Everyone wants to get close to a rock star.The bright lights.The music.Those talented fingers strumming… a guitar.Everyone wants to bang a rock star. So why do I keep running from the one who wants me? I’m America’s Sweetheart.I have a reputation.He’s a boy-band icon turned rock god.I’m vanilla.He’s every flavor of bad.And he’s much, much too young for me.If I end up in Nick Ryder’s bed, my … too young for me.
If I end up in Nick Ryder’s bed, my career and I will both be screwed.
…but that’s only if I’m caught.
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I totally fell for sexy 23 yr old rock star Nick Ryder!! He’s the type of character that you instantly love. He’s everything you want in a hero. Natalia is America’s sweetheart, a 30 something actress who has worked hard to keep her life scandal free. Her career is her top priority and she cares too much about what everyone thinks of her. She meets Nick on the dance floor one night at a club and their chemistry was off the charts. They continue to see each other but Natalia is embarrassed on their age difference. She demands that this is only for sexy times and to keep their times together private. Nick has had his eye on her for some time and is falling hard for her. The steamy times are sizzling and sexy as hell!! How long can they continue to keep their feelings to themselves? How long before the press finds out and creates a scandal? How long can they continue pretending that they aren’t in love? I absolutely loved this story and can’t wait to read books #2 WANT by Kayti McGee and book #3 MORE by JD Hawkins telling us about Nick’s brothers!!! Quote: Knowing each other. Loving each other, Harmony and Melody. All the rest is just noise… Nick Ryder
I have a real soft spot for sexy rockers and I’m officially in love with Nick Ryder! This man makes you think all the dirty thoughts. He’s young…much younger than our heroine of the story but his age is definitely not an issue. Nick is smoking hot, sinfully naughty, and oh so yummy. There’s really no better way to describe him.
Natalia is America’s sweetheart. She’s been around the block a few times and finally has her life where she wants it. Being an actress in Hollywood is hard enough but living her personal life in the spotlight is much harder. She’s only playing by the rules now which makes it so much more difficult when someone like Nick walks into her life.
These two are off-the-charts hot and the chemistry between them is palpable. I loved these two together. They’re sweet and steamy, funny and sexy. It was a fantastic start to a series I already know I’m going to love! I can’t wait to read the other two installments and I’m so glad these three amazing authors decided to band together for this awesome series!
Natalia Lowen is an actress who has spent her career maintaining the status of America’s Sweetheart. Nick Ryder was 1/3 of the Ryder Brothers, a band he was in with his older brothers, but now he is on is own and making a career for himself, living the Rockstar life.
Their worlds collide at a club and the connection between the two was truly lust at first sight. However, Natalia didn’t want to have the bad girl image, she couldn’t be seen as a bad girl, and getting caught with a man 13 years younger than her would give her just that image.
I absolutely loved Nick! He is right up there with Hudson, Donovan and Weston for me when it comes to the men written by Laurelin. He may be young, but he is such an old soul. He is a romantic and boy did he make me swoon. I also loved Natalia. You could really feel her struggles when it came to wanting to maintain her “good girl” image, but wanting to give in to her true feelings and her wants.
The secondary characters in this story were also fantastic. Hadley was amazing, not just a “life designer” but also an amazing friend to Natalia. Rowen was just hilarious (seriously, that girl should have her own crazy story!). I can’t wait to read the other books in this series about Jake and Jonas, plus also get more of Nick and Natalia along the way!
Definitely a must read of 2018 and another fantastic story from Laurelin!
Close is the love story of Nick Ryder and Natalia Lowen.
Nick is a rockstar and a former member of a boy band, The Ryder Brothers. Natalia is a an A-list actress with a good girl image. This is an age gap Hollywood romance, and oh by the way Natalia is the older woman!
I have been waiting a long time for some of my favorite authors to flip the script on age gap romances and make the heroine older. My wish was finally granted!
Although they have an age gap of thirteen years, Nick was forced to grow up young being famous at such a young age, so he is wise beyond his years. Natalia seems to be tiring of her good girl image, but feels like she needs to maintain it in order to keep the high-paying acting jobs coming in.
While I loved most of Nick and Natalia‘s story, I was a little confused by how much Natalia cared about the press at the point in her career that she was. At 36, she should give no f**k$. She is a successful actress and I don’t believe dating a younger man would make her less sought after in Hollywood.
Overall, I did enjoy their love story especially how consistent and patient Nick was with Natalia. I really enjoyed Natalia‘s BFFs too, and Nick’s brother Jake made me laugh out loud so many times!
I am definitely looking forward to reading about the other Ryder brothers!
Close Book 1 of Ryder Brothers
by Laurelin Paige
5 Stars
Paige writes with so much heart, love, and passion! Unbelievable!! I loved it alot!!
The characters have great chemistry!! Very well written!!
