The sexy bad boys of Sinful Serenade are back as a relationship made for the media becomes something more between two people betrayed by past loves. Keep reading to get a super steamy glimpse of Play Your Heart Out by Crystal Kaswell, along with my impressions of it, then add it to your bookshelf. Learn even more about this book by visiting the other sites hosting this tour. In honor of this fourth installment in the series make sure to fill out the form below for the chance to win a $25 Amazon GC too!
He parties like a rockstar.
She's there to make sure no one finds out...
Jess James has her eye on the prize. She is finding the money to pay for law school. Period. She is starting a new life on her own. Period. And she's absolutely staying in Los Angeles, three thousand miles away from the people who expect her to lie for them. It doesn't matter how lonely she gets on her own, how exhausted she is from working overtime as a cocktail waitress, or how deep the knife wound in her back cuts. She is going to be a lawyer, whatever it takes.
Only she doesn't have what it takes. She can barely afford to pay her rent.
Sinful Serenade bassist Pete Steele has enough to pay Jess's rent and buy her a small island in the Caribbean. The famous, talented rock star has everything... except the one thing his manager wants. Pete rose to fame as a devoted boyfriend. Doesn't matter that his ex slept with his best friend, he needs to stop screwing his way through Los Angeles to keep his reputation clean. Pete works hard, and parties harder... and the sweet, blond waitress is exactly the girl he needs on his arm if he wants to keep the record company happy.
Their arrangement is simple: he pays her tuition, she plays his girlfriend. They'll lie to the world, but not to each other. Especially not when they're alone, in his bed, him figuring out exactly which buttons to push to get her moaning his name.
Jess is good at keeping up appearances. She can play the enigmatic rock star's girlfriend. But Pete shouldn't play games with a girl who's been broken before...
She's there to make sure no one finds out...
Jess James has her eye on the prize. She is finding the money to pay for law school. Period. She is starting a new life on her own. Period. And she's absolutely staying in Los Angeles, three thousand miles away from the people who expect her to lie for them. It doesn't matter how lonely she gets on her own, how exhausted she is from working overtime as a cocktail waitress, or how deep the knife wound in her back cuts. She is going to be a lawyer, whatever it takes.
Only she doesn't have what it takes. She can barely afford to pay her rent.
Sinful Serenade bassist Pete Steele has enough to pay Jess's rent and buy her a small island in the Caribbean. The famous, talented rock star has everything... except the one thing his manager wants. Pete rose to fame as a devoted boyfriend. Doesn't matter that his ex slept with his best friend, he needs to stop screwing his way through Los Angeles to keep his reputation clean. Pete works hard, and parties harder... and the sweet, blond waitress is exactly the girl he needs on his arm if he wants to keep the record company happy.
Their arrangement is simple: he pays her tuition, she plays his girlfriend. They'll lie to the world, but not to each other. Especially not when they're alone, in his bed, him figuring out exactly which buttons to push to get her moaning his name.
Jess is good at keeping up appearances. She can play the enigmatic rock star's girlfriend. But Pete shouldn't play games with a girl who's been broken before...
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MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:
With this fourth installment in the Sinful Serenade series readers are once again swept up in the lives of these larger than life musicians and the women who connect with them, issues and all. The romance between Pete Steele and Jess James may start out under the guise of a lie but it quickly becomes apparent that these two are a match made in heaven if Pete can put his past to rest and take a chance on love one last time. It's a rocky journey though, with lots of steamy interludes and feelings kept bottled up, from the first page to the last that kept me fully immersed in a HEA constantly in doubt.
Jess is the proverbial good girl who let an emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend keep her from living a life of her own choosing. With him out of the picture now, after a final blow to her self-esteem, she's ready to live life to the fullest. With money the final roadblock to her future of becoming a lawyer she makes a deal with a sexy devil that leads to heartache and lies. After a childhood full of lies that's the hardest part of their time together as she aches from the lies she has to tell his supportive friends and family. What hurts even more are the lies she has to tell herself as she grows ever closer to him and all the sweet things he does to make her life easier. When she can no longer hide her feelings an ultimatum will leave readers on the edge of their seat as Jess finally speaks up for the thing she wants most...Pete's heart. Jess is strong-willed and immensely likable but she's carried the weight of the world on her shoulders by keeping family truths hidden. She has a caretaker personality that has left her vulnerable and hurt by those closest to her but it's what draws Pete to her after his own heartbreak. On a whole she's a heroine you root for as she's a good girl deep down, despite Pete getting her to enjoy the naughty aspects of romance, and is true to herself and others.
Pete's the mysterious member of the band, known for being the devoted boyfriend...until his recent heartbreak that has turned him into the King of meaningless encounters. When a sweet and shy blonde waitress interrupts his current encounter she leaves an indelible impression that has him making an unconventional proposal that the media soon latches on to with glee. A lot of change surrounds Pete at the moment, from his brother moving out after a decade of living together to his high school sweetheart leaving him in a most hurtful way, and it's left his heart hardened. Being with Jess though makes it hard to keep his heart closed off as she likes heartfelt talks and demands truth between them at all times. As he gets to know her body he also gets to see her kind heart that loves him for himself instead of the rockstar persona who gives her everything she's dreamed of...minus his love. A childhood with his love leading to pain has him doubtful of the feeling and leery of giving his heart away after it's been thrown in his face by the two people closest to him. It leads to a rocky romance with Jess, full of angst, as he struggles to give her what she most wants from him. Pete's a sweet and sexy man who treats Jess like a queen. She's carried so many burdens in the past and in many subtle ways he shows he cares by handling them now. Their sexual encounters are combustible too and the most obvious way he shows his feelings. Their encounters are also playful which helps ease his emotional burdens too. Pete's a compelling rockstar who captured my attention in every scene he was in and held his own in interactions with his more flamboyant bandmates.
