RELEASE DAY REVIEW: Wanderlust

Wanderlust, by Roni Loren
Publish Date: July 19, 2016
Publisher: Intermix
Format: e-ARC, provided by the publisher
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Restaurant critic Aubrey Bordelon is never at a loss for words to describe her meals in the fancy restaurants of New Orleans. But after her magazine’s high-profile music reporter falls ill, she finds herself out of her element and in a sea of screaming fans awaiting Wanderlust’s lead singer, Lex Logan. The sound of his voice gives her goosebumps, and the stage presence of the hard-bodied rock star takes her breath away. So when he pulls her onstage for a sexy stunt, she knows she’s in real trouble. 

Lex doesn’t want to pretend that the sparks on stage between him and Aubrey never happened, but it certainly makes the fact that she’s writing a story on his band all the more dangerous. The last thing he needs is some nosy reporter revealing their problems to the world. But the sexy Southern belle doesn’t give up easily, and soon he’s wondering if the best way to chase her off the story is to coax her into his bed…

I absolutely LOVED this book. It's about rock stars (which I love) and it's by Roni Loren (whom I also love), so I don't think there was a chance this could go sideways.

Aubrey is a buttoned-up restaurant critic who reluctantly accepts an assignment covering the hottest band of the moment, Wanderlust. Although she's a bit of a fish out of water among the wild band members and their fans, she's determined to do her job just as she always does. But, she didn't count on an explosive initial encounter with the band's frontman, Lex Logan, and how much that encounter would put her off balance.

For his part, Lex is just trying to keep his band from imploding. The last thing he needs is a nosy reporter hanging around just itching to write about all the in-fighting and the difficulty Lex is having writing songs. He had no idea that the chick he pulled on stage to do body shots with is that very same reporter. FML. 

Needless to say, the relationship between Lex and Aubrey to begin with is contentious at best. He schemes to get rid of her, and just ends up frustrating both of them. The chemistry between Lex and Aubrey was so well written. It was easy to tell that they were drawn to one another, even when they were acting like they couldn't stand each other. Passion is passion, and you just know that when two people so openly dislike each other that they'll end up rockin' the sack. LOL

I wouldn't have liked Aubrey's and Lex's relationship nearly as much as I did if it was all physical up until the end. Somewhere early on this journey, Lex got the inkling that there was more to Aubrey than what she let the rest of the world see. He was right. And when we all found out together what Aubrey's secrets were, it was heartbreaking and it made me furious at some others in Aubrey's life. How Aubrey has handled herself as an adult earns Lex's respect and causes him to see her in a new light. And then he just has todo the same for her. 

I know that Roni Loren wrote Wanderlust awhile ago, and that it wasn't necessarily meant to go beyond this one story. But, I really REALLY want to see stories from the other band members. We got to see a lot of Aubrey's occupation in Wanderlust, but I didn't get nearly enough time with the band. We got a bit of their backstories - some more than others - and it was just enough to whet my appetite. 

Wanderlust was a quick and easy read. I finished it in under 24 hours with very little difficulty. If Roni does hear her fans' pleas and writes some more stories from the Wanderlust world, I'll be first in line to buy them.