Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Title: Deeper Than Dreams 
Author: Jessica Topper
Date of publication: 18 Aug 2015
Genre/themes: Contemporary Romance, Musicians

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add to Goodreads 

My rating: 4 stars

Synopsis

Will wedding bells rock out for Louder Than Love’s most beloved couple in this Love and Steel novella?

Falling in love with rock star Adrian “Digger” Graves was a dream come true for former librarian Kat Lewis. But with a little help from friends and family—including Kat’s adorable daughter, Abbey—Adrian has planned an evening and a proposal beyond her wildest dreams. 

The night before, Kat witnessed the triumphant reunion of Adrian’s rock band at Madison Square Garden. Tonight, he will escort her to the elegant, ultra-exclusive Library Lion’s benefit. It seems like a fairytale, but even fairytales have a deeper, darker side. When old habits return to tempt her knight in shining heavy metal armor, will Kat’s happily ever after come crashing back to reality?

THIS IS AN EPILOGUE NOVELLA THAT PICKS UP THE DAY AFTER LOUDER THAN LOVE ENDS. This novella is intended to be read after Louder Than Love.

Mini Review 

One could say that nothing much in terms of action happens in this story - just a preparation for a big/the biggest night out for Kat and Adrian, yet for them and their relationship it was like everything happened. Every little thing mattered and had deeper meaning and affected everyone around the main couple in one way or another. 

Reading this felt like watching the farewell episode of a beloved TV show where we meet all the stars of the series again. We see all the important people in Kat and Adrian's lives and it was a true beginning of their HEA.

There was a lot of hope and optimism, some saddness and fear, some fun and sexy times. The story sets stage is set for Rick to shine in the next book coming out in September.

Recommended read for fans of the first book. Adrian is even sexier and kinder and more of everything and Kat just melts my heart. 

Pre-order link: Amazon

My friend Lexie over at Fastidious reader started an ARC Challenge 2013 together with Deniz from Closet Geeks and Slow Mo. The challenge is pretty simple - read and review at least 1, if possible two ARCs a week and it goes on till the end of this year. Since I am literally swamped with ARCs some of which I requested rather foolishly, I have to admit, I decided to join them. 

I have posted two ARC reviews this week:

Crash into You by Katie McGarry which I read a couple of weeks ago and I totally love it and - my review 

The Devil's Reprise by Karina Halle which was also rather good - my review

Next week I will be reviewing Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan and Sempre by J. M. Darhower. I have already finished the books, now I just need to write the reviews. I hope to start reading Castle Hill: A Joss and Braden Novella by Samantha Young and Jagged (Colorado Mountain 5) by Kristen Ashley. 

Title: The Devil's Reprise (Devils #2)

Author: Karina Halle

Date of publication: 29 Oct 2013

Genre: NA Romance / Horror / Paranormal

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads Blurb

Given a second chance, music journalist Dawn Emerson and guitarist Sage Knightly are reunited, only to have their lives threatened again by a demonic bargain. The sequel to THE DEVIL’S METAL, from USA Today bestselling author Karina Halle.

When Dawn Emerson got the chance to go on tour with her favorite metal band, Hybrid, she thought she landed the writing gig of the century. But what started off as a dream for the budding music journalist quickly turned into a nightmare that she and guitarist Sage Knightly barely escaped alive.

Now, months after they went their separate ways, Sage invites Dawn to accompany him on his first solo tour across Europe and write about it for Creem Magazine. But like the last tour, nothing is as easy as it seems. Sage is a broken man on the path to self-destruction and Dawn isn’t sure if she’s the right person to save him. And aside from having to pick up the pieces of their burgeoning relationship, they have to negotiate the mysterious new photographer assigned to Dawn’s story, as well as vindictive promoters and demonic groupies they thought they’d never see again.

Because this time, it’s Dawn who made a deal with the devil and the only thing worse than having to uphold a bargain with the prince of darkness is not remembering how you’re supposed to pay it back.

It may be with their souls.

My Review

This is the second and final book in the Devils series by Karina Halle. I really enjoyed the first one and I had very high expectations of this one. They were met and surpassed in some aspects, still I was disappointed with some things.

This book continues the story of Dawn and Sage after they survived the unthinkable. The focused is really on their relationship or rather on their struggles to form a relationship under most unusual circumstances. 

