SHE STOLE CENTER STAGE…IN HIS HEARTRocker Colton Nix would do just about anything to rid himself of the unflattering nickname his womanizing ways have earned him in the tabloids—anything except settle down with a woman, of course. If his parents taught him anything, it’s that love is as fleeting as celebrity. But after a few too many drinks on a private island in the Caribbean, Cole wakes up with … wakes up with the king of all hangovers…and a wedding band on his left ring finger.
Celebrity assistant Jenn MacDonald has her future meticulously planned, and she’s ready to make her next move: becoming a songwriter. Drunk-marrying a rock star was definitely not on the list. When Cole suggests they stay married for six months so that he can ride out the good publicity while helping her launch her new career, she can’t help but say yes. She’s even able to convince herself—almost—that her decision has nothing to do with the way one glance from Cole sets her body humming like the strings on his favorite guitar.
They were near strangers when they exchanged drunken vows on the beach, but the connection—and the attraction—between them is powerful and real. Soon, they’re making beautiful music together, both in and out of bed. They’re giving the performance of their lives, until it all comes crashing down around them. But every great performance deserves an encore, and theirs might just be love.
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Love this story. Sweet, charming, heartwarming.
This story had a great start, good looking rockstar, one drunken night with a beautiful girl. There was a reason why they had to stay together, it would be beneficial for both parties. But really I didn’t feel the chemistry. There were chapters and chapters of chatter that didn’t move the story forward. What I did like was the last two chapters. When he almost lost Jenn. Cole had to give us a big happy ending that didn’t disappoint. Not sure I can recommend a book just because the ending was good.
Always in the background and never one to want attention, Jenn perfected her job as Kate’s assistant. Years ago she left her comfortable family unit to pursue her dreams of songwriting. Landing a job as the assistant to one of Rock’s biggest acts, gave her an in. But she never let Kate know her true dreams as she didn’t want to be seen as a “user”. While filming a video for a duet with Cole Nix, Jenn is asked by Kate to be her stand in as Kate was sporting a small baby bump. Jenn reluctantly agreed to don a bikini and shoot scenes with Cole.
Cole, haunted by unflattering gossip, hopes that his duet with Kate will propel him back into the spotlight. But shooting a music video touching another man’s wife is creepy. When Kate suggests Jenn step in, he’s thankful. When he lays eyes on Jenn, it’s insta-lust. Cole thinks she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever met. At the after party, he meets up with Jenn and realizes she’s not only beautiful, but smart. A few drinks into the night, they agree to a one-night stand, but it turns into so much more…
I LOVED how Rachel Lacey entwinned stories of dysfunctional family life, panic attacks, and pursuing your dreams into Encore. I love fake marriage stories. Sometimes it takes walking away to realize you already had everything you ever wanted and dreamed of. Although what happened in Las Vegas was devastating, there are haunting stories of survival that are still being dealt with. I liked how real life bled into this story so realistically. I truly enjoyed the second book in the Rock Star Duet series. I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
I do get panties thrown at me onstage, which is less sexy than you’d imagine… Well, some of them are hot, but some of them are dirty… and not in a good way.
The most shameful “walk of shame” she’d ever made. The only time she’d ever had to make the walk of shame. Except she hadn’t even gotten laid. She’d gotten married.
My Review:
I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this steamy and engaging tale much more than I expected, as I don’t often read rocker-star romances. The premise was original and interesting while the writing was well paced, insightfully observant, and held my avid attention. And as enticing as all that was, I always find Ms. Lacey’s characters to be my favorite aspect of her work. Her characters tend to be well nuanced, alluring, a bit fractured, and undeniably endearing. I’ve heard of drunk-dialing, and umm, maybe even committed that discourteous act a time or ten, but drunk-married was a new term and whole other level of faux pas, hooray – I don’t feel so shame-faced now.
He’s run from his heart long enough. Now it’s time to take a stand. Give into the fear or take a chance on forever. Colton is a forever kind of guy, but he hides his true self behind his rockstar persona. Fast women and hard living has taken a toll on his image. Can a goody two shoes be just the thing to tame his bad boy ways? Encore is an opposites attract dream. Wild guy, sweet girl with a thirst for something more than where they currently reside. From laugh out loud to the tears of a clown, Lacey delivers a great show.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Unwritten, I was very excited to read about Kate’s assistant Jenn. While Jenn was really only a secondary character in the first book, she very much deserved her own story since it was easy to see that she wanted more from her life than simply being an assistant. And boy did she ever break out of her mold! After an evening of drinking, Jenn found herself married to rocker, Colton Nix. Cole was never what Jenn would have picked as husband material so they immediately set out to annul the marriage. However, Cole convinces Jenn to give the marriage six months to improve his image and then he will help her advance her songwriting aspirations. When does a marriage of convenience ever just stay as an arrangement without feelings????
