ROCK STEADY by MJ Roberts is the first in the Kenner Brothers series, a companion to the Chord Brothers Series, and is now available! Enjoy this excerpt and teaser video before you download your own copy!
Title: Rock Steady
Author: MJ Roberts
Genre: Rock Star Romance
About Rock Steady:
Go on tour with the sexy Kenner Brothers in Rock Steady, the first in the spin-off series from the award-winning Chord Brothers books.Venom Kenner is the lead singer of Dirt Cherry, a band well known for their dirty lyrics and larger-than-life antics. With heart-stopping good looks, loving parents, and becoming famous at a young age, Venom is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it--and he wants Jenna.
Jenna Demptation’s life has been one hardship after another. When her older sister becomes the PR manager for Dirt Cherry and strong-arms Jenna to help for the summer, Jenna is happy to get away from her crappy day-to-day life. Until too-good-looking-to-be-real Venom sets his sights on Jenna and sets her nerves into overdrive. Jenna makes an art of shying away from Mr. Hot-Pants McHottie. She has been hurt way too much in the past to trust anyone, far less someone as perfect as Venom, so she’s determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry.
But Venom knows in his heart this relationship is worth a shot and he’s not going to let a little thing like hesitancy get in his way…
“It’s…it’s a church.”
“Right, kitten. I bought you a church.”
She looks at me. “Kidding. Come on.” I grab her hand and pull her until we’re standing in front of a large stone to the side of the door. The writing is so worn down it’s barely legible. Jenna bends down to stare at it.
“1583.”
“This is one of the oldest churches in Mexico. In all of the Americas actually. Spaniards used Aztec touches, so it’s a combination of both cultures.”
Jenna takes a few steps back to admire the stone work. The church isn’t big, but it’s got an ancient beauty.
“They rent it out for events, like baptisms.” Or weddings. “So I rented it for tonight.”
Her gaze whips to me.
“Come on, you’ll see.” I take her hand and we walk inside. The first vestibule is filled with thirty or forty bells hanging from the ceiling and walls lined with small red votives. Almost all the candles are lit and it casts a pink glow.
“You look beautiful in this light.”
She rolls her eyes. I pull her to me.
“Beautiful.”
“Thanks. You look good in any light, so I’ll just be happy if I’m tolerable.”
Honey, you’re a hell of a lot more than tolerable.
I pull her into the main hall. The heavy wooden pews have been pulled to the side. Behind the dais is a wall of gold writing.
“You speak Latin, kitten?”
“I can barely speak English.”
“It says ‘He who will provide dinner for his girl, will get to eat his girl for dinner.”
She snorts. “Yeah, that would have been my first guess.”
The ladies I hired to make dinner wheel a table in.
“When did you get a chance to arrange this?” Jenna asked.
“T.J. and Spider helped me pull some strings last minute, so about a minute ago.”
The oldest woman lifts up the cover on a big pot and the air saturates with Mexican spices.
“Oh my God, that smells amazing,” Jenna says. She turns in a slow circle looking at the church. She looks back at the table as the women remove silver dome covers off four more plates of traditional Mexican dishes. The older women says something in rapid-fire Spanish, and then they leave us alone.
“Venom…” Jenna says.
I pull out her chair and hold it for, but she doesn’t sit.
“Venom…” Jenna says again. I feel like she’s going to protest that it’s too much. That being in such a gorgeous building that’s almost five hundred years old is too romantic, implying things that last.
Her stomach growls.
"No pressure," I say, gesturing to her chair. "Unless there are too many beans, then it's abdominal pressure."
Jenna just shakes her head at me.
“Sit, baby. Let’s eat.”
"Shame to waste it." Jenna sits down, and I scoot her chair in for her. She takes the first few bites of food and makes a pleased moan.
I’m determined to let her lead the conversation, hoping she’ll open up more about herself, but she keeps it light. She talks about movies she’s seen, how good Kate looked in Hard Chord’s "Rising to Whole" video, what new outfits Maria has sewn for the twins.
I could listen to her voice for a long time. Like rocking chairs on our porch in our nineties long time. I prop my chin in my hand and rest my elbow on the table.
“What?” She rubs the sides of her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?”
"No, I'm just enjoying this." I gesture around the church hall. "Just the two of us, alone, having a nice dinner in a really interesting place. I'm grateful and appreciating it, is all. If I didn't have Dirt Cherry I wouldn't be here in Mexico, staring at you. If Kate hadn't worked for Hard Chord and gotten with Jase, you wouldn't be here. Maybe I never would have met you. But it all worked out."
She sighs wistfully. “Yeah, it’s been great.”
It sounds totally innocent at first, but when I replay it in my mind that past tense sounds final.