Nick 23 years old and Natalia 36 years old~ age is just a number, right??
One-click this book today!
*4 Stars*
ARC kindly received in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting book for me, because while I didn’t mind the characters too much, I also don’t know if I entirely connected with them either. I preferred Nick over Natalia, and I think that’s because whilst I could understand her worry, it was a bit too at the forefront and too often for me.
Taking all that aside though, this was a really sweet story between these two, and Nick was damned adorable. I loved the detail and depth of this actions and emotions, and he was definitely a mature character for his age.
I liked that Natalia had a strong friendship with her two besties, and I like that eventually, she comes into herself, and becomes more of her own person.
I look forward to continuing this series, and seeing where it takes us with these guys
I have loved everything I have read by Laurelin Paige and Close is no different. Nick Ryder may be my favorite BBF right now. He is all swoony and sexy. He’s a rockstar and 23 years old. Enter Natalia, 36 and an actress. The chemistry between them is off the charts and their romance so perfectly written!!
Older woman, younger man romance and it’s hot! Love that trope and Laurelin nailed it with this one! She’s an actress and he’s a rockstar. Take a chance on Nick Ryder!
Ok, no secret, I adore Laurelin Paige’s writing. Close is no exception. LOVED IT! Close is a HOT, HOT, HOT, melt-your-panties tale of a young, cocky Rock God, Nick, and a sweeter-than-sweet famous actress, Natalia. Did I mention Natalia is a bit older than Nick? Like 13 years older? Yet Nick is the one with all the maturity…go figure…LOVED HIM! This is their sexy, sweaty, sweet love story. You need to meet Nick Ryder! You may want to smack Natalia upside the head a few times, LOL. Doesn’t matter. You’ll LOVE them as a couple! A charming, fun, super-hot read from this fabulously talented author. Don’t miss it!
All praise to Laurelin Paige!!! This is the first book I’ve read showing love to the wonders of an older woman/younger man relationship, and boy did she tug at my heart strings with this one. Throughout reading this book, my excitement level never wavered. I wanted Natalia and Nick to thrive on every level and Laurelin’s words did not disappoint. This book was such a thrill to take in and experience. It’s definitely not a romance that we see much of nowadays, so I “proceeded with caution”. But MY! How I am SO overjoyed that I did. ALL ROMANCE READERS NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! So often we read of typical young or “twenty something” love, and this was amazingly different. While there is an obvious young aspect to it, it’s such a different perspective. And I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Nick’s confidence and persistence. His ability to be so sure in what he wanted and never backing down made him sexy on an astronomical level. Ohhhhhhh! Laurelin Paige you are a 40-something woman’s hero!
One of the things that I have come to expect from Laurelin Paige is a whole lot of good sexy times! Nick and Natalia have some scorching scenes in this book, WOW! But the story is one that is easy to love. Rock and roll bad boy falls for an actress a lot older than him that is the media darling. I could feel Nick’s intense desire for Natalia through the whole story and Natalia’s was with herself as she tried to be the person she thought the media wanted her to be.
My favorite thing about this story was how Nick found Natalia utterly unforgettable even though she was over a decade older than him. I loved that he saw her and not an age. We don’t have many books where the heroine is older and accomplished. A lot of men would be scared off by that, but Nick loved Natalia and everything about her and wanted to give her the world. He was easy to fall in love with.
I love the concept of this series. Three books in the series each written by a different author. What an amazing concept! I can’t wait to read the next book!
Close was so good! I loved it! I loved loved Nick, he was sexy, cocky, charming and so swoony! Natalia was sweet. Nick and Natalia had amazing chemistry. I thought they were perfect together. Looking forward to reading the next Ryder Brothers books!
Nick and Natalia are the couple that no one thinks will work, that their age will work against them… but turn out to be the hottest thing we’ve seen in a long time! They start this fling just looking for fun, only wanting to be a secret in Natalia’s high-profile life, but it quickly turned into a heated love that neither of them could deny. Though Nat tried hard to! Nick is so sweet and swoony, such a contrary to what we would think a twenty something rockstar would be like. These characters kept me hung in from the start and took me on a ride of love that only Laurelin can deliver. Can’t wait for the next two books in this series!! Bring on the other Ryder brothers!
Natalie is a 30 something Top Hollywood Actress, and her Sweet, Good Girl image is in many ways part of her brand. On a girlie night out, after breaking up with her actor Boyfriend, she meets Nick Ryder, 24 yrs old Rock Star, who definitely holds true to the Rock Star lifestyle image. But on the dance floor fireworks explode and a connection is made. Both know this life, both know fame, and both know they can’t even risk being seen together never mind have fling !!
Neither can fight the pull they have towards each other, so maybe just a night and get it out of their systems would be ok, Right?