The story is told from the POV both of Sage and Dawn and this we get to see deep into the mind and soul of both of them. We already knew a lot about the inner world of Dawn but here we are taken deep into the head of Sage as well. And it is a dark and turbulent place and at the same it is passionate, intense. There was more than occasion when I slipped making all the wrong choices but ultimately he proved to himself and to Dawn that he was capable of love.

I liked Dawn when she was talking about music and her feelings for Sage, but the deal she supposedly made with the Devil and her fight out of it fell flat for me. Things were too similar to Sage's situation in book one, but they were also fuzzy and unclear, lacking the thrill of the unexpected. We were already familiar with the Jacobs and the demons and their fights were seemed predictable.

A major let down for me was the fact that this book didn't recreate the atmosphere of the music scene of 1970s as well as book one in the series. Reading the story of Sage and Dawn, I often forgot that the events were taking place in the 1970s, they could have easily happened at any other time, to any other rock star. 

Overall, the love story is steamier and more emotionally intense which I really liked. The action portion of the book had stronger elements of horror and more powerful presence of supernatural forces, yet it failed to excite me as much as it did in book one. The story is marked by in-depth portrayal of emotional turmoil and the writing of Ms Halle is as usually brilliantly captivating. This book is a must-read if you have started the series and I believe it will be greatly appreciated by all Ms Halle's fans.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules: 

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

My teaser this week comes from The Devils Reprise by Karina Halle. It is the second and final book in her Devils series. It is a rock/metal music paranormal/horror romance. I loved the first book in the series, The Devil's Metal (my review). This one was also pretty good, more focused on the paranormal elements and the relationship between the characters than the first one, where I felt the emphasis was on the music scene.

It was difficult for me to choose a teaser from this book, so I am offering you two - the first one is from the Prologue and gives you an idea of what's to come in the book, while the second one is a passage on the thrill of live music which I really liked. Enjoy!

"My name is Sage Knightly. One of the few surviving members of the metal band, Hybrid. I'm about to embark on my first solo tour, to be the rock star I was always meant to be. 
But something tells me I'm not coming out of this alive.
And neither is she."

"He'd just put his battered heart on a platter, and we all gobbled it up. We couldn't be sated with anything he could give us; we always wanted more and would always want more, that needy relationship between the consumer and the artist."

The Devil's Reprise - Karina Halle 

When Dawn Emerson got the chance to go on tour with her favorite metal band, Hybrid, she thought she landed the writing gig of the century. But what started off as a dream for the budding music journalist quickly turned into a nightmare that she and guitarist Sage Knightly barely escaped alive.

Now, months after they went their separate ways, Sage invites Dawn to accompany him on his first solo tour across Europe and write about it for Creem Magazine. But like the last tour, nothing is as easy as it seems. Sage is a broken man on the path to self-destruction and Dawn isn’t sure if she’s the right person to save him. And aside from having to pick up the pieces of their burgeoning relationship, they have to negotiate the mysterious new photographer assigned to Dawn’s story, as well as vindictive promoters and demonic groupies they thought they’d never see again.

Because this time, it’s Dawn who made a deal with the devil and the only thing worse than having to uphold a bargain with the prince of darkness is not remembering how you’re supposed to pay it back.

It may be with their souls.

Title: The Devil's Metal (Devils #1)

Author: Karina Halle

Date of publication: 21 Sept 2012

Genre: NA Romance / Horror / Paranormal

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Blurb

It’s the summer of 1974 and 21-year old Dawn Emerson has only three things she wants to do: compete one last time in the Ellensburg Rodeo, win back her ex-boyfriend Ryan, and become the best damn music journalist at Central Washington University. But all her plans are left in the dust when she’s contacted by Creem magazine to go on the road with one of her favorite groups, the up-and-coming metal band, Hybrid. 

At first the assignment reads like a dream come true. Not only will Dawn land some much-needed credibility as a female music journalist, but she’ll finally get to experience life from the other side of the stage, and maybe crack the drunken, enigmatic code that is guitarist Sage Knightly. Instead, Dawn finds herself on an aging tour bus filled with ego-maniacs, band politics and a whole lot of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. When monsters start showing up in dressing rooms and some of Sage’s groupies become increasingly strange and dangerous, Dawn discovers the band is not only going places – they’re going straight to Hell. 

