Rock Star Syndrome is a dazzling portrayal of life in a manufactured band by award-winning musical fiction author Pamela Harju ➱ Book Tour with Rafflecopter
Shae Kinnon always knew his role as the frontman of glam rock band Spicy Hyena came with rules, but he didn’t know it meant losing himself.
Rock Star Syndrome
by Pamela Harju
Genre: Musical Rockstar Fiction
Shae Kinnon always knew his role as the frontman of glam rock band Spicy Hyena came with rules, but he didn’t know it meant losing himself.
Shae
is everything Robert Courtenay is not – unattainable, beguiling and
mysterious with looks and a voice to die for. In Shae, Robert created
the perfect rock star and fulfilled his lifelong dream of creating a
successful rock act.
After
four years, Shae is done with being Robert's puppet. He is lonely,
homesick and tired of pretending to be someone he is not. When Shae
falls in love, he sees his chance to break free, but a public romance
threatens everything Robert has built over the years, and Robert is
not ready to let go yet…
Rock Star Syndrome is a dazzling portrayal of life in a manufactured band by award-winning musical fiction author Pamela Harju.
**New Release!**
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Smashwords * Kobo * Books2Read * Bookbub * Goodreads
He turns the volume up, throws another firelighter into the hearth,
lights it and starts dancing around the room with wine glass in hand, hair in
his eyes and rhythm in his blood.
He’s 24, and despite his sex symbol status – he can dispute it, but
it won’t change facts – he doesn’t have much dating experience.
She turns slightly to look over her shoulder at the poster on the
wall. It’s a perfect example of Shae Kinnon, in his all-white outfit of tight,
white jeans and a low-cut, white top with a massively long earring hanging out
of his left ear – the one closer to the camera – so close shaven he might as
well be pre-pubescent, and with eye make-up Madonna would frown at. Having said
that, perhaps Madonna never wore heavy make-up. He’s not sure.
She thinks she does because, as she confessed, she has read up on
him, but she hasn’t read anything about Hannes Onki. She only knows about Shae
Kinnon, and it was Shae who took her to his bed last night. Shae, the rock
star, the confident, beguiling one, not the insecure, lonely loser whose body
he inhabits.
Hannes has never literally seen anyone fall at Shae’s feet, but
perhaps they would if they had more chances to meet fans. Any meet-and-greets
they do are so carefully orchestrated and so swift there is little chance for
interaction. There are screams, hugs and selfies, but that’s about it. Beyond
the fan base, Hannes meets so few women outside his immediate circle that he
doesn’t know how they feel about him.
Hannes is grateful to Bobby, to an extent.
Yet, when he looks at the portly man sitting at the table, he feels resentment
towards the guy who signed them to his record label. He has more money than
Hannes is ever likely to make. Hannes has seen the fancy sportscar he drives,
and he probably lives in a swanky penthouse suite that Hannes has not visited.
Bobby doesn’t know anything about the reality of the music business; he only
swans into these meetings looking important in his Savile Row suits and
belittles everyone.
It’s early February, and the streets of Helsinki are covered in a
dusting of snow. While they wait for all the vehicles to leave the ferry,
Hannes looks around. The streets are relatively quiet. The lack of the seagulls
which plague the area in the summer and the silencing benefits of the snow add
to the stillness. He is gripped by a need to get off the bus and wander the
streets, run down them, go to a coffee shop; he’s not picky. He wants to hear
people speak in a language he understands and participate in conversation
without worrying whether his grammar is correct or if his accent comes out too
strong or if he has misunderstood a turn of phrase. He wants to drink Finnish
filtered coffee and eat a proper cinnamon roll or a munkkipossu because
doughnuts just aren’t the same.
“Do you want me?”
He realises belatedly that the question carries an innuendo. He
meant to ask her if his presence was needed somewhere, but he went into Shae
Kinnon mode and placed a sexual proposition instead. It happens on tour; Shae
takes over and Hannes disappears into the background.
He grabs a black waistcoat and throws it on. Just the waistcoat,
nothing underneath. Then he breaks into ‘Days of A Paranoid Mind’, singing the
first verse and chorus until Shae comes out. He always does, sooner or later,
when Hannes breaks into song.
It’s hard to keep Shae Kinnon alive. There
are moments, like this one, when the adoration of his fans resuscitates him
into life and Hannes takes a step back, but there’s no room for both inside one
body.
Bass player. The unsung heroes in bands
across decades. Robert, unmusical as he was, realised the importance of a good
bass player. Along with the drummer, they were responsible for the rhythm
section, after all.
