Lyrics for Lovers - A Short Story

and blurb reveal about my upcoming book...

Jul 08, 2025

Dear book lover,

I have a new short story for you today, I’ve got so many messages about how much you love these, so here’s a new one.

But before that, I wanted to introduce you to my next novel, which, same as today’s short story, is a rockstar romance. I still do not have a cover for you, but my next book is up for pre-order and you can check out the title and blurb at:

Amazon

Apple Books

Add to your Goodreads TBR

All other retailers

Happy sleuthing… and now the short story.

Lyrics for Lovers - A Short Story

My favorite online friend, alias Songbird, hates cilantro, thinks punctuation is for cowards, and weirdly loves the music of Milo West, America’s most aggressively commercial rockstar. I tease him non-stop about it.

We’ve been chatting for months on a musician’s forum—a place meant for guitar nerds and midnight lyricists. Our public banter lasted three posts before he slid into my DMs, and suddenly we were composing songs together faster than I could Google “what’s a bridge, musically speaking?”

Somewhere between arguing about rhyming “moon” with “June” and one epic, three-day debate about the sexiest time signature (spoiler: it’s not 4/4), we went one hundred percent private. And exclusive.

We send each other rough verses at 2 a.m., trade terrible rhymes, and I might have accidentally fallen in love with him.

So when he asks if I’ll meet him in person—at Milo West’s sold-out concert, no less, but he has tickets, of course!—I freak out a bit. But then he sends me our usual good-luck meme: a duck with bread on its head. (Don’t ask. It started as a typo, got meme’d into oblivion, and now I can’t face a big life event without picturing a carb-crowned mallard. It’s a thing. We’re a thing. Don’t judge.) So I say yes.

***

At Millennium Park, the festival’s energy pulses through the air, but the Bean—polished, warped, and reflecting the entire city—is its own world. There’s a guy loitering with the world’s worst attempt at camouflage: baseball cap, sunglasses, and a suspicious amount of leather. I hesitate. My heart beats in Morse code for “Abort mission.”

The stranger glances up, grins, and says, “Safe word?”

I blurt, “Cilantro is a crime.” Not the one we agreed on, but he laughs. I manage, “I’m Kelly.”

He peels off his sunglasses and hat, revealing messy hair, a familiar grin, and heart-stopping blue eyes. “Milo. Nice to meet you.”

I just… freeze. My nervous system glitches. My mouth opens, but no sound comes out—unless you count a wheezy squeak. Up close, he’s impossibly real, impossibly him, and my brain is working overtime to process the fact that the man who’s been sending me late-night memes and half-baked verses is also—no big deal—the literal Milo West.

“You—” I point, as if he will confess to some elaborate prank.

He gives a sheepish little shrug, that grin flickering wider. “You once called me ‘a corporate muppet with great hair.’ I had to know if you’d say it to my face.”

“I stand by the great hair comment.”

He laughs and steps close to me. His thumb brushes my cheek, his blue eyes bright and a little uncertain. “Tell me if this is too commercial.”

Then he kisses me, sweet and slow, then a little harder, and suddenly nothing’s cliché.

An instant or an hour later, his hand finds mine as we break apart. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

He pulls me backstage, the crowd roaring as the lights go up. Onstage, he starts our song—our words, his melody—my heart going triple platinum disc in my chest.

And honestly? Maybe commercial isn’t so bad.

Audiobook deals

The Roommate Experiment is on sale for 2.99c at Chirp
Other Chirp audiobooks that usually stay full price also have a price drop at 3.99

Other Bookish Deals

My most beloved friends to lovers novel, It’s Complicated, is still on sale at 99c in the US at all bookshops.

Amazon (in Kindle Unlimited and still available in Amazon Prime globally)

Apple Books

Tap the image for all other retailers, audiobook links, and libraries…

Current Amazon deals—Free books and price drops (even more 99c deals this week!)
Free Amazon Prime Reading Books:
- It’s Complicated is in Amazon Prime Reading globally.
The Love Theorem is FREE in e-book at Barnes & Noble
Check out my books that are included with a Kindle Unlimited subscription
Check out my books that are included with a Kobo Plus subscription
Other audiobook deals:
- Many of my other audiobooks are discounted to 4.99 and 5.99 at Chirp and Apple Books or on my Direct Store.

Funny Feelings Series

Three best friends, each finding love in an unexpected way…

Check out the series at:

Amazon & Kindle Unlimited

Apple Books

Or tap the image to see all the books in the series, the reading order, and other retailers on my website.

If The Ring Fits is FREE in Amazon Prime Reading globally…

Cozy Witches Series

Check out the series at: Amazon - Apple Books - or tap the image to see all the books in the series, the reading order, and other retailers on my website.

True Love Trilogy

Check out the complete series at: Amazon - Apple Books - or tap the series image to see all the books in the series, the reading order, and other retailers on my website.

First Comes Love Series

Amazon (season 2 is in Kindle Unlimited)

Apple Books season 1 - Apple Books season 2

Or tap the image to see all the books in the series, the reading order, and other retailers on my website.

All books are available at all wide bookstores in e-book, print, and audio.

Season two is free in Kindle Unlimited and Kobo Plus also as a convenient box set.

FREE E-BOOKS

Get these three deals at Amazon tapping here. (See also my current price drops.)

Or tap the image for all other retailers links.

The Love Theorem is FREE in e-book at Barnes & Noble

WRITING UPDATE TIME

My newest releases:

If the Ring Fits (Funny Feelings #2) — Marriage of convenience (Rowena’s story).
The Roommate Experiment (Funny Feelings #3) — Roommates to lovers, forced proximity, only one bed… Dylan and Hunter’s story…

Up for pre-order:

Rock My World (New first in series — Rockstar romance, forbidden romance, forced proximity (September 11, 2025)
A Match Made in Coven (Paranormal Romance #2) — Enemies to lovers, cozy mystery, witchy, lots of banter (September 23, 2025)

Currently writing:

The third witchy book is finished, I will reveal everything soon… and I’m well into the sequel for Rock My World…

See anything you like? Hit reply and let me know.

Wanted something else to read? Also hit reply and let me know :)

Until next time...
xoxo,
Camilla

Camilla Isley

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