Lifetime dreams unlocked–but who holds the key to this bass-player’s heart?Jesse Davis’ dreams are about to come trueHe’s worked his way onto the tour busDone his hours in backwater pubs and clubsNow he’s on the cusp of hitting the big time.Yellow Lady is about to embark on their first US tourAnd their star’s firmly on the riseBut Jesse’s interest has been piquedBy one sassy and unavailable, Los … interest has been piqued
By one sassy and unavailable, Los Angeles photographer.
Ruby Nelson is sick to death of dealing with self-seeking celebrities
When she’s offered the chance to leave the LA scene
And work with an eminent reporter
She snaps up the chance
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Ruby finds herself on Jesse’s tour bus
The mysterious bass player begins to shed his celebrity shell
Ruby’s forced to rethink everything about the music industry, celebrity and her own fear of following her heart.
BREAKDOWN is book 3 of the King Brothers Rockstar romance series.
No rockstars (or bass players!) were harmed during the writing of this story!
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Fame Threatens To Keep Jesse And Ruby Apart. A Great Look Behind The Scenes Of A Band On The Edge Of Becoming An Overnight Success!
In Breakout, book one, Dylan King and Destiny Hughes tell their story. Breakthrough is the second book in this series. It is Liam Herewini and Alannah Walsh’s slow burn story. Breakdown is the story of Jesse Davis and Ruby Nelson. The books can be read as stand-alones, although reading them in series is more meaningful.
In book two the band is still in New Zealand. A new band has been formed following a sad ending to a promising young band on the cusp of fame. Liam and Jesse, best friends and bandmates, with the direction and support of their hard-nosed manager, Calvin, form Yellow Lady by joining forces with the King brothers, Marty and Dylan. Liam and Jesse bring maturity and experience to the group. New members Marty and Dylan are eighteen, young and inexperienced, but together they are powerful song writers. Calvin sees something special in the new group. After the band completes a fabulous tour, they secure a U.S. agent and take off for L.A. Things move quickly. But this time around Jesse and Liam are not giving into hope. That had crushed them the first go around.
Jesse Davis, probably about twenty-three – like Liam, is a bad boy bass player from New Zealand. That image is part of his job, but not the part he enjoys. Reserved and withdrawn, Jesse prefers to be out of the limelight. That is one of the reasons he chose to play bass and not guitar. He wants to play, tour, and keep to himself, but he understands that for his band’s success he has to pose and be objectified by aggressive female fans. Women scare him. His mother had been absent as he grew up, so he lacks experience interacting with females. He has a bad track record with relationships and is at a loss as to why. Reminding him of his lonely past, rejection is a hard pill to swallow.
Music saved Jesse, helped him maintain his sanity, and gave him a path away from the life his father wanted for him. In the opening of book three, Yellow Lady has been in L.A. just over four months and there is a lot of buzz about the band. They play local gigs, rehearse, and do promotions relentlessly. Jesse hates the show business part, the women throwing themselves at him. None of the women interest him until a red-headed photographer shows up at a shoot and takes charge. He feels pulled to her, and based on her reaction to him, she feels it, too.
Ruby Nelson is on the brink of realizing her dream job as a photo journalist working with a seasoned investigative journalist. She has always loved taking pictures, but working for the lifestyle section of a magazine had only ever been meant to be a stepping stone into meaningful work. She hates working with stars. Fame has a way of destroying everything and everyone. L.A. is particularly heinous. It is a city of fake smiles and show business. The media perpetuates lies and the fans buy it up. Ruby can’t wait to land her dream job and get away on her first assignment.
In the meantime, Ruby finds herself at a photo shoot for a supposedly up and coming band called Yellow Lady. There is something different about the group. She senses real relationships and captures the real men behind the band. Bassist Jesse especially captivates her. Judging from the way he keeps looking at her, she is afraid he might be fascinated with her, too, which is unfortunate since she can’t risk her heart on fame.
After brushing Jesse off, days later Ruby finds herself assigned to document Yellow Lady’s rise to fame during a six week tour in which they are to spend six weeks together on a tour bus with no privacy. Their chemistry is palpable, but their fears are paralyzing. Jesse and Ruby are both broken. Both felt abandoned as children. Ruby knows what fame does to people, but fame goes hand in hand with Jesse’s life goal. She believes music is meaningless, while music saved Jesse’s life. They are an ocean apart despite their strong desire. Both must come to terms with their past before they can have a future together. In the end, Jesse and Ruby earn a well-deserved HFN!
Breakdown addresses fame and it’s various implications. Both Jesse and Ruby have strong feelings about fame, but they come from very different perspectives, which consequently threaten their love at first sight story before it even gets started. It is also a story of family. The familial bonds forged in band’s inner circle provide comfort and unconditional support.
There are a few things that might bother some readers. *Spoilers* First, Ruby and Alannah form a friendship that seemingly disappears for a while without explanation. Next, the band’s East Coast tour inexplicably becomes a West Coast tour. Further, the characters spend a lot of time in their heads and sometimes sound repetitive. Finally, the passage of time is hard to follow. It seems they are further into the tour than they end up being.
Jesse and Ruby’s journey is nicely written. The plot is complex given the length. Though Ruby’s is a little light, the characters are nicely developed overall. The band has a rich history, and anyone reading the entire series will appreciate the cast of characters. Liam and Alannah didn’t get much time together in their story, so it is rewarding to see and hear from them here! The POV alternates between Jesse and Ruby. I rate this book four stars.
I received a free advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.