readastorywithtory's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
merlin_reads's review
2.0
Y'all, I am a sucker for rock star romances. So when this came up for free on Kindle one day, of course I hit download. But sadly, this one just lacked connection.
Beryl Sutton feels stuck in her small town in Oregon. When a chance of a lifetime comes in the shape of a job offer in New York, she jumps at the chance - much to the displeasure of her mother and now ex-boyfriend. When she arrives, it's nothing like she thought it would be (shocked face). And her job is sort of a glorified house sitter. Now, I'm not rich so I don't actually know if property managers actually clean peoples houses, pick up their dry cleaning and do their grocery shopping for the client, but hey sure why not. Beryl's first house that she is assigned belongs to rock star Gavin Slater. He's basically gone for an undisclosed amount of time. So while he's away, Beryl who is homeless now, decides to just live there and wear the clothes of his ex-girlfriend (which he asked to be thrown away).
Guys, she even invites her mother to fly out and stay with her! This isn't your house!!
I just had so many issues. Especially when it came to the relationship between the two. Gavin and Beryl don't actually meet until almost the end of the book. Their entire relationship is via IM's. After a few conversations, Beryl is in love. It just wasn't believable in the way it was portrayed to us. With Beryl having just broken up with her long term boyfriend and Gavin having just lost his girlfriend/muse/lover, this relationship just screamed REBOUND.
Also, I must give a shout out to Beryl's BFF - Stella - is one of the worst friends I have ever read. She invites Beryl to come live with her in NY because she has a spare room, but when Beryl arrives, Stella is nowhere to be found and not even living at the apartment Beryl already paid a deposit on. So with Beryl being homeless now, Stella doesn't even reach out to her until DAYS later. Who the hell doesn't tell their best friend they were kicked out of their apartment and that maybe Beryl should find a new place to live before coming to NY. Not too mention she basically stabs Beryl in the back later in the book because she's jealous and wants to use her friends relationship to get ahead in the journalism world. I hated her with every fiber of my being. The second book is about her and there is no way I can bring myself to read it.
This book only got an extra star for the doorman and the dog.
Beryl Sutton feels stuck in her small town in Oregon. When a chance of a lifetime comes in the shape of a job offer in New York, she jumps at the chance - much to the displeasure of her mother and now ex-boyfriend. When she arrives, it's nothing like she thought it would be (shocked face). And her job is sort of a glorified house sitter. Now, I'm not rich so I don't actually know if property managers actually clean peoples houses, pick up their dry cleaning and do their grocery shopping for the client, but hey sure why not. Beryl's first house that she is assigned belongs to rock star Gavin Slater. He's basically gone for an undisclosed amount of time. So while he's away, Beryl who is homeless now, decides to just live there and wear the clothes of his ex-girlfriend (which he asked to be thrown away).
Guys, she even invites her mother to fly out and stay with her! This isn't your house!!
I just had so many issues. Especially when it came to the relationship between the two. Gavin and Beryl don't actually meet until almost the end of the book. Their entire relationship is via IM's. After a few conversations, Beryl is in love. It just wasn't believable in the way it was portrayed to us. With Beryl having just broken up with her long term boyfriend and Gavin having just lost his girlfriend/muse/lover, this relationship just screamed REBOUND.
Also, I must give a shout out to Beryl's BFF - Stella - is one of the worst friends I have ever read. She invites Beryl to come live with her in NY because she has a spare room, but when Beryl arrives, Stella is nowhere to be found and not even living at the apartment Beryl already paid a deposit on. So with Beryl being homeless now, Stella doesn't even reach out to her until DAYS later. Who the hell doesn't tell their best friend they were kicked out of their apartment and that maybe Beryl should find a new place to live before coming to NY. Not too mention she basically stabs Beryl in the back later in the book because she's jealous and wants to use her friends relationship to get ahead in the journalism world. I hated her with every fiber of my being. The second book is about her and there is no way I can bring myself to read it.
This book only got an extra star for the doorman and the dog.
heatheray's review
5.0
Who doesn’t want the bad boy rock star to fall in love with them raise your hand.
I didn’t think so.
Who wouldn’t want to tame that? Photo Credit
Such a fun read.
Here is Beryl, living her life away in Oregon, surviving day to day. Her life isn’t horrible but it certainly isn’t exciting. When her father’s best friend offers her a job in NY she takes it. Now I’ve never been to New York, but I can guess it is as different from Oregon as it is from where I’m from – Iowa. That being said, she has this best attitude. She is going to try new things, have new experiences, and oh yeah, there’s this rock star named Gavin whose place she is house sitting.
Gavin. Mr Gavin. He’s been through hell. He’s carrying guilt. Heck, he’s not even actually there. He’s off in some exotic location running from the past, trying to figure out life, when he gets an email about the state of his home. Which, I think is worse than mine after my kids have had their way with it without as much supervision as they should have.
