Jake McKallister may have been a rockstar but he was no ordinary one. Surviving an unspeakable crime as a young teen had shaped him into the guarded workaholic he was today. He lived his life trying to forget. If it hadn’t been for music, and the redemption he found through it, he might not have survived. Career success came easily for him. Personal connections did not.
When outspoken, … outspoken, vivacious college student, Casey Caldwell, was paired with the famously reserved rockstar for a friend’s wedding, she was prepared for the worst. What would they possibly have in common? She was a bubbly talker. He was a reclusive loner. His life was filled with music. She couldn’t carry a tune. She lived a happy childhood. His was a well-publicized nightmare.
Yet, despite their obvious differences, Jake and Casey found each other and it was as if her light balanced out his darkness. Would their love be strong enough to survive the weight of his tragic past?
In response to reader feedback, this novel was professionally re-edited as of June 28th, 2016
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Not your average rock-star romance. It’s so much more. Great story. Plus it’s only 99 cents today through Bookbub.
I am so in love with this story! This is the story of rock star Jake McKallister and college accounting student Casey Caldwell. They meet at the wedding of Jakes’s brother to Casey’s friend. Casey isn’t star struck by Jake. She treats him like a normal person and even plays a small ice breaker joke on him. They instantly have chemistry. They form a relationship and the adventure of their lives starts. From long distance phone calls to being on the tour together, they can’t get enough of each other. But being so close has caused past demons to come out from Jake. He’s not only famous for being a rock star but also a child victim to a serial killer. He escaped physically but not emotionally. Casey helps him. She doesn’t pity him. She is real with him and is the woman he needed. Jake just has to not let his demons and walls he’s built ruin this great thing.
Casey was my favorite character ever! She was real and straight to the point. She was strong and confident. I loved when she told Jake the things no one else would because he was a famous star. She didn’t care. She treated him like a person and I loved that. Jake was an amazing character too. He was star but it really didn’t go to his head. My heart broke for the things he was dealing with. I am so glad he met Casey. And she met him. What a beautiful story!
I absolutely love this story. J.Bengtsson absolutely builds a hysterical story.
A great rockstar story. The H grew up with a traumatic past and has found a woman that doesn’t pity him and allows him to love at his own pace. Eventually he is able to open up and begin to share his experience and accept love. I loved this story!
I loved this story so much I can’t tell you how many times I’ve enjoyed it. Truly an emotional roller coaster. if you enjoyed this definitely get the other ones about Jake’s siblings. Their stories tell how they were effected by his past and how it shaped the way they look at their lives and relationships. It was incredible.
There really is no way to review this book and give it enough credit. If you like the “hero who has survived a tragic past” type book, you like to laugh, you like to FEEL – read this. I don’t think anyone I’ve encountered has regretted the time they spent in this novel- or this series as a whole
This book is nothing like I expected! And I loved it!
Casey is a fabulous character. She is so funny, that I was literally laughing at some of the things that were written. My husband thought I’d gone a little loco! She is smart, beautiful, independent and hilarious!
Jake McKallister is your typical brooding rockstar. Putting him alongside Casey, though, made him shine!
Jake has really lost his way over his adult years. Has worked out how to numb a tragic event in his childhood and become emotionally detached from almost anything. Until Casey!
Their chemistry jumps off the page. It is very clever writing. To be able to make the reader truly feel the chemistry, is pretty special.
I adored the family dynamics in this story also. I love books that have a strong family unit, and the McKallister boys are that!
My only reason for not giving it 5 stars, is I personally enjoy a little more angst in my stories. Having said that, I will definitely read the rest of this series, as they are released. I am really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the family comes along.
A great, easy and funny read.
* I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy for Reading Tigress *
this book was not at all what I expected. Yes,there is a rock star but his life has not been easy and the darkness in him is not an easy thing to read. Along comes Casey,the light at the end and their jouney is not always “a piece of cake” This is a first time author and boy will I be reading more of her stories. There are a few editing issues but the story and characters are so complex it does not take away from the story. The secondary characters also a mix of loyalty and support. Great first try and one I will read again.
Great story
I’ve been hearing about this story for a long time and I bought the ebook right at the start of the year but put it off because I was scared I wouldn’t like it. But I was unexpectedly surprised at how; despite how horrific Jake’s backstory is, low angst this is. This is really well written and pretty fast paced despite how long it is. I’d be interested in reading the rest of the McKallister family stories.
Excellent writing with unique story & well developed characters made this a wonderful book. I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of the McKallister family stories. Listened to the audio – enjoyable start to finish!
An amazing rock star romance.
This book has been out a while and I recently picked it up when it was free. I can’t believe I just got around to reading it. It is an amazing story. Jake is a famous rock star with a tragic past. Casey is an accounting student in college. They meet at Jake’s brother’s wedding and hit it off. Casey is the opposite of what Jake usually sees in a woman, but together they work. They are good for each other. Even when things get bad, Casey stays by Jake’s side through it all.
I really liked this author’s way of telling a story. I was pulled into the book from the very start. I can’t wait to read more of her books.
4,5 stars
Wow!! I had heard many good things about this story but after reading the blurb and reading other reviews I also knew that this was more than just a story about a hot, brooding rock star, this was also a story about a guy who was kidnapped as a young teenager and who had been abused and had suffered during that time. So I was a bit afraid that this story would be a dark one but to my great surprise that wasn’t the case!!! To be honest, I caught myself smiling during a huge part of the story. Yes, there were some emotional scenes in it but nothing really dark ( or at least that is my personally view).
