Rock King (Nothing But Trouble, #1)

by Tara Leigh

The most famous rock star in the world has finally found the one, but secrets from his past threaten to ruin both their lives in this "heart-pounding romance" (Fresh Fiction). Shane Hawthorne has it all. At least, that's what the headlines say about me. I have millions of fans, awards, more money - and women - than I know what to do with. But what you don't see is the wreckage I've caused. The memories and pain I can't escape, even when I pour them into music and spin them into gold. I tried to forget. To lose myself in booze and groupies. It didn't work. It hurt me and - worse - it hurt my band. That's the last thing I want to do, so I'm cleaning up my act... starting with Delaney Fraser. Gorgeous, smart, drama-free, and even nice - Delaney is the perfect "girlfriend." When I'm with her I don't have to pretend. It's like she sees the real me. And I can see a future with her. But that's dangerous. Because the truth is, Shane Hawthorne doesn't actually exist. He's a shield to hide who I really am. Fraud. Runaway. Addict. Murderer. And it's impossible to love a lie, right?

• ISBN10: 1538712776
• ISBN13: 9781538712771
• Publish Date: 20 February 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Forever
• Edition: Print on Demand ed.
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Romance Schmomance]

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I've been on a roll with a lot of new to me authors. For some reason, I tend to gravitate towards stories with a rock star theme to it and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but I just love reading them. I will admit though that the author's writing style is quite different and something to get used to, I had to change my mindset a bit on truly understanding Shane and Delaney's story. I'm still at the point where I'm deciding if it's a kind of writing style that I like or not. However, I still enjoyed this story even if it took some time for me to get through.

Besides the fact that it's a rockstar read, we can throw in one of my favorite tropes; fake relationship. It's a dual POV, which I always love because I'm a sucker for wanting to know what's going on in each other's head. But you'll find yourself spending a lot of time up there, their inner turmoil, for most of the book.

These two both have a past that they're trying to escape from and it's not until they find each other that they try to work through it and get past it all. As the story progresses, we already see their instant attraction towards each other grow and with that walls are coming down. More for Shane than Delaney.

I truly loved watching their walls come down and seeing their relationship becoming something so much more. I was getting a bit nervous to see how the story would unfold because you can tell that Delaney is really holding back. The assumption is there and that it definitely won't end well.

All around, I'd say it was a solid and enjoyable read for me. It's high with the drama and angst, so if that's not your thing, maybe steer clear. The writing style is something to get used to, but I'm already invested in this series and totally looking forward to the next book ... which once I get through some of my reading for the book, I'll be diving into Rock Legend.

[llamareads]

Trigger warnings: child abuse (in the past), drug use (in the past), alcoholism (past and one instance in present)

I have a bit of a soft spot for rock star romances, even though I dislike a lot of the tropes associated with them (other person drama, for instance).  This, however, had a lot of depth to it.  It's all about the power of guilt and shame and, most of all, secrets.  So, if you can't guess, it is SO ANGSTY, which normally I'd run like crazy from, but I really liked this.

“As soon as I did, I could feel Shane Hawthorne descending, the persona I’d created, the barrier I needed between me and…everything. Life.
I wore Shane like a geeky teen slipping into the personality of his buff, heroic alter ego in his favorite video game. Shane Hawthorne was my avatar, and everyone thought he was real.
Every girl wanted to fuck Shane Hawthorne.
Every guy wanted to be Shane Hawthorne.
No one more than me.”

I liked both Delaney and Shane.  They both have tragic backstories, and neither are quite what they seem.  Shane, though, has been repressing his particular trauma for many years longer than Delaney, and has dealt with it in the past with the good ol' sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, though by the time the book starts, he's come to the realization that those aren't the healthiest of coping skills. Instead, he has his agent hire a "girlfriend" for him for every tour - the times when he's tempted the most by his old lifestyle.  The girlfriend's job is to provide a barrier against the groupies, and to help him stay on the straight and narrow.  So, besides the sex (which is not contractually required), she's mostly more of a nanny than a girlfriend.  After meeting Delaney at one of his agent's parties shortly before the start of a new tour, Shane gets fixated on her and decides she's the one that he wants.  Shane's, well, not in instalove, more like insta-obsessed, with Delaney, to the point of stopping by her apartment after she walks away from him at the party.  Delaney, for her part, was very likable, though she had her moments of overly annoying insecurity.  Unlike Shane, it's only been three years since the moment that changed her life, and she had the bedrock of a pretty normal family life before that to rely on.  When offered the girlfriend contract, she naturally reacts with a whole barrel of "WTF" and is pretty set against it, even with the promise of enough money to finish her college - and they throw in something else she can't refuse - until she glimpses underneath Shane's rock star mask.

