Review: First Ink

First Ink by Laura Wright

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Umm, that was good?


If you are looking for a super quick and kind of sexy read, this is it for you. There is not a lot of backstory. Actually, there isn't a lot of story in general. For what it is though, it's good.



View all my reviews

Rock Angel Review

 *Arc received via Netgalley for an honest review. 

Shan is young, beautiful, talented, and addicted to heroin in Rock Angel, a novel that follows her meteoric rise to guitar goddess stardom in the 90’s. She is discovered in New York by a handsome, arrogant musical genius named Quinn, and sparks fly between them when he hires her as lead guitarist of his band. Although Quinn is accustomed to bedding a different groupie every night, he can’t ignore his deepening feelings for his new band mate. From gritty Greenwich Village clubs to L.A.’s Troubadour; gigging and touring the country to the cover of Rolling Stone, Rock Angel is infused with the passionate music and intense sexual chemistry of Shan and Quinn. Shan must work out her personal demons and learn to trust Quinn enough to love him, but still remain true to the music that has always been her salvation.
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I'm going to cut straight to the point with this one.  Rock Angel is one of the best books centered around music that I have read in a long fucking time.  It's not without it's flaws, but even then I was hooked to every moment. It hit those cords that anyone who lived and loved the music of the time would understand.  Though the music played a huge part into making this book, it was Shan, and in turn her relationship with Quinn (think Kim Gordon & Thurston Moore, but with a happier ending), that made this something special.

I don't want to do a full review this far out from the release date in September, so I'm going to keep this (relatively) vague.

The hardest hitting point with this book is Shan's heroin addiction.  Anyone who even paid even the slightest attention to music in the 90s knows how much it was a part of the music scene.  How many people it took and lives it ruined.  Shan's addiction throughout the book was handled in such a way that this was constantly on your mind.  You could feel her struggles with it on every page. You ached with her she tried to get clean..and when she relapsed again.  And you respected her because even despite this struggle, she never stopped trying.  Addiction is a bitch to kick and nothing in this book made you think otherwise. I respected that more than anything else.

Shan's addiction made have been the hardest hitting point in this, but the relationship between Shan and Quinn was the most impactful.  You walked with them through their first meeting, falling in love, their troubles (and there was a lot of them) and back again. Everything was laid bare through the music they wrote together and their everyday interaction.  Nothing was ever easy for them and they fought for what they had, which in the end made everything a little sweeter.

Rock Angel is something special.  Maybe it's just because the 90s had such a big impact on me, so a love story set in that time would mean even more to me. It wasn't just that though.  It's angsty and hard-hitting, while also being poetic and beautiful.  It makes you feel...to remember what it was like back then. I loved every sweet and painful moment.

So kudos to the author on this.  I think she really nailed this debut novel.  4 out of 5 Stars.

Nope.

Broken, was just that. Broken. 

The dialogue was stilted and came off very juvenile most of the time. This just created so many problems with the book. The main characters had no chemistry. The dramatic aspects of the book lacked any kind of actual suspense. I think the worst part of this was that the storyline of the trauma that Bailey faced prior to moving to Chicago was handled terribly and very unrealistically. At least a year of trying to ignore and repress a supposed major sexual trauma and she goes to one short counseling session and she is okay? I get that this was a short book and the storyline was moving along in hyperdrive. Seriously, even Han Solo would have been impressed with the speed at which this book progressed. Anyway, she does continue with therapy, but it really bothered me how she had been struggling for that long and all of the sudden she is no longer broken and has no problem facing her ex. 

So. I can't say that this was absolutely terrible. However, it most definitely was not good. If there is some serious tweaking of the dialogue, pacing, and general "feel" of the book, there may be potential for the storyline.

My Rating 1 out of 5 Stars. 


Arc provided by NetGalley for an honest review. 

Rocked by Taryn Elliott

Opening for their idols on their first tour, Oblivion is living the dream. Mostly. Frustrated at being shoved out of his mediator role by their new manager, Deacon McCoy loses himself in brutal workouts. He only comes up for air long enough to refuel—and to tease the deliciously cute chef who makes him crave a lot more than what she's offering on her serving plate.

As the child of roadie parents, Harper Pruitt has heard every pickup line twice. To her, musicians are one step above the scraps on her cutting board. All she wants is to get enough experience to run her own catering company, but Deacon and his bottomless stomach are too tempting to resist. He's far from the typical rock star and before long, she finds herself experimenting with him, inside and out of the kitchen. 

