Project Description
DRIVING TEMPO
HOUSE OF ARCHER SERIES, BOOK 3
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
A rock band. A reality show. A life swerving out of control.
The House of Archer cameras continue to roll, and Lily and Archer feel the pressure to perform. As the show’s stars and media’s newest darlings, their love life is bright in the public’s eye. But what should be the best time of their lives has Lily feeling like she’s an inch away from a head-on collision.
Between the never-ending cameras and a relationship moving forward at top speed, she barely recognizes her life anymore. All she wants is to pursue her writing career and plan her future with the man she loves. With complicated road blocks popping up at every turn, neither seems possible.
Time to call in reinforcements.
Recruiting the help of her sister, Rosemary, seems like the answer to Lily’s problems…until things between Rosemary and The Void’s spoken-for sound specialist, Sage Strickland, start to heat up. Now there’s one more teetering band relationship for Lily to balance in the media along with her own. One misstep could not only destroy The Void’s recent success but end the only career she has.
Once Lily, Archer, and the band transition from touring back to everyday life in L.A., they’ll have to learn how to navigate the twists and turns of their newfound fame. After all, the summer tour may be coming to an end, but the drama is just beginning.
Getting clocked in the jaw and dropped like a sack of bricks was perfectly in keeping with the rest of Rosemary Montgomery’s day. In fact, it just might have been the highlight.
The day had started on such an optimistic note. She woke up in plenty of time to catch her eight a.m. flight to Kansas City out of LAX. Knowing she was on her way to meet her newly-famous sister, Lily, and join an even more famous rock band’s tour for a few weeks, she had given herself extra time to style her hair, put on makeup, and dress in a killer outfit.
“Nice choice on the dress,” her best friend and roommate, Monique, told her after giving her a careful once-over. “It reflects your Bohemian style. Flattering, yet professional. You’ll fit right in with The Void and their fans.”
“Thanks, Mon.” Rosemary relied on her friend’s judgment for such things. They were both event planners, but where Rosemary had more of a head for the business end of event planning, Monique was a designer at heart. “Keep that up and maybe I won’t feel like I’m going to hurl all day long,” she said as she applied her mascara.
“You’ll be fine,” Monique assured her from the edge of the bathtub where she sat watching Rosemary get ready. “The job’s already yours. You’re about to plan the biggest wedding Petit Planning has ever contracted.”
Rosemary’s stomach twisted again at the reminder of what she was about to undertake. Lily had called her four days ago—had it really only been four days?—telling Rosemary that she had gotten in over her head with her recent engagement to The Void’s front man, Archer. Apparently Archer wanted the wedding to happen sooner rather than later. Between that and the media pressing Lily for details every time they talked to her, Lily had quickly determined she needed help. She had called Rosemary and asked if she would be willing to meet up with her on the tour to at least get some of the plans rolling.
The caveat? Rosemary had to be willing to be filmed for House of Archer, the popular reality show following the band on their current tour.
Over the past month, Rosemary had watched several trailers for the show as well as the first couple episodes. The show was addicting…full of intrigue and drama, especially regarding Lily and her relationship with Archer. The producers seemed to be doing their best to cast Lily in a villainous light. Rosemary suspected that was what kept viewers tuned in every week. They were waiting to see when Archer would either see Lily for the scheming gold digger she appeared to be or fall victim to her wiles and watch his career go up in flames.
Rosemary had seen the two of them at a recent dinner with her dysfunctional family. She had witnessed the love they shared. They were a solid unit, two best friends who had fallen in love eight years after they met. Her experience as a wedding planner gave her unique insights into couples and whether they would make it for the long haul. Lily and Archer were the real deal. The show’s footage must have been edited to make their relationship look far less stable than it was.
Having seen how the show portrayed Lily, Rosemary was hesitant to agree to appear on it herself. She had her career to consider, after all. Yes, this was an incredible opportunity, but would this kind of exposure do her reputation more harm than good?
Monique had been in the room when Lily’s call came in. She had shamelessly gotten as close to Rosemary as she could to hear through the phone’s earpiece. When Rosemary hesitated to agree to be on the show, Monique had stepped right in.
“Of course!” she had exclaimed.
Lily had thought it was Rosemary agreeing. Before Rosemary could fully register what was happening, she was told that The Void’s tour manager would be in touch with her soon to make the travel arrangements. Her return trip home would be open-ended so she could work with Lily on the wedding plans and hopefully finalize some of the biggest checklist items in the coming few weeks. Lily had sounded so relieved over Rosemary’s—or rather Monique’s—agreement that Rosemary hadn’t had the heart to back out.
“I’ll be your legs here in L.A.,” Monique reminded Rosemary now as she packed her cosmetics bag. “We’ll tag team this one. And you know Ines will want to oversee everything we do.”
“Of course.”
Ines was Monique’s mother—not the “call me Mom” type—and the owner and founder of Petit Planning. She was as much a mother to Rosemary as any non-biological parent could be. She was also a savvy and shrewd businesswoman who had cut a niche for herself in L.A.’s fiercely competitive event planning market.
It had