Hitting the Right Note
Excerpt from:
HItting the Right Note
Rhonda Bowen
JJ sat up with
a start, momentarily disoriented.
Something was pressing against her
chest. She reached up her hand to touch it. Seat belt? As she blinked, clearing
the sleep from her eyes, she noticed the open road ahead of her. Nothing but
fields on either side and not a house in sight. She looked across at the
beautiful man sitting in the driver’s seat, his profile highlighted by the
morning sun, his long locks like thin ropes pulled back from his strong face.
The morning’s events came rushing back to her.
The sound of something instrumental
whispered in her ears. Her eyes floated over to the console and, after
observing the CD player going, widened when she saw the time: 9:21a.m. She
shrieked.
“I thought we weren’t going far!”
She sat forward suddenly, only to be forced back by the seat belt.
“We aren’t,” Simon said, his eyes
still on the road.
“We’ve been driving for two hours!”
“We’re almost there.”
“Where is there? You said we would
be back by nine!”
“Yeah. Nine p.m.”
JJ felt another scream bubble up in
her throat as momentary panic swept through her. “Simon! I have a life, a
schedule. My boyfr—I mean manager, is going to be wondering where I am. What if
they call me in for rehearsal?”
“It’s a Sunday.”
“My Sundays are very busy, mister.”
“Look, if you want, I can have
someone take you back, but you were the one who begged me to stay for your
sister, and you agreed to help me out today as part of that deal.”
“I didn’t know helping you out would
require me to go cross-country.”
“Not across the country,” Simon
corrected. “Just a little out of town. But if that’s too much for you, I can
turn around. It’s up to you, Judith.”
She turned to look at him. Normally
she preferred JJ, but something about the way his faint British accent wrapped
around her name made her like it when he said it. Again, the control center in
her brain reminded her that she did not know the person sitting next to her.
But somewhere, in some irrational depth of her mind, she wanted to trust him,
if for no other reason than to learn more about this intriguing man whom she
had spent a whole year of her life thinking about. A year that could have
stretched into two, had she not managed to convince herself she would never see
him again. Sydney would definitely kill her for what she was about to say.
“Okay, fine,” she said with a sigh.
“But you still didn’t answer my question. Where are we going? I don’t think
we’ve known each other long enough for you to be taking me long distance.”
“But just long enough for you to
know my schedule, right?” His narrowed eyes stole a glance at her. “How did you
even know what time I started at the hospital this morning?”
“Nurse tipped me off . . .”
Simon shook his head. “So much for
confidentiality.”
“Don’t worry. I’m a special case. I
used to volunteer there when I was in college. Plus I spent a lot of time in
that hospital when my brother was transferred there last year.”
JJ frowned as she remembered Dean.
Simon noticed.
“This the same brother who’s the
father of your sister-in-law’s baby?”
JJ nodded and looked out the
passenger window. Simon whistled.
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
JJ grunted. “You have no idea. Let’s
just say my family is better than TV.” She glanced over at him then back out
the window. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”
“’Course you do,” Simon said with a
roguish smile that gave her a peek into his personality. “I’m the man who saved
your life.”
About the
Book
JJ Isaacs’ dream of becoming an
R&B star has come true, and it’s all thanks to Rayshawn, her amazing
producer–and secret lover. But as JJ enters the spotlight, the relationship
gets harder to disguise. And the more she hides the truth, the more distant she
feels from her faith, and from her family’s approval. But support may come from
an unexpected place…
When JJ finds herself helping her
estranged sister-in law, Sheree, through a difficult pregnancy, she discovers a
surprising ally. But she also becomes enthralled with Sheree’s doctor. Simon
Massri is world renowned–and scheduled to leave the country. The more time JJ
spends with Simon, the more she questions her choices–in love and in work. Now
she’ll have to face some tough decisions. Can she make peace with an uncertain
future–if her heart is in the right place?
About the
Author
Rhonda Bowen knew
she would be a writer as early as eighth grade when she wrote her first novel
with a classmate in a dollar notebook. While waiting for the day to come, she
spent a lively childhood growing up in Kingston, Jamaica and later attaining
her Bachelor of Arts at the University of the West Indies. Not long after, her
family moved to Toronto, Canada where she has worked in several areas including,
public relations, event planning and now youth work, which is her main focus.
Throughout this time however, her desire to write stayed constant. She
eventually completed her first novel, Man Enough for Me, which
was released under Kensington Books’ Dafina imprint in February 2011.
Since then
she has published several other novels including One Way or Another and Get You Good. Her
newest release, Hitting the Right Note, will launch on March 25, 2014 in bookstores
everywhere. Rhonda is excited for this new title and for the path
that God has for her life.
You can find her online at
Purchase
the Book Online at:
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Visit
the author online at:
www.rhondabowen.com