Review of Rock my Heart by Garett Groves

by Garett Groves

2.5 stars

A jaded singer. A guitar prodigy. A rock 'n' roll romance.

Jamie “Blaze” Cameron has seen and done it all. As the frontman for the hard rock band HEX, he’s toured the world for the last 20 years — and as a result has managed to avoid coming to terms with his troubled past and the one thing he’s spent his career singing about: love.

At 25, Darren Greene’s ambition and skills at guitar playing have led him to do more in the world of music than many musicians twice his age, but it hasn’t been enough to put his name in bright lights. Without a big break, he’s terrified he’ll wind up stuck in his hometown with nothing but his broken dreams.

When HEX’s guitarist is removed from the band unexpectedly right before the first leg of their 20-year anniversary tour for their first record, Blaze and his bandmates find themselves in dire need of a replacement. The band holds open auditions and Darren rocks their socks off — and his life hits a high note when HEX hires him.

As the group adjusts to performing with their newest addition, Blaze and Darren realize it’s not just their chemistry on stage that’s making their hearts sing. Can the two navigate fame, unresolved grief, and their growing feelings for each other to bring the band into a new, golden era? Or will their budding romance and the controversy it stirs up in the media push them off the charts?

Hmmm, we actually don’t know where to start with the one.  We love Garett Groves, and Rockstars, so think this should have been a big win for us, but it really left us scratching our head.  They were together, they were apart, and so much angst…….

What did we enjoy?

- The Band:  We liked how the book shied away from the crazy rock star lifestyle and instead focused on the band.

- May/December Romance:  This is a great example of a May-December romance that works.

- The beginning:  The beginning of this book was so good.  It is fast-paced and engaging.  But somehow it just looses it’s magic.  The second half drags and we lose the momentum of the first half.  And although it is only 285 pages long it feels so much longer.  

What was the not-so-good?

- Blaze: We are not Blaze fans.  He runs hot and cold.  He worries and internalizes so much, that we actually started skipping his internal monologues.  He loves Darren, hold on, does he just love the idea of Darren and loves love? Ugh.  So much back and forth, round and round.  We were no fans.

- Angst:  Kind of mentioned in the above, but the angst.  OMG so so so so SO much angst.

- The sub-plot:  So there is a serious subplot of Blazes sexuality and a magazine article that’ll be released outing him, but with all the build-up in the end it is anti-climactic.  And don’t get me started on the sub-plot of Darren and his dad?

- Falling in Love:  I get insta-love, and I guess that is what this was, but we missed the journey into love.  All of a sudden Darren and Blaze were life partners in love.  Maybe we missed the chemistry between them?

We so wanted to love this book, but Blaze was a major problem for us, his attitude, his internalizing and really just him.  There were lots of ideas that started but never really came to a conclusion, and it really left us scratching our head.  Sorry to say this but all in all, we felt that Rock my Heart was a big miss.

Review of Covet thy Neighbor by L.A. Witt

 

by LA Witt

4 stars

 

Tattoo artist Seth Wheeler thinks he’s struck gold when Darren Romero rents the apartment across the hall. The new guy is gorgeous, witty, and single, plus he’s just the right blend of bold and flirtatious. Perfect.

Except then Darren reveals that he moved to Tucker Springs to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church. Seth is not only an atheist, but was thrown out by his ultra-religious family when he came out. He tends to avoid believers, not out of judgment but out of self-preservation.

But Darren doesn’t give up easily, and he steadily chips away at Seth’s defenses. Darren is everything Seth wants in a man . . . except for that one massive detail he just can’t overlook. Is Darren’s religion the real problem, or is it just a convenient smokescreen to keep him from facing deeper fears? It’s either see the light, or risk pushing Darren away forever.

Start off by saying we love L.A. Witt!  This is a sweet, hot, angsty book between two unlikely men. We were a bit wary of the subject, because really who wants to be talking about God and romance, but we really enjoyed the balance of the two main characters beliefs.   And although this is book 4 in the series, it is the first on we read, so if you want to just pick up one title you can.

We first meet Seth, a tattoo artist who was thrown out of his family home in the name of religion when he came out to his parents.  Years later he still struggles with his faith, being shunned by his family and letting people in who could hurt him.  When his across the hall neighbor moves out, Darren moves in, and it is instant chemistry.  Darren is a new-to-town youth minister who is looking for a new start in a new town.

The chemistry between Darren and Seth is off the page, from the first time they meet, you can feel the pull of attraction between them.  And when they finally give into the lust, it is so hot.  LA Witt never disappoints with the bedroom material, and these boys couldn’t keep their hands off each other.  The sex in the book added so much to the believability that a minster and an Atheist could fall in love.

Now let’s talk the religion portion of this book, we actually enjoyed Seth and Darren’s discussions on their beliefs, and how coming together we could value each other’s view point.  How Seth’s past has put him so scared of getting close to religion again, and Darren’s vocation as a minister always put a strike against him, no matter who he is.  Their back and forth and finally seeing where each other are coming from is refreshing.  But, there is angst.  Seth specifically wrestles with who he believes himself to be as an Atheist and how can he forget what his old church and family did in the name of Jesus.  He struggles. 

In the end this is a really nice story of acceptance, and overcoming fears, and LA Witt delivers.  It is hot, sexy and a really great read.