This was a super sexy story with a wide variety of sensual encounters, almost too many, that fogged up my glasses with their intense dirty talk and the heavy haze of sexual tension. Through each encounter Pete and Jess grew closer together with Jess growing stronger in asking for what she wanted and Pete guarding his heart more fully despite his subtle slips. They scorched up the sheets in the bedroom while outside of it they were fun and flirty. The interactions with the other members of Sinful Serenade, and their women, were funny with a familial vibe to them that left me charmed by all the supposed bad boys clearly tamed by love. While we don't get too deep of a look into the music part of the band's world we get to see the fame side and the benefits of getting and doing what you want. Along with that though is the cattiness and superficiality of people which caused a few problems along the way. While I enjoyed getting to know Jess and seeing things through her eyes, I wish we'd heard more from Pete. I wanted to dig deeper into his psyche and have him describe his deepest feelings himself instead of getting his feelings second hand. All in all though this was an entertaining story that kept me fully invested in the HEA of Jess and Pete and is another decadent part of the Sinful Serenade series. With the glimpses of other rockers hovering in this band's world I'm excited for the next series and the promise of more naughty and nice rockstars!
Jess is the proverbial good girl who let an emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend keep her from living a life of her own choosing. With him out of the picture now, after a final blow to her self-esteem, she's ready to live life to the fullest. With money the final roadblock to her future of becoming a lawyer she makes a deal with a sexy devil that leads to heartache and lies. After a childhood full of lies that's the hardest part of their time together as she aches from the lies she has to tell his supportive friends and family. What hurts even more are the lies she has to tell herself as she grows ever closer to him and all the sweet things he does to make her life easier. When she can no longer hide her feelings an ultimatum will leave readers on the edge of their seat as Jess finally speaks up for the thing she wants most...Pete's heart. Jess is strong-willed and immensely likable but she's carried the weight of the world on her shoulders by keeping family truths hidden. She has a caretaker personality that has left her vulnerable and hurt by those closest to her but it's what draws Pete to her after his own heartbreak. On a whole she's a heroine you root for as she's a good girl deep down, despite Pete getting her to enjoy the naughty aspects of romance, and is true to herself and others.
Pete's the mysterious member of the band, known for being the devoted boyfriend...until his recent heartbreak that has turned him into the King of meaningless encounters. When a sweet and shy blonde waitress interrupts his current encounter she leaves an indelible impression that has him making an unconventional proposal that the media soon latches on to with glee. A lot of change surrounds Pete at the moment, from his brother moving out after a decade of living together to his high school sweetheart leaving him in a most hurtful way, and it's left his heart hardened. Being with Jess though makes it hard to keep his heart closed off as she likes heartfelt talks and demands truth between them at all times. As he gets to know her body he also gets to see her kind heart that loves him for himself instead of the rockstar persona who gives her everything she's dreamed of...minus his love. A childhood with his love leading to pain has him doubtful of the feeling and leery of giving his heart away after it's been thrown in his face by the two people closest to him. It leads to a rocky romance with Jess, full of angst, as he struggles to give her what she most wants from him. Pete's a sweet and sexy man who treats Jess like a queen. She's carried so many burdens in the past and in many subtle ways he shows he cares by handling them now. Their sexual encounters are combustible too and the most obvious way he shows his feelings. Their encounters are also playful which helps ease his emotional burdens too. Pete's a compelling rockstar who captured my attention in every scene he was in and held his own in interactions with his more flamboyant bandmates.
This was a super sexy story with a wide variety of sensual encounters, almost too many, that fogged up my glasses with their intense dirty talk and the heavy haze of sexual tension. Through each encounter Pete and Jess grew closer together with Jess growing stronger in asking for what she wanted and Pete guarding his heart more fully despite his subtle slips. They scorched up the sheets in the bedroom while outside of it they were fun and flirty. The interactions with the other members of Sinful Serenade, and their women, were funny with a familial vibe to them that left me charmed by all the supposed bad boys clearly tamed by love. While we don't get too deep of a look into the music part of the band's world we get to see the fame side and the benefits of getting and doing what you want. Along with that though is the cattiness and superficiality of people which caused a few problems along the way. While I enjoyed getting to know Jess and seeing things through her eyes, I wish we'd heard more from Pete. I wanted to dig deeper into his psyche and have him describe his deepest feelings himself instead of getting his feelings second hand. All in all though this was an entertaining story that kept me fully invested in the HEA of Jess and Pete and is another decadent part of the Sinful Serenade series. With the glimpses of other rockers hovering in this band's world I'm excited for the next series and the promise of more naughty and nice rockstars!
My rating for this is a B+
*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.
BUY THE PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS IN THE SINFUL SERENADE SERIES AT AMAZON:
AUTHOR INFO:
Crystal Kaswell writes steamy new adult and erotic romance books. She loves when flawed characters fall head over heels for each other. Especially if they fall into bed first. She loves police procedurals, tea, and The Hunger Games series. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
WEBSITE: http://www.crystalkaswell.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/
GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.goodreads.com/
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Thanks for hosting today, Jody! Glad you liked it! :)
ReplyDeleteSound like a good read
ReplyDeleteI want to know why she is expected to lie for people.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good book. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very intriguing, thank you for the reveal!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds awesome.Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteSound like a good book
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I always looked for the bad boy. Looks like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI love all I have read so far, and can't wait to read the rest. (jozywails@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteIm intrigued and I so love the cover. Cant wait to read it myself
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this story. I like the book cover.
ReplyDelete