Review: not bad despite an abrupt, strange ending
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 22, 2013
In the music biz, Scarlett is known as the "Normalizer". After her childhood sweetheart--Austin, a famous rock star--O.D's and dies, Scarlett and Austin's brother start a company which rehabs and saves the bad boys of music before they hit rock bottom (like Austin did.) When she agrees to work with Tarin Kilgour (weird name I never really got used to saying in my head), she figures it's just another job rescuing a rock star from his own downward spiral. But when she meets Tarin in person, she feels things she never felt before and keeping her professionalism and objectivity to get him back on track, is an on-going battle. Should she give into the growing feelings she has for him? Does he reciprocate her feelings? Or is she just another one of his bimbot fangirls? When she finds out he has a secret connection to Austin, things get even more complicated.I liked this book, for the most part. I am a sucker for the rock music world so there's an automatic star for that. But Scarlett was a cool, take no prisoners kind of chick--as long as you didn't mention Austin, which was a hair-trigger for tears--kind of annoying. I would have preferred if she'd shown a bit more of that hard shell she supposedly possessed. Her later time dealing with her emotions about Austin's death would have been far more life-changingly believable if she'd refused to process ANY of the guilt/sorrow in the past up until now. Especially if Tarin was the only one who could crack that shell. As it was, she was almost too hyper-sensitive about the subject.The chemistry between Scarlett and Tarin was great. He was totally hot even though we saw him at his worst. And they were good together. You could see them as a believable couple. Although his transformation seemed kind of fast and better suited to a shorter book. I would have liked more escalating tension between the two of them. He should have fought her changes more and maybe had some epiphany to turn his life around. As it was, she just threatened him and he caved. I think he had more power than she did but he never used it.Unfortunately, except for the last two pages, you never really got to see them as a real couple. Although there were paparazzi in different places, the effect of Scarlett and Tarin together was never discussed. Nobody talked about what the press was saying or online chatter...this is not the first book I've read where famous people are in relationships and the writer completely ignores the public impact or effect of the press or social media. That's a BIG part of dating a celeb and to leave out the stress or influence of public opinion is unrealistic to the story, in my opinion. Almost the only outside people we saw in the entire book were the fangirls--one in particular who was so cartoonishly written it was hard to take her seriously. Especially when her Pinnacle of Crazy happens in the Prologue.But the story was still doable for me until the end.Scarlett --is this really a SPOILER? It can't be a surprise that she has to deal with her unresolved feelings regarding Austin at SOME point--takes a time out to see a therapist. But really--FOUR MONTHS of isolation from her family and friends? Was that really necessary?And then Tarin sneaks off tour to do something...completely out of character for a single, famous guy. However, even if it was true that he would ever have done this, I don't understand WHY he couldn't have told Scarlett. There was NO reason. It seemed only to keep the reader in (poorly disguised) suspense. And he has so much money, why couldn't he have hired someone to help? Just seemed contrived.Also, ***SPOILER*** the fact that Scarlett would change her life so completely at the end. What is she going to do with her time in 5 years? Did she give the entire business to her brother? Will Tarin give up touring? It's too vague for me.***END SPOILERSo, in a nutshell: some unbelievable characters, the world of the story is a bit too narrow, and the ending has too many unresolved questions. But I still enjoyed reading it, for the most part. The fact that I'm a sucker for the subject matter definitely had a hand in that.Still would read this author but would only recommend this book with the caveats above.