A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3)

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,
Fallen Tuesday
!

Meet the band!

Luke (lead singer)

Gray (guitar /
piano)

Trent (bass)

Jake (guitar)

Mack (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

Also in 2014, a brand
new contemporary romance series set in the small town of
Ferry Creek
.

A series built on
love, hope, and redemption
…

A CHANCE AT LOVE

A PLACE TO HEAL

*

Sign up for the
official
 
Karolyn
James
 
newsletter
and you
’
ll never miss a new
release!

Sign up here -
 
tinyurl.com/KJSignup

Stay social with Karolyn
James here...

www.KarolynJames.wordpress.com

On Twitter @KarolynWrites

https://www.facebook.com/KarolynJamesAuthor

NOW
...
 
are you ready for some
…

BROTHERS OF ROCK!

A
Sound
Like Hope
(Fallen Tuesday Book
T
hree
) (A Brothers
of Rock Novel)

The Brothers of
Rock series continues with Fallen
 
Tuesday!

*

Fallen
 
Tuesday
 
is back, but now bassist
Trent Jensen finds himself in a world of trouble. When a blast from the past
pushes him over the edge, he can't stop making bad choices. Although he manages
to escape the media's eye when bailing out of jail, it doesn't take long for
his past to get him into more trouble... this time in front of many cameras.
Sick of Trent's actions hurting the band, band manager, Frank, has a punishment
in mind that will forever change Trent's life.

Emily Unther has
had the worst year of her life. After months of watching her sister, Amelia's
health deteriorate, Amelia passed away. And suddenly
 
Emily became a mom to her
ten year old nephew, Nicholas, who hates her. He has made it a daily chore to
get into trouble and rack up lawyer's fees. He is angry, hurt, and lives with
the hope that his father will return soon. He spends most of his time on his
skateboard, away from the world. After Nicholas takes things too far, a
compassionate judge decides to give him one last chance, but only if Nicholas
follows a mentoring program that will allow him to meet someone who
 
understands his situation
and can hopefully help him heal.

Trent knows that
this is the only way to fix his broken image. The publicity will
 
be good for himself, the
band, and their upcoming album release. However, the moment he meets Nicholas
and Emily,
 
he
can only focus on helping them.
 
Now
with Fallen
 
Tuesday
 
preparing
 
for the biggest show of
their career, Trent must find away to forget the past, fix the present, and
discover his future.

Will Trent's past
ruin the band, like it almost did years ago, or will he be able to finally let
it all go?

(1)

Trent Jensen wasn
’
t originally a bassist. The
first instrument he owned was a used, dark red guitar that didn
’
t even have a name on it, just a
small sticker on the back of the headstock saying it was made in some foreign
country. The guitar came with five of the six strings and that was good enough
for Trent to get started. He strummed the strings while listening to his
favorite bands on a small radio. After helping a neighbor cut grass, Trent took
the pittance of a payment and bought the sixth string for his guitar. That
’
s when life became serious.

It was right around the first time
Trent started to notice that girls who left school for summer break came back
to school in the fall prettier and more developed. Those same girls started to
point out the changes in Trent. How much taller he had gotten. How all the yard
work to earn money for new albums and guitar lessons had made his shoulders a
mile wide. But it was one girl
who caught his eye and changed his life forever.

The night after meeting a Chloe
Kleine, Trent went home and told himself he would win her over by playing
guitar for her. It seemed like the most logical thing to do. Two minutes into
an attempt at writing a song (trying to come up with the perfect words that
rhymed with Chloe), Trent strummed an E minor chord too hard and the bottom two
strings popped off the guitar. From then on, the four strings were the only
strings Trent needed.

All these thoughts raced through
Trent
’
s mind as he stood on
the balcony of his apartment in California. The bright colors in the sky
reinforced the fact that another day had wasted away.  As Trent watched the sun
slowly set, he held a piece of paper that nobody knew he had. A piece of
notebook paper that had been intricately folded at one point in its life but
was now folded small enough that it fit into Trent
’
s closed fist. He was tempted with two choices
right now. He could read the letter and go back to a place in time he swore he
’
d never go back to, or he could
open his hand and let the letter fly and dance its way to the ground and be out
of his life forever.

