sure folks will figure it out as they read through this one, but the spin-off is going to be so much fun!

What book are you reading now?

I just opened a book last night called Pieces of the Night by Jennifer Hartmann. She has a way of writing about sensitive topics that just draws the reader in and doesn’t let go.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

Oh this is tough, because there have been a lot. But influencing my life? It would be impossible to say. Influencing the way I write and build my characters? Kristen Ashley. Julie Ann Walker is another. Both women have such unique ways in how they build their worlds and develop their characters until I find it extremely difficult to put the book down. It’s inspiring and pushed me to want to do the same within my stories.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Mayyyyyyybe. Just kidding. ;)

I’m working on the sequel to A Piece of Me. This was a self-published book that recently was updated and re-edited. A Piece of Me dealt with a woman who fell in love with her best friend’s boyfriend, only to have to sit on the sidelines while they got married and had children. Then her best friend is killed in a car accident and the husband could die without a transplant. And it’s something she can give to him but it legit happens the night after she lets her feelings slip for him and he rejects her. That story legit tore my soul from my body. This is the follow up to that book called, A Piece of You, which is about her twin sister and a secret marriage gone wrong.

Who designed the cover of your latest book?

The absolutely amazing Jay Aheer. I LOVE HER.

When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?

Anyone that follows me on social media knows that I unfortunately have developed an obsession with bird watching. It’s like you enter your 40’s and all of a sudden going to bed by 9PM and getting a bird camera are the top spots on your list. 

Intimate Choice

Empire Blue 

Book 7

DC Stone

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Date of Publication: 07/10/26

ISBN: 978-0-3695-1480-6

ASIN: B0GX2VK1HW

Number of pages: 306

Word Count: 87,000

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Tagline: Real world, Real Men, Real Crimes

Book Description: 

Ava Larsen has spent her adult life trying to outrun the shadow of the girl she used to be: a bully whose mistake cost her sister’s life, and one who pushed away a boy they both loved. But her redemption is cut short when her latest investigation into a high-profile money laundering ring turns deadly.

After surviving a brutal kidnapping, Ava’s only hope for survival is Michael Gonzalez, a Secret Service Agent fueled by a decade of bitterness. Mike doesn’t believe Ava has changed, and he certainly hasn’t forgiven her for the accident that killed his first love. But with a corrupt government official determined to silence her, Mike is ordered to protect her at all costs.

From the streets of New York to the corridors of power in Washintong D.C., the two are hunted by an enemy that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried. As the investigation reaches a breaking point, Mike and Ava must navigate a minefield of political betrayal and personal trauma. In a race against time, they’ll have to trust each other to survive—or let the sins of their past bury them both.

Amazon     Barnes and Noble     Smashwords

Excerpt:

“Get to the point. What’s up?”

She sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.” The watch on her wrist buzzed with a notification. She checked it, and her mouth tightened into a thin line. “This case looks to be seriously fucked up. Not a whole lot to tell you right now other than there were several, and I mean we’re talking numbers in the teens, bodies found in this old house. Owner is this guy everyone said was super quiet, always kept his yard clean, etcetera, etcetera. From what the neighbors are saying, no one would have thought any of the horrors we’ve found were happening in this house. Talking victims, all women, completely cut up. Sometimes methodically so. As if he had all the time in the world to do the perfect job.”

Mike grimaced. “This is why I do protection and white-collar fraud. I could never sit through those forensic shows you and Dwayne used to watch.”

Charlie threw him a saucy smile, then went serious again. “Early this morning, a woman actually got out of the house. Naked as the day she was born. Ran a few houses down and collapsed on the porch but not before she rang the doorbell.”

The mental image she painted had him wincing. “Jesus. Is she okay?”

Charlie took a deep breath and let it out super slow as if she was preparing for something. He braced, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding. Whatever she was about to say was going to mess him up entirely. That’s why she’d been taking for-fucking-ever to get to the point. It’s why she was here in person instead of calling him on the phone. It’s why Dwayne had sent her. She’d always had ways of calming Mike down, even under the tensest of situations.

Except for that one time. He shook his head, refusing to think about that now. It’d been years since he’d seen her.

“Who was the woman?” he asked, his voice rough. But he knew. The answer was written all over Charlie’s face, from the grimace to the pity stamped across her faery features.

“The woman was Ava.”

Her name spoken was like someone socked him in the gut. He let out a rush of air, expelling oxygen immediately, as if it needed a place to escape. Kind of like his body was fighting to do, too. It was amazing how one’s body reacted to news or the presence of someone who’d made part of their life hell. That whole fight-or-flight response was true, and as he thought of the Ava of his childhood, and both the sister and the murderer of the first woman he loved, his body was warring with itself, trying to figure out which response it wanted to go with.