I loved it. Heidi is a new to me author and I am so glad I had the chance to read Tattoo Thief. It was one of those, “I really need to get up and take a shower so I can get to where I need to be, do I really need that shower? No, I’m not stinky, I can just throw my hair up so I can keep reading” reads. I almost thought, I had a really long day yesterday, I mean really who would fault me if I stayed in bed so I could finish this book?
I finally put it down and headed off but as soon as I got back home, I had the kids play quietly while I finished off Gavin and Beryl.
If you love your rock stars and you love the girls who they fall for, you’re going to absolutely adore this book.
I didn’t think so.
Who wouldn’t want to tame that? Photo Credit
Such a fun read.
Here is Beryl, living her life away in Oregon, surviving day to day. Her life isn’t horrible but it certainly isn’t exciting. When her father’s best friend offers her a job in NY she takes it. Now I’ve never been to New York, but I can guess it is as different from Oregon as it is from where I’m from – Iowa. That being said, she has this best attitude. She is going to try new things, have new experiences, and oh yeah, there’s this rock star named Gavin whose place she is house sitting.
Gavin. Mr Gavin. He’s been through hell. He’s carrying guilt. Heck, he’s not even actually there. He’s off in some exotic location running from the past, trying to figure out life, when he gets an email about the state of his home. Which, I think is worse than mine after my kids have had their way with it without as much supervision as they should have.
I loved it. Heidi is a new to me author and I am so glad I had the chance to read Tattoo Thief. It was one of those, “I really need to get up and take a shower so I can get to where I need to be, do I really need that shower? No, I’m not stinky, I can just throw my hair up so I can keep reading” reads. I almost thought, I had a really long day yesterday, I mean really who would fault me if I stayed in bed so I could finish this book?
I finally put it down and headed off but as soon as I got back home, I had the kids play quietly while I finished off Gavin and Beryl.
If you love your rock stars and you love the girls who they fall for, you’re going to absolutely adore this book.
lovehollyxx's review
3.0
3.5 stars
Beryl had been living a safe and boring life in Eugene with her mother. When her "uncle" found her working in a coffee shop, he offered her an adventure. Move to New York City and work for him at his property business. And that's exactly how Beryl ended up house sitting for rock star Gavin Slater, lead singer of Tattoo Thief.
Gavin had left his apartment in a hurry, and no one knew where to or why. What Beryl did know is that before he left, he trashed his house, and it was now her job to get it all cleaned up. After contacting the sexy, singing bad boy via email, the pair started a friendship that quickly escalated into more, as Gavin found what he had been looking for. His opposite, and his equal.
I loved the concept of how this couple were put into each others lives, and helped the other without even realising it. I think it was a great way for their relationship to develop and I liked that the majority of their communication was online while Gavin was away, though I did have one problem.
When they first started talking, Gavin was a real douchebag and Beryl was very professional and proper, but then she calls him an asshole and it's like this flipped a switch and all of a sudden he was really nice to her and wanting to be her friend. I get that he liked her because she didn't treat him like a rock star, but for me it just didn't work, and especially when Beryl was telling him to "own his shit." It's just not something you say to someone you don't know.
In a lot of NA books these days, once the two main characters meet each other, they are inseparable and completely consumed with each other. Well as Gavin is away with limited internet access, that obviously couldn't happen for these two, and so we saw Beryl have a life outside of her connection with Gavin, and I liked seeing the stuff she got up to.
She met a great guy, a not so great guy (and I LOVED how she got her own back on him), a kid who needed his head screwing on right, an amazing doorman and a socialite, amongst others. I loved how her relationships with each of these characters started and developed, though I wish we could have seen more of Gavin's band mates as the rest of the series books will be about them, and I would have liked to get to know them better.
The next book in the series TYLER AND STELLA has already been released and the following two books will be released throughout 2014. I'm definitely interested to see what happens in book #2 as I was not a fan of Stella but I think Tyler will be a real charmer, and hopefully we will get to see more from the rest of the band too.
Beryl had been living a safe and boring life in Eugene with her mother. When her "uncle" found her working in a coffee shop, he offered her an adventure. Move to New York City and work for him at his property business. And that's exactly how Beryl ended up house sitting for rock star Gavin Slater, lead singer of Tattoo Thief.
Gavin had left his apartment in a hurry, and no one knew where to or why. What Beryl did know is that before he left, he trashed his house, and it was now her job to get it all cleaned up. After contacting the sexy, singing bad boy via email, the pair started a friendship that quickly escalated into more, as Gavin found what he had been looking for. His opposite, and his equal.
I loved the concept of how this couple were put into each others lives, and helped the other without even realising it. I think it was a great way for their relationship to develop and I liked that the majority of their communication was online while Gavin was away, though I did have one problem.
When they first started talking, Gavin was a real douchebag and Beryl was very professional and proper, but then she calls him an asshole and it's like this flipped a switch and all of a sudden he was really nice to her and wanting to be her friend. I get that he liked her because she didn't treat him like a rock star, but for me it just didn't work, and especially when Beryl was telling him to "own his shit." It's just not something you say to someone you don't know.