“My plane leaves Monday at three,” she says. “I’m going to have to concentrate on my studies.”
“I know.”
The older woman comes and puts a plate of honeyed dessert in front of us.
This, what we have between us, is too good to just drop. But I don’t say anything. I don’t want to get up to bat and strike out amidst all this beauty. Long game. Don’t come on too strong. As Jenna might put it, wait for the right moment before you swing.
“We’ll enjoy tonight,” I say.
She takes a bite of the dessert and licks her fingers. “Absolutely.”
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Read an excerpt:
Jenna leans against me during the twenty-minute taxi ride. When we get there, I help her out, and we stand for a few seconds in the street facing the church before I say anything. "Alright, baby. Close your eyes." I take off her blindfold. She blinks a few times.“It’s…it’s a church.”
“Right, kitten. I bought you a church.”
She looks at me. “Kidding. Come on.” I grab her hand and pull her until we’re standing in front of a large stone to the side of the door. The writing is so worn down it’s barely legible. Jenna bends down to stare at it.
“1583.”
“This is one of the oldest churches in Mexico. In all of the Americas actually. Spaniards used Aztec touches, so it’s a combination of both cultures.”
Jenna takes a few steps back to admire the stone work. The church isn’t big, but it’s got an ancient beauty.
“They rent it out for events, like baptisms.” Or weddings. “So I rented it for tonight.”
Her gaze whips to me.
“Come on, you’ll see.” I take her hand and we walk inside. The first vestibule is filled with thirty or forty bells hanging from the ceiling and walls lined with small red votives. Almost all the candles are lit and it casts a pink glow.
“You look beautiful in this light.”
She rolls her eyes. I pull her to me.
“Beautiful.”
“Thanks. You look good in any light, so I’ll just be happy if I’m tolerable.”
Honey, you’re a hell of a lot more than tolerable.
I pull her into the main hall. The heavy wooden pews have been pulled to the side. Behind the dais is a wall of gold writing.
“You speak Latin, kitten?”
“I can barely speak English.”
“It says ‘He who will provide dinner for his girl, will get to eat his girl for dinner.”
She snorts. “Yeah, that would have been my first guess.”
The ladies I hired to make dinner wheel a table in.
“When did you get a chance to arrange this?” Jenna asked.
“T.J. and Spider helped me pull some strings last minute, so about a minute ago.”
The oldest woman lifts up the cover on a big pot and the air saturates with Mexican spices.
“Oh my God, that smells amazing,” Jenna says. She turns in a slow circle looking at the church. She looks back at the table as the women remove silver dome covers off four more plates of traditional Mexican dishes. The older women says something in rapid-fire Spanish, and then they leave us alone.
“Venom…” Jenna says.
I pull out her chair and hold it for, but she doesn’t sit.
“Venom…” Jenna says again. I feel like she’s going to protest that it’s too much. That being in such a gorgeous building that’s almost five hundred years old is too romantic, implying things that last.
Her stomach growls.
"No pressure," I say, gesturing to her chair. "Unless there are too many beans, then it's abdominal pressure."
Jenna just shakes her head at me.
“Sit, baby. Let’s eat.”
"Shame to waste it." Jenna sits down, and I scoot her chair in for her. She takes the first few bites of food and makes a pleased moan.
I’m determined to let her lead the conversation, hoping she’ll open up more about herself, but she keeps it light. She talks about movies she’s seen, how good Kate looked in Hard Chord’s "Rising to Whole" video, what new outfits Maria has sewn for the twins.
I could listen to her voice for a long time. Like rocking chairs on our porch in our nineties long time. I prop my chin in my hand and rest my elbow on the table.
“What?” She rubs the sides of her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?”
"No, I'm just enjoying this." I gesture around the church hall. "Just the two of us, alone, having a nice dinner in a really interesting place. I'm grateful and appreciating it, is all. If I didn't have Dirt Cherry I wouldn't be here in Mexico, staring at you. If Kate hadn't worked for Hard Chord and gotten with Jase, you wouldn't be here. Maybe I never would have met you. But it all worked out."
She sighs wistfully. “Yeah, it’s been great.”
It sounds totally innocent at first, but when I replay it in my mind that past tense sounds final.
“My plane leaves Monday at three,” she says. “I’m going to have to concentrate on my studies.”
“I know.”
The older woman comes and puts a plate of honeyed dessert in front of us.
This, what we have between us, is too good to just drop. But I don’t say anything. I don’t want to get up to bat and strike out amidst all this beauty. Long game. Don’t come on too strong. As Jenna might put it, wait for the right moment before you swing.
“We’ll enjoy tonight,” I say.
She takes a bite of the dessert and licks her fingers. “Absolutely.”
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