Rock Addiction (Rock Kiss, #1)

by Nalini Singh

[EBookObsessed]

Zachery Fox knows he isn’t leaving the party without Molly Webster. Watching her smile at her sister with such open pleasure is stirring something in Fox. He has never met anyone as real and as beautiful as Molly and he wants her in his life. He’ll even pretend to agree to a one month affair to spend time with this very private and skittish woman, but he has no intention of walking away from her. He has a month to convince Molly that what they have together is too important to walk away from and it is certainly worth the inconvenience of living with him in the spotlight.

Fox just doesn’t know that Molly has already been forced into the spotlight and will do anything to avoid ever catching the media’s attention again. When she was 15, her politician father was caught with a 15 year old classmate of Molly’s. The media and their mudslinging wasn’t the only evil that Molly faced. She was tormented ruthlessly by her classmates and only her friend Charlotte stood by her side. Now Molly only wants to live quietly and have an ordinary life. As the month progresses, her feelings for Fox only grow stronger and her pain increases. She doesn’t want to lose him and the idea of him with another woman is breaking her heart. She is unaware that Fox has no intention of walking away from her.

When the times arrives for Schoolboy Choir to hit the road, will Molly have the strength needed to hold onto Fox and live in the limelight or will she allow the man who holds her heart to walk away so she can live a quiet, ordinary life?

THOUGHTS:
I really loved these characters! Nalini Singh writes such passionate characters and now I can finally share her writing with my non-paranormal loving friends. There is a lot of sex in this story especially since they leave a party together in Chapter 1 and are having what is supposed to be a one-night stand before the end of Chapter 2. Yet it isn’t graphical described sex. I didn’t feel it was really New Adult but I didn’t think it makes it all the way to erotic romance. There was no bondage, no spankings, etc. It was just a rock star stripping down his lover/girlfriend as often as he could.

This story focused most on the two them and their budding relationship, sharing stories of their past and hopes for the future. Fox is a well-known star and every time they tried to go out on a date, they risked being seen by paparazzi and that was exactly what Molly wanted to avoid. You feel bad for Molly since she was so traumatized by the media, but some of her pain is that she is falling for Fox and she thinks their affair will be ending, while we know that Fox plans to keep her with him.

These characters blend well together and heal each other. Molly was a broken child from her father’s neglect and her mother’s alcoholism, both due to her father’s obsession with young women. Fox was a broken child because he was abandoned by his mother to the care of his grandparents after she got pregnant by a one-night stand when she was a teen. Molly fears the media attention and as well as the constant attention Fox receives from female fans and Fox fears her abandoning him. We see their bond strengthen over the length of the story until they become a strong couple.

The story is broken up into two parts. The first being their month long affair, and the second part where Molly agrees to give their relationship a chance to survive in the spotlight.

The only thing I don’t feel was adequately explained is why Fox was so focused on her from the start. We know that Molly’s half-sister Thea is the promoter for the band, and we know that Fox saw a picture of Molly on Thea’s desk, but I was waiting for some statement about how Thea would tell them stories of Molly or about how sweet and loving she was, but there was no revelation. I could understand how Fox could fall for Molly while they were together for the month, but he was determined to keep her from the first night even while watching her across the room. I never felt satisfied why he was so insistent.

One big ding to the story, which I just ranted about, was the virgin on the pill story line. I really want to take a survey of how many women are taking a daily birth control pill who are not sexually active so they can avoid a couple days of cramps.

I have been dancing with anticipation for the next stories almost from the first few chapters. I am almost disappointed that the next story is Molly’s sister Thea and drummer, David. David is mooning over Molly’s sister Thea who won’t date a client. It’s not that I don’t want to see how that goes, but I really, really, really want to know what happens with Molly’s BFF, Charlotte, and her new boss who she refers to as “T-Rex.” Charlotte also has deep dark secret which we haven’t found out about yet that effects how she interacts with men. In fact, it seems all the characters have some kind of deep dark secret which has molded their character. I also anticipate a story between band member, Noah, and Kathleen, Fox’s actress friend.

Nalini Singh knows how to write great secondary characters in such a way to get you as excited for the next story as you are for the one you are currently reading.

According to Nalini Singh’s website, Rock Courtship (Thea and David’s story) is slated for release September 30th.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.