This was a terrific novel that immediately pulled me in to where I didn’t want to put the book down. Cole and Jenn were great characters and I really enjoyed how much Kate from Unwritten played into the story as well. All in all a terrific feel good romance.
A fun, sexy, and vastly entertaining marriage of a drunken accident turned into a marriage of convenience with a rock star story with fresh and clever emotional plot twists.
The way Rachel Lacey writes the stories easily hooks my mind, and I am keen to get to know the sharp and strong characters she creates and cheer for them, wanting them to find their way to the HEA. The stories are more character driven than focused on their surroundings and lifestyle, though there are enough bling, parting, and glamour in this story to give the celebrity status of the characters validity. But even with the dazzle of the rock star life, the characters have the kind of ‘regular people’ vibe to them, that is appealing. They are sincere, likable, thoughtful people, they have their strengths and weaknesses, they have their family drama, and they feel deeply and love unconditionally.
Though Rocker Colton Nix represents in the limelights the kind of person – a womanizing millionaire rock star who sleeps around more than most of his peers – that normally would not be my favorite kind of hero, Colton managed to win me over rather easily. Underneath that rocker exterior, there is a considerate, caring, kind man, who loves what he does and cares about people around him. He has his vulnerabilities, he has his reasons to be the way he is, he doesn’t try to hide it or be anything that he isn’t. I liked him, a lot, and I felt for him when he was hurting and confused. His attraction to Jenn was rather adorable while steaming hot (with a way more boners than I needed to be aware of).
Jenn MacDonald is organized, analytical, goal-oriented, and always prepared for everything. Her obsession with her ideal husband material showed an emotional immaturity that I found tiresome after awhile. I had a bit difficult time to connect with Jenn, to understand her reasoning, the hot-and-cold she was pulling with Colton, especially in the beginning. But she too grew on me, and seeing her mature and come to accept herself and her feelings as they were was refreshing.
Encore is the best kind of summer reading there is for sizzling hot romance lovers. It is lively, entertaining, and enjoyable. There are enough emotional depth and growth with characters to be appealing without being loaded with angst and turmoil. The plot has the familiarity of a marriage of convenience stories yet is told in an original and fresh way that is captivating, and the many detailed love scenes entice while heating up the pages. This alluring and entertaining tale easily swept me away, a great mind-escape romance, that has you swooning and smiling at the end.
~ Four Spoons
I enjoyed Jenn & Cole’s unconventional love story. What started out as a drunken mistake turned out to be something truly special. I loved the times when they both lived in the moment without worrying about all of the reasons that their marriage shouldn’t work. The ending was great and I like that it included an epilogue.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary Advance Reader Copy.
Electrifying chemistry! Great follow up to the first book in the duet! We met Jenn in that first book as Kate’s assistant and now she’s getting her own story with a bad boy rocker. The storyline caught my attention quickly, and the friendly turned sexy chemistry between the two of them is off the charts. I really enjoyed getting to play a little catch up with Kate and Josh from the first book too. A really great series!
As the personal assistant to pop princess Katherine Hayes, Jennifer MacDonald is used to the rocker lifestyle, but when she comes into contact with rock ‘n roll bad boy Colton Nix while they’re in the Bahamas for a shoot, he’s not at all what she was expecting. Enjoying letting loose and chatting over drinks a little too much, they wind up taking their drinking games a little too far and waking up hitched!
Colton Nix has been suffering from crappy headlines all over the media ever since a scorned groupie started fake rumors, so all he needs is a quickie marriage followed by an immediate change of heart to flare it all up even worse than before. He convinces Jenn that they can both benefit from staying married for a few months … he’ll get his reputation cleaned up a bit, and in return, he’ll help her get her start as a song writer in the industry. But when they find themselves falling for each other, all bets might be off!
5 ENCORE STARS!! Another fabulous book from this phenomenal author. I loved Jenn and Cole’s story, it is everything I look for in a fantastic romance book with all the feels. Rachel Lacey is one of my favorite authors and always gives me 5 STARS reads.
This book is just as fantastic as the first one in this duet, Unwritten.
Cole and Jenn “accidently” get married and then decide to stay together for six months in order to improve Cole’s reputation and Jenn’s wish to become a song writer. As they pretend to be married their feelings grow and their chemistry explodes but both have pretty clear goals about their futures and they don’t include each other.
Fake relationships are my favorite! I love when two people are so busy pretending to love each other, they actually DO fall in love. Encore is the perfect fake relationships story. And the ending? Fabulous! Plus we get to catch up with Kate and Josh from Unwritten. Loved it!