And Dawn has a backstage pass.

Author's note: The Devil's Metal is the first book in a two-part New Adult Horror/Paranormal Romance and very (very!) loosely based on the author's exploits as a music journalist. Hell comes in different forms.

Title: Louder Than Love

Author: Jessica Topper

Date of publication: 17 Sept 2013

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Blurb

In this powerful debut novel, a young librarian grieves the loss of her husband...and discovers a love that defies classification.

It's been over three years since a train accident made a widow of Katrina Lewis, sending her and her young daughter Abbey back to the suburban town of her youth...the only place that still makes sense. Lauder Lake is the perfect place to hide and heal.

Recluse rocker Adrian "Digger" Graves survived the implosion of his music career, but his muse has long lain dormant. Until Kat hires him to play at her library—not on the basis of his hard rock credentials but rather, because of the obscure kids' TV jingle he wrote years ago. In a case of mistaken identity, Adrian stumbles into the lives of Kat and her comically lovable daughter.

Using tattoos as a timeline, Adrian unfurls his life for Kat. But as the courtship intensifies, it's unclear whose past looms larger: the widow's or the rocker's. Will their demons ever rest, or will they break these soul mates apart?

My Review

I was drawn to this book because it was a story of second chance at love and the hero is just my favourite type - a jaded former rock star. What I got while reading the book was so much more. It is a painfully beautiful story of love and loss, lightened by the innocence and wisdom of a four-year old girl. 

Some books start slow for me, but this one was exactly the opposite - it was too quick. I was given too much information in the beginning - on Kat's past, on her present, on all her friends - and I felt rushed to process it all. All the comparisons between her past in city and her present in the suburbs were a little confusing for me as a foreigner, but as I went on reading I began to appreciate them more as something that set Kat and Adrain apart and at the same time, brought them together. 

I liked Kat a lot and her daughter, even more, but my favourite character in the book was definitely Adrian. He was such a complex character, a tortured soul with heavy British accent, not really looking for a second chance, but ultimately finding it and totally deserving it. I loved everything about him - his rock music past (and future), his love for Kat and Abbey. 

I liked how the relationship between Kat (and Abbey) and Adrian progressed gradually. It felt natural and logical. There was great chemistry between them and find he sex scenes hot and very tastefully done without being explicit. 

A plot line which I didn't particularly like in the story was the lives of Kat's friends. They reminded me too much of the Desperate housewives TV series. They provided a background to Kat's present life in the suburbs but their own family dramas were superfluous to the main story. I really didn't like how Liz's behaviour in a certain situation was handled. It felt like the author condoned cheating or something close to it and I strongly disagree with that. 

Caisey Quinn lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, daughter, and other assorted animals. She is the author of several New Adult Romance novels featuring country girls finding love in unexpected places. She is currently working on Girl in Love, the third and final book in the Kylie Ryans series.

When he got to the Vitamin Water stage where she was performing, he had to restrain himself to keep from climbing up onto it and wrapping her in his arms. It had been six long and shitty weeks without her. His dick had been keeping track of the minutes. It twitched at the sight of her.

“Hi y’all,” her sweet voice drawled. “Usually the three of us close the show together but Lily had some…family issues to handle and Mia’s helping her out. So I guess you’re stuck with me tonight.”

A few low whistles pierced the air as Trace made his way up front. Danny was up there with her, and she was sitting on a stool. He watched as she nodded at him to signal she was ready. Something was off. He could feel it, could see it. She usually looked like a damned superstar on stage, but tonight she seemed subdued. Sad even. His arms ached to wrap around her. No. They were keeping things as quiet as possible. Keeping the media out of it as much as they could manage. No need to taint his angel with his hellish reputation.

Danny strummed his banjo and Kylie’s clear voice danced into the air. “My daddy used to say, never let ‘em see you sweat. Never let ‘em see you cry. Girl you know better than that.” 

Shit. The raw emotion in her voice broke over him. He didn’t even know she’d been working on a song about her dad. Why didn’t he know that? Oh yeah, because they hadn’t seen each other in six damned weeks. For a moment he was back in Macon, watching the pain cross her face as she told him about her daddy. He shook his head and focused on his beautiful girl up on stage.

“My daddy used to say, never look down on a man. You look everyone in the eye, and you always shake hands.” Danny strummed a bit and sped up the tempo. “Cause you ain’t no better and you ain’t no worse. We all end up in the same ol’ hearse.”

