Nine Volt Heart — Annie Pearson

Can you find true love without a non-disclosure agreement after your picture is on the cover of Rolling Stone? Two musicians meet by accident in Seattle: Jason, the now infamous singer-songwriter, is at odds with the world because of falsehoods spread on the Internet. Susi, a classical musician whose previous life came off the rails, is building a new career as a music teacher, focusing on early Americana. Their separate worlds and professional yearnings quickly become entwined in unexpected ways. Jason wants Susi to sing the haunting songs he's written for her -- if he can just get his ex-wife out of his recording contracts. Susi doesn't want to sing in public -- and complains that Jason disturbs her hard-won serenity. Each tries to hide deep secrets from the other. Yet in love -- and on the Internet -- who really has secrets? Passion, mistaken identities, and a menacing stalker twist a love-at-first-sight story into a roller-coaster ride through the backstreets of Seattle, where tourists never go. Where both karma and sunshine can be so unpredictable in April. This light-suspense romantic serio-comedy contains explicit sex scenes and the undeleted expletives you'd expect at rock recording sessions in Seattle. Annie Pearson's Rain City Comedy of Manners series explores misadventures in contemporary Seattle among people whose work drives their hearts' desires, often in conflict with other love affairs. When bad things happen to quirky people, can they survive the wretched comedy of romance under grey skies? Reviewers say: Get some sleep aids before you start reading Nine Volt Heart, Annie Pearson's rock music romance AND thriller. You'll find yourself rooting for a pair of unlikely lovers who must navigate Seattle's tangled indie music scene to stay together. Then there's the anonymous cyber-stalker who becomes oh too real. Pearson masterfully mixes suspense and love into a riveting read. -- Emily Warn, Shadow Architect