Under the Lights (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel)

Welcome back to the world of Brothers of Rock!

A series built on love, life, and rock n
’
 
roll romance!

The bestselling series continues with rock band,
 
Gone by Autumn
!

Meet the band!

Ryan (lead singer)

Tanner (guitar)

Gabe (bass)

Asher (guitar)

Blake (drums)

_____________

Brothers of Rock
 
Books 1
 
–
 
5 follow rock band
 
Chasing
Cross

Don
’
t miss a single book
in the
 
Brothers of Rock
 
series!

All Access
 
(Chasing
Cross
 
–
 
Book One)
 –
 
Johnnie, lead singer

Broken Sound
 
(Chasing
Cross
 
–
 
Book Two)
 
–
 
Davey, guitarist

Bitter Farewell
 
(Chasing
Cross
 
–
 
Book Three)
 –
 
Danny, guitarist

Buried Notes
 
(Chasing
Cross
 
–
 
Book Four)
 –
 
Chris, bassist

Last Song
 
(Chasing
Cross
 
–
 
Book Five)
 –
 
Rick, drummer

*

Brothers of Rock
 
Books 6
–
10 follow rock band
 
Fallen Tuesday

Don
’
t miss a single book
in the
 
Brothers of Rock
 
series!

A Voice to Love
 
(Fallen
Tuesday
 
–
 
Book One)
 –
 
Ryan, lead singer

A Song For Us
 
(Fallen
Tuesday
 
–
 
Book Two)
 
–
 
Gray, guitarist

A Sound Like Hope
 
(Fallen Tuesday
 
–
 
Book Three)
 –
 
Trent, bassist

A Road to Let Go
 
(Fallen Tuesday
 
–
 
Book Four)
 –
 
Jake, guitarist

A Time to Move On
 
(Fallen Tuesday
 
–
 
Book Five)
 –
 
Mack, drummer

Don
’
t miss the smash
hit, bestselling romantic suspense series under the pen name, London Casey

Meet BACK DOWN DEVIL MC
…

OUTLAW REVENGE

CRASH & BURN

DARK FALL

SECRET MAYHEM

TWISTED PIECES

*AND MORE!*

*

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NOW
...
 
are you ready for some
…

BROTHERS OF ROCK!

Under the Lights
 
(Gone by Autumn Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)

The Brothers of Rock series continues with Gone by
Autumn!

*

Tanner Ashwind
maintains the rockstar lifestyle by following two very simple rules. First,
Gone by Autumn is everything. Second, any woman lucky enough to share his bed
never shares it twice.

It
’
s simple and it keeps him out of
trouble
…
until the
band agrees to hire a few backup singers.

Jules Sarren is
desperate for a gig. Waitressing isn
’
t
cutting it anymore, and the guilt she feels for leaving home is mounting.
 
With nowhere else to go,
the last place she expects to
 
end
up
 
is singing
backup for Gone by Autumn.
 
When
she finds herself escaping an unruly crowd with sexy guitarist, Tanner, holding
her hand, she can't imagine getting any luckier... until he doesn't let her
hand go...

Rules will be
broken, confessions will be exposed, and the band will have to face their
greatest challenge yet when Tanner
’
s
feelings and secrets are uncovered. On the brink of destroying Gone by Autumn's
big break, can Tanner find peace in the band he loves or will he give it all up
for the woman who made him break all his rules?

(1)

Tanner balanced himself on Blake's
bass drum, playing an improvised solo. Behind him Asher and Gabe were working
through their guitar and bass parts and Ryan was trying to work through the
lyrics.

If Tanner spoke up, he could share
the lyrics he already had worked out, and written down, along with the acoustic
music he had been playing around with. But it wasn't his place to take Ryan's
job from him. Although he couldn't help but think that his version was much
better than the one Gone by Autumn was toying with right now. It was harsh, and
even inconsiderate, to think that way, but the line between right and wrong wasn't
exactly clear these days.

When the solo came to an end,
Tanner launched himself from the bass drum and landed on his feet. He spun
around once and let his guitar go. It swung up and around his neck but then
quickly stopped. The guitar let out a broken open chord and Tanner shrugged his
shoulders. Asher started to laugh and Ryan stood up and waved the song dead.

“
Okay,
that was good,
”
Ryan said.
“
At least we have something for
it.
”

“
What
do you have?
”
Tanner asked.