The urge to flee was so strong, he actually took a step back. Charlie’s knowing gaze sharpened on him, and she sighed, the sound coming out with a lot of pity he didn’t need. It only served to piss him off.

“Look, maybe we can find someone else,” Charlie said, shaking her head, then did a double take at something over his shoulder and tossed a glare at the women still admiring them from afar. “Those fucking women…”

It was at that moment his mother decided to make an appearance and came storming out of the house having found her shoes. His normally very demure mom looked spitting mad, her red face a mask of irritation and anger.

“Shit,” he said.

Charlie chuckled low, following the path his Ma took to the garden hose, who then bent and turned the water on.

“Shit,” he said again, ignoring Charlie’s outright laughter now. He started toward Ma, intent on intercepting her before she could open the hose up on the neighbors. He knew her plan almost as if she’d put an announcement in the paper. “You could help, you know,” he said to Charlie.

She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Not a chance. This is the best entertainment I’ve had in ages. Come on, don’t be a spoilsport. Let Karen teach those hens a lesson.”

He picked up his pace to a jog as his Ma started across the lawn, her intent now screamingly clear. That the ladies hadn’t moved and were still watching on with faces of various bemusement was baffling. “Ma,” he called. “Come on now, don’t.”

“Michael James,” she said, and he winced. “Go put a shirt on. I’m about to teach the girls some manners.”

Standing behind her in the doorway was his father in a similar pose as Charlie had been, crossed arms and a smile stamped across his face.

“Pops, come on,” he called. “Don’t just stand there.”

Daniel Gonzalez shook his head, his chest moving with a chuckle Mike couldn’t hear. “I’m not getting in the middle of this. Anyone want some popcorn?”

He reached his mother just as she lifted the hose and pointed, then squeezed the handle, causing a spray of what had to be icy cold water shoot out and over the women sitting along the edge of the lawn. Shrieks and screams lit up the neighborhood before he could grab the nozzle and push it down. The smile on his mother’s face was the loudest of them all.

“That should teach them,” she said, and he sighed.

Approximately thirty minutes later, Mike took a deep breath, calling on patience and strength, the confidence he’d grown as he went through weeks of training at FLETC and the Secret Service Training Academy. His hands were sweating like they normally did when he did any kind of public speaking, something he’d been struggling for years to overcome. If he’d been in the gym he normally went to, he’d be able to put some chalk on his hands to soak up the moisture, but as it was, all he could do was rub them on his light-wash 501s.

After his mother had doused the neighborhood watch ladies with water earlier, he’d gone inside to change and had put on jeans and a pale baby-blue button-down. He was by no means wanting to impress the woman on the other side of the door, but he couldn’t escape the feeling driving inside of him. The one that told him he wasn’t a young teen able to be pushed around anymore. That he couldn’t care less what she thought of him.

But all of that was a lie, and he knew it. He just refused to admit it.

Ava Larsen had an impact on his life and who he’d grown to become.

He was here at the hospital at his brother’s request to consult on a case, apparently. There was nothing saying he had to spend any length of time with her at all. He’d listen to what his brother had to say, would hear her version of events, then he’d make a recommendation for what they should do next. That was it.

With another deep, calling-on-calm breath, he pushed and held the door open for Charlie, keeping his eyes downcast as she entered. He blew out a breath through pursed lips, then stepped inside and lifted his gaze to meet the sky-blue ones of his childhood bully.

 

 

About the Author: 

D.C. “Desi” Stone is a best-selling romance author and full-time fraud investigator. She lives in the northeast with her incredibly supporting husband, two kids, a cat, and the ever-growing family of dogs.

After serving eight years of service with the United States Air Force, she went on to transition into the world of financial crimes and became a lead investigator for many years.

Reading has always been a passion of hers, getting lost in a good, steamy romance is one of her favorite past times. She soon after discovered her own love for writing and recreating stories and characters in her head. Her writing concentrates on romantic with specifics in paranormal, suspense, and erotica.

Now, when she isn’t trying to solve a new puzzle in the world of fraud, she is engulfed with coffee, her laptop, and all those crazy characters in her head. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hudson Valley Romance Writers, New Jersey Romance Writers, RomVets, RWA Kiss of Death, and the Liberty State Fiction Writers. She served as the 2014 NJRW Vice President and Conference Chair. Come stop by on Facebook, Twitter, or her website and say hello!

