Sunday, August 24, 2014

A Rock Star of a Romance!

by Anna Campbell

Hey, guess what? It's my birthday! Come and have some cyber cake.

And speaking of yummy things, feast your eyes on that spectacular cover! I wonder if the title LICK is an invitation to do just that!

For the sake of the dear Romance Dishers, I ventured slightly out of my comfort zone this month to review the first new adult romance I've ever read. And I started with a doozy!

Kylie Scott is an Aussie who has taken the world of romance by storm with her Stage Dive series, based around a four-piece west coast rock band called, you guessed it, Stage Dive. These books are selling like hotcakes (hmm, perhaps it's because of the birthday - I seem to be stuck on cake imagery today. Clearly I want to eat my cake and have it too!).  They've hit both the New York Times and USA Today list so Kylie is a major local success story here, as you can imagine.

LICK, book 1 in the series, tells the story of ordinary girl Evelyn Thomas and the sexy, talented guitarist from Stage Dive, David Ferris. It opens in a spectacular fashion with poor Evelyn waking up in a hotel bathroom in Las Vegas with the hangover to end all hangovers, a huge diamond on her finger, and a gorgeous man who is now apparently her husband. Pity she can't remember anything about her 21st birthday celebrations past a line of tequila shots!

The rest of the story details their romance as Evelyn deals with David's rockstar lifestyle and also faces up to a few home truths about herself. One of the lovely things about this romance is that there's an obvious bond between David and Ev right from the start. While the story is told in first person, we see enough of David to understand how falling in love with Ev changes him for the better.

And did I mention there's lots of hot love scenes? All with a really endearing sweet edge. Ev isn't one of the cool chicks and that's one of the things David loves about her, so her reaction to the sensual side of their relationship is believable and very appealing. And David? Well, let's just say he can make sweet music with more than just his guitar!

There's also some charming touches of humor. One of the running jokes I particularly like is that Ev is a diehard country music fan. She's definitely not a Stage Dive groupie!

As you can gather, Ev is very much her own person, although understandable at 21, she's still got a lot to learn. I loved how she stood up for herself, despite being daunted by this dangerous, glamorous, public world that she's been thrust into, thanks to her impulsive marriage. She also has a strong moral compass which both David and I admire. The scenario of rock god falling in love with Miss Ordinary could have been a bit unbelievable, but while this is definitely a wonderful fantasy, you can see why these two compliment each other. He's reached a point where he wants something real amongst all the glittering artifice of his fame. And Ev is definitely real!

If you're a new adult fan, you've probably already read this. If you're not, it's definitely worth picking up to check out the hot new genre on the block, not to mention a chance to get to know two lovely characters (and a bunch of interesting people in the supporting cast). I'm looking forward to going back to the wild and wonderful world of Stage Dive!

So are you a new adult fan? Any recommendations for where I go next? What do you think makes this new genre so very hot right now?

25 comments:

  1. Anna; I hope you had a great birthday!
    I have been an Adult fan for a long time and three of my favorite writers in this genre are Robin Schone and Diane Whiteside and Sylvia Day..
    It seems obvious to me that even though we have been Historical and Contempory Romance addicts (in all their formats) we have also been ripe & ready for a new evolution in our reading. Authors like Schone and Whiteside and Day were on the cutting edge and ahead of their time, but I believe that E. L.James threw the game over the top with her "Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy.". If you liked her work or not, she made it okay to enjoy that this evolution. Sylvia Day even acknowedges that James was her inspiration for her "Crossfire Series."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Flora! Thanks for the recommendations. I have to say I never read 50 Shades, partly because I got tired of hearing about it. I felt like I"d read it, there was so much stuff around social media about the story. Give Lick a try - I think you might like it.

      Delete
  2. Happy birthday Anna! My absolute favorite new adult series is the Thoughtless Series by S.C. Stephens. You won't be sorry. Love the hero Kellan Kyle who is also a rock star.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amber! I haven't heard of those books. I'll have to check them out.