In a lot of NA books these days, once the two main characters meet each other, they are inseparable and completely consumed with each other. Well as Gavin is away with limited internet access, that obviously couldn't happen for these two, and so we saw Beryl have a life outside of her connection with Gavin, and I liked seeing the stuff she got up to.
She met a great guy, a not so great guy (and I LOVED how she got her own back on him), a kid who needed his head screwing on right, an amazing doorman and a socialite, amongst others. I loved how her relationships with each of these characters started and developed, though I wish we could have seen more of Gavin's band mates as the rest of the series books will be about them, and I would have liked to get to know them better.
The next book in the series TYLER AND STELLA has already been released and the following two books will be released throughout 2014. I'm definitely interested to see what happens in book #2 as I was not a fan of Stella but I think Tyler will be a real charmer, and hopefully we will get to see more from the rest of the band too.
kaziteega's review
4.0
better then expected
I am very picky on my books, this was a freebie and so I did not have huge expectations for it. I have to admit it just exceed my expectations and I loved it! It stated out a bit wordy but it gets better. I love the attitude that Beryl has, it screams authentic. This is a series i will probably keep up with, and in hopes it continues to grow and exceed all my expectations.
I am very picky on my books, this was a freebie and so I did not have huge expectations for it. I have to admit it just exceed my expectations and I loved it! It stated out a bit wordy but it gets better. I love the attitude that Beryl has, it screams authentic. This is a series i will probably keep up with, and in hopes it continues to grow and exceed all my expectations.
stenaros's review
3.0
I cut my romance teeth on bodice rippers during my junior high years and I still think fondly one one author's books, though not fondly enough to do some internet research and figure out who she was or what the books were. I eventually got tired of the formula and the budding feminist in me got really tired of the strict gender roles. I moved onto other things by high school and causal dipping into the literature in the years since showed me nothing much had changed.
I also don't read e-books. I like a real book, I like a real page, I like going to the library, I like my thumb calibrating how much longer I have until the story is over. I don't want to buy yet another device to keep charged. Reading time on my phone is taken up with keeping up with social media and reading the electronic version of the paper on the days there isn't a print issue.
However. Heidi Joy Tretheway's sessions at the Willamette Writers Conference were funny and informative and she describes what she writes as "smart smut." Hitting a conference wall, a combination of tired/boring presenter/it was a gorgeous day/there was a pool at the hotel, I downloaded this book and spent a couple hours hanging out in the shade, not learning about writing historical fiction and flipping through this little adventure.
There wasn't as much smut as I was expecting (hoping for), but the stuff that was there was good enough, the characters didn't seem to be locked into traditional gender roles and the character development was interesting. I think this book suffered from the relationship developing mostly online, as reading google chat messages back and forth is less immediate than in-person encounters, but things were ultimately engrossing. It helped that the male lead was the singer in a famous rock band. Who isn't a sucker for famous rockers reforming their ways?
And I must say, finishing this book, took me straight into the second in the series, and had me staying up until one in the morning finishing that. Which led me directly to the third book, and I would have stayed up late finishing the fourth, but THERE IS NO FOURTH BOOK YET! So I started over with book one and devoted a vacation day to reading three books I'd just finished. I'd say Ms. Tretheway's got something.
(I really debated posting this review and admitting I'd read this, but when something takes that amount of my attention, I should probably just admit it.)
I also don't read e-books. I like a real book, I like a real page, I like going to the library, I like my thumb calibrating how much longer I have until the story is over. I don't want to buy yet another device to keep charged. Reading time on my phone is taken up with keeping up with social media and reading the electronic version of the paper on the days there isn't a print issue.
However. Heidi Joy Tretheway's sessions at the Willamette Writers Conference were funny and informative and she describes what she writes as "smart smut." Hitting a conference wall, a combination of tired/boring presenter/it was a gorgeous day/there was a pool at the hotel, I downloaded this book and spent a couple hours hanging out in the shade, not learning about writing historical fiction and flipping through this little adventure.
There wasn't as much smut as I was expecting (hoping for), but the stuff that was there was good enough, the characters didn't seem to be locked into traditional gender roles and the character development was interesting. I think this book suffered from the relationship developing mostly online, as reading google chat messages back and forth is less immediate than in-person encounters, but things were ultimately engrossing. It helped that the male lead was the singer in a famous rock band. Who isn't a sucker for famous rockers reforming their ways?
And I must say, finishing this book, took me straight into the second in the series, and had me staying up until one in the morning finishing that. Which led me directly to the third book, and I would have stayed up late finishing the fourth, but THERE IS NO FOURTH BOOK YET! So I started over with book one and devoted a vacation day to reading three books I'd just finished. I'd say Ms. Tretheway's got something.
(I really debated posting this review and admitting I'd read this, but when something takes that amount of my attention, I should probably just admit it.)