Website: www.authordcstone.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DCStoneauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dcstoneauthor/ 

Facebook PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/authorDCStone

Facebook PROFILE: http://www.facebook.com/dc.stone.92

Grown-Up Book Fair Fantasy Edition at Sloan Museum- Saturday July 25

My next event is Saturday, July 25, 2026 | 6 - 9 p.m. at Sloan Museum of Discovery

Fantasy Fiction lovers.....have we got the book fair for you! 

Another 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏-𝑼𝒑 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓 is happening this summer, only with a fantasy flair! This book fair is for all the fantasy, romantasy, dark academia, and myth enthusiasts, and of course it pairs well with dragons! Browse unique vendors and authors, enjoy themed drinks and treats, and grab a bite from local food trucks.

Your ticket includes entry to our newest interactive exhibit, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒔.

Get your tickets at: https://sloanlongway.org/events/grown-up-book-fair-fantasy-edition/

This is an adults-only event, must be 18+ to attend.

Tickets are available online in advance or at the door on the day of the event.

#fantasybooks #bookfair #booklovers #dragons

Available for Pre-Order: Monsters of Michigan: Cryptids and Creatures of Legend and Lore by Roxanne Rhoads

Monsters of Michigan: Cryptids and Creatures of Legend and Lore

Roxanne Rhoads

Genre: Non-fiction, History, Mythology

Publisher: Bewitching Books

Publish Date: August 03, 2026

Art: Ari Napolitano

Cover: Dawne Dominique

Book Description:

Michigan was built for monsters: two peninsulas, a fifth of the world's freshwater, and ghost towns where industry died but the memories never left.  Fog blankets the shorelines. Forests grow so thick they block the sun and smother sound.

This is land where creatures can hide.

Monsters of Michigan hunts down 24 creatures of myth and legend. From the deep woods of the Upper Peninsula to Detroit's dark waterfront, from the copper mines of Lake Superior to the industrial bones of Lake Erie.

Some creatures came with French settlers. Some myths are older than the state itself, rooted in indigenous legend. Others were dreamed up by bored loggers trying to pass the time. One was created by a camp counselor to entertain campers.

Step into the dark. Michigan's monsters are waiting for you.

Amazon      BN     Books2Read

Release Day Blitz - The Engine in the Sky by V.G. Harrison

Do you have a specific writing style?

Yes, I’m a pantser. I love having the story develop organically. When I tried plotting, the story was all played out in my head and I lost interest in developing.

How did you come up with the title for your latest book?

I knew I wanted to write a story about living on a space station and what it would be like in the future. When I looked at the ISS for inspiration, it reminded me of a large engine that was just churning away in orbit. Although we can’t see it in its magnificence, my space station would be big enough that you could. I also thought about what my space station would look like for the people here on Earth as it would be very noticeable given the size in the sky. Hence the name THE ENGINE IN THE SKY.

Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s complete?

I usually title it in the beginning, but that’s not always a guarantee that it will stay that way until the end.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

It’s amazing the things we can accomplish if we all work together instead of always trying to outdo one another. That’s a waste of energy that could be used elsewhere.  

If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?

This is part of a series, but it’s also the last book I have planned in the series. Abandon Station and Among Us are books 1 and 2, respectively.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’m currently working on something about a person who has returned to civilization after having been marooned on an island for years. Her only companion has been a cell phone and a personal solar panel, which were used to capture some of the most extraordinary footage while she was there. Things so incredible that some wonder if she was on Earth or somewhere else.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Keeping the momentum going. Usually that means I need to reexamine what I’ve written and go back to the drawing board to figure out what’s the purpose and how does it get me to the end goal of the scene? It’s like I have to do a self-interrogation, but once I’m over the hump, I good to go.

Who designed the cover of your latest book?

The fabulous Maya Preisler. I knew what I wanted for a cover idea, and she brought it to life.

Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book?

Lift Off by Labrinth

NASA by Ateez

No Place I’d Rather Be by Rhianna

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

We have two bunnies. Inosuke, the lionhead, lives up to his Demon Slayer name and Snoopy, a holland lop, who’s more of a lover than a fighter.

 

The Engine in the Sky

The Dyson Bridge Series 

Book Three

V.G. Harrison

Genre: Sci-fi

Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press

Date of Publication: 7/10/2026

Number of pages: 161

Word Count: 46,139

Cover Artist: Maya Preisler

Tagline: The greatest threat to Earth is the only one that can save it.

Book Description:

When Professor Meridia Vail’s space station is hurled across time and dimensions, she and the rest of the Bridgeway crew wake on an alternate Earth that's only five years into the future but looks like it's a century behind her technology. Their goal is to reclaim their crippled station, return to their dimension, and hope that a mysterious interdimensional illness doesn't kill her and her people first.