Encore-Book 2 Rock Star Duet..
When Rock Star Colton Nix is humiliated in the tabloids he doesn’t know what to do. The one person who saves him is Jenn MacDonald assistant to Katherine Hayes. His friend in the music industry. One drunken mishap and they make a contract to stay together for six months. Well they are married. Colton and Jenn might be strangers at first.
What Colton doesn’t expect are the feelings he has for Jenn. So he pushes them aside.
He thinks she may be doing the same.
Jenn can’t believe what happened between her and Colton. This is probably the dumbest thing she’s ever done. However he does promise to help her out with something she’s wanted to do for a long time, and that’s write songs.
Wait and see what happens between them.
Encore, Rachel Lacey’s latest, took me by surprise, there were some emotional twists I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed the first in the series, so I was primed to like the second. Encore covers some of the same ground that Unwritten did, in terms of PTSD issues, but it does it so much differently. Lacey brings some real life situations into the narrative that make the entire story so much more powerful. Jenn and Cole are the perfect marriage of convenience (drunken mistake) story. Even more fun we got to catch up with Kate and Josh. If you are looking for a good rock romance, this is one for the keeper shelf.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.
A superb, fantastic read! I read it in one go! I loved to read what love can do to a woman who’s into planning everything, only to realize that sometimes life intervenes to discover that love can’t be planned. To the greatest cynic regarding marriage, our hero has come to realize that with true love, marriage is his new way of life….
Rocker Colton Nix would do just about anything to rid himself of the unflattering nickname his womanizing ways have earned him in the tabloids—anything except settle down with a woman, of course. If his parents taught him anything, it’s that love is as fleeting as celebrity. But after a few too many drinks on a private island in the Caribbean, Cole wakes up with the king of all hangovers…and a wedding band on his left ring finger.
Celebrity assistant Jenn MacDonald has her future meticulously planned, and she’s ready to make her next move: becoming a songwriter. Drunk-marrying a rock star was definitely not on the list. When Cole suggests they stay married for six months so that he can ride out the good publicity while helping her launch her new career, she can’t help but say yes. She’s even able to convince herself—almost—that her decision has nothing to do with the way one glance from Cole sets her body humming like the strings on his favorite guitar.
They were near strangers when they exchanged drunken vows on the beach, but the connection—and the attraction—between them is powerful and real. Soon, they’re making beautiful music together, both in and out of bed. They’re giving the performance of their lives, until it all comes crashing down around them. But every great performance deserves an encore, and theirs might just be love.
Colton Nix embraced the rock lifestyle – alcohol, hot women & sex – until it bit him where it hurt the most, his pride. He was the king of one night stands until one of the women that wanted more crucified him in the gossip rags by spreading false rumors. While in the Caribbean shooting a music video with the hot pop star he released the song with, he had too much to drink & accidentally married her assistant.
Jenn has been Kate’s assistant for years. She took the job to learn the ropes in the music industry. She has a life plan – a career as a songwriter & marriage & kids with a solid steady man that’s not in the music business. Waking up hungover & married to a rock star is not in that plan! That’s okay, they can get it annulled. No one knows about it. Except someone leaked it to the gossip sites. Now what do they do?
This was a great story. Colton has been damaging by the way his parents treat marriage as a revolving door. Jenn’s parents are strictly religious & it’s affected her attitude. Her sister rebelled but Jenn always stayed on the straight & narrow. I enjoyed the interactions with Kate & her husband, Josh. It illustrated that a star in the music world could be down to earth & have a great relationship. Kate’s relationship with her fans was quite a contrast to Colton’s hands off relationship. It really showed why their fans were so different. Colton & Jenn both ended up learning to step outside of their comfort zone. I enjoyed this 2nd story in the series. It can easily be read as a stand alone.
I absolutely loved this book!
It is a sexy & captivating story.
The emotions, & their chemistry pulled me in, & kept me hooked,
till the end.
Jenn McDonald, is Kate Hayes’ personal assistant. While filming the
video for Kate’s duet song with rock star Colton Nix, Jenn was asked to step in. Their connection is undeniable.
At the crew after party, Jenn & Cole
spend time talking, drinking
Moonlight martinis & walking along
the beach. Jenn had admired the arbor, that was set up for a moonlight wedding. In the morning, Jenn & Cole awoke with her wearing a wedding ring. Jenn has plans for her future. And her future husband, will not be a rock star. Cole plans never fall in love, or get married. He saw his parents revolving doors with their spouses. After getting over the shock, Jenn & Cole struck a deal. For six months, help him make the lies being said about him disappear, & he will help her with her songwriting career.
Will Jenn & Cole finally admit how they feel, or does life have other plans?
HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR EVERYONE!!!