Review: Cute Story But Main Character A Little Too Weak For Me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 10, 2013
The story:Karen, the serious & studious cello musician is so close to making her (and her father's) dreams come true as she nears graduation from The Fenbrook Academy. She has worked her whole life, pushed by her overbearing father, for the opportunity to perform in front of scouts for the NY Philharmonics Orchestra. But after her duet partner is injured her chances aren't good, with the only option being to perform with notorious bad boy and soon to be drop out Connor.Their friendship starts out rocky, with neither one relating to the other - either musically or personally. But as they spend more time practising together they start to understand each other better and so their romance begins.I felt sometimes that the sexual side of things was a little forced. Not so much the actual love scenes, but there are a lot of discussions between Karen and her friends about their sex lives that just felt a little unnatural. I think there purpose was to add to the sexual tension, but if anything it actually diminished it a bit. Sometimes less is more, and rather than being told about their sexcapades, it would have been more natural to just see the characters in their romantic situations.The characters:Karen is a sweet and extremely sheltered character. Her whole life has been pre-chosen for her by her father, and she makes few decisions for herself. For much of the story, she's quite helpless and is constantly being rescued by Connor - whether it be from tripping over, spiders, the recital or overly groppey men that she seems to attract. It wasn't until late into the book that she makes a stand, and starts to take charge of her own life. It was such a relief to see her finally make this huge step.Connor isn't as simple as a 'bad boy'. Yes he skips class and acts like he doesn't care that he won't graduate, but he has his reasons, and once his secret comes out, it was much easier to understand his attitude.The romance:The romance between Karen & Connor worked well in the 'opposites attract' kind of way. They are both very different, but they compliment each other so well and that is reflected in the musical aspect of the story. Just like their two very different instruments, they must work hard to to make it work, but they find similarities and embrace their differences.The Writing:I felt the musical parts of the story were really well written. To have music come to life just from the writing is not an easy thing to do but I think Newbury was very successful in achieving this. I felt like I was right there listening to the must and feel the energy they created during the final performance.FINAL WORD:Overall this was a fun and sexy story. The musical element to story gave it a real difference and made the story more engaging. All this is a standalone I would recommend reading Dance With Me first, as it does setup a lot of the secondary characters.CONTENT:Sexuality: medium-strong / strong sexual dialogue, sexual assault & sex scenesViolence: mild-medium / fist fightsLanguage: medium / some f wordsDrugs & alcohol: medium / main character get drunkeARC provided via author & IFB Tours for fair & honest reviewMore reviews at thereadingrealmblog.blogspot.com.au