Stuck on a backwards version of her own planet, Meridia must deal with governments who want her technology and intelligence agencies who want control. Nobody trusts anyone, and the longer they delay, the closer the Bridgeway gets to a catastrophic reentry.

However, the greatest shock comes when Meridia meets her doppelganger, a brilliant mechanic with a loving family that leaves her heart aching for the life she could have had.

As time is running out for her crew and New Earth, Meridia faces an impossible mission: return to the station, save her crew, and prevent a global disaster. Duty first. Family second. When Meridia is thrust into a situation where the two become synonymous, she must decide how much she's willing to risk for a world she's sworn to save and a life she can never have.

Mocha Memoirs Press

Excerpt:

"If you must blame someone, blame me," Dr. Wei said. "Mr. Cooper takes his orders from me, as does the rest of my crew. He was acting on those orders, which the rest of my people were unaware of for obvious reasons."

"Dr. Wei, you’re our guest, albeit a rogue one at best. It’s about time you and your crew acted like it. You want NASA on your side and you have it. But this stunt does nothing except set back relations between us. Our trust has been—"

"Violated? Whether NASA was aware of Homeland Security’s intentions or not, our expectations of trust and respect do not stop at your organization."

"We had nothing to do with this!" She huffed for a moment as if she were gathering her thoughts. "The feds are not under my jurisdiction."

"Why not?" Cal replied over the comm. "Seeing as we’re on your base, you would think you’d know what your other guests are up to at all times, too."

"I can’t speak to that, but someone had damn well better tell me who authorized movement of the pod from the landing site in the first place." That last part sounded like she was talking to those outside of the MCC and not us. If she didn’t know about the attempted theft of our pod, then who did?

"The CIA," an officer said over his earpiece. "We had orders from our agency to move the pod to a more secure location where it couldn’t be accessed by any foreign entities."

"You’re an idiot," I replied. "You can’t get more secure than outer space, which is where it was going."

Jaxon activated the thirty-second countdown on the glass and the flashing security lights to warn people back. He must have finished laying out the course and double-checking his calculations. I began waving everyone out of the area. None of them wanted to leave, so I started shoving them to get their attention. It took a tremendous amount of thrust to get those engines revved high enough to push the pod through the Earth’s gravity.

"No way." Several of the officers began to move, but the lead guy didn’t. "I have my orders. That pod stays here."

"Your orders are going to get you blown to pieces, if you don’t get out of the way," I shouted. "There’s an initial blast to give the pod a jumpstart."

"He shuts those engines down now or I’ll blow a hole through the glass." He aimed his gun. "Tell him to stand down! Now!"

Worry etching his face, Jaxon pressed his hands against the glass at T-minus ten seconds. Once the engines started, turning them off wasn’t advised, since the ignition already used up a third of the power cell. Igniting it again, the pod will never make it back to the Bridgeway without a recharge. I doubted the feds would allow us to let the solar panels sit in the sun for even six minutes without trying to steal it.

Since the stupid officer wasn’t going to move, I raced back and heaved him out of the way. A blast sent us flying. We tumbled down a small hill. Pain sliced through my upper arm before we landed in the grass. We watched the pod rocket into the air.

"Damn it!" The officer leaped off the ground and stared. He turned his ire on me. "We had our orders! Keep the pod safe."

"Too bad your orders didn’t include the Bridgeway crew." Unable to move my throbbing arm, I crawled toward the tablet, grabbed it, and prayed it hadn’t been cracked in our nosedive.

Pain shot through my arm again. When I touched the spot, I noticed blood coating my palm. It hurt like someone stuck a hot poker through my skin and out the other side. Thankfully, it was the meatier side, but it still stung like hellfire.

 

About the Author: 

Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can't sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities. In a nutshell, she specializes in humanity-facing sci-fi thrillers with cinematic tension and grounded physics.

V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she's not writing, she's an IT manager in the healthcare information field.  

Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, dabbling in technology, and connecting with her daughter, Vivi, on a cool level. 

https://www.vgharrison.com/

https://www.facebook.com/marciacolette

https://www.facebook.com/booksbycoletteandharrison

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B017EAL53E 

Secrets by Izzibella Beau #NewAdult #Romance #LGBTQ

Secrets 

Izzibella Beau

Genre: Romance, LGBTQ, New Adult

Date of Publication: April 4, 2026

ASIN: B0GNRGBV3N

Number of pages: 154

Word Count: 40600

Cover Artist: Izzibella

Five voices. One lie. A harmony built to break empires.

