Amy Vastine - Love Songs And Lullabies

Their engagement is a sham...

But their baby-to-be isn’t!

Country music stars Sawyer Stratton and Piper Starling are headed for the top of the charts. But then their course shifts unexpectedly...toward parenthood! The only way to keep Piper’s pregnancy from making the wrong headlines is to set the proverbial date. But how can Piper go through with a fake engagement when her feelings for Sawyer are anything but?

AMY VASTINE has been plotting stories in her head for as long as she can remember. An eternal optimist, she studied social work, hoping to teach others how to find their silver lining. Now she enjoys creating happily-ever-afters for all to read. Amy lives outside Chicago with her high school sweetheart turned husband, three fun-loving children and their sweet but mischievous puppy dog. Visit her at amyvastine.com.

Also By Amy Vastine

Grace Note Records

The Girl He Used to Love

Catch a Fallen Star

Chicago Sisters

The Better Man

The Best Laid Plans

The Hardest Fight

The Weather Girl

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Love Songs and Lullabies

Amy Vastine

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08493-2

LOVE SONGS AND LULLABIES

© 2018 Amy Vastine

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“I’m thrilled to present Piper Starling and Sawyer Stratton!” country icon Sara Gilmore exclaimed.

As the lights came up and the music started to play, Piper reminded herself that the stage was home. Nothing could hurt her here.

Piper sang the song, holding nothing back. The song was about fear—the fear of letting go. Piper was very much afraid, but this time of having to hold on.

As the song neared the end, her gaze locked with Sawyer’s. He stepped closer. Piper froze. At rehearsal, they had decided he would back away as the music faded. He was clearly changing the plan here.

Piper’s heart pounded. Sawyer pushed the guitar behind his back then reached up and cradled her cheek in his hand. The blood thumped in her ears. She had no idea what he was doing. As the lights began to dim, he leaned forward, his lips inches from hers.

The crowd gasped and then exploded into thunderous applause.

Piper blinked and everything went black.

Dear Reader,

I am so excited to finally get to share Sawyer and Piper’s story with you. The Grace Note Records series has been a joy to write because even though the books are tied to the same record company, every character faces different challenges.

When I started writing this series, I knew the combination of the Nashville music scene and the small-town setting would create a dramatic backdrop for romance. Thankfully, it delivered! This story takes us out of Grass Lake and into the world of country music. It was fun to explore the behind-the-scenes life of a country performer...and to throw some pretty huge obstacles at our hero and heroine. I hope you enjoy my latest love story and survive the roller coaster of emotion Sawyer and Piper experience along the way!

I love to hear from my readers. You can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/amyvastineauthor, or you can visit my website, amyvastine.com, where you can sign up for my newsletter, receive release information, enter contests and giveaways, and learn about promotions. There’s also a list and link to all my backlist titles.

Welcome back to Grace Note Records. I hope to see you again!

Amy Vastine

For my dad.

Thanks for always being there for me and

teaching me the importance of always

putting family first.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I’m pregnant?”

Piper Starling felt like she’d stepped outside her body. Her stomach rolled. The walls of the exam room inside Nashville General Hospital’s ER began to close in. This could not be happening.

“Miss Starling—” The doctor took a seat on the stool beside the exam table.

“You must be mistaken.” Piper tried to control the shakiness of her voice and hang on to the single shred of hope from which she dangled. “I’m here because I twisted my ankle. I’m waiting for an X-ray, not a pregnancy test.”

She had bumped into Sawyer Stratton onstage while setting up for rehearsal and twisted it. High heels and poor balance did not mix well.

The doctor scratched at his closely cropped gray beard and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I know why you came in, Piper. I think perhaps my nurse failed to mention a pregnancy test is part of the routine bloodwork we perform here in the ER.”