After quickly posting bail, Frank
suggested Trent make things right with the media and fans. It was simply a big
misunderstanding, but the hungry media was split down the middle. Half
supported Trent while the other half loved to keep twisting the story and
making it worse. So, instead of facing the media, Trent hopped onto the first
plane he could catch and flew to California to be alone for a little bit.

That was days ago.

Trent heard his cell phone ringing
inside the apartment. It had been a barrage of calls every single damn day.
Most of them were from numbers he didn
’
t
know. Probably reporters, bloggers, and anyone else who wanted a piece of the
juicy news that the bassist from Fallen Tuesday had been caught drinking while
behind the wheel of a vehicle.

It angered Trent to think of it
that way, although it was technically true.

Trent went into the apartment,
slipped the piece of paper into his pocket, and looked at the phone. It was
Frank. Lately, Frank was more of a father figure than a manager to the entire
band.

Trent slid his finger across the
screen and took the call.

“
Hey,
Frank.
”

“
Trent.
Buddy. Good to hear your voice.
”

“
What
do you need?
”

“
Come
on, you know what I need. I need the bassist of Fallen Tuesday out there. There
’
s plenty of studio time to be
had. Songs to write. Radio shows to hop on. Luke
’
s
voice is damn near perfect again, so I think it
’
s
maybe time to talk touring.
”

“
That
’
s good,
”
Trent said.
“
Really
good.
”

“
What
are you doing, Trent? Hiding? Ashamed?
”

“
You
don
’
t get it, Frank,
”
Trent said.

“
Make
me get it then. We
’
re all
sitting here, wondering where Trent is.
”

“
All
of you? What about Jake?
”

Frank sighed.
“
What
’
s this thing between you and Jake?
”

“
The
same old story,
”
Trent
said.
“
A woman.
”

“
Are
you kidding me?
”

“
I
don
’
t feel like doing this
right now,
”
Trent said.
“
I
’
m
getting killed with calls here. I don
’
t
want to be in the middle of this mess right now. The articles. The reports. The
online crap.
”

“
Hey,
no offense, but you did it to yourself,
”
Frank said.

“
Yeah,
that
’
s right. I
’
m a drunk, right? I endanger
other people. I don
’
t care
about myself or my career. I
’
m
going to fall into the shallow grave of a stereotypical rockstar. Oh, the best
one is that I
’
m just a
bassist. The easiest person to replace in a band. Fallen Tuesday could find
someone in a second and pick up where they left off, without the unnecessary
drama.
”

“
I
get it,
”
Frank said.
“
Reading that kind of stuff about
yourself is hard. Sure. But do you really think anyone in the band feels that
way?
”

“
Ask
Jake.
”

“
Why
don
’
t you start with me,
”
Frank said.
“
I was the one who got you out of
jail without a single person knowing it. There
’
s
not a single picture of you leaving that jail, Trent. I also worked with the
lawyers to make sure you fleeing to California wasn
’
t going to get you in more trouble. Which, by the
way, won
’
t now. You
’
re welcome.
”

“
Yeah,
thanks,
”
Trent said.

“
So
why not take a second and enlighten me,
”
Frank said.
“
What the hell
happened?
”

“
Call
it a blast from the past,
”
Trent said.
“
Okay? And I
tried to do the right thing. I got the hell out of where I was. I took a couple
beers with me and sat in my car. Then she came out to the car and started an
argument. In the heat of it all, I turned the car on, which was my mistake. A
police officer saw us, and of course, she turned on the waterworks. The second
the officer saw me, the car running, and the beer bottles, it was game over for
Trent.
”

“
You
didn
’
t drive at all?
”
Frank asked.