Nat Moore arrived in Los Angeles with nothing but a voice that could crack open a cathedral and a past he swore he’d bury. Instead, he was molded into the reluctant center of Vesper Five—the industry’s newest obsession and Katarina Voss’s most ruthless creation yet.

Together they are unstoppable:

The Heart: Nat, the Oklahoma farm boy whose secrets could end the dream before it begins.

The Sky: Aydin, the billionaire heir chasing freedom in a cage of his own making.

The Fire: Harrison, the flawless prodigy whose temper threatens to burn it all down.

The Skater: Noah, street-smart survivor trading his soul for his mother’s salvation.

The Soul: Quinn, the quiet wordsmith tired of writing everyone else’s spotlight.

To the world, they’re brothers. To the charts, they’re platinum. And to the hungry media machine, Nat and America’s sweetheart Ember Kane are the ultimate fairy-tale romance—every touch, every kiss, every headline scripted to perfection.

Until the script starts to feel dangerously real.

Behind the velvet ropes and blinding lights, a forbidden pull is growing between two members of the group: one glance too long, one touch too electric, one secret capable of detonating the entire empire. As the stakes climb from sold-out arenas to career-ending scandals, the carefully constructed harmony begins to fracture.

In a city that devours the honest and rewards the fake, Nat faces an impossible choice: Protect the lie that made him a star, or risk everything for the truth…and the one person he was never supposed to want.

One band. One forbidden song. One lie away from total collapse.

Amazon

Excerpt 

But bus life stripped everything down. Back home, I had imagined late-night bonding and guitars being passed around as a show of brotherhood. Instead, I experienced relentless cramped conditions. The bunks barely fit me. I had to curl my knees and tuck my shoulders just to get comfortable. Every bump in the road rattled my spine, and the engine hummed constantly—a vibration that made real sleep impossible. You didn't rest on the road; you survived.

After the shows, we drank. At first, we played harmless games and laughed, but it never stayed that way. One night, Noah, who was already drunk, started the decline with a game of "Never Have I Ever." He wanted chaos, and he got it. When he said, "Never have I ever hooked up with someone I shouldn’t have," Quinn and Harrison drank instantly. Aydin didn't move, and for some reason, that stuck with me.

The questions grew sharper, cutting closer to things we didn’t want to say. When the topic of jealousy within the band came up, Harrison drank slowly and deliberately, making no effort to hide his bitterness. I didn't drink, but I felt a twinge in my chest anyway. Then came "Truth or Drink," which was worse because there was no hiding. When Noah asked me about my last real crush, I said Ember. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth, either.

Harrison leaned forward then, his eyes locked on mine. "Truth or drink? Have you ever felt something you weren’t supposed to?" The bus went dead quiet, and my stomach dropped. I thought about Aydin immediately—the bunk, the closeness, and his voice. I grabbed the drink and downed it quickly without offering an explanation. After that, Quinn watched me differently, as if he saw something I wasn't ready to admit.

By the fifth round, everything was a blur of loud voices and sharp jokes. Harrison became meaner and hinted that some people were in the spotlight too much. Nothing was resolved; it just ended in silence with things left unsaid. Hours later, I climbed into my bunk with my head spinning. I wasn't ready to admit what answering that question would have meant.

The aux cord became a nightly war zone, with everyone blasting different music just to annoy one another. The tension was always present. However, the night between San Francisco and Portland was different. The show had been insane, and I was too buzzed to sleep, so I went to the bunks to get some space. Aydin was already there.

"I’ve never clicked with anyone like this," he said quietly. When I asked him what he meant, he said it wasn't just the music; it was me. He said that I just understood him without him having to explain anything. My pulse spiked. I was instantly hit with panic; I told myself that I liked girls, that I was with Ember, and that I knew who I was. But I didn't move. I stood there with his shoulder against mine until Noah yelled for more shots from the front, and the moment vanished.

About the Author:

Izzibella Beau has been crafting stories since 2012, weaving emotionally charged narratives that explore desire, danger, and the deep connections that change everything. Now revisiting and rewriting her backlist while creating bold new material, she writes across several genres, blending cinematic tension with heartfelt romance and unforgettable characters.

 

With a background in film production and screenwriting, Izzibella brings a visual, immersive quality to her work—stories that feel as vivid as scenes unfolding on screen. Expanding her creative world even further, she is also developing original songs inspired by her books, offering readers a unique, multi-sensory storytelling experience.

 

A passionate animal advocate, Izzibella believes in giving a voice to the vulnerable—both on the page and off. When she’s not writing, she stays happily busy with her kids and pups at home in Georgia, always chasing the next story waiting to be told.

 

https://x.com/IzzibellaB

 

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7374615.Izzibella_Beau