faerietears's review
3.0
This was my second Karen Booth book so I was really optimistic about this one. It popped up on sale as a sponsored ad on Facebook, so I one clicked. I mean, I loved my first Karen Booth book and this one involves a woman who falls into a relationship with the rock star she crushed on during her teens. That’s totally a book with my name on it.
Right away I liked this story. I liked Claire and I liked Christopher. She was easy to relate to and likable. Christopher was handsome and sexy and interesting. Their whirlwind romance started slow, which was great, but soon developed into something much deeper.
And that’s when things kind of went off the track for me. There was a good chunk of the book spent on just Claire and Christopher in bed. Honestly, I got bored. There was a little plot twist that I saw coming. The conflict between the two made me angry, because it was a classic case of two stubborn people just not communicating.
But what made me drop my rating most of all was Christopher. I’m all for flawed characters, but I don’t think he ever overcame his. He was jealous and at times just mean to Claire, always criticizing her driving past the point of being cute/funny and to the point of being controlling. I do like that Claire stood up to him at times, but I think she defended his actions too many times when she should have been putting him in his place. I lost a little respect for her.
There’s a sequel but I don't think I’ll be reading it.
I still think Karen Booth is a wonderful author, this just wasn’t the book for me. I’ll check out other books of hers in the future.
Right away I liked this story. I liked Claire and I liked Christopher. She was easy to relate to and likable. Christopher was handsome and sexy and interesting. Their whirlwind romance started slow, which was great, but soon developed into something much deeper.
And that’s when things kind of went off the track for me. There was a good chunk of the book spent on just Claire and Christopher in bed. Honestly, I got bored. There was a little plot twist that I saw coming. The conflict between the two made me angry, because it was a classic case of two stubborn people just not communicating.
But what made me drop my rating most of all was Christopher. I’m all for flawed characters, but I don’t think he ever overcame his. He was jealous and at times just mean to Claire, always criticizing her driving past the point of being cute/funny and to the point of being controlling. I do like that Claire stood up to him at times, but I think she defended his actions too many times when she should have been putting him in his place. I lost a little respect for her.
There’s a sequel but I don't think I’ll be reading it.
I still think Karen Booth is a wonderful author, this just wasn’t the book for me. I’ll check out other books of hers in the future.
tweetyandy's review against another edition
4.0
This wasn't what I expected. I thought this would be a fluff book but honestly there is more going on. It was good but I wanted more...a teen year later update or a sequel...
cocktailsandbooks1's review against another edition
4.0
Claire Abby was a single mom who has finally gotten her big break with Rolling Stone magazine. She was getting a feature interview with none other than Christopher Penman, guitarist for her favorite British rock band Banks Forest. Claire was stuck between jumping up and down as the teenage girl she was getting to meet her crush or celebrating that this could be just what she needs to ensure she can send her teenage daughter to college. When she meets Chris, she finds he's not at all what she had imagined in her teenage mind or what she had read in the scandal sheets. He's flirty, fun and has a way of making her forget about everything except how she feels when she's with him. But when reality, in the form of Chris' ex-wife, Claire's ex-boyfriend and the tabloids, enters their relationship will they be able to stick together as a team or will they walk away?
Chris and Claire were incredible complex people. The each had their own emotional issues that made getting involved with one another complicated. But when it came down to it, they were best when they were together. They balanced each other out. Chris was not only Claire's lover, but her best friend. She could open up to him about things and know he wouldn't judge her the way her father or sister would. For Chris, Claire (for lack of a better term) rooted him. She gave him a sense of family and of worth, something he'd desperately been missing with his ex-wife. Together they were a strong unit that could face anything together.
There were times when they let their insecurities from the past creep into their relationship. But it wasn't only their insecurities that did a number on them. In the end, they had to figure out what was better, living a life of agony without each other or fighting to get past this hurdle and be together.
There was something about this book that I just loved. I'm not sure if it was the fact that the Claire and Chris were my age or if it was because Claire was able to live out every teenage girls dream and catch her rock star prince. Whatever it was, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that had me from start to finish.
Chris and Claire were incredible complex people. The each had their own emotional issues that made getting involved with one another complicated. But when it came down to it, they were best when they were together. They balanced each other out. Chris was not only Claire's lover, but her best friend. She could open up to him about things and know he wouldn't judge her the way her father or sister would. For Chris, Claire (for lack of a better term) rooted him. She gave him a sense of family and of worth, something he'd desperately been missing with his ex-wife. Together they were a strong unit that could face anything together.
There were times when they let their insecurities from the past creep into their relationship. But it wasn't only their insecurities that did a number on them. In the end, they had to figure out what was better, living a life of agony without each other or fighting to get past this hurdle and be together.
There was something about this book that I just loved. I'm not sure if it was the fact that the Claire and Chris were my age or if it was because Claire was able to live out every teenage girls dream and catch her rock star prince. Whatever it was, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that had me from start to finish.
alleskelle's review
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️3 STARS⭐️⭐️⭐️
So I'm reading this great and positively charming story about a journalist, single mom (40) who gets to interview the sexy and still gorgeous rockstar she had a huge crush on when she was a teenager. (drools
So I'm reading this great and positively charming story about a journalist, single mom (40) who gets to interview the sexy and still gorgeous rockstar she had a huge crush on when she was a teenager. (drools
prgchrqltma's review
2.0
This went on my TBR pile 5 years ago, and I think I was in a different reader place then. This book had a ton of information on the heroine and her backstory. I DNF'd around 30%, though, because nothing much seemed to be happening in terms of plot.
theficster's review
4.0
This book is a very comfortable read. The dynamic between Claire and Chris is very believable and fun to watch play out. I will look for more books by this author.
