#SpotlightSaturday - Silver Screens & Broken Dreams by Sebastian Sharpe.
From the blurb:
Hollywood's shimmering facade often masks the hardest truths, a lesson Austin Ridge knows all too well. Navigating the treacherous waters of fame, he wrestles with the shadows of a past romance that threatens to cloud his future.
In this sequel to Footlights and Forever, Austin returns, struggling with unresolved feelings for his ex, Dylan Cooper. As Austin tries to forge a path forward, he finds himself drawn back into the orbit of the man who was forced to move on without him. Each encounter with Dylan is a reminder of what was lost and a test of Austin's resolve.
Dylan Cooper, thriving in his role as a creative force behind the camera, faces unexpected challenges when his past collides with his present. With Austin Ridge lurking in his past as well as on the big screen, Dylan must navigate the complex emotions of his past and a new love.
As old feelings resurface in the glare of studio lights, Austin must decide if he can truly let go or if the past is worth a second act. With every moment on set, the lines between past and present blur, pushing Austin to confront the reality of his choices. In a world where the camera never stops rolling, can Austin step out of his own shadow to find a spotlight that truly belongs to him?
Excerpt:
Three months later
“So, welcome everyone.” I stood at the top of a giant boardroom table, with no fewer than twenty seats on both sides. The dark oak wood was so shiny that I'm sure I could see my own panicked reflection in it.
I glanced off to my left at Natalie, who gave me a tiny thumbs up, her face creased with concern. She'd informed me moments before the first table read that she'd had a dream that I'd shit my pants while giving my opening welcome speech. I clenched my buttcheeks together and glanced around the table. Along with a couple of the producers from the network, the table was filled with a mix of well-known and up-and-coming young actors who had been selected from an exhaustive list to become the stars of Amore Blue.
On the left of the table were three guys who, under any normal circumstances, would have played front and center in any one of my wet fantasies. Chase Sterling, Max Stone, and Ryder Hart. Whilst Chase and Max were at this point veteran actors at twenty-eight and twenty-nine respectively, having a very broad IMDB presence already, Ryder was very green and had only appeared in a couple of indie projects that went straight to television, but were only really shown at three in the morning alongside the infomercials.
On the right of the table were Madison Reign and Harper Starling. These two young women had been cast as the younger sisters of our star, Jax Conway. My eyes dart around the room and confirm that our lead was nowhere to be found. I knew for fact he was supposed to be here, as his agent had contacted our team earlier to tell us we were good to go. There had been some last minute issues with a film contract Jax had in Romania, but they had managed to get him out of it so he would be able to star in our show.
“I see our very own Nico Amore hasn’t arrived yet.” My gaze slid to Natalie who merely rolled her eyes and shrugged. “But no matter, we will move on with introductions. If you could give your name and what your role is on the show and maybe just a little bit of background about your previous work. I’ll start. My name is Dylan Cooper, I am the head writer and the show runner for Amore Blue. I started out writing when I was in…”
“Sorry I‘m late,” a deep baritone voice crooned from the door to my left. I geared myself up to snap some cutting remarks about tardiness and respect for our co-workers. That retort was lost in my throat as my eyes fell on possibly the hottest man to ever walk the earth. Of course, I’d seen Jax before in movies and had been able to tell that he was objectively hot as fuck. But nothing had prepared me for the absolute sensory overload that came from being in the same room as him.
“Harumph…” I actually just said that. I quickly cleared my throat and refrained from backhand-slapping Natalie, who was currently laughing into her palm. I glanced once again at the personification of sex on legs, mostly to apologise for my co-worker who was shaking with laughter and to welcome the star of our show to the table. “Arooo…” Okay, so that was closer, but the hello was somewhere between hello and a wolf howl. Come on Dylan, pull it together.
Silver Screens & Broken Dreams is available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription.
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