While Robert knew that he was onto a good thing here, he couldn’t
stop the envy in his chest. Mother nature could be so unfair, blessing some
people with both heavenly looks and a sinful singing voice – or vice versa,
even.
They were identical. They were blond, pretty and mischievous – he
could tell by the way they acted on stage – sort of like a rock version of
Jedward. Both held guitars, and as Robert watched, they came together for a
solo. Or was it a guitar duet when they were both in on it? The technicalities
didn’t matter. After about two minutes, Robert knew he needed this pair for
Spicy Hyena.
At that moment, the door to the suite opened, and Shae Kinnon walked
in.
A silence fell upon the room as he entered. He strode across to the
vacant armchair with such confidence Robert couldn’t help wondering if he was
drunk or high. His walk was close to a swagger. It was almost disappointing to
see him sit down although in flared blue jeans, a tight black top so short it
almost qualified as a crop top and with shimmering eyeshadow on his lids, he
was still a sight to behold.
If only he could get some sort of personality out of Shae, except
that of an awkward introvert who least of all needed or deserved a crowd.
Looking the part wasn’t enough. Even after Mona dressed him and did his hair
and make-up so that he looked like a star, Shae didn’t come out of his shell.
Mystery was all well and good in interviews, but on stage, he needed to be
energetic and hold the audience in the palms of his hands.
Robert had never been so nervous in his life. It was make or break
time.
“When you’re on stage or performing, when you’re Shae, basically,
you’re sexy and sexual. What you did the other night was perfect. But you’re
almost unobtainable. Inaccessible. Unavailable. Out of reach. Nobody gets to
sleep with Shae Kinnon. Sex with you is out of the question.”
By some irritating freak of nature, the sun peeked through the
clouds at that moment, shining its rays on the Spicy Hyena frontman who stood
in the doorway, like even the source of all life on earth had to honour his
arrival.
The curtain twitched. The words Spicy and
Hyena split to reveal the show’s main attraction – heck, the main attraction of
almost anything, ever.
Shae Kinnon stood in a spotlight in front of
the backdrop of the massive face of a hyena, the band’s logo, dressed in tight
black jeans and a glittery silver jacket left open to show off his physique.
There was no timidness, no insecurity, no
hesitation. He was 100% rock star with music in his blood, showmanship in his
bones and sex appeal on his skin.
Shae never wants to talk about anything serious. According to him,
Finnish men never show any emotion. Rory would like to argue that point, at
least based on Shae. He shows a lot of emotion, all the time, but it’s subtle.
There’s a lot bubbling underneath that he wishes people didn’t see, and to an
extent, Shae can’t show. Hannes is another matter, and Hannes is who Rory is
friends with.
It’s frightening that he has almost forgotten that Shae Kinnon is
not actually Shae Kinnon at all. He’s a dude named Hannes Onki, except Rory
never thinks about it. He calls the frontman Shae, like the rest of the band
does, as does all the crew around them. To Shae’s family though, little as there
is of it, he’s Hannes.
Shae looks away and picks up his phone again. Rory’s not sure if he
admires the man or despises him. To act that cool and nonchalant is both
enviable and infuriating, but he’s been trained to be that way for the past
four years. It’s not Hannes sitting in that chair not giving a crap; it’s Shae.
They’re not really working on new music. The past few weeks have
given them nothing more than one barely passable chorus without verses or
bridges. They’re rarely all in the same place at the same time. Rory can’t
remember the last time he saw the twins. Elliot is too loved up, and Emmett is
too busy looking for love. Tommy comes and goes at mysterious hours, but at
least he is trying to write songs. Shae spends hours on his guitar but doesn’t
come up with anything. What’s Rory supposed to do, write songs on his own? He’s
the drummer, and he’s not Dave Grohl.
Shae is a devil and a saint at the same time, sin and sinner, virtue
and nonpareil.
Pamela Harju is an award-winning author of musical fiction. She spends her spare time with her dogs and travelling to see rock bands most people have never heard of. She loves tea, big old houses and tattooed men and is happily unmarried to her partner of many years. A native Finn, Pamela lives in the Irish countryside in an old cottage that's always threatening to fall apart. She has a full-size dog agility arena in her back garden.
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$10 Amazon
The cover looks really cool.
ReplyDeleteThe cover looks amazing and sounds like a good story.
ReplyDeleteThos looks like a great read. Thanks fir hosting this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments! I hope you enjoy the book. - Pamela
ReplyDelete