‘Cake’ is a new adult story, the main characters are in their early twenties and you get both POV’s. Just like the main man character Jake, this story is a bit of a contradiction in many ways. For one, the main characters Jake and Casey meet during a wedding, their connection is almost instant and during those two days their connection become deeper and deeper but even though it happens so quickly, the way the story is told, it also felt a bit like a slow burn because the writer really took her time to describe those two days (and I liked that!). Later the story went a bit faster and then again a bit slower. But during it all, the writing really felt fluent and I enjoyed it very much.
The female main character Casey had a wonderful sense of humour, she’s also very honest, intelligent, sensitive and very down to earth. I liked her very much! In Jake she found someone who had the same kind of humour and he may be super famous but Jake was also down to earth, serious, strong, kind, hard-working and also vulnerable in his own way. The banter between those two was amusing. The connection between them was honest, intense and sweet in some way. Of course, it wasn’t all smiles and sunshine in the story. There were moments where Jake was quiet and struggling with his past and emotions. But it was never too dark and I also think it’s normal after what happened to him.
I thought that the writer did a great job of giving us more insight into what happened to Jake as a teenager. It was revealed to us and Casey slowly through little things and conversations.
The secondary characters were great! Jake and Casey’s family brought more humour into the story. Especially Jake’s brothers and Casey’s brother. I really liked both families.
The only thing that I was a bit surprised about was the end. I liked the epilogue very much! That wasn’t the problem but just before the epilogue there was a very emotional scene and for me, personally, the change from that emotional chapter to the epilogue felt a little bit abrupt. I still liked the ending but it felt like the story went from slow burn to fast burn in one moment.
But I’m really happy that I decided to give this story a try and I will definitely try the other stories in this series too.
Wow…just wow. I really, really regret waiting so long to read this story. Casey and Jake both had me from the very beginning. Jake is not your typical rock star, at least not the way we usually read/know them. He’s got a supremely painful past and a strength he doesn’t even realize he has or acknowledges. Casey is just your small town nerd hoping to finish college and become and accountant. She is not a super fan nor does she even for one minute think that someone like Jake would ever give her the time of day (along with most people in her life). She is completely inappropriate at the best of times but I (and Jake) found her amazingly refreshing. I found their banter to be top notch and always fun. Until it isn’t. Jake must face his demons if he wants to ever have a healthy relationship but facing them may be the death of him. Does Casey have what it takes to fly into the face of fear and bring peace?
I swear my heart just stopped!!
The story is going refreshingly well, the most sorted relationship between the rockstar, Jake McAllister and Casey Caldwell. They’ve met at a wedding, groomsmen and bridesmaid and hit it off in an instant!!
Like I fell for them too. After a long time I’ve read a story that is so opposite of cheesy, fantastic chemistry, witty banter and sane adult, sensible love.
No pitfalls or insane misunderstandings stretching the story like a chewing gum unnecessarily.
Oh boy what a breath of fresh air.
J creates a villain whose presence is ominously dark and he resides within Jake eating him alive.
Unlike all the corny broken boy books floating around, this demon is legit heinous and I was dismayed as to how was Jake was surviving and living till now
The battle is uphill, the solution simple…it seems
But God intervenes at the wrong moment at the wrong time and
I swear my heart just stopped!!
I need to have some words with J when I meet her. You can’t do this to me, Missy.
My first book by her and now I’m hooked. Will have to go exploring through back catalog of her books now
5 stars for Shipping
This was an entertaining novel which was nicely written. The easy-to-read page-turning plot was filled with hilarity, romance, and suspense. Moreover, the author’s use of imagery and other vivid details helped to create a lively tone. The dynamic characters, Jake and Casey, gushed with chemistry. We learned earlier in the narrative a cute reason why it was titled “Cake” It was reiterated again at the end. Overall, I enjoyed reading the narrative.
I will try to make this short so I can just be done with this book. It was soooo longggg. It could have been shortened easily by getting rid of all the unnecessary scenes and dialog. The main couple were so good and kind and amazing that they were boring. No one is that perfect. Their first meet up started out pretty funny but then went downhill from there. Neither of them were that funny. The families were perfect. The side characters were all perfect. The building of Jake’s and Casey’s relationship went on forever. The story didn’t get interesting until about 80% and then there was a weird and annoying ending with a perfect HEA. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read but I don’t think I will read anything else by this author. It’s just not my cup of tea. The only really interesting part was Jake’s trip from LAX to Germany and all that he went through as a rock star. The current book covers with the model headshots are gorgeous. That is really what caught my eye to begin with but the contents were nowhere near as hot. The origin of the title “CAKE” and what Casey does with it near the end is pretty cute. Anyway, I couldn’t decide how to rate this so I went with three stars which for me means “just OK”.
This is a story that I had recommended to my by many people. I concede all the hype is true! The laugh out loud moments mixed with heartfelt characters make this a winner.
The relationship between these two feels very real! From first meeting til the end I was enthralled with them. Their joking with each other made me happy.
Jake and Casey both have amazing families. I would say Kyle, Luke and his mom are my favorites. They didn’t steal the show but made me wonder more about them.
My only down side is near the end of the book. I didn’t like the way the author gave one impression but we were actually left out of the loop to what did happen.
I did listen to this on audio. The narrators did a good job.
I ADORED this one! I have heard great things about this one and I’m glad to know it was well-deserved! The only thing that could have made it better would be to have more than just the romance plot or have side plots. However, still, I adored the read.
I read this story in one day, I couldn’t put it down! Rockstar, Jake meets goofy Casey at a wedding that they are both in and although awkward for the first few minutes, Casey remedied the situation with her antics which not only surprised and cracked Jake up it did me as well, so much so I teared up from laughing so hard I had to take a few minutes to regroup!
Jake and Casey’s relationship was a very enjoyable, sweet and sexy read! Jake’s past was unimaginable and different from any other rockstar contemporary romance. Definitely 5/5 stars. Highly recommend!