Review: Jealous and Emotionally Unstable Rockstar Hero Takes Away From What Could Have Been a Great Read (C+ Grade)
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2014
Fans of Kylie Scott’s rock star romances will surely enjoy The Resistance by S.L. Scott. The first half is a whirlwind of passion that seems to involve a mature love affair between a smart business woman and the hottest rock star on the planet. Holli is in Las Vegas for a business trip. Her work is her life and she doesn’t have time to date. She ends up at a bar where the casino undercover security guard named Jack flits with her. He invites her up to a suite (she doesn’t really question why a security guard would have access to an expensive suite, but goes with the flow because she’s attracted to Jack). One thing leads to another and she ends up in bed with him, thinking this will be a one-night stand or long weekend fling. Holli has had one-night stands before, and doesn’t excuse her behavior because women need loving just as much as men do. Jack loves that Holli is honest because she’s not like any woman he’s been with before.Jack isn’t a security guard but the lead singer of The Resistance, one of the most popular bands currently in the music world. Jack Dalton is otherwise known as Johnny Outlaw to his fans. He’s given up most vices- drugs and booze; pretty much the rock star cliché lifestyle as a whole. He lies to Holli because he wants her to know the real him and not the fake personality he shows the world. He feels Holli can cleanse him. She takes a chance on Jack, but doesn’t realize how stressful it will be, mainly because of the paparazzi watching his every move, his long distance tours and his emotional manic up and downs, including his jealous streak. Holli has fallen for Jack hard, and it scares her, because he might end up breaking her heart.The first half of The Resistance grabs hold of you and won’t let go. Jack and Holli click right away. Their passion for one another is incredibly hot, steamy and all consuming. S.L. can write one heck of a sex scene. Unfortunately things go downhill during the second half. Jack’s personality does a 180 and he becomes brooding and emotionally unbalanced at times, especially when it comes to Holli with other men, including her nice hottie neighbor who Jack ends up beating up not once, but twice because he dared to speak to Holli. Because of Jack’s anger issues, I started to dislike him.Also when you think all is resolved in a nice manner, there comes along some unneeded soap opera-ish type drama that ruins everything I enjoyed reading in the first 100 pages or so. The ending goes on forever and Jack becomes very confrontational and almost emotionally abusive toward Holli. Then it’s revealed Jack has major issues with his father, who once thought Jack would become a big baseball star, which ended because of an injury. His father thinks Jack being a rock star with millions of dollars in the bank and a lot of respect and fans is horrible and practically disowns Jack. This section with his parents made no sense to me at all, although Jack’s first love of playing professional baseball was something very different and a nice surprise.The Resistance has many pros and cons, and if the first half was much like the second half, I would give this a solid 3 star review. This is more along the lines of a C+ grade. I found the ending tedious and too pat. I also didn’t really believe the HEA for Jack and Holli. While Jack was on tour, I couldn’t help but think he would cheat on her because he is really weak when it comes to his past addictions, although he spouts how much he needs Holli like the air he breathes.In the end The Resistance was enjoyable but Jack Dalton annoyed me and was too much of a brat who needs therapy instead of sex to heal him. I wanted Holli to end up with her nice guy neighbor, the underwear model who respected Holli in a way Jack never could.A disappointing read that could have been so much better.Katiebabs