Book Review: Color Me Crazy

Katie July 24, 2015 0 Comments

Color Me Crazy is about Julian, a former rockstar who is now running a studio. He is “crazy” in that he sees colors for sounds. His sister ends up introducing him to her friend Cleo, who has lost her job and is getting evicted. Julian decides to hire her to manage his studio and live in the apartment upstairs with him. (She has her own room.)  But there is something about Cleo’s tangerine scent and orange color that isn’t letting Julian stay away from her like he said he would.

Cleo has dated several rock stars in her day, she used to follow bands around as a groupie in her teens but has decided this time she’s keeping things professional, even if Julian does play guitar.

For a while Julian is keeping his true identity a secret, his professional last name and private last name are different.  Once Cleo finds out who he really is she wonders why he wanted to keep it a secret.  Julian comes clean about his synesthesia, his time on the road and his heroin addiction.  Cleo realizes that he isn’t like that anymore and is recovering and the two start a romance.

Things seem to be going well, that is, until Julian decides to go on the road with another band.

There were several times in this book when I thought things were going to take a turn for the worse, and I am glad that they didn’t.  When I was about 100 pages to the end of the book, I had to take a break because my idea of what the ending was going to be was awful and I didn’t want to continue reading if what I thought would be the ending was the ending. Fortunately the author still had several twists and turns in the story and I was pleased with the outcome of everything.  This book was a bit of a roller coaster ride, which I think is why I liked it so much!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book
Never fall for a rockstar…

Julian Wheaton views the world through a kaleidoscope of synesthesia, seeing the colors of every sound he hears. His life as an iconic rock guitarist was a stressful psychedelic trip that nearly destroyed him. Now he’s abandoned the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle for the peaceful sanctity of his recording studio, but when fiery Cleo Compton comes to work for him, she brings chaos with her.

Cleo Compton has had her flings with rockstars—and it’s left her wary and bruised. Julian may have those sexy bedroom eyes and drool-worthy tattoos, but Cleo is determined to keep things strictly professional—until Julian turns out to be every dream she’s ever chased. When he risks it all to hit the road with a band again, Cleo fears he’ll return as the one thing she can no longer abide—a rockstar.

Book Review: Access All Areas

Katie July 24, 2015 0 Comments

Access All Areas is a nice short book that I really enjoyed reading! It has 10 chapters and clocked in at just under 100 pages so it was a nice afternoon read. The book is about Anna, a photographer who is dealing with the death of her father just a few months after the death of her mother and realizing that she may end up losing her house if she cannot come up with some major money and FAST.  Her friend Lucy works at a hotel and knows that there is a film star staying there with her new boy toy.  No one else really knows and a paparazzi shot of the two of them would make BANK.  Lucy helps Anna get inside a vacant room that is across from the stars room and Anna ends up getting stuck hanging out the window and is considered a suicide risk.  Then she gets caught again trying to sneak in dressed as a maid.

Somehow despite her breaking all his rules, the head of security, Jack, ends up taking her camera and then taking HER back to his place for the night! She sneaks out in the morning and finds her camera so she grabs it.  This leads to Jack thinking she was just using him for the camera, but she tells him no and ends up hooking up with him again – this time in his office.

She ends up in the right place at the right time and snaps a photo of the two on her cell phone – and another member of security takes her camera which of course has nothing on it.  Worried that selling the photo may put Jack’s job at risk since they think he may be the leak who told Anna about the star being there, she decides to instead rent out her house to try and make some extra income.

But then she finds out that Jack has quit and she can sell the photo – except for the fact that… well… you’ll have to read the book and see what happens.

This was a quick read, romantic and I really liked the characters.

I received a free e-copy in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Sexy, addictive and just pure fun, don’t miss the next installment in the Do Not Disturb series!
After losing her elderly parents, portrait photographer Anna will do anything to avoid losing the family home – the only thing she has left of her perfect childhood.

When a friend who works at the exclusive boutique hotel, The Lavington, provides a hot tip – an A list film star is staying there with her rumored toyboy lover – Anna comes up with a plan. A photo of them together could be the answer to all Anna’s money problems.

Unfortunately, she’s the worst paparazzi photographer on the planet and Jack, the hotel’s new head of security, back in England after globetrotting as bodyguard to the stars, isn’t about to allow a picture on his watch. No matter how cute the photographer might be…

Book Review: How to Catch a (Rock) Star

Katie July 24, 2015 0 Comments

You probably can’t tell from the blog – but it has been almost a month since I read a book for review. (Gotta love wordpress allowing me to schedule posts in advance!) It wasn’t a tough choice to decide what to read next since this one had to be posted before any of the rest based on my schedule – but I’m glad that it ended up being the next on my list. My reading break was part due to being too busy to find time to read and part due to the fact that a lot of the books I was reading just weren’t doing anything for me lately.

How to Catch a (Rock) Star is about Lillie who is an aspiring singer living in the UK.  She meets Jed, an American rock star and they hit it off.  Of course, how much time they can see each other is a bit limited with Jed being on tour.  Jed decides he has the perfect idea and has Lillie basically join his band to sing with him on tour. Everything seems to be going great for the two of them – but can it last? Well, of course there probably wouldn’t be a book if everything was all happy all the time and they ended up happily ever after, right?

Turns out Jed is keeping a secret from Lillie – one that she isn’t sure she can handle after being in a similar situation with an ex.  But Lillie’s dreams are coming true – so what can she do to make sure that she can continue living her dreams – with or without Jed?

I liked this book a lot – it was very well written and I enjoyed all of the characters. (And it turns out there will be a second book following another one of the band members so I will have to keep an eye out for that one too!) It is a romance book but didn’t have a lot of the sex scenes you might be expecting (which was a bit of a con, but at the same time also a pro.) I think that rockstar romances are my new favorite sub-genre and if Gabrielle Aquilina keeps it up with this series I will not be disappointed!

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Aspiring singer Lillie and American rock star Jed seem like the perfect fit from the moment they meet. The pair are inseparable, but Jed’s jet-set schedule of shows and after-parties limits the amount they can see each other. So when Jed invites Lillie to sing with his band on their tour, she says yes. Yes with some hesitation, that is. After finding out that her ex-boyfriend was hiding away a wife and child when they were dating, Lillie’s trust in men is fragile and she also suffers from severe stage fright. As the tour progresses, Jed and Lillie are fast becoming rock’s hottest couple but with obsessive fan girls, a claustrophobic tour bus and a resentful guitarist, things start taking a turn for the worse. Lillie’s dream of singing may have finally become a reality, but can it last? The odds are stacking up against them and then the unthinkable happens…
The book is the first one of a series. The second book will follow the story of Johnny, Jed’s best friend.