      Delete
  3. Hi Anna, Happy Birthday (hands over cake)
    I've been looking at this book in Target for weeks, I think I'll go and buy it now, thanks
    If you're looking for another great adult read try the Beautiful series by Christina Lauren, they are great writers. Other favourites of mine are Angela Knight, Saskia Walker and of course anything by Denise Rossetti.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deb, think you'll enjoy it! Thanks for the recommendation. I've read Denise's stuff and it's wonderful. Will hunt out the others.

      Delete
  4. Happy Birthday, Anna!!!

    I don't read new adult, so I can't recommend anything. But I hope you have a lovely birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the happy birthday, Antonia! I had a lovely day!

      Delete
  5. Happy Birthday! I am recommending this book to my sister. I think she will love it. We share books most of the time. I have read a few adult. Fifty Shades and Reasonable Doubt short stories by Whitney G. Perhaps if my sister gets this book, I will borrow it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ann, if your sister likes new adult, I suspect this will be right up her alley. Hope you get a chance to read it too! Thanks for the birthday wishes.

      Delete
  6. Hi, Anna! Hope you had a fabulous birthday!

    I have a couple New Adult books on my tbr but haven't as yet dipped my reading toes into this new genre. While many of my younger friends love the college-age and twenty-something characters in New Adult, I prefer my heroes and heroines a bit older, at least in contemporary romance. However, LICK may just tempt me to dive in. I do like the sound of this!



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PJ, give it a go. It's terrifically enjoyable - even for women of classic age like ourselves, LOL! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Love the special mention I got on the blog!!!!

      Delete
  7. Hi Anna
    Happy Birthday! I'm sure you're celebrating in style!
    I read LICK and thoroughly enjoyed it . While it has some very sexy love scenes, it is also a tender, emotional love story.
    While I know LICK has been labelled "New Adult", I think it's a story that can be enjoyed by any age of reader. The romances I grew up reading often had heroines in their early twenties and the weren't just enjoyed by young readers! I enjoyed the rock star hero - who hasn't had a crush on a rock star at some stage - and this one turns out to be a genuine guy! I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kandy, isn't it great to have such a wonderful Aussie author out and about? Love it when the locals done good! I so agree with your assessment of the story. And thank you for the birthday wishes!

      Delete
  8. Happy Birthday Anna, today is my sons birthday also. I can't say if I have ever read the new adult books yet but must check them out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. QL, thank you for the birthday wishes and happy birthday to your son! Well worth hunting this one down.

      Delete
  9. Happy Birthday, Anna! Hope it was as fabulous : )
    Great review! I read Lick a few weeks ago and loved it. Planning to start Play in a few.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okie, isn't Lick great? So glad you're another fan. Enjoy Play! I think the titles of these books are so clever with their multiple layers of meaning in just one word. Thanks for the birthday wishes. It was indeed fabulous! :-)

      Delete
  10. Anna, I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday! You seem like a very lovely lady, and I simply adore all of your books! You are supremely talented, and I look forward to all of your books to come! Have a lovely day, because you are a very special lady!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Suzanne, what a lovey lot of things to say. So glad you love the books. Thanks for swinging by to wish me a happy birthday!

      Delete
  11. Happy Birthday Anna <3
    Hope you have a great one!

    I'm so glad you enjoyed Lick - Kylie Scott is one of my fave writers and the entire Stage Dive series is A-MAZ-ING!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cath, really great start to the series. So glad you're another fan. Thanks for the birthday wishes!

      Delete
  12. Happy Birthday, Anna! I just read a really cute New Adult book - Boomerang, by Noelle August.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharlene, thanks for the recommendation. I hadn't heard of that one before. And thanks for the birthday wishes.

      Delete
  13. Thanks, everyone, for swinging by to share my birthday and a really great book. See you next month - I'll have to make more of an effort with Rebecca!

    ReplyDelete