“His dark hair was buzzed short, and he had several piercings in his ears. Blue eyes, hazy with a mixture of sleep deprivation and desire, stared down at me.”
Music of the Heart by Katie Ashley was a book I couldn’t wait for. As always, I read no teasers, but I did know it was about a Rock Star and a female musician. If you know my tastes, you know I LOVE me a hot, tattooed rock star (see my favorite books with rock stars or famous characters here–this book will be added). And I also love Katie Ashley’s other books, The Proposition series and Nets and Lies. Music of the Heart was a nice, sweet, fun, light rock star romance with a little angst, some good sex, a few laughs and a few tears.
Abby is 21 and a fairly innocent virgin. She has grown up with missionary parents and 3 older brothers, so she has seen a lot of the world and can put up with the best of them. Her brothers, Jacob’s Ladder (a Christian band) are on tour and she is about to join them to try out the road before replacing their lead singer who is quitting to get married.
She is to meet them at a huge music festival, where there are tons of tour busses, and is directed to the wrong one, thinking it was her brothers’. So she heads to the bedroom to wake them a bit later and she literally falls into bed with Jake Slater, the gorgeous lead singer of Runaway Train. Thinking that Abby is his regular groupie, Bree, Jake started “mauling” her.
“No, you’re definitely not Bree. You put her to shame, Angel.”
“You don’t have to fight it. I promise I won’t think bad of you later on. And I’ll make you feel so fucking good, you won’t be thinking bad of yourself either, Angel.”
So she kneed him in the balls, and proceeded to faint from hypoglycemia and shock when she realized she was on the wrong bus, going to wrong direction.
When she wakes up, she meets the band. AJ, the drummer (I loved him!), starts speaking/flirting dirty Spanish with her (I wish I knew exactly what he said) which she understood because she has lived in so many countries. As the rest of the band, Rhys, Bray and Jake all learn what is going on, they all like her immediately.
Jake: “The more Abby/Hell’s Angel spoke, the more I started to dig her. She wasn’t star-struck by us, and she gave as good as she got–my sore balls were testimony of that.”
When she calls her brothers to tell them what happened, they freaked.
“Well, I’ve only managed to do the drummer and bassist so far, but I’m thinking we could get a threesome going and knock out the others. Maybe I’ll gang-bang with the roadies when we stop for dinner!” …”
….give me a little credit? I’ve held on to my virginity this long, I think it’ll hold for a while.”
Then she realizes she just said this on a tour bus full of gorgeous rock stars. But as they talk, Jake accuses Abby of not having the balls to stay with them even one night on their bus. So she takes a bet that she can last 7 days. (But they didn’t bet for anything???)
The flirtatious banter between Abby and the band made me laugh right from the start. Though they flirted like crazy, they knew she was different, and treated her with as much respect as a bunch of horny guys on a tour bus could.
“I’ll get to you sometime, Angel. I’ll break down all those goody girl walls you have built around you.”
Well, I wouldn’t say he broke down any goody goody walls, but he did break something! There was a serious instant connection between Jake and Abby that couldn’t be denied. Immediately, Jake is ready to change his manwhoring ways, or at least try. Yet he fucked up. A lot. And Abby was a very forgiving young lady. WAY too forgiving.
“We’d barely known each other twenty-four hours, so he didn’t owe me anything. But, deep down, his behavior pierced through my heart to sting my soul.”
But Abby sticks around. Any guy that is as awesome as Jake is with his sick mother deserves a second…and third…and fourth chance.
“Yes, Daddy. I really like Jake Slater from Runaway Train. Yes, I’ve only known him a week. yes, he’s a bad boy with tattoos and piercings, and yes, he’s your worst nightmare when it comes to the guy dating your little girl.”
Likes:
- This was a fun, sweet, sexy read with laugh out loud moments and even some tears, shock and outrage.
- I enjoyed all of the secondary characters and can’t wait to read more about them in the next book. (Especially AJ!)
- Music played a big part in this book, and having the playlist really enhanced my enjoyment.
- Jake’s mom was my hands-down favorite character, and every scene with her was awesome.
- Hot and sexy rock star romances are always a plus! 🙂
- I love when a woman makes a man totally change for her…especially a manwhore. Katie is great at those stories.
Dislikes:
- This novel lacked the depth of the other books I have read by Katie, the character development read more like a novella to me, though I still enjoyed the read.
- I believe in love at first sight, but this whole thing just moved way too quickly for my tastes.
- Abby forgave Jake way too easily and quickly.
- Abby wavered from angelic goody two shoes to a girl that grew up with lots of brothers and never seemed to settle on which personality won out.
- The way the scene with Bree was resolved (or not). Grrrrrrr…..makes NO sense (sorry…but I don’t want to spoil it)
Rating: 4 stars 4 Heat
I recommend this for any lover of rock star romances. It was a sweet, light, fun little fairytale romance to read between epic novels. I will gobble up every book in this series, but I would really like to see Katie go a little deeper in the next book.
“But in spite of all my faults, you still love me, right?”
“With all my heart and soul”
“Good. Because I feel the same fucking way.”
Purchase Music of The Heart
Amazon | BN.com | Smashwords
*Thank you Katie and Cris from The Book Avenue for providing the ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review and being part of this tour.
Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.
She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.
