Amy bites her lip, like she’s trying her damnedest not to weep.
“Amy?” Ryan prompts.
“I need a minute,” Amy squeaks out, making everyone, including me, laugh. But soon enough, she takes a few breaths, gathers herself, squeezes my hands, and says, “Colin, I promise to always be the creeper who’s totally obsessed with you.” Everyone laughs uproariously, even though they have no idea how truly hilarious Amy’s comment is. She continues, “I promise to be the best wife and friend to you as I can possibly be, always, and the best mother to all our future babies, should we be so lucky.” We share a secret smile, acknowledging the little bean growing inside her—the beautiful surprise Amy told me about only two weeks ago. “I promise to always love you,” Amy continues, “not because you’re perfect, but because you’re perfect for me. And I also promise to swoon for you, always and forever. That won’t be hard to do. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Our smiles huge and our chests heaving with excitement, we quickly exchange rings and share our first kiss, even before Ryan has remembered to shout, “Kiss your bride, Colinoscopy!”
As I kiss my gorgeous bride, I feel euphoric. I’ve hit the jackpot in this lifetime, in every conceivable way. I’ve got the perfect wife for me. A baby on the way—our first of many, if we’re lucky. Our band is doing better than ever. Our friends are a found family. And my little side career as an actor has taken off like gangbusters, ever since my first movie came out and my performance drew nothing but praise. I’m the luckiest man on earth and I know it. And I’ll never take any of it for granted, as long as I live.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you,” Ryan booms. “Mr. and Mrs. Colin and Amy Beretta!”
Laughing and whooping, I take my wife’s hand in mine, and we float down the aisle together . . . and straight into what we both know, without a doubt, will be our happily ever after.
The End
If you want to hear the full band version of “Swoon,” created by 22 Goats in the studio click here! To watch a music videos for Swoon head over to: http://www.laurenrowebooks.com/river-records. While you’re there, check out music videos for all the songs featured in Swoon, plus read tons of extras from the sprawling world of River Records.
If you enjoyed Colin and Amy’s group of friends, you’ll be happy to learn that most couples featured in Swoon already have their own books. Unfortunately, C-Bomb and Kendrick don’t yet have their own stories, but they’re on Lauren’s long list of possible future heroes and she assures you she adores them, too. Sign up for Lauren’s newsletter here, so you won’t miss any upcoming announcements or releases.
To read about Fish and Alessandra’s friends-to-lovers romance, check out Smitten, an interconnected standalone.
To read Dax and Violet’s sexy, angst-filled story, with lots of cameos from Dax’s siblings and parents, and to learn what caused the rift between Dax and C-Bomb, pick up ROCKSTAR. Note that Dax’s book is numbered five in The Morgan Brothers series, but all the Morgans’ stories are interconnected standalones that can be read in any order.
Reed Rivers and Georgina Ricci’s fiery, steamy, suspenseful story is a trilogy that begins with Bad Liar, while Savage and Laila duke it out in an enemies-to-lovers duet that begins with Falling Out Of Hate With You and includes tons of original songs.
If you want to find out about the three oldest Morgan brothers, read about Colby in Hero, Ryan in Captain, and Keane in Ball Peen Hammer. All books are interconnected standalones. Ryan’s and Colby’s books overlap in time, so either one is a great place to start the Morgans. In English, Hero is numbered first, while in Germany and Italy, the publishers released Captain first. Similarly, Ball Peen Hammer is numbered third in the series, simply because numbers were required at one point, but that book was actually released first. However you jump into Lauren’s interconnected “Rowe-verse,” rest assured you can jump around, in any order, and enjoy the stories completely, without feeling like you’re doing it wrong. Readers from all over the world have read Lauren’s books in countless ways and orders and thoroughly enjoyed them!
Music Credits
The song “Swoon” was co-written by Lauren Rowe and her talented cousin, Matthew Embree. Credits for all other songs featured in Swoon, including “Smitten,” “Fireflies,” and “Hate Sex High,” all of which were written or co-written by Lauren Rowe, are listed on Lauren’s website, with music videos for all songs, along with spoiler-free extras.
Author’s note
Thank you for reading Swoon! If you’re a new reader to me, you’ve now met several couples who’ve already found their happily ever afters in my world. I firmly believe those glimpses into other couples’ love stories aren’t spoilers because all my books (other than Countdown to Killing Kurtis, which is emphatically not a romance) are clearly labeled as romances, which means, by definition, the main couple in the story will always get at least a “happy for now,” but usually a “happily ever after,” in the end. The fun of any romance is always finding out how the main couple reaches their happy ending, against all odds, not the fact that they do. Thank you again for reading. Please, find me on social media. I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you to Sophie Broughton, Melissa Saneholtz, Sarah Kirk, Selina Washington, Lizette Baez, Madonna Blackburn, and Geissa Cecilia. Thank you for the amazing cover to Letitia Hasser of RBA Designs.
Books by Lauren Rowe
Standalone Novels
Smitten
When aspiring singer-songwriter, Alessandra, meets Fish, the funny, adorable bass player of 22 Goats, sparks fly between the awkward pair. Fish tells Alessandra he’s a “Goat called Fish who’s hung like a bull. But not really. I’m actually really average.” And Alessandra tells Fish, “There’s nothing like a girl’s first love.” Alessandra thinks she’s talking about a song when she makes her comment to Fish—the first song she’d ever heard by 22 Goats, in fact. As she’ll later find out, though, her “first love” was
actually Fish. The Goat called Fish who, after that night, vowed to do anything to win her heart.
SMITTEN is a true standalone romance.
Swoon
When Colin Beretta, the drummer of 22 Goats, is a groomsman at the wedding of his childhood best friend, Logan, he discovers Logan’s kid sister, Amy, is all grown up. Colin tries to resist his attraction to Amy, but after a drunken kiss at the wedding reception, that’s easier said than done.
Swoon is a true standalone romance.
Hate Love Duet
An addicting enemies to lovers romance with humor, heat, angst, and banter. Music artists Savage of Fugitive Summer and Laila Fitzgerald are stuck together on tour. And convinced they can’t stand each other. What they don’t know is that they’re absolutely made for each other, whether they realize it or not. The books of this duet are to be read in order: