REVIEW & EXCERPT: Fade Into You (Shaken Dirty #3)

It seems like I've been waiting forever for the next Shaken Dirty book, and it's finally here! Even better - it's Wyatt's story. Check out my review and an awesome excerpt that gives you a glimpse into Wyatt's incredible talent.

Fade Into You (Shaken Dirty #3), by Tracy Wolff
Publish Date: February 15, 2016
Publisher: Entangled Brazen
Format: ARC, provided by the author and TRSOR Promotions
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Wyatt Jennings has been called a lot of things by the media. Bad-boy rocker. Intense drummer. Addict.

Finally out of rehab and desperate for a fresh start, Wyatt rejoins his mega-platinum rock band Shaken Dirty as they prepare for their world tour. But Wyatt’s demons are never far behind, always nipping at his heels for one. More. Fix.

Enter Poppy Germaine, the band’s new social media consultant. A beautiful bombshell who somehow manages to get underneath Wyatt’s skin, Poppy’s an addiction Wyatt can get behind. And even though she’s with the label—and therefore off-limits—he craves her. Needs her.

Except Poppy isn’t actually a social media consultant. She’s the daughter of the label’s CEO, sent undercover to babysit Wyatt and keep him from falling off the wagon again. Proving herself to her father is Poppy’s only goal—until she finds herself in Wyatt’s bed. But if Wyatt discovers the truth, it could send him spiraling all over again…

Tracy Wolff's Shaken Dirty series just gets better and better. I love all the band members and how close they are to one another. I also like how the integration of their women, one by one, makes the group dynamic more fun and interesting. 

Wyatt has been painted as the troubled member of the group in previous books. He is also the heart of the group. So, when the heart gets sick, the entire whole suffers. Wyatt's drug use came to a dangerous head in the book prior to this one, and he was sent off to rehab. And it was clear that this weighed heavily on all the band members. 

And now Wyatt is back, and the record label is understandably worried. So, they send in the owner's daughter (incognito) to make sure he's not in danger of falling off the wagon. But, Poppy sees much more than she thought she would. She sees the love these friends have for one another, and the struggle that Wyatt goes through every day to stay clean, and the brilliance each of these guys have at music.

"Jared might be the leader of the band, Quinn might be the heart, and Ryder might be the soul, but you, Wyatt, you are the backbone of this band. You give them their shape, their sound, you hold all of them together. If you break, they all break."

I think my favorite thing about Fade Into You is that Wyatt is far from perfect... and Poppy is perfect for him. I was worried that Wyatt's return to glory would be too easy. And, getting over something like a heroin and alcohol addiction is ANYTHING but easy. But, Tracy Wolff did a wonderful job portraying the constant struggle that Wyatt goes through in order to stay on the right path. 

He is also constantly riddled with guilt. His additions cost his friends millions of dollars. No one trusts him anymore. He's considered a liability by his record label, and it's not hard for Wyatt to see himself the same way.

And yet, here they were. Jared, Ryder, Quinn. Backing him, even knowing it was a sure bet that he was going to fuck up again. Standing by him even though it had already cost them more than they should ever have to pay.

But, Poppy changes everything. She doesn't change the difficult job he has ahead of him, but she makes the road a lot more bearable. She gives him love and affection and acceptance. And, she's totally in love with his mad drumming skillz. And, who wouldn't be? Wyatt is BRILLIANT. 

This was the best Shaken Dirty book yet. And now with a new member, we still have a few stories to go. 

For a man who’d spent years, decades, running from his emotions, it was a strange place to find himself. It scared him.

She scared him.

Eyes still closed, he laid down the first of the drum fills, adding a few extra flourishes because that’s how he was hearing it in his head. Played through the whole song from memory, then did it again and again, embellishing it a little more each time through.

It didn’t take long for his arms and pecs to start aching—it had been too long since he’d played the drums on a daily basis—but he played through it, pounding away at the skins with everything he had in him.

Fourth time through the song, he switched to “Closer,” then to “In the A.M.,” then to “Deified.” By the time he’d run through those a couple of times, his biceps were burning, his hands throbbing. And still he didn’t stop.

Instead, he switched on the recorder he always kept next to his drum kit and started wailing away, playing the beat that had been in his head since he’d seen Poppy waiting for him in her doorway last night, arms open and face welcoming. The melody had started then, in the back of his head, and by the time he’d had her up against the wall it had been a towering crescendo of drumbeats that he couldn’t ignore even if he’d wanted to.

Which he hadn’t. It had been too long since music had burned inside him like that.

He played the song through the way he heard it, keeping a fast thirty-two-beat rhythm on the hi-hat while he worked the snare, the bass, and the floor tom in alternating rhythms. It sounded good, really good, and as he banged out a long, elaborate fill on the toms and crash cymbals, he knew he was onto something.

Though all he was doing was laying down the beat, he could hear the song in his head so clearly. Jared coming in with a quiet but pure guitar presence while Quinn took front and center with his keyboards. Bass—whoever the fuck that turned out to be—would hang back with Wyatt, playing low to underscore. And Ryder…fuck, Ryder’s voice would own this song. He would destroy it. Just the thought sent excitement rioting through him.

Usually, Wyatt and Quinn were the music guys, while Ryder and Jared did most of the lyrics. Every once in a while, though, a song would come to him fully formed, like “Seventeen Again” had, an early version of the lyrics tearing through his head even as he pounded away at the drums.

This song was like that, the words running through his brain like a rain-swollen river, pouring out of him as fast and powerfully as the music had. Even knowing they weren’t perfect, he sang them aloud, let the recorder get every syllable.

When it was over, he ran through the song over and over again while everything was still fresh in his mind. Playing and singing, singing and playing, until his shirt was drenched in sweat and his arms felt like they were going to fall off.

And still he played. Still he wailed away at the drums like the demons of hell were after him. Or worse, like the sins of his past had finally caught up to him after all the years he’d run and all the drugs he’d used to keep them at bay.

And maybe they had. Maybe they had.

Since he couldn’t do anything about it, he played instead.

Long after sweat rolled into his eyes and poured down his face.

Long after his shoulders and biceps and pecs cramped up.

Long, long after blisters formed between his fingers.

He played and played and played, like these drums were the only thing standing between him and hell. And like getting this one song right was his only chance at salvation.

At one point, the blister on his right index finger cracked open and started to bleed. He grabbed one of the clean towels he always kept next to the kit, tore a strip off it, and kept playing. When his left index finger followed suit a couple of minutes later, he did the same thing. And then he played through that, too.

The pain was there, his nerve endings sending agonized alerts to his brain, but he ignored them. Compartmentalized them. Put them in a part of his brain he didn’t need to access to play, and then concentrated on the music. On the beat. Right now, it was the only thing that mattered.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Tracy Wolff collects books, English degrees and lipsticks and has been known to forget where--and sometimes who--she is when immersed in a great novel. At six she wrote her first short story--something with a rainbow and a prince--and at seven she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she'd read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she'd found her life-long love. Now an English professor at her local community college, she writes contemporary romance and erotic romance as Tracy Wolff, paranormal romance and urban fantasy as Tessa Adams and young adult novels as Tracy Deebs.


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SERIES REVIEW: Play Me

Play Me Wild (Play Me #1), by Tracy Wolff
Play Me Hot (Play Me #2), by Tracy Wolff
Play Me Hard (Play Me #3), by Tracy Wolff
Play Me Real (Play Me #4), by Tracy Wolff
Play Me Right (Play Me #5), by Tracy Wolff  
To Be Published December 2, 2014
Publisher: Loveswept
Format: e-book, obtained from Netgalley
Genre: adult erotic romance
 
Rating: 3.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) My name is Aria Winston. I’ve fought desperately to escape the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas. Now I’m on my own, in control of my own life and my own destiny . . . just the way I like it. Until Sebastian Caine changes everything.

Working as a cocktail waitress at one of Vegas’s hottest five-star casinos means putting up with a ton of bad behavior from the big spenders. But it pays the bills—and that’s all that matters to Aria, who needs every last dollar to escape from her father’s destructive grasp and the brutal man he expects her to marry. But when she lashes out against a billionaire who won’t take no for an answer, she nearly loses everything—until Sebastian steps in. The owner’s son and handpicked successor, Sebastian is dark, sexy, and kinder than any rich man should be. And when he apologizes and offers to keep her job safe, Aria can’t help the way her body reacts to his. Suddenly her job, and the security it brings her, isn’t the only thing Aria wants.

**This review is for all five PLAY ME novellas as a whole**

Tracy Wolff's PLAY ME series was not exactly what I thought it would be. Some elements were exactly what I expected, but as a whole, the feeling I got at the end of the final Play Me novella was one of... confusion, maybe? As you can tell, I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that happened. Writing reviews helps with that sometimes, you know?

Aria has been working as a cocktail waitress in a Las Vegas casino for a little more than a year when she gets the opportunity to meet the son of the casino's owner. Sebastian Caine is captured by both Aria's beauty and her firey spirit. He thinks that she may just be perfect for him. He persues her, not knowing where she came from, and she reciprocates because she can't seem to deny him anything. As they discover sides of each other that are surprising and captivating, their pasts start to catch up with them and threaten the budding relationship they're building together.

The Play Me series has a lot of BDSM elements. I'm not a huge fan of BDSM books - I always have a hard time reconciling the desire to be submissive with the type of female MCs I prefer - strong, capable, commanding. I approached the Play Me series with a measure of trepidation, but it didn't take me long to relax. Aria is most definitely strong, capable and commanding. We slowly learn throughout the book that she took some huge risks to escape a near impossible situation. She took control of her life without leaving responsibilities behind. THAT is a woman I can absolutely rally behind.

And, perhaps this is where my aforementioned confusion comes in. She didn't seem to be a woman to fall in instalove. She didn't seem like someone who would willingly submit to a man at all, much less one she knew for less than 24 hours. Yet, as soon as Sebastian makes his way onto the scene, that's exactly what happens. It was a little disappointing. I wanted so much more from Aria. I wanted her to rail against her lust and to make Sebastian work for it a whole lot more than what he did.

I know it doesn't sound like it, but I actually really liked Sebastian. If I have to read a book with a Dom in it, he's the best kind - one who truly cares about his sub and wants to TAKE care of her. One who is tender with her, even as he's getting roughly kinky. Tracy Wolff does an excellent job painting Sebastian Caine with very broad strokes. He had a very troubled childhood, which has resulted in a troubled man. But, I loved who he was once he met Aria. I loved that he wasn't afraid to fall in love with her. And, I also loved that he didn't always do the right thing and that he actively sought out chances to make it right again.

There was a lot of BDSM speak in the Play Me series. Sebastian frequently talks about things like "subspace" and "subdrop" and other things that, if you participate in the lifestyle would probably be well-known terms, but to most people, you kind of have to define them by the context of the story. Admittedly, it wasn't too hard to do, but there was a lot of time taken up describing Aria while she was "going under" and Aria spent a lot of time in this "subspace" state. It was a little weird for me. It was like, she wasn't Aria, at least, the Aria we were introduced to in the beginning of the book. She was this zoned out nymphomaniac, and it was just so hard for me to reconcile the two parts to this character. I realize this is my own issue, and it in no way calls into question the skills of the author. But, there it is, anyway.

Like in any romantic love story, there are high points and low points. I live for those peaks and valleys. They make the story so much more rich and colorful and anticipatory as I read. When Sebastian and Aria are together (and not totally sex-drunk yet), they made a great couple. He was protective and she was supportive. It was sweet. The Play Me series is told in dual POV, which is my favorite kind, so that was definitely a check in the plus column.

I'm a big fan of Tracy Wolff's Shaken Dirty series and have had her Ethan Frost series on my TBR forever. Even knowing ahead of time that the Play Me series is a spin-off of sorts from the Ethan Frost series didn't deter me from reading it right away. And, although the Play Me series wasn't my favorite thing I've ever read of hers, it hasn't changed my desire to read the Ethan Frost series. In fact, I think I'm even more intrigued now. I loved the glimpses we caught of Ethan and Chloe. And, to be honest, the Play Me series didn't tie up many of the loose ends at the end. The situations that arose between Sebastian and Aria as a couple were taken care of, but most of the peripheral story elements were left flapping in the breeze. I assume these loose ends will be tied up in the final Ethan Frost book, which is definitely good, but at the same time, it's a little frustrating because that means the focus will be removed from Sebastian and Aria as the situations work themselves out. Sebastian and Aria will become the side characters, and I wish I could see these elements resolve from their POVs, as well as Ethan's and Chloe's.