Oh Heck i really should have been prepared for this one !! Hotter and steamier than any sauna !!! Their chemistry was on fire, and so was i !! I was hooked!! Nick Ryder definitely hit all the right combustible places, and i could barely turn the pages quick enough to keep up with the beating of my heart and the rapid desire to get to the next page. Heck no i didn’t want to miss a word !! This is a guy who will not give up, and i loved how he worked around each of Natatlie’s insecurities. This couple had me laughing so many times, yet they also had me in tears, this was Love at its best. The kind that makes you weep if you feel they won’t make it, but also makes you weep in joy if they do !! Nick is definitely a man that sets the standards !!!! Loved it !!
Not going to lie, I was a little nervous going into this book knowing that there is a 13-year age difference between the main characters. However knowing Laurelin Paige, I knew she would make me fall in love with this book. And true to form, she did not let me down.
Nick, our very young leading man is so darn sweet, you can’t help but cheer for him. He and Natalia’s chemistry burned up the pages. What was supposed to be a fling turned into so much more, but Natalia kept letting outside influences control her relationship with him. Did I already mention how sweet Nick is!?! If so, I’m not sorry because I swear to you with every turn of the page, I think I swooned even harder for him and his take charge ways.
If I learned anything from reading this book, it is to not judge a relationship based on what you think is right or wrong. Everyone’s paths are different. What is right for you is not always right for the next person. You can’t help who you fall in love with.
Natalia is a celebrity actress who has recently broken up with her boyfriend, so she heads out for a night of fun with her girlfriends. When she met the famous rock star Nick she never expected the attraction that she felt towards him. She knows that she should keep her distance as she has built her career on being known as the good girl and getting involved with a younger rebel Rockstar is not going to enhance that image.
Although they have never met Nick has been attracted to Natalia for a long time. Now that he has met her he only finds her more enchanting and he is not about to let this opportunity go to waste despite her reservations.
What started out as a fling has developed into more but is it possible to find a balance between their busy careers and very different lifestyles not to mention the media attention that they both attract?
I really loved these two together. Natalia is concerned about how their age difference will appear not only to the public, but she also questions why he would want to be with her when he could have anyone he wanted. From the moment that Nick met Natalia he knew that they were meant to be together and now he only has to convince her.
I loved this fresh twist on a forbidden love story! Natalia has worked hard to maintain her image and have a successful acting career as “America’s Sweetheart”. But one wrong move could bring it all crashing down. Nick is a child star turned successful adult rock star god. He is all sexy, bad boy on the surface, but his needs are simple. When he dirty dances with Natalia one night at a night club, she becomes all he needs. Natalia can’t stop thinking of that sexy younger man, but is afraid of what he makes her feel. He awakens things inside her, making her hunger for everything she won’t allow herself to have. Nick is determined to fight for her, and to prove, everything about them is what she needs and is closer than she realizes. Nick is so sweet and sexy, he had me totally swooning! They were so perfect together and their chemistry was explosive! Nat’s feelings are so relatable, I really felt all her reservations and emotions. I really fell for both Natalia and Nick and thought the ending was perfect for them both. I also loved Nat’s ‘girl nights’ with Hadley & Rowan and Nick’s brothers, Jack and Jonas. I can’t wait for their stories next!
Y’all this book is so freaking hot, it’s dirty, sexy Nick and Natalia are explosive together. What starts off as a one night stand quickly turns into so much more. He’s pushing for something more and she’s pulling away.
My favorite thing about this read… well besides the hot scenes, is that she’s in her thirties and older than him. I love that. Not everyone is twenty and to read about a smart sexy thirty something was a treat. You will definitely want to dive into this beauty.
Oh man this was a brilliant little read.
I already love Laurelin’s books but this was such a different little spin & it totally worked.
It’s hot sexy fun flirty & a little dirty
Nick I love him so much right from the start he was so smooth & has this way of being so swoony even when he’s not trying. It’s the small things & he totally knows it.
Natalia, she’s such a doll but everything she thinks is not what her body portrays but living up to being “America’s Sweetheart” is slowly taking away all the good in her life.
And as for Hadley & Rowan I loved them I want them to be my friends.
Love it and can’t wait to add this paperback to my LP collection
This is definitely a must read. Love Nick Ryder.
Natalie is an actress. She has had it rough with men. She plans to ward them off and just focus on acting. Until her and her friends went out to the dance club. She meets Nick out on the dance floor and their is an instant spark.
Nick Ryder is a rock singer. He is mature for his age. He meets Natalie out on the dance floor and wants to get to know her more. Natalie is his dream girl. He can’t get her out of his head.
They start their no string attach deal that they made but they end up talking and spending time with one another. She freaks out but he is so patient with her. He is amazing. Their relationship is amazing. Love them together.
I couldn’t put this book down. Highly recommend it. I want a Nick Ryder. Love it.