Highway Man by Eden Winters

If their gravelly-voiced front man died in the wreck that claimed the rest of Trickster, what's he doing filling in for a tribute band's absent guitarist? All Killian Desmond wants is to forget that tragic accident, make a few bucks off rodeo wins and pick-up gigs, and occasionally find a willing one-night stand. A listening ear in the form of a fellow musician he dubs Tex reopens old wounds. Tex knows the songs and hears the pain—Killy may have found more than he was looking for.
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Eden Winters is at the top of my must-read authors, I bet even her grocery lists are good. But this is way, way different than anything that's come before. Different good. Different amazing.

Killian Desmond's running from his demons -- everyone thinks he's dead and he's content to let them believe it, he'd prefer not to be found and connected with the rock star he was, and he's hiding in plain sight, letting his name and everyone's preconceptions cover him. He's leading a drifter's life, never staying on long, never kissing the one-night stands he finds on the Internet or at a truck-stop, and he probably won't stay til morning anyway.

He won't even call the man he makes a date for sex with by his name --that means remembering, forming a tie. Letting the hurt catch up maybe. Killy will call him Texas instead, and isn't prepared for the quiet acceptance of who he is and why he's running. Not prepared for the homespun wisdom behind why Texas is willing to toss their gig aside for whatever might come next.

Tex reached into his pocket, extracting a crumpled pack of gum. He popped a strip into his mouth, chewing vigorously. “What does this taste like?”

Killy scratched his head, perplexed. “How the hell am I supposed to know?”

“Exactly.”

“Huh?”

“If you ain’t the one doing the chewing, how can you know what it tastes like?” He paused, letting the words sink in. “If you ain’t the one doing the living, how can you know what I want?..."

We're used to humor, we're used to angst, we're used to solid writing from Eden Winters, but this is dark, gritty, and primal. There's pain on a soul-deep level. And, something we are used to from this writer, there's hope. 5 Marbles


Excuse me, I gotta go read this again.

Buy here, not kidding.