Before The First Note

By Kera Ashvera

Some secrets are kept to protect you. Others are kept to control you.
Before he was the "Heartbreak Outlaw" of Nashville, Jax Reed was a boy from the bayou drowning in a life he didn't choose. Trapped in a cycle of "unserious" behavior, fueled by whiskey and the expectations of a family that only sees his potential as a paycheck, Jax is a man at his breaking point. To the world, he has the signature mullet and the rising stardom, but inside, he's searching for a single "Genuine" note in a symphony of "Gilded" lies. When the pressure peaks, Jax makes a radical choice to strip it all away-starting with his hair-to see if there's anything left worth saving.
Back in the "Steel City" corridor, Ava is living a different kind of nightmare. After a traumatic miscarriage that her boyfriend, Josiah, dismisses as a "figment of her imagination," Ava finds herself being systematically erased. Isolated from her childhood best friend, Sophie, and her online confidante, Tori, Ava is treated as a piece of property rather than a partner. In Josiah's world, every emotion Ava has is "too sensitive," every hobby is a "distraction," and every memory of her loss is a threat to his control.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GNMG5GPY
• ISBN13: 9798247247371
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 8.0"