Title: Crash into Me
Author: Tracy Wolff
Publisher/Year: Random House Publishing 11/25/13
Length: 208 pages
Series: Shaken Dirty #1
Overview
She’s totally off limits, but this rocker wants a taste…
Jamison Matthews has lusted after Ryder Montgomery since she was a preteen. But now that Ryder and her brother’s band, Shaken Dirty, has made it huge, she’s just one of many pining for the brooding lead singer. Too bad Ryder still sees her as a little sister. Not that it matters. Her brother would never allow it, and the last thing Jamison wants is to be another notch on a rock star’s bed post. Even if it’s Ryder’s.
Ryder doesn’t deserve happiness. After his fame destroyed his last girlfriend, he swore he’d never fall in love again. So when Jamison, the girl he’s been in danger of loving for years, joins the band on the road, he’ll do anything to deny the sparks between them-even after one hot night together. But Jamison is determined to show Ryder that he’s worthy of love-her love-and that she’s all grown up…and ready to play.
My Thoughts
After discovering this author through the Ethan Frost series, i had to give this one a chance, and i have to say that it’s really enjoyable if not reminiscent of a series that i read years ago. It’s ok – there’s nothing wrong with a series about a rock band where every installment we get to see a glimpse into what makes the rockers tick – and what makes the story great. The only downfall though is that there are too many similarities in this series to make it uber original from the other one that i read. Sinners on Tour by Olivia Cunning. There’s the same premise, a rock band and a sister joining the tour for various reasons, but it’s been ages since i’ve read it, and the author’s styles are a bit different so i’m all for it.
Anyway, in this series, we meet our leading lady Jamison who’s had the week from hell with losing her job, her car, her man and basically everything sucks, and the only good thing is that her brothers band is on tour and will be in town so she’s decided to surprise them a day early and show up at the show. They are like a second family to her, given that she’s been in the fold since she was thirteen, and the guys consider her a little sister to her dismay as she’s been lusting after Ryder – the bad boy of the band for that whole time as well.
So it’s through a series of events that 1) Ryder doesn’t realize that he’s singing to her at the show, 2) Jamison finds herself in a compromising position with a member of another band on the tour who doesn’t want to accept ‘no’ – and Ryder comes to her rescue…and this is where our story starts to heat up.
It’s really well written to be honest, you get the sense throughout the story that both of these characters are damaged which isn’t surprising but they find solace with each other which also isn’t surprising. Their chemistry is clear as day and the way that are together is romantic AND hot. which is a nice mix. You want to root for them even knowing that there are huge consequences since Jamison’s brother isn’t thrilled with the idea of them together.
Sadly there’s one other similarity that we get to the other series too – there’s a member of the band who’s addicted to heroin and we find him unconscious, not breathing and no heartbeat towards the end of this book. That’s happened before in Sinners and well, i think that if you’ve read that one, you know how this one will end up. I think that we’ll just have to see how that branch of the story shakes out.
Ms Wolff does a great job of giving us characters that we want to be invested in, and that we get really hot and steamy for, and that’s a nice trait. The plot line itself could be a bit deeper, but i don’t know that it’s necessary since it’s just thread that will keep all these future installments bound together. And to that note, the epilogue that we get teases what we’ll see in the coming books, without giving too much away. so on that note, i’m off to book 2 and i’ll be back later!