I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
theficster's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a very comfortable read. The dynamic between Claire and Chris is very believable and fun to watch play out. I will look for more books by this author.
I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
scorchingnix's review
4.0
Originally reviewed at http://scorchingbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/a-nix-review-bring-me-back-by-karen.html
Really 3.5/3.75 Stars
There is something that you should know about me before I delve into this review; I was never a teenage fan girl. There was never a band that I obsessed over or one musician that I idolised; I think that is one of the reasons I struggled with the start of the book. I’ve seen many reviews from bloggers who have those types of memories and they didn’t struggle in the way I did with this book. Remember this before you read on.
The start of this book was difficult as hell for me. You know the premise, so I’m going straight into my thoughts and feelings on the matter. The premise was intriguing and I loved it. The reality, however, was quite difficult for me to engage with. I found Claire to be really quite annoying. She basically acted like a fan-girl for the entire first quarter of the book, even into the beginnings of her relationship with Chris, and it gave him leeway to be an absolute douche. To be honest, I didn’t like either of them at this point as neither of them was acting like a well-rounded person. He was acting like a charming, suave 2D character who basked in the adoration her simpering character gave him. It was tedious but I couldn’t put it down though...I just couldn’t!
The change in the book came when she started to stick up for herself, when she started to call him on his bullshit behaviour. She realised that she was being used and started to demand a little bit more consideration and respect. This created a shift in the whole tone of the book as he had to engage a little more in the relationship and stop expecting her to be happy with the scraps that he gave her. He became less of a cartoon and more of a man and, shock of all shocks, I actually started to like him. His tenderness towards her and her teenage daughter created the persona of a man who valued family and relationships and would have been, in another lifetime, a fantastic family man. The only thing was I still couldn’t see how their relationship would work when it would mean the sacrifice of her career for his. This was bound to create resentment, worsened by the distance between them as his career blossomed, and it just seemed like such an unbalanced way to start a life together.
After this, the book seemed to stray away from dealing with the difficulties of being involved in a relationship with a star, those problems having been dealt with or recognised, and a whole new heap of issues began. I will not mention these but know this; at some points in this book the characters actions were inexplicable to me, leaving me frustrated and blooming angry. Kudos to the author here because these actions could have alienated me from the story and made me refuse to finish this book. They didn’t and were written in such a way that this book became a habit for me. I literally could not put it down; I think I referred to it as “crack” on twitter ‘cos I had to know what the end of their tale would be. I laughed with them, hurt with them and was genuinely unsure of what I wanted the ending to look like. When they were together it was lovely but the amount of external pressures was overpowering and destructive to any relationship they were nurturing. It was frustrating.
The majority of my issues with this book were the characters. Would this have been different if it had been written in third POV instead of first? Who knows, but I do seem to be in minority with the problem with her character. When the shock of his a-list status faded, the story became less about the relationship between a star and his fan and more about the difficulties facing these two individual people who had genuine feelings towards each other. This is where I really started to like the story. The ups were lovely, the downs soul destroying and the tension was attention grabbing. Book crack all-round!!
Really 3.5/3.75 Stars
There is something that you should know about me before I delve into this review; I was never a teenage fan girl. There was never a band that I obsessed over or one musician that I idolised; I think that is one of the reasons I struggled with the start of the book. I’ve seen many reviews from bloggers who have those types of memories and they didn’t struggle in the way I did with this book. Remember this before you read on.
The start of this book was difficult as hell for me. You know the premise, so I’m going straight into my thoughts and feelings on the matter. The premise was intriguing and I loved it. The reality, however, was quite difficult for me to engage with. I found Claire to be really quite annoying. She basically acted like a fan-girl for the entire first quarter of the book, even into the beginnings of her relationship with Chris, and it gave him leeway to be an absolute douche. To be honest, I didn’t like either of them at this point as neither of them was acting like a well-rounded person. He was acting like a charming, suave 2D character who basked in the adoration her simpering character gave him. It was tedious but I couldn’t put it down though...I just couldn’t!
The change in the book came when she started to stick up for herself, when she started to call him on his bullshit behaviour. She realised that she was being used and started to demand a little bit more consideration and respect. This created a shift in the whole tone of the book as he had to engage a little more in the relationship and stop expecting her to be happy with the scraps that he gave her. He became less of a cartoon and more of a man and, shock of all shocks, I actually started to like him. His tenderness towards her and her teenage daughter created the persona of a man who valued family and relationships and would have been, in another lifetime, a fantastic family man. The only thing was I still couldn’t see how their relationship would work when it would mean the sacrifice of her career for his. This was bound to create resentment, worsened by the distance between them as his career blossomed, and it just seemed like such an unbalanced way to start a life together.
After this, the book seemed to stray away from dealing with the difficulties of being involved in a relationship with a star, those problems having been dealt with or recognised, and a whole new heap of issues began. I will not mention these but know this; at some points in this book the characters actions were inexplicable to me, leaving me frustrated and blooming angry. Kudos to the author here because these actions could have alienated me from the story and made me refuse to finish this book. They didn’t and were written in such a way that this book became a habit for me. I literally could not put it down; I think I referred to it as “crack” on twitter ‘cos I had to know what the end of their tale would be. I laughed with them, hurt with them and was genuinely unsure of what I wanted the ending to look like. When they were together it was lovely but the amount of external pressures was overpowering and destructive to any relationship they were nurturing. It was frustrating.
The majority of my issues with this book were the characters. Would this have been different if it had been written in third POV instead of first? Who knows, but I do seem to be in minority with the problem with her character. When the shock of his a-list status faded, the story became less about the relationship between a star and his fan and more about the difficulties facing these two individual people who had genuine feelings towards each other. This is where I really started to like the story. The ups were lovely, the downs soul destroying and the tension was attention grabbing. Book crack all-round!!
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