One and Only
Hale Street #7
Amy Knupp
Releasing March 7, 2017
Self-Published
Blurb
Drummer Micah Sullivan lost his music and his dreams when his wife died unexpectedly. In the emotional aftermath, he quit his successful country band and pushed away his family and friends. Three years later, he’s opened a music shop on Hale Street in Nashville and tells himself he’s content trying to make it a hit. What he failed to consider is that success requires connections—including the very ones he turned his back on.
Sloan McGuire is up for a new challenge…never realizing it might lead to heartbreak. When she takes a job as entertainment manager at a bar not known for its music, she doesn’t bargain for running into Micah, whose late wife was her best friend. She can tell within minutes that he’s still grieving. Out of love for her friend, she attempts to reconnect with the reclusive drummer. Falling for him isn’t in the plans, though—not only because he was married to her friend but because she’s been second-best before, and she never wants to play that role again.
As Micah starts finding his rhythm, life throws him a different beat. But with a little improvisation and a lot of courage, he just might tap into the one and only connection he needs.
SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW
To be honest there have been times lately when I felt like the curmudgeonly reviewer. I read a book and, while I know it’s not bad, it just does nothing for me. But because I know it’s not bad, I give it an average rating and then I need to write something about it. You may know by now that I don’t think “this really worked for me” and/or “I like it” are adequate reviews. I’ve been feeling a little like it was me…not the books. Time to break up.
Then I read Amy Knupps’ One and Only and I felt “saved.”
Okay, I’m about to tell you it’s a music novel and I expect a little eye rolling because you know I will do almost anything to read a novel about music. But that wasn’t the only thing that made One and Only work for me. The writing was smooth, the characters multi-dimensional, and entertaining. The whole book was entertaining.
Sloan is an outstanding female main character. She is strong and confident, but possesses an understandable insecurity issue. She is real.
Micah. I liked Micah for the most part, except when I thought he really needed to be slapped around the face many, many times. To be honest, I’m not altogether certain he’s smart enough for Sloan, but maybe being a sexy drummer will be enough for him to keep her for always. I’ll cut him some slack because his wife died and he felt guilty, but his need to feel guilty kept him from seeing the big picture.
The secondary characters were also really interesting and I was intrigued by Gin’s secretive story and presume (and hope) she’ll be a character in an upcoming associated novel along with Tucker.
Am I forgetting anything? Oh. Maybe this: read this if you’re looking for a sweet romance with a little taste of music thrown in. It ain’t your average romance novel!
One and Only is part of the Hale Street series (which I haven’t read, so you would have heard me complaining by now if this couldn’t be read successfully as a standalone).
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating: 
(4 out of 5 butterflies)
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Author Info
Amy Knupp is the author of contemporary romance, a freelance copy editor for Blue Otter Editing, and a freelance technical writer. While the collection of professional hats she wears sounds a bit scattered and broad, the common thread among all of them (perhaps the little ball on top of each hat) is the written word. She loves words and grammar and meaty, engrossing stories with complex characters.
Amy lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenage sons, four cats, and two box turtles. She graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in French and journalism. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, breaking up cat fights, watching college hoops, and annoying her family by correcting their grammar.
Author Links: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS
$10 Gift Card to eBookseller of choice,
Digital copies of SOFT SPOT and SWEET SPOT (3 winners).
-EXCERPT-
His eyes were closed, and he was … lost in the music. No question about it.
He wore headphones, so whatever song he was playing to, she couldn’t hear, and he was jamming out hard enough that his hair was flopping all over the place. His whole body was in action as his sticks flew from one element to another. It seemed wild and out of control and … God, so sexy.
Sloan frowned at the thought, intended to get his attention and put an end to her private ogling session, but she couldn’t make herself do it quite yet. Because she was riveted by the sight. The expressions on his face, so animated, so full of feeling. The way his biceps flexed and rippled, partially visible beneath his T-shirt sleeves. His hands, in command of two thin wooden sticks, able to make such powerful, moving music. It was just percussion, but she felt it in her chest. The beats, yes, but also the emotion. And Micah himself.