It's all good, though. I trust Tracy Wolff to see all four of these characters through to a very satisfying and happy ending. In the meantime, while I wait for the last book in this saga to relese, I now have time to pick up the first two Ethan Frost books and get caught up. Hello silver lining.

REVIEW: Drive Me Crazy (Shaken Dirty #2)

Drive Me Crazy (Shaken Dirty #2), by Tracy Wolff
Published February 24, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Brazen
Format: e-book, provided by the publisher
Genre:  adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  4.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Former rivals Quinn Bradford and Elise McKinney are not friends, at least not anymore. As teens, all they cared about was psyching each other out before concerts. But when Quinn—now the keyboardist for Shaken Dirty, the hottest rock band on the scene—returns to his hometown and hears about the car accident that shattered Elise’s career, he’s determined to make things right.

Elise wants nothing to do with an arrogant rock star, despite how bad she so clearly wants him, so Quinn kidnaps the stubborn little piano player and whisks her back to his mansion. A little seduction might be just the thing to keep Elise under his care…and in his bed. But amid pranks both childish and very adult, their past comes rearing back to haunt them. And it might be more than either of them can forget.

I'm a sucker for the rockers. And, Quinn is in a class all himself when it comes to rockers, because he is the ultimate dichotomy. He has the tats, the piercings, the wild streak. And, yet, he's a classical pianist who is as protective of those he cares about as you can get. That is an incredibly sexy combination. Drive Me Crazy was amazingly good.

Quinn and Elise were trained together as concert pianists when they were young. Both came from very broken homes and fathers. In Quinn, it manifested in a teen who was a little wild. In Elise, it manifested in crippling stage fright - not a good thing when your job is to perform complicated piano pieces on stage. Quinn used his antics to relax her, and she fell in love with him. But, he eventually left her, and she never got over it. 

Fast forward 10 years and Quinn shows up in Elise's hospital room after a car accident kills the only family she has and destroys her piano career. He brings her back to his house to recuperate, and despite Quinn's theory that he's not good enough for her and Elise's desire to not get hurt again, it's impossible for them to deny that the feelings they had never went away. 

Quinn was absolutely the most dreamiest rocker I've ever read about. There's a scene where Quinn in his many tats, rocker hair, crazy piercings and bad language sits down at a baby grand and plays a Rachmaninoff like no one's business. I've read about lots of hot guys - the alphas, the billionaires, the cowboys. This guy is the hottest out of all of them. Seriously, I don't know what it is, but Quinn made me weak in the knees in the best way possible. 

In addition to that, it becomes apparent early on, by the shear fact that he shows up in Elise's hospital room after a decade of staying away, that Quinn is a protector. There's a lot of backstory as to why he left Elise all those years ago, and it all goes back to him wanting to make sure she was safe. 

Elise is an amazing heroine. She too came from an awful home life, and she made the best life she could with the talent she had. There were more than a few times when I shed a few tears for Elise's predicament following her accident. I can't imagine spending my whole life training to do one thing, and then in a blink of an eye, not being able to do it anymore. She was unbelievably strong in the face of something like that. 

She was NOT strong, however, in the face of the chemistry she had with Quinn. It leapt off the pages and smacked you in the face time and time again. And, when they finally gave up and gave in, holy smokes, was that some good stuff. But, the best thing about their relationship was, it was forged in this crazy friendship from when they were kids. I love those kinds of relationships. They were always pranking each other while they performed together, and they picked up right where they left off. The pranks they pulled on each other were hilarious! The rest of the story was pretty heavy, so those light moments were very well timed and very much needed. 

