From New York Times bestselling author Helena Newbury, the second in the Fenbrook Academy series. Sheltered cellist Karen is horrified when she's forced to team up with bad boy guitarist Connor in order to graduate. But as they rehearse together, sparks fly--can they both admit their feelings, or will their pasts trap them until it's too late? (Full blurb below).A self-contained romance with no cliff hanger ending! This book focuses on a new couple, but also features characters from the first book (Natasha & Darrell, Clarissa & Neil and Jasmine). You can jump in with this one or pick up Dance For Me to get more backstory on the secondary characters.Note for Dance For Me readers: this book is longer (99,000 words) and more explicit than Dance For Me.Everyone expects her to succeed...Karen plays the cello like an angel, and it's the only thing that makes her truly feel alive. But her father's dream--for her to join a prestigious orchestra--leaves no time in her life for anything but music...not even love. Trapped on her path, she doesn't know how to rebel.Everyone expects him to fail...Connor plays rock guitar like the devil himself, and his ability has got him all the way from a dead-end life in Belfast to a scholarship at Fenbrook Academy. But beneath his arrogance and charm, he doesn't believe he has what it takes. He's spent his time in New York drinking and partying, and the only future he sees is a return to Ireland as soon as he flunks out.But what no one expects...When Karen's duet partner is injured, the bad boy guitarist and the shy, sheltered cellist are forced to team up. Neither likes the idea, but what begins as anger and distrust slowly spirals into love...and lust. If they can face up to their feelings, they might just have a chance together. If Connor will allow Karen to stop his fall, maybe he can show her a life she never thought possible...This New Adult Romance is recommended for readers 17+ due to adult themes and sexual scenes.An extractAt that moment, someone opened the door from the outside and I went stumbling backwards--right off the edge of the top step. Dragged down by the cello's weight, I fell with a surprisingly loud scream, my head heading for the sidewalk--I snapped to a halt, the cello case pressing hard into my back. I was lying in mid air, face up, feet skittering at the top step. Almost all of my weight was held by one shoulder strap, stretched out in front of me and anchored by....I followed the strap with my eyes. A fist, grabbing the nylon. A strong wrist, skin almost as pale as mine. A cracked leather jacket. I got all the way to the shoulder and his tight, powerful frame before it clicked.Oh no.....I looked up into his face. Blue-gray eyes, like a lazy summer's day that's darkening into a storm. Hair cut short and messy, glossy black against his pale skin. And the lips--those soft, full lips that had been the downfall of so many Fenbrook girls in downtown rock clubs or at drug-fueled parties. Even now, they were twisting into a smirk.Connor Locke."I seem to have you helpless," he told me, and his broad Belfast accent made it sound at once both innocent and absolutely filthy. The actors who'd been coming to help reached the doorway and stopped there, smiling."Would you like me to lay you down on your back?" he asked, at least partially for their benefit. "Or should I pull you up against me?"I closed my eyes, feeling myself flushing even more than before. When I opened them, he was still holding me up. It felt like he could have held me there all day, if he'd wanted to."Up," I said quietly, and he hauled me slowly upwards. As promised, he didn't step out of the way, so that when I had my footing again on the top step I was right up against him, our faces inches apart. He was wearing some scent that made me think of big, cold skies and icy rocks.