Review: A librarian's dream come true....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 17, 2013
As a librarian, I have to say I loved the plotline of Louder Than Love!  When Katrina (Tree) Lewis tracks down Adrian Graves to perform at her library she had no idea she was putting onto motion the event that would change her entire life.  Tree is still suffering from the loss of her husband in a train accident over two years prior and is still unable to fully move on with her life. She lives in her childhood home with her daughter Abbey and her only nights out are with her friends, Marissa, Leanna and Liz.  Abbey is enamored of a children's show about a mystery solving cat and Tree discovers that Adrian Graves wrote the theme song so she books him to do a performance at the library.Adrian is not what Tree expected as a children's performer especially since he arrives late and slightly inebriated.  He's a lot older than she expected and a bit scruffy but he ends up wowing the children by performing a mix of children's songs and rock classics. They go out to dinner, kiss in the car, she almost kills him because she had shrimp and he is deathly allergic and Adrian ends up in the hospital. Great first date!This is the beginning of a relationship that neither party expected.  When Tree discovers information about Adrian's past life as a rocker and his failures as a husband and parent, she has to think hard about what she is getting into. I really enjoyed the interplay between the two characters and how the relationship develops. Both Tree and Adrian have hurt and loss in their pasts but have dealt with those issues in different ways.  Actually, I thought that for all of the drama and glamor that Adrian had as part of his life, he was the one more grounded in reality than Tree. Her inability to let go of her husband Pete becomes a major problem in the romance but she doesn't see that at all.I really liked this book and thought that Ms. Topper did an excellent job of portraying two people who are damaged but trying their best to keep going on with life. Adrian is a sexy and complicated man and Tree is quirky and interesting. The romance is sweet at the beginning and so intense later that when they have problems it's upsetting because they are perfect for each other.  I thought the secondary characters all added a lot to the story and I loved Adrian's interaction with Abbey. I also enjoyed the ages of the main characters and that they had some life experience.  I think I am going to have to add Jessica Topper to my must buy authors list.