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Review

4 stars!

This series has been on my radar for a while now. I’m a sucker for rockstar romances, and I loved the set-up for this one, and I’m so glad that I finally dove in!

Evelyn is on her way to a conference in the middle of a snowstorm when her car ends up in a ditch. She is rescued by a slightly terrifying looking long-haired guy who offers to drive her to help, but when he ends up crashing due to the weather, the two of them become trapped in his truck in the middle of a blizzard. For two days they do little other than eat, sleep and talk, getting to know each other while snuggling together for warmth, with her initial fear and his initial annoyance slowly becoming an attraction that neither of them can ignore.

But what Evelyn doesn’t know is that Storm is the lead guitarist for heavy metal band, Ashes & Embers. He hasn’t told her, as he is in his home town wanting a break from his on-stage persona, wanting to be himself, and wanting Evelyn to get to know him as he truly is. And once rescue comes and they find themselves safe once again, the stage is set for an epic start to a relationship… but it’s also not, as Evelyn has a fiancé.

So what follows is an emotional journey as Storm and Evelyn stay in touch and completely and absolutely fall for each other. It’s Storm’s first true emotional connection since his first love ended in tragedy, and Evelyn has to figure out where her heart truly lies as she balances the safety and comfort of her current life against the unknown with Storm.

Don’t be frightened off by the potential love triangle. We get a very good picture of Evelyn’s life, of the tragedy she has been through and her struggles with depression and anxiety, and it’s very clear where her heart truly lies. It’s just a matter of watching her work through it and untangle herself, all while she and Storm open up to each other more and more.

“You gotta stop living in fear. You can’t see the stars unless you go out in the dark.”

And Storm…. wow. Yes, he’s a tattooed, long-haired, motorcycle riding, rock god badass, but he’s also an absolute sweetheart. He is such a nice guy who is patient and understanding with Evelyn, and I loved seeing the soft side of him as he opens his heart up completely to her, and to all that he is feeling for her. But he’s also a filthy bastard with a dirty mouth, so there’s also no shortage of steamy time. It’s a great set up, with well-developed characters, and I was completely hooked as it all played out.

About the cheating….

Spoiler

Yes, there is cheating. Evelyn is engaged for the majority of the book, and though she and Storm don’t enter into a relationship until she has left her fiancé, they are physical together. There is no sex, but there is pretty much everything else. And she’s emotionally completely invested in Storm before she breaks it off. I know she has issues with making changes in her life, and it’s clear that her fiancé is a douche and the relationship is pretty much a farce anyway, but I wish that she had taken the step to end it way earlier than she did.

And for Storm’s part – he gets a BJ from one of his long-term hook-ups while he and Evelyn are doing their flirty ‘courtship’. They aren’t in a relationship at the time, and there had been no sex, but they had done other physical things together and he had made it clear how he felt about her. But with her in a relationship, and him completely frustrated, he gave in one night, though he immediately confessed to Evelyn that he had done it.

Technically yes, there is cheating, though you could say the lines are blurry. I’m not a fan of cheating in books but it didn’t bother me too much in this one. I was a bit disappointed in some of their behaviour but it didn’t ruin how I felt about the book overall.

“Sometimes, the right person comes along at the wrong time, and you have to just trust fate and hope it leads you in the right direction and it all evens out.”

And then there’s the rockstar element. It’s there, but it wasn’t as strong a part of the story as I was expecting. We do get to meet the other boys in the band – all of them Storm’s brothers or cousins – but not in any great detail and we don’t get to see much of them together, with the focus firmly on Storm and Evelyn’s love story. But from what we did see, I’m intrigued by this group and their dynamic, and I hope that it’s explored more in future books. And then there is an unholy bomb that was dropped as an intro to the next book. I know it’s going to destroy me, but damn, I need to get my hands on it!

This is my first book by Carian Cole, and I really enjoyed it! It’s a great first book to the series and I’m really excited to continue on.

4 stars.