by Nalini Singh
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness…until the night Noah deliberately shattered her heart.
Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music. It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night. Chasing oblivion through endless one-night-stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and his bad boy reputation.
When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.
When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.
My Rating: 4 Coffee Cups!!
I love rock star romance books. It's one of my guilty little pleasures in the romance genre. So, the fact that I hadn't read the other books in this series surprises even me. But after having read this book I plan on rectifying that. QUICKLY. This synopsis doesn't do this book justice. Kit and Noah's relationship is amazing. Their relationship is built on pure friendship. Yes, there's chemistry and feelings and attraction but they were best friends. And when she wants more and he starts feeling things he believes he shouldn't, he pulls the stereotypical douchebag guy move and completely shatters her heart.
Kathleen "Kit Devigny is an up and coming actress. She enjoys her life, her career, her friends. She's close friends with all of the members of the rock band Schoolboy Choir and has been for years, and has in turn become super close with their girlfriends/fiancees. All except one. The one she used to be the closest to. Two years ago Noah St. John irrevocably crushed her and she hasn't had any contact since. Until pretty much the opening chapter (which is the awesome excerpt posted below).
Noah knows what he did to Kit was hurtful, disrespectful and cruel. And when he remembers the pain he saw in her eyes that night it nearly kills him. But he keeps reminding himself that it was for the best. His demons are too dark and she is his light. The last thing in the world he wants to do is taint it, or her. Now, let me be honest with you about my feelings for Noah. It took me about 50% of the book to full out love and accept him. Some people would say it was because of his actions towards Kit. And yes, he did seem to have a never-ending, angry cycle of building her up and then letting her down and hurting her. And although it was horrible to see Kit getting repeatedly hurt, you got to be able to see into his POV and you slowly learned why. You understood his asshole-ish behavior and his reasoning behind them and you wanted to hug him- HARD. That being said, this "understanding" took a little bit longer than I would have liked. Which is the major reason I couldn't give it more than 4 stars. But anywho, back to the story.
Kit, hurt numerous times by this man can't fully give up on him. She tried to move on, date other men, forget, but it all circles back to Noah. Who is trying desperately to get back the friendship that he lost. And when he has the ability to help Kit get an opportunity at an A List role while being there to protect her from a super stalker, he jumps at the chance- despite how awkward and uncomfortable it may become. Why the awkwardness? Well, they pretty much have to pretend to be a couple for the media. And that act leads to Noah thinking that maybe-just maybe- he can do this. He can have her, be with her, care for her without his darkness killing it before it begins.
“Be with me… I can’t be what you need,” he whispered against the side of her head. “But be with me anyway.”
Despite the slow progression, the story unfolds perfectly. You see the importance this friendship has on both of them. It's almost the complete and total OPPOSITE of that dreaded insta-love. And once Noah's secret is revealed your heart breaks. It's a great story. And although I haven't read the rest of the series, the little that I read of the supporting characters I can tell that for those of you who love the Rock Kiss series there are definitely little character updates for the previous couples.
Excerpt
Kit groaned at the sound of her phone. Reaching out blindly toward the nightstand, she hurled mental curses upon herself for forgetting to turn it off so she could catch some uninterrupted sleep before her four-a.m. makeup call.
It’d be fun and great for her career, her agent had said when recommending Kit take the superhero flick. Coming off two serious and emotionally wrenching projects, Kit had taken Harper’s advice and jumped on board the high-budget, high-octane venture. Unfortunately, Harper had forgotten to mention the four hours it would take to put her into the head-to-toe makeup required for the role. Daily.
“What?” she snarled into the phone without checking to see who it was.
“Hey, Katie.”
Every cell in her body snapped wide awake. Lifting her eyelids, she just stared at the ceiling through gritty eyes. Her heart thumped, her throat moving convulsively as she swallowed. She hated that he could still do this to her, hated it, but her visceral response to Noah wasn’t something she could stop. She knew because she’d tried for the past two years and three months.