Ryan turned his notebook around.
The outer part of the page was filled with random lines, shapes, and doodles.
The lyrics were nonexistent. A few lines, a few words, but nothing worth
getting excited about. It wasn
’
t
that big of a deal. Every lyricist, writer, musician, artist hits a wall now
and then. However, they promised the record company they'd get the songs in
order so they could record the demo and get back on the road as quickly as
possible. Random doodles on a page wasn't going to make that happen.

“
You're
spending too much time in bed,
”
Blake said as he stood from his kit.
“
That
’
s why you have to love them and
leave them. No sticking around.
”

Ryan flipped him off.

“
Yeah,
”
Tanner said.
“
That's why you have yours
running around here, Blake.
”

Blake pointed a drumstick at
Tanner.
“
What the hell does
that mean?
”

Right on cue, the door to the loft
opened and in came Maya. She had a few friends with her, as always.

“
Hey
guys,
”
Maya said. She was
so bubbly and cheery. It was impossible not to smile when she was around.

“
Hey
you,
”
Tanner said.

Maya walked by Tanner and touched
his arm.
“
Brought you a
present or two.
”
She nodded
to her friends still standing near the door.

“
You
’
re the best,
”
Tanner said and winked.
Normally he would feast on the groupies, but he had his own plans for the
day... ones that did not include the rest of the band.

“
Hey,
Maya, missed you last night,
”
Blake said.
“
Where were
you?
”

“
Just
out with the girls,
”
Maya
said.

“
Oh.
That
’
s good.
”

Tanner rolled his eyes. He knew how
this went. Blake would drill Maya for a little while, asking her a million
questions when all he really wanted to know was if she had been on a date. Deep
down, Blake (and maybe the rest of the guys too) feared Maya would find love
and leave them. She was too good at what she did for the band and they did not
want to lose her.

It was greedy, yes, but that was
how they all felt.

Tanner bumped his shoulder into
Ryan.
“
Hey man, you
’
ll get it.
”

“
I
know,
”
Ryan said.
“
I think I'm just overwhelmed
with everything right now."

“
I
hear you. We
’
re on the fast
track, right? Isn
’
t that
what that suit and tie told us last week?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Ryan said and laughed.
“
Damn corporate bullshit.
”

Tanner stood there, thinking about
the lyrics he wrote himself. They were perfect for the music they already had
written. It wasn
’
t that Tanner
feared what Ryan or the band would think if he suggested they use his words, it
was about the damn business card in Tanner
’
s
nightstand. A business card that had been folded up, rolled up, but not thrown
out. Richie from the record company had shown up one more time to try to
convince Tanner to do some solo work.

It
’
s wrong, man. It
’
s wrong.

Tanner looked at the collection of
magazines and articles on the table. Two of the covers featured only Ryan. On
one cover, Ryan was crouched down behind a mic stand, surrounded by
instruments. It made him look like a solo artist. The headline read:
ROCKSTAR
FALLEN, ROCKSTAR REBORN - how the son of a laughable legend rose from his
father
’
s
ashes to become one of the biggest stars today.

It bugged the hell out of Tanner. Gone
by Autumn wasn't Ryan. It took all five of them to get where they were now.
Their pasts brought them together and the music kept them going.

All the articles written were about
Ryan and his father. Luckily Jackson Razor was back in jail and was going to
stay there for a long time. After hitting a police officer in a display of
public drunkenness, a quick sweep of the Jackson
’
s
apartment found plenty of
goodies
(as Sam put it with a half hearted
grin) that would have the man locked up for probably the rest of his life. As
long as Jackson Razor was out of all their lives, it was a good thing.

“
I
’
m telling you, man, we can
harmonize some parts and turn the songs into something bigger.
”

Tanner casually listened to Ryan
and Asher talking.

“
Yeah,
but we
’
re a rock band,
”
Asher said.
“
How would adding singers work?
”

“
We
audition singers,
”
Ryan
said.
“
It
’
s a big opportunity for us, and also
for some up and coming artists looking for a break.
”

“
Tanner,
come here,
”
Asher said.
“
What
’
s your opinion?
”

Tanner touched the magazines laced
with stories about Ryan and his rockstar life. He sucked in a breath and turned
to face the band. Blake was flirting with Maya, leaning over his drum kit, trying
to look tough and cool. And Maya stood there, a finger twisting in her hair.
She loved it. He loved it.

Gabe was talking to one of Maya
’
s friends as she plucked at one
of his bass strings.

“
What's
up?
”
Tanner asked.