“Shane was like a thousand-piece puzzle bought at a garage sale. The chances of all the pieces being in the box were slim to none, and even if I slowly and laboriously fit the jigsaw together, I had no idea if the pieces would eventually form the picture on the cover, something else entirely, or if they were just a bunch of mismatched segments I couldn’t figure out no matter how hard I tried. And yet giving up was unthinkable.”

A good portion of this book is concerned with the effects that keeping secrets has on the characters.  I felt like Delaney's journey was very believable and heart-wrenching.  I truly felt for her, and was really torn by some of the hard decisions she felt she had to make to protect herself.  Unlike Delaney's journey, Shane's felt much more extrinsically motivated - without her pushing him, I don't think he would've made the right choices.  Also, after the big misunderstanding, I felt like Shane needed to do a lot more groveling than he did, and I wasn't 100% sold that he had changed enough to not screw up in the same way again in the future.

“I was done letting someone else dictate what I would say. Where I should go. What I should think. How I should feel.
Who I would love.
One day my heart would be whole again. One day I would love again.
Someone who loved me back just as fiercely. Someone who would fight for me, who would fight alongside me.”

So, while I did enjoy the book, I did have some issues with it.  The pacing had a few uneven spots, mostly, I think, because it got a bit overly verbose at times.  I didn't particularly care for any of the side characters, even Piper, who's the heroine of the next book.  Shane's band members were also annoyingly crude - at one point, one of them tells him to stop playing with his "toy," referring to Delaney.  Ick.

Overall, though, I liked this.  Recommended for anyone looking for a delightfully angsty rock star romance!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Eve1972]

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So color me surprised because I really enjoyed this book A LOT. I'll be honest, I usually avoid rock star books like the plague. They all tend to have the same cliché plots complete with OTT other women drama, groupies, and/or cheating. Thankfully, this one was a bit different. I was also impressed by how well written it was. The pace was fairly good. I think maybe it was a tad too long as some parts dragged a bit but not enough for me to lose interest in the story. The plot was quite engaging as well. Last, it was all wrapped up in an OK ending. I think Delaney should have made Shane grovel A LOT more than she did (or at all) because he pulled a righteous a$$hole move at the end that cost him some points in my eyes. 


~HERO~
SHANE...I liked him a lot. I liked that he was slightly different from the usual cliché rock star hero. Oh, he was still an uber manwhore in his past and I could have done with a little less bringing up of that fact throughout the book. But when he hired a fake girlfriend, he was monogamous while they were together. He was just a really sympathetic character. His past was tragic, and I just wanted to give the guy a hug. He pretty much fell for Delaney from the minute he meets her. That said like I mentioned above he lost some love in my eyes with the incredibly douchey move he pulled at the end. 


~HEROINE~
DELANEY...I liked her character a lot as well. Although I do wish she would have had more than one bad sexual experience before Shane. I am really tired of the uber whore being paired with an (almost) virgin. Delaney also has a tragic past that will break your heart. But she was a strong heroine who stood by Shane's side through everything.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There were quite a few secondary characters in this one. From Shane's manager Travis, and his brother Gavin (who I hope gets a book of his own) to Piper a friend of Delaney's that works for Travis. And of course Shane's bandmates (mostly Landon). In fact, next up is Piper and Landon's book and as much as I enjoyed this one I have no interest in reading their book AT ALL. Landon's character is pretty much your standard nasty uber manwhore. He grossed me out in this book and the brief look we get at his book (he just finishes up having had sex with two women) at the end of this one sealed the deal for me. I was kind of hoping this author would buck the trend when it comes to rock star books, but alas it seems like maybe this book was just a fluke...sigh.


~HEAT LEVEL~
Medium. This one had some smokin' sex scenes, and the frequency felt organic to the story. Both were tested, and the heroine is on the pill so they don't use condoms.


~ANGST LEVEL~
Medium. Most of the angst in this one comes from this couple's relationship. Their pasts. The secrets they are keeping. The contract. Stuff like that. There isn't any groupie or OW drama or OM drama. 


~IN THE END~
Like I said earlier, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. Getting me to read, let alone LIKE a book featuring a rock star is tricky at best. But this author did a good job of avoiding the typical clichés found in this trope. She had two well written and intriguing individuals (along with a well developed plot) whose issues carried the book without adding in a lot of the typical outside drama. So kudos to her for that. Now I only wish she had continued along that line with Landon and Piper's book. C'est la vie. Yours truly is giving this one two solid thumbs up.