Review: Mal Beats a Rhythm Straight to My Heart!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
The boys of Stage Dive are BACK! I have been so excited for this book. After reading Lick….and then meeting Kylie….joining her groupies & seeing all the Play teasers and excerpts that she shared, this book was definitely in my top 5 most anticipated reads of this year! I was NOT DISAPPOINTED!!  It turned out better than I could have imagined.Play is Malcolm ‘Mal’ Erickson’s story and is told from the point of view of Anne, who literally is the girl next door! Through some crazy circumstances Mal moves in with Anne and convinces her to play his pretend Girlfriend until the band goes on tour.  Anne agrees….and why not?! Mal is HOT, she has had a crush on him for FOREVER and more importantly…she needs the money.  Mal is his totally over the top self, which is a great counterpart for Anne’s stick in the mud ways. Mal & Anne have great chemistry and interactions. They are HILARIOUS! I really loved the texting back and forth, the sly innuendos, Mal talking about the size of his ‘stick’, the bathtub scene…..ok not going to lie….I loved the whole damn book!Here is the part that surprised me, Mal has a soft side. A vulnerable side, that he is trying to desperately hide from Anne and his band mates. The problem….Anne. She will not let him hide part of himself away. This is when the story gets angsty. Mal is dealing with some serious things….it causes him to be a bit manic and drink too much (which is totally understandable). I love that he uses his drums to center himself. I love that he also learns to lean on Anne, who is an amazingly supportive person.  Of course there are mistakes made along the way, conclusions drawn that hurt feelings (what book would be good without these things?) but Anne & Mal start to realize that there may be more between them then just a pretend relationship.BONUS! There is a lot of David & Evelyn in this book! Not only a lot of sexy time between the two, but some surprising revelations. We also get to see more of Jimmy and his interaction with David and the rest of the band….not to mention Ben who is definitely the strong silent type.All in all this was a FUN read. Kylie Scott knows how to write a story that keeps moving forward, keeps the reader interested & laughing. Her character development is incredible! As the series progresses you learn more and more about the boys of Stage Dive and that is one journey I am excited to be a part of.