“
Ryan
wants backup singers,
”
Asher said.

Ryan wants
…
Ryan wants
…

“
Singers?
”
Tanner asked.

“
For
harmony on some of the new stuff,
”
Ryan said.
“
It can work.
Plus, you know how many people we meet that are looking for a break? We can
give that to them. Find the best and take them on the road with us to help our
music and for them to get their voices heard.
”

“
Look
at him,
”
Asher said.
“
He becomes famous and now he
wants to give back.
”

Tanner smiled.
“
A real hero."

“
Come
on,
”
Ryan said.
“
Think about it. The label gave
us full decision making. We can do whatever we want. You don't think this will
make us even better?"

“
Never
said that,
”
Tanner said.
“
I mean, hey, whatever works for
the band. I
’
m for anything
that makes the music better, the shows bigger, and the fans happier. It does
seem a little out there, but then again we have always been a
little out
there
, right?"

Ryan grabbed Tanner by the
shoulder.
“
Fuck yeah, man.
Our entire lives.
”

“
As
long as you don
’
t bring in
a backup guitarist,
”
Asher
said.

“
That
’
s why we have Tanner,
”
Ryan said. He could barely
finish the sentence before laughing.

Tanner smacked Ryan in the gut and
knocked the wind out of him. Ryan stumbled back and Tanner cocked a fist, ready
to hit him again. Asher grabbed Tanner
’
s
arm.

“
Bro,
you okay?
”
Asher asked.

“
Of
course,
”
Tanner said. He
forced a laugh and shook his arm away.
“
I
’
m going for a little ride. I
need to dig some stuff out of storage.
”

“
Storage?
”
Ryan asked as he rubbed his
stomach.

“
Yeah."

Tanner grabbed an acoustic guitar
case and headed out the door. But before the door could close behind him, Ryan
was there.

“
Hey,
”
Ryan said.
“
Everything even here?
”

Tanner nodded.
“
Yeah, man. I
’
m just
…”

“
Look,
I
’
ve apologized for those
covers,
”
Ryan said.
“
I had no idea that was the
intention."

“
Dude,
they shot photos of you alone while they shot the rest of us standing in some
damn circle. It
’
s all good,
man. It
’
s not you. It
’
s what the world wants. What the
press wants. What the fans want."

“
He
’
s gone, Tanner. The appeal of
the story is over. The band has to move forward. And with the stuff you and
Asher are writing, you guys are the heroes. Trust me. That solo you just threw
together
…”

“
It
wasn
’
t thrown together,
”
Tanner said.
“
It was thought out. Like writing
lyrics. You can't just throw them together, right?
”

Ryan backed up and nodded.
“
Got it. I
’
m sorry, man, if you feel
…
I don
’
t
know. Cheated or something, that makes me feel like shit.
”

“
Just
let me go for a ride. I
’
ll
be back tomorrow. We
’
ll
catch up and finish the song. When
’
s
our next show?
”

“
Next
week. That
’
s why I was
talking about the singers. Would be really cool to bring them on tour with us.
You know?
”

“
Ryan!
Raine is on the phone for you.
”

Maya stood in the doorway holding
Ryan
’
s cell.

“
Better
take that one,
”
Tanner
said.
“
It's never a good
idea to make a woman angry.
”

“
Smart
man,
”
Maya said.

“
Hey,
maybe Maya can sing for us,
”
Tanner said with a grin.

“
Uh,
no. I couldn
’
t carry a tune
if you tied it to me.
”

“
You
’
d like that, wouldn
’
t you?
”
Tanner asked.
“
Being
all tied up by us rockstars.
”

“
Hey,
”
Ryan said.
“
I
’
m
happily taken.
”

“
I'm
not,
”
Tanner said and
winked.

“
Evil
boy.
”
She blew a kiss to
Tanner and gave Ryan his phone.

Tanner laughed and then punched
Ryan in the shoulder.

“
I
’
ll see you tomorrow, yeah?
”

“
Rock
n
’
roll, brother,
”
Ryan said.

Tanner left the loft and climbed
into his car. He checked the mirrors to make sure nobody was waiting for the
band or trying to follow him. It had become a requirement since they came off
tour with Fallen Tuesday. Sometimes it was kind of cool and other times it was
a pain in the ass.

Tanner pulled up an old rock
station on the satellite radio and went to town on it. Turning the music up as
loud as he could, he sang and jammed out on the steering wheel. It was a great
feeling to finally have the open road and loud music.