He watched as barely restrained ripples of hurt threatened to roll across her face. Jesus. Watching her fight off her own pain stabbed him hard and deep in the chest.

“He said there’d come a time to stand my ground, said there’d be a day when I didn’t back down. Loved to remind me that what goes around always comes around. These are just the things my daddy used to say.”

Danny stopped strumming altogether and Trace could see the moisture shining in her eyes. If he didn’t know better, he’d think there was some in his too.

Deafening silence surrounded him in the seconds before she finished. Her voice was clear and strong when it pierced the air between them. “When we laid him down in the cold hard ground, I knew it was time to walk away. But I’ll never forget…the things my daddy used to say.”

Ms Quinn has kindly provided the following two giveaways - one is US/Canada only and the other one is International.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not the include spoilers!
• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

This week's teaser is from Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper. I just finished the ARC of this book and really liked it. It was a nice surprse - it is not just a hot rock star romance. It's a very emotional story of second chance at love after overcoming loss and redefining oneself.

 "...We have already taken several leaps in a short period of time, I thought back to the Plaza and the fountain and the order of things. Should one jump in feetfirst? Headfirst? Or heartfirst?"

Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper (release date: 17 September 2013)

In this powerful debut novel, a young librarian grieves the loss of her husband ... and discovers a love that defies classification.

It's been over three years since a train accident made a widow of Katrina Lewis, sending her and her young daughter Abbey back to the suburban town of her youth ... the only place that still makes sense. Lauder Lake is the perfect place to hide and heal.

Recluse rocker Adrian "Digger" Graves survived the implosion of his music career, but his muse has long lain dormant. Until Kat hires him to play at her library — not on the basis of his hard rock credentials but rather, because of the obscure kids' TV jingle he wrote years ago. In a case of mistaken identity, Adrian stumbles into the lives of Kat and her comically lovable daughter.

Using tattoos as a timeline, Adrian unfurls his life for Kat. But as the courtship intensifies, it's unclear whose past looms larger: the widow's or the rocker's. Will their demons ever rest, or will they break these soul mates apart?

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme hosted The Broke and the Bookish. There is a new topic for each week and the participating bloggers are invited to post their Top Ten lists on it. It is a fun feature for lovers of lists and so far I have come across it on many of the book blogs that I follow and often found new books to read through it.

Today I will be joining Top Ten Tuesday for the first time and hope that it will as much fun to participate in it as it is with my other Tuesday meme - Teaser Tuesday. 

My Top Ten will feature favourite books set in the music scene/business. I love stories about musicians and some of the best books I have read over the past couple of years feature love and other stories set in the world of music making.

1. Where She Went (If I Stay 2) by Gayle Forman. This is my most favourite book of last year and I have just one word for it - heartbreaking! There is no other book that I have cried over so much. And the song lyrics ..., I could practically hear the songs. I still dream of a real rock/metal band performing them. 

2. How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo. It was just amazing and has the best representation of the music business that I have come across in contemporary fiction. It also includes some killer song lyrics. 

3. Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly. A girl with "a touch of Asperger's" expresses herself through music, It is a great YA novel with very realistic and compassionate representation of mental illness.

4. In the Band (Luminescent Juliet 1) by Jean Haus. It is a nice YA/NA love story about a girl drummer and the lead guitarist. 

5. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John. It is Ya novel about a deaf girl managing the school's rock band. It is a touching coming of age story infused with music despite the heroine being deaf.

6. Thomas and January (Sleepless 2) by Fisher Amelie. This is a emotional love story between ex-musician turned talent scout and a young classical musician who left University to become a talent scout.

7. A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley. A nice YA story of growing up filled with song making and playing the guitar. 

8. Thoughtless (Thoughtless 1). Meet the ultimate rock god - Kellan Kyle and the worst cheating heroine, Kiera. This book is worth reading for the hotness of Kellan alone :)))

9. Girl with Guitar (Kylie Rayns 1) by Caisey Quinn. A story about a young girl trying to make it into the country music scene. 

10. Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper. I am still reading this one but I enjoy it so far. A former British metal musician and a young widowed librarian - an unlikely combination. 

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• Be careful not the include spoilers!