“Noah,” she said flatly. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Two fifteen,” he answered.
Kit should’ve hung up. God, he’d hurt her. So much. But there was something in his voice that had her sitting up. “Are you drunk?” One thing she knew about Noah: no matter his bad-boy rep, he was never wasted. He might give a good indication of it, but look closely and those dark gray eyes were always sober.
“Probably.” A silence, followed by, “I just wanted to hear your voice. Sorry for waking you.”
“Wait,” she said when he would’ve hung up. “Where are you?”
“Some dive.” He took a deep breath, released it in a harsh exhale. “I’m sorry for being an asshole. I wanted to tell you that. I don’t want to go without saying that.”
“Noah,” she said, a horrible feeling in her stomach. “Where exactly are you?”
“The Blue Flamingo Inn off Hollywood Boulevard. Far, far, far off.” He laughed, and it held no humor. “It has a neon sign of a blue—surprise!—flamingo that’s flashing right through my window. Looks like someone stole the curtains.”
Having already grabbed her laptop, which she’d left beside the bed after answering some e-mails before sleep claimed her, she found the Blue Flamingo Inn. But Noah was already gone, having said, “I love your voice, Kit,” in an oddly raw tone before hanging up.
He didn’t pick up when she called back.
“Damn it! Damn it!” She shoved aside the blanket under which she’d been buried, having turned the AC to ice-cold as she usually did at night. Shivering, she tugged on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt over the panties and tank top in which she’d gone to sleep.
Pulling her black hair into a rough ponytail to keep it out of her eyes, she ran through the house, phone in one pocket, credit card and driver’s license in the other. In the kitchen, she grabbed her keys off the counter and shoved her feet into the tennis shoes by the door that led to the garage.
She was in her car and on the way to the motel three minutes after Noah had hung up, mouth dry and an ugliness in her gut. “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay,” she kept saying, the mantra doing nothing to calm her down, but at least it kept her mind focused.
She wanted to call Molly and Fox, or the others in the band, but no one was currently in the city. Schoolboy Choir had completed the final show in the band’s hugely successful tour just over two weeks earlier. Day after that, they’d all gone their separate ways to recharge and regroup.
“Much as I love these guys,” David had said with a grin that reached the dark gold of his eyes, “I’ve been looking at their ugly mugs daily for months. We need to go blow off some steam separately before we start snarling at each other.”
At the time, Kit had nodded in understanding, having had that same experience while working on location for long periods. Tonight, however, she wished the others were all here, not scattered across the country, because something was very wrong with Noah.
“Noah doesn’t do drugs,” she told herself as she drove as fast as she dared, not wanting to risk getting pulled over and further delayed. “He isn’t the kind to—” She couldn’t say it, couldn’t even think of Noah ending his life. “No,” she said firmly, her hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. “Noah isn’t like that.”
If you’d like to read the rest of this chapter, as well as the next, click this link: http://nalinisingh.com/books/rock-kiss-series/rock-redemption/
GIVEAWAY
$50 AMAZON Gift Card
About the Author
Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. Also, don't forget to swing by the site to check out the special behind-the-scenes page for the Rock Kiss series, complete with photos of many of the locations used in the books.
The Rock Kiss Reading Order
Rock Addiction (Book One) Rock Kiss Series
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/WqA2rj
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1G9piir
Nook: http://bit.ly/1t5T7Zt
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1ng9zE9
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1lPqB19
Rock Courtship (Book 1.5) A Rock Kiss Novel:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/XXjjxG
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1G9pmhZ
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1lzgNIi
Nook: http://bit.ly/1COgaC6
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1pEeCy6
Rock Hard (Book Two) Rock Kiss Series
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1BXhHWB
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1G9oslz
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1utQDee
Nook: http://bit.ly/1KEyBIx
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1APyqnU
Rock Redemption (Book Three) Rock Kiss Series
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1hP7G54
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1XBZsOB
iBooks: http://apple.co/1ITi0i7
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1VIYoXo
No comments:
Post a Comment