Story (2 out of 5) Hottness (3 out of 5)
Book Description
After his mother dies, rock star Ace White—lead singer of the red-hot band Wicked White—is done with the celebrity game. The phony people, the meaningless one-night stands: he doesn’t want any of it anymore. Quitting in the middle of a sold-out tour, Ace sets out to find some place—any place—where he can be alone.
Aspiring singer Iris Easton’s life has never been easy. First, her mother walked out on her when she was a kid. Now she’s buried in debt, weeks after losing her beloved grandmother. When a mysterious and sexy new guy moves in next door, Iris can’t help but be drawn to his soulful gaze. She can tell there’s something from his past haunting him—something he’s not telling her.
Just as Ace starts falling for Iris, the media go on a worldwide hunt to find the missing rocker. Will true love conquer all, or will the truth be the very thing that tears the couple apart?
Amazon.com
Review
I love a good rock star romance. Unfortunately, Wicked White fell pretty flat for me. The characters were OK. Ace and Iris share similar hopes and dreams, painful childhood memories, and recent losses in their families. As Ace says, they’re kindred spirits. That should make them perfect for each other. And BOOM goes the insta-love. I give Valentine credit for acknowledging the fast love by having Iris question the swiftness of her feelings, but it doesn’t deter her from falling even deeper.
So it’s at this point that I got a bit lost in the hubbub of the story. They’re both single adults looking for someone to care about since their only remaining family is gone. I get that. And I also get that there is an undeniable attraction that immediately sparks between them. I was really on board with this story. Then all of a sudden the story starts dragging, they start spouting love and Shakespeare, and make plans to stay hidden away from life together. Throw in some neighbor drama, a few thrown fists, miscommunication, and stubbornness and there you have it.
I was hoping to get more of his reconnection to the band once he returns to the spotlight. But we don’t see that and it made me lose my sympathy towards him. His need to constantly hide and avoid his responsibilities was understandable after the tragedy he struggled to cope with. However, his avoidance of Iris puts him solidly in the a-hole column. If their reconnection was more of a struggle, I could have appreciated the realistic qualities of the story. However, insta-love tends to go hand-in-hand with insta-forgiveness.
This story sadly left me unsatisfied and the cheesy incorporation of Shakespeare made it over the top sappy. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good literary quote, but there weren’t enough scenes or conversations supporting Ace’s love of literature to make his quotes appear seamless and free flowing. Instead I felt like they held him back and made their lovemaking a study in Shakespearean literature and not their emotional connection. Speaking of lovemaking- I may have yawned while reading them. That’s never a good sign.
If you were looking for a stereotypical bad boy macho rock star covered in tattoos and delicious bad behavior, then this is not the book for you. Ace is a Shakespeare quoting philosopher with slight anger management issues, whose dream is to break away from pop rock and embrace the indie artist within. If that’s your thing and insta-love makes you insta-happy, then read away! If not, feel free to give this book a pass.
Click the book covers below to see them on Amazon.com
Click on the cover below to see another book by Michelle A. Valentine that I reviewed.
Romance Bound 