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

This weeks teaser is from Girl with Guitar by Causey Quinn which I read over just one day last week (my review on GR). I won this book in a giveaway I entered and was excited to read it. It was a cute romantic read about an innocent girl determined to follow her dreams and bad boy country music star. It is a debut novel for Ms Quinn and it will be followed by a sequel later continuing the story of Kylie and Trace later this year.



Girl with Guitar by Caisey Quinn

So, I saw this challenge on The Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews and decided to join in. It is a 15 day book blogger challenge started by Good Books Good Wine where bloggers have post about a specific topic/question for the day. Today is day 5 and the task is to recommend a tear jerker, so here we go:

The book that made me cry my eyes out all through reading it and I mean not just shedding a tear or two a couple of times, but really crying big fat ugly tears the whole time I was reading it is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. It is the sequel to If I Stay and even though the first dealt with some tragic events - death, waking up after being in coma, for the second book telling the story of the aftermath of these events, was much more emotional. In Where She Went Ms Forman created a haunting tale of loss, fate and second chances. She achieved something rarely done well in novels, a female writer creating a strong, authentic male voice. I have three words to say about Adam - I Love Adam!

If you are a looking for a contemporary story of love and redemption, and if you are ready to have your heart shred to pieces on the road to a happily ever after, I strongly recommend that you read the story of Mia and Adam in If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman. Btw, If I Stay is currently in the process of being made into a movie which I am really excited about. 

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

This review is my first one in a new feature of the blog that I am starting. I download many free books from Amazon and because my TBR list far too long they end up pretty much forgotten. So I decided to challenge myself and to read and review at least one book that I got for free every month. I am not very good with challenges but will do my best to keep this one up. This is my way of saying thank you to the authors who give us the chance to try their books for free.

This review covers Falling Stars (Falling Stars 1), a novel and the accompanying novella, Stellar Evolution (Falling Stars 1.5)

Goodreads Blurb

'A falling, or shooting, star, is the common name for the visible path of a meteoroid if it survives impact with the Earth's surface.'

Christopher Mason, the infamous lead singer of The Forgotten, has a reputation for being 'difficult'. Harboring dark memories and the burden of a painful secret, he struggles with a past he desperately wants to destroy. Amidst this star's battle with the pull of his demons, he risks losing everything he’s built as a musician. 

Enter Mia Ryder, the head strong yet laid back, lead singer of Hushed Mentality. As the opening act for The Forgotten, Mia and her all girl rock band are sure to gain the publicity needed to sky rocket to the next level in their dream career. 

Mia's laidback personality is challenged by Chris’s plotting for their demise and removal of the 'girlie band' from 'his' tour. But even Chris's best laid plans aren't prepared for Mia. 

As the demons pull this shining star down, is the one person he wants to eliminate the only person who can save him from the collision course he is on?

My Review

As a fan rock star romance just reading the blurb and I was immediately drawn to this book. I was very happy at the beginning to discover that we have not one but two rock bands - girls vs boys. Naturally, this situation quickly progressed into girls and boys being together :) 

The story started well for me. Christopher was all dark and moody and troubled, yet I liked him as a character. I also liked Mia with her determination and feisty attitude. What I did not like very much was the weird relationship which developed between them. Their attraction to one another felt almost supernatural which I did not get at all. I understand Chris's insecurities and darkness, but I was disappointed in Mia. She just accepted his almost bipolar attitude towards her without questions or objections. I was annoyed with her passiveness, she didn't even try to rationalise things.

The middle section was the weakest for me. It felt repetitive and unnecessary extended. The same situations with slight variations were described again and again. It seems that all they characters did was sleep or rest after their performances. The relationships between all the characters didn't really move forward. Some editing and cutting back of repetitive descriptions would benefit greatly the both the plot and the character development.

I rather enjoyed the final section of the book. There was more dynamics and plot development. The conclusion was not as satisfactory as I would have liked but still I think it was a good one.

Title: Stellar Evolution (Falling Stars 1.5)
Author: Sadie Grubor
Date of publication: 20 October 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance

My rating: 3 Stars

My Review

The accompanying novella to Falling Stars, Stellar Evolution, provided a much needed epilogue for Mia and Chris's story. It also set the stage for Jackson's story which I am looking forward too. 

I liked it better than the full novel. I liked the new, happier Chris we met here. Mia also is different, more mature and confident, which I quite liked. Their interaction is more realistic and seems authentic. 