“
Never.
I would never do something stupid like that.
”

“
Good.
And for the record, I believe you. Now, who was this
she
you keep
talking about?
”

Trent laughed.
“
Go ask Jake. Look, I
’
ve got to go, Frank. I need to
just be here right now.
”

“
What
does that mean?
”
Frank
asked.
“
A day? A week? A
month? I mean, I
’
m on the
phone with the record company one day talking tour and the next I
’
m defending the band, because of
you. Now I have to pull out excuse after excuse about you leaving New York. You
know how it looks, right?
”

“
How
does it look?
”

“
Rehab,
Trent,
”
Frank said with a
stern voice.
“
You look like
you left to go to rehab. And that only fuels a new fire. One that suggests we
have a problem and we
’
re
hiding it.
”

“
I
don
’
t have a damn problem,
”
Trent said.
“
You and I know that. I
’
m in my apartment, laying low.
”

“
Well,
that can
’
t be forever.
”

“
It
won
’
t be.
”

“
There
are a couple shows coming up. Radio plays. Fallen Tuesday is booked and will be
there. I hate to say it like this, Trent, but it will happen with or without
you.
”

“
That
helps things,
”
Trent said.

“
I
’
m just being honest.
”

A knock at Trent
’
s door made him jump.

Who the hell could that be?

“
I
’
ll call you tomorrow,
”
Trent said.

Trent ended the call and walked to
his door. Nobody knew he was here. He feared that maybe someone had seen him
and if he opened that door, it would be a swarm of media. Trent looked into the
peephole and did a double take.

He opened the door and saw a man
that looked a hundred years old even though he was younger than Trent.

“
Smithy?
”
Trent asked.

“
Holy
hell, it
’
s really you,
”
Smithy said.
“
I thought I heard noise coming
from here, but I didn
’
t
think it could be. What are you doing here?
”

“
I
’
m relaxing,
”
Trent said.
“
The same old.
”

Smithy slowly opened his arms.
“
Christ, man, can I have a hug?
”

Trent smiled and gave his old
friend a hug.
“
How long has
it been, Smithy?
”

“
At
least a decade, maybe more. I don
’
t
know. I don
’
t follow time
anymore. I just live.
”

“
Well,
come in,
”
Trent offered.

Smithy hesitated for a second and
then reached for something. He held up a guitar case and Trent laughed.

“
Yes,
”
Trent said.
“
We can jam for a bit.
”

Trent closed the door and watched
the way Smithy moved. Smithy had grown up living in the same neighborhood as
Trent. He was always quiet and shy and always got picked on. Then one summer,
Smithy got really big and learned how to play guitar. He went from being picked
on because he looked dirty to being considered attractive because he looked
dirty and could play guitar. His mother died when they were sixteen and Smithy
found comfort in drugs. After turning eighteen and bolting from school, Smithy got
lost in drugs even more. Smithy eventually went to rehab, a few times, but all
his roads went back to the same darkness. Then, Smithy met a woman and everyone
hoped it was his chance to clean up and grow up. At that time, Fallen Tuesday was
slowly gaining popularity. Then Smithy
’
s
woman became pregnant, but her deepest urges and addictions were too strong,
even for the sake of the baby in her womb. The woman overdosed one night,
ending her own life, the life of Smithy
’
s
unborn child, and in many ways, Smithy
’
s
life. He disappeared after that and tonight was the first time Trent had seen
him since.

“
How
’
s it been going?
”
Trent asked.

“
Living,
”
Smithy said. His voice had a
little slur to it.
“
I
’
m still downstairs. Same
apartment.
”

“
That
’
s good,
”
Trent said.
“
Still
writing? Playing? In a band?
”

“
Me?
No. I keep to myself, man. Just hanging around. Living.
”

He was definitely burned out.

Smithy put his guitar case on the
coffee table and opened it. He took out a beautiful black electric guitar and
leaned it against the couch.

“
Man,
that
’
s a nice axe,
”
Trent said. He touched the neck
of the guitar and quickly noticed that the strings were very old.

Smithy opened a small compartment
in the case that was meant to be used for supplies. Guitar picks, extra
strings, a small screwdriver, that kind of stuff.

When Trent saw the paraphernalia
Smithy had in the case, he stepped back in shock.

“
Smithy,
what the hell is that?
”

Smithy looked at Trent with glossy
eyes.
“
I thought you wanted
to jam, man?
”

“
Yeah.
With guitars. What did you
…
?
”