She also writes Young Adult fiction under the name Krista Ashe.
I loved the Proposition/Proposal Series. When did Music of the Heart come to you? Were you already writing your other series?
I guess I got the idea for it in late October. I was actually 11K words into Music of the Heart when The Proposition hit big, and everyone was clamoring for The Proposal. Okay, I guess I should say everyone was ready with pitchforks and torches for my cliffhanger of doom!! So I abandoned it to begin writing The Proposal.
Did you have an inspiration for Music of the Heart?
I love I Walked the Line and the love story of Johnny and June Cash. Most of my romances have that trope—the love of a good woman has the effect to change a man. So I wanted to apply it to the aspect to a somewhat self-centered, manwhore of a rocker who is inspired and changed by the love of a good but helluva spitfire girl. 2012 was a year of immense personal loss and grief for myself, so I knew I wanted to include the dark times I’d been through in the book as well.
I loved how music was such a huge part of the book. Was it the songs that inspired scenes or vice versa?
I write out of sequence, so certain scenes and parts come to me. For the karaoke scene where Abby proves to Jake that he can…erm, get it up for a virgin, lol, I hemmed between using Like a Virgin and When I Think About You I Touch Myself, lol. I loved Don’t You Wanna Stay, and I knew I wanted Abby and Jake to do a duet to it, so that scene came to me. It’s funny that in the shower and in the car are where most of my inspiration hits me.
Do you listen to music as you write?
Normally, I listen to the musical scores from movie soundtracks like Legends of the Fall, Meet Joe Black, and Braveheart. When I was writing the karaoke scenes, the duets, etc, I did listen to the songs to be in the moment.
Who are your favorite bands?
The Beatles, which I pay homage to with Brayden and Jake’s love the group. (Note from Ana…I loved this, my kids are both named for Beatles too!) U2 is another top, and then Bon Jovi. Pink is a favorite artist of mine, and I knew I wanted to feature her songs in the books. I love all music. I grew up on the oldies with my parents as well as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Segar. My ipod is filled with different styles and tastes of music.
Did your story come to you as a full story, already knowing the end? Or did you write it as you went along? No, different scenes come to me. Sometimes they’re at the beginning, some at the end. I write all out of order, and then patch it together like a quilt.
If Music of the Heart was made into a movie, who would be your perfect cast?
Nowadays Facebook and twitter notifications can really distract you from writing. Now that you are no longer teaching, do you have a set “writing time” each day?
Oh lord, I’m still so “flight-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” when it comes to scheduling writing time and promotion time. I’m just about through finishing an upstairs bedroom into an office, so I plan to get regimented into more of a schedule—especially since I’ll be doing a lot of travel in the upcoming months to book signings. (Yay Wicked Girls Book Weekend 2014!)
What happens next in the Runaway Train Series, and when do you hope to release the next book?
The next book up is AJ’s book, and I’m toying between Ensnare My Heart or Beat of My Heart for the title. I’ve been on a pretty whirlwind schedule with writing and now traveling, so it’ll probably be late Fall/early winter of next year.
Where do you do your writing?
Although I’ve always had an upstairs office, most of it happens on my laptop while I’m on the couch or in the chair!!
What is your favorite place you’ve ever been?
I love traveling, but my late grandmother’s house for all the thousands of wonderful memories it possesses of my late family members.
If you could go anywhere, where would it be?
I want to go to Ireland and Australia. I’m hoping to sneak Ireland in when I go to the UK book signing in November.
Top three favorite books? (not including yours)
And just why can’t my books be my favorite?!! JK Hands down my favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird, then the Harry Potter series, and then probably Gone with the Wind.
How about book boyfriends? (Besides yours)
Ethan Blackstone (The Blackstone Affair Series), Kellan Kyle (Thoughtless Series), and Braden Carmichael (On Dublin Street).
Celebrity Crush?
Robert Pattinson, Jensen Ackles, and David Gandy. A trifecta of smexiness and swoonworthiness.
Least favorite sexual terms used in books? (You didn’t use any ick-worthy words, by the way)
The c-word to describe a vagina…see, I can’t even type it!! I hate that word. I finally overcame my hate of saying the word pussy in the Proposal, but it was a teasing away. Spunk or cum grosses me out too!! (me too! See Wicked Girls GNO: Dirty Words)
What is your most embarrassing moment?
It would probably be this week when I was having furniture delivered, and the delivery man handed me the black bra that fell out of the old sofa.
Favorite Sex Position? (I always have to put that one in haha)
Cowgirl
3 words that best describe you
A goofball, a Steel Magnolia, and a believer.
Katie, Thank you so much for joining me today! I loved hanging out with you at Wicked Girls Book Weekend and can’t wait for next year!
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lorraine masterson says
I fell in love with Jake the moment he pulled Abby into his bed thinking she was Bree.
I find myself drawn to the rockers probably because when I was younger I guess
I was a groupie, following a band from town to town yeah it was fun! So glad
to know Katie is a Robert Pattison fan, me too! Love your work Katie!!
Bookworm Brandee says
Great review & interview, Ana! I love Katie’s books and look forward to reading this one. It sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for finding out who Katie’s book boyfriends and celebrity crushes are…mmm, love them all! 😉 And To Kill a Mockingbird is at the top of my list of all time favorite books as well!