I liked the tone of the novella and the writing style was better. There were no repetitions and the dual POVs worked better than in Falling Stars where whole scenes were just replayed from Chris't and Mia's POV. 

Stellar Evolution made up for the the almost lack of sex scenes in Falling Stars. In fact, there is over-abundance of steamy scenes some of which, despite being hot, are redundant in my opinion.

I felt really bad for the heart-broken Jackson (I liked what we saw of him in Falling Stars). I hope he gets his happy ending in his own book soon.

Title: Piece of My Heart 

Author: Lynn Madelenna Menna
Date of publication: 18 June 2013
Genre: Young Adult

My rating: 2.5 stars

ARC provided by Merit Press via Netgalley

Goodreads Blurb

Still in high school, Marisol Reyes gets the chance of a lifetime to be a real singer, and she leaps at it. After all, this is the dream she held on to, all the days and nights she spent growing up on means streets of East Harlem. Marisol never gave in--no matter what her boyfriend or her best friend had to say. Who cares if only one in a hundred pretty, talented girls make it? She will be the one. In her rush to fame, Marisol tramples on the heart of her loyal best friend, and Julian, the boy she loves. But will it be worth it?

One night at a private gig in the Hamptons, the little Latino girl with the big voice from East Harlem gets a severe reality check. A famous rapper who claims to be interested in her talents turns out to be interested in something else, threatening not only Marisol's dreams but her body and soul. Will the realities of the gritty New York music scene put out the stars in Marisol's eyes forever?

My Review

The story had a lot of potential but I feel it did not lived up fully to it. The whole book has a very high school vibe, despite the characters having just graduated. I was hesitant at first, but gradually I started to like the voice of the heroine, Marisol. She is struggling to start a musical career while maintaining her friendships with the people from her childhood. 

Ms Mena tells a story about growing up, the changes you and your friends undergo while trying to find your place in the world. Like I said, it has a lot of potential to explore these issues, but most of them are just skimmed through, without giving the reader any depth into the life of the characters. The focus seems to be on appearances (I do realize how important is one's style in the music/show business, but still it I find it too much in the book). There was also a lot of attention paid to petty gossiping and quarrels between friends and not enough on the motivations and reasons behind the actions of the characters. 

The characters were underdeveloped and fell flat. I also feel there was a lot of going back and forth in Marisol's relationships.  

The story is deeply rooted in New York but as non-New-Yorker I found it difficult to relate to most of the local references. I suppose, people actually living in New York would appreciate this locale colouring in the novel much more.

Having said that, I still enjoyed the book. It has a positive and uplifting feel to it. I could recommend it for a younger audience, though (teenagers and young adults).

There are some exciting titles coming out this week. First is Rock My Bed, the second book in the Black Falcon series. A steamy rock star romance - one of my favourites. 

On the same day comes the first book in the Perfection series by Abbi Glines, spin-off of the Too Far series. This one is telling the story of Woods who we met first in Fallen Too far and from all the teasers shared by Ms Glines so far, it looks to be a turbulent and heart-breaking love story. 

Finally, a day later, Nicole Williams will release the final book about Lucy and Jude - hopefully, with the happy end they deserve.

The story has all the elements of my kind of story - romance between a bad boy rock star and proper, goody-two shoes virgin who is singer/musician herself. The book has its sweet moments and romantic gestures but overall it failed to impress me. 

I felt that Abby was presented far too innocent and sweet to be true. I also did not like how everybody was immediately enamoured with her. 

I did like Jake, though. At the beginning we see him  as a typical rockstar womaniser but when he meets Abby, he immediately changes. His emotional freakouts after they get together seem out of the blue and he recovers from them far too quickly. He barely has time to think about what he is done and he is already asking Abby to forgive him. And there is Abby who forgive and forgets far too easily, I think. This made the conflicts between them unrealistic and unconvincing. 

Enough with the criticism. There were also a lot of things in this book that I enjoyed. The romance between Jake and Abby was really tender and sweet. I liked Jake's bandmates and the interactions among them.

Even though I as not particularly impress with this novel, I still plan on reading Katie Ahsley's The Proposition and the Proposal. You can check her website for teasers, pictures and trivia on her works. Follow Katie Ashley on Pinterest if you enjoy visualizing books into pictures.