I also enjoyed the peek at the other band members - Ryder, who we met in Crash Into Me (Shaken Dirty #1), Jared, Wyatt, and Micah. We see how Ryder and Jamison are doing now that they're engaged. We see how Wyatt is doing in rehab, and we see how Jared and Micah are doing in the face of Micah's ultimate betrayal. It's not a pretty sight for many of them, and it was sad to read. 

But, the HEA was worth it all. I couldn't tear myself away from Quinn and Elise, even when I saw the bad stuff coming for them. Tracy Wolff is an amazing author, and I'm loving her Shaken Dirty series. I can't wait for the next installment!

REVIEW: Crash Into Me (Shaken Dirty #1)

Crash Into Me (Shaken Dirty #1), by Tracy Wolff
Published October 14, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Brazen
Format: e-book, obtained from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Genre:  adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) Jamison Matthews has lusted after Ryder Montgomery since she was a preteen. But now that Ryder and her brother's band, Shaken Dirty, has made it huge, she's just one of many pining for the brooding lead singer. Too bad Ryder still sees her as a little sister. Not that it matters. Her brother would never allow it, and the last thing Jamison wants is to be another notch on a rock star's bed post. Even if it's Ryder's.

Ryder doesn't deserve happiness. After his fame destroyed his last girlfriend, he swore he'd never fall in love again. So when Jamison, the girl he's been in danger of loving for years, joins the band on the road, he'll do anything to deny the sparks between them--even after one hot night together. But Jamison is determined to show Ryder that he's worthy of love--her love--and that she's all grown up and ready to play.

I've made no secret about the fact that I have a total obsession with rock stars. They are, hands-down, my favorite type of bad boy. So, when Entangled Brazen offered to let me read and review Crash Into Me a few weeks ago, I said, "Why yes, I would very much like to read Tracy Wolff's new book about the hot lead singer of a famous rock band who falls in love with his lead guitarists' (and best friend's) sister, thankyouverymuch." (Seriously - thank you, Entangled Brazen!) 

Jamison is having a really bad week - she lost her job, her car and her boyfriend, and then to top it all off, she is almost raped backstage at a concert in which her brother's band is playing. Luckily, she's saved by Ryder, the lead singer of her brother's band, Shaken Dirty, and the object of her lust for the past 10 years or so. After finding out her situation, Jared convinces his sister to come on the road with the band for seven weeks. With no other options, Jamison agrees, even though it puts her in VERY close proximity to the one guy she wants but can't have. 

Like most rock band series, Crash Into Me focuses on one member of the band - the lead singer Ryan - but it introduces the other members of the band because I'm assuming we'll see books on each of them in the series. The groundwork is being laid, so a certain amount of time is spent on the back stories of all the band members. Wolff still gives us plenty of time with Ryder and Jamison, though.

I loved Ryan's and Jamison's relationship. I really love the romances where the two involved started out as friends first. These two have known each other since they were kids. That adds an extra layer of complexity to the situation. Neither wants to mess up the friendship, yet they're now having a really hard time denying what more they could have. It's great because they know each other well enough to engage in some really fun banter and to tell each other off when they feel the need. Yet, the feelings are new, so there's a certain amount of awkwardness between them too.

Jamison is a cool character. She's got a strong work ethic and doesn't easily let circumstances get her down. She's been pining after the same guy for a decade for crying out loud. She's a fighter, for sure. And, Ryder is totally swoony. He's a lead singer in a rock band... hellooo?? But, beyond that, I just LOVE how he loves his friends. He looks after them and only wants the best for them - Jamison included. This guy is a total class-act. 

There were several side stories going on at the same time as Ryder's and Jamison's. They focused mostly on Jared, the lead guitarist and Wyatt, the drummer. They didn't detract from the main story, though. 

The ending did feel a little rushed - I wish the author had taken another 50 pages or so to expound on some of the stuff that happened. A lot of stuff happened toward the end, and it all was crammed into not a lot of pages. I would've liked a bit more time and words to process it all. 

I can say for sure that I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of Shaken Dirty. I want to know who those characters were that were introduced in the epilogue. I want to see Jared and Wyatt happy (I hope Wyatt's story is next!). I want to learn more about the other two members of the band. This series is definitely on my watch list.