Apron - and panties - optional.

When Harper sees that Deacon’s dream band with his best friends may be turning into a nightmare, she can't walk away. Deacon's so much more than just a peacemaker and the man behind the bass. But she has her own dreams to chase...even if she's starting to think what she's building with him might be the biggest one of all

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Rocked was a well written, intriguing, and hot with a capital H, book.  It was also incredibly drawn out and repetitive book too though, with an ending that left me wishing for something different.

Rocked is centered around the relationship between Harper and Deacon.  Harper is a former roadie and recently graduated chef with a jaded view of the rock 'n roll lifestyle.  Deacon is the bassist of the up and coming band, Oblivion, who isn't your typical just making it big rock star.  The two meet on tour, where Harper is just starting out on her career as a sous chef with the caterers for the tour. Insert sparks between the two here.

 Harper is really hesitant for anything more than a hook up.  She has been there, done that and came home with a t-shirt.  Deacon, however, pushes for more from the start.  It makes for an interesting dynamic between the two.  The biggest problem with this, is that this dynamic just ends up extremely repetitive after a while.  Honestly, there is only so much sex and so much relationship questioning (on Harper's part) that I can take.  I think that we could have done without a few chapters of this book and still wouldn't have lost the understanding on their relationship.  I can't really say that it messes up the book, per se, but that was primarily because I just skimmed a good chunk of the second half.

While the relationship between Harper and Deacon was interesting, I think the band itself was the thing that really made this book for me.  Oblivion is just starting to make it bad, so we really got to see their journey from getting discovered, to touring, to finally getting that record deal and all of the troubles and joys in between.  There is a prequel book that shows how the band got together, but I have not read it yet.  I'd say that it won't affect your understanding of this book, but I plan to check it out anyway just in case.  Anyway.  At times, the band kind of overshadowed Deacon's relationship, but that really isn't a bad thing. Especially since it was the relationship aspect that got so repetitive.

Overall, this book is definitely worth reading.  Be prepared to skim if you aren't into tons and tons of sex and drama, but give it a shot regardless.

3.5 Stars.

*ARC provided via Netgalley for an honest review.

See Through Me Review

*ARC received from author via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. 

See Through Me did not live up to it's potential for me.  There was enough there to make it an incredibly interesting story, but in the end, it just never fully formed as a story and ended all to abruptly. Yes, yes we get warned beforehand that there are two sides of the story, so to expect a cliffhanger.   It wasn't a cliffhanger so much as screeching halt though.

This book tells us the story of Katie and Ash, in present time and through flashbacks from their tween years on.  They both had a rough childhood, in different ways, but found a way to find peace in their friendship and eventual romance. This entire book focused on that, with a little side bit of stalker(ish) drama thrown in.  It was that drama that messed up this book for me.  It reached that grey area where it was not enough to brush aside, but yet not fleshed out enough to understand why it was there in the first place.  I assume that was to draw you into the second book in the series, but it didn't work for me.

In the end, I just didn't have enough to go on, for anything really.  So much happened, and yet none of it was fully formed for me.  I wanted to like Katie and Ash, because I liked the idea of them together, but I never felt like I was able too.  Maybe once we get Ash's story the everything will come together.  Sometimes we really do need two sides of the story.

My Rating--2.75 Stars (because I feel like being difficult tonight)

I Call Him Brady Review

So flippin' cute!

I'll be the first to admit that I am a huge sucker for the regular chick hooking up with the famous, hot actor.  So, this one definitely hit the spot with me.

It's chock full of insta-love, which can be grating to some (and yes, it did annoy me ever so slightly) but the rest of the book made up for it.  I loved the snarky humor between Embers and May.  Not to mention little 5 year old Jessa.

<b>"But no one could trump Jessa, who waited for the moment the manager came by to see if we had enjoyed our meal, and then stared him square in the eye to calmly say: "In case you were wondering. This is my mommy and this is my daddy and this is my other mommy because my mom can't make her mind, just like Lindsay Lohan. "</b>

I almost choked to death on my nectar of the gods otherwise known as Dr. Pepper.

Overall, this book is just what you would want when you are looking for a fluffy and hilarious beach type read.  It's quick (as in I finished it in a few hours), cute and funny as hell.

4 out of 5 stars!

Link to purchase on Amazon-->http://amzn.com/B00JUENUYU