Dear diary,Once upon a time… thing she could rely on.
No one saw through her looking glass.
No one cared.
No one tried.
Until the villain presented himself as the hero in her life.
He took and took and took some more.
With no regret.
With no shame.
With no apology.
The page never turned.
Their story didn’t end.
Tomorrow never came.
His life of debauchery was their journey to nowhere.
She’d give anything to go back in time.
To walk where she had walked.
To see what she had seen.
One step.
One breath.
One day at a time.
Though in the end, “I love you” were just words.
That destroyed us inside.
more
I cannot put into words how much I loved this book! I hated Cash in Love You Now, like I didn’t even want to read his book, well he quickly moved to my all-time favorite hero of Monica’s! My heart broke for him and everything he went through and gave up to follow his dream. That ending, holy cow!!! I’m not sure I’ll make it until April without the conclusion
I had to stop reading this book a couple of times through it just to get my emotions under control. There were times that my heart broke for Cash and times I wanted to reach in the book and kick him where the sun doesn’t shine. I have a feeling the continuation of this story will totally break me and I cannot wait!!!
**Dances into the room** Queen of Angst is back…back…BACK
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GET READY Y’ALL…Robinson is about to drag your ass through the mud and leave your ass there!!!
And she ain’t even sorry about it!!! lol
Of course Journey love LOVES to push Cash’s buttons and don’t you know Cash is right there to set her straight…well, you know, he tries anyway..haha
The push and pull and that freaking ANGST is AAhhhmazzinggg in this book which we all love from Our Queen… M. Robinson!! She definitely knows how to deliver that Angst to her readers!!!
I really enjoyed reading Cash and Journey’s book-From the First Verse. It is book one of two of the Life of Debauchery Duo.
I didn’t want their story to end!!!!!!….I know book 2- Till the Last Lyric will be out pretty soon, but I tell ya, that my Kindle was about to go flying across the room cuz I.NEEDED.MORE.ASAP!!! haha
I will definitely be stalking Robinson waiting on this next book to be released…IT will be THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK WANTED IN THE BOOK WORLD… XOXO
Thank you for another 5 Star book girlie!!!
#CASHFUCKENMCGRAW
When I finally got this piece of perfection from Monica, I instantly wanted more!! Only because it’s so easy to get lost in these worlds that Ms. Robinson creates and while the heartbreak that you see these characters go through is so immense that you forget you’re reading about fictional characters!! Cash is definitely our Queen’s most intricate & self destructive character to date. I know I absolutely HATED him in the Love Hurts Duet (Jackson and Harley’s books) but before this book is over Cash very well may find himself redeemed in my eyes from the way he was previously, but honestly who knows. I love how Journey is telling her side of how things are unfolding as you read.
I can’t count how many times I wanted to toss my kindle whenever I read an M. Robinson book. She invokes such strong emotions that you can’t help but feel the pain, love and laugh along with the characters you’re reading about!!
Bravo Monica!! You’ve officially broken me!
Oh my goodness! What a beautiful, raw, heartbreaking journey that is the road that Cash has chosen! My heart has been in my mouth reading From the First Verse, as we share the struggles and how Cash deals with them, and what is going on in his head, his view of his life and the people around him. There are so many deeply significant events throughout the book, all written with an honesty and style which underlines the talent of the author. My heart is still beating like a drum from the ending and I will be counting down the days until the next book hits my Kindle. Absolutely stunning read!
The First Verse was everything I thought it would be and more!! Like music is to the soul, M. Robinson’s words are profound and eternal!! So many emotions were experienced!! Pain, love, and a huge surprise!! Wow!! Phenomenal story!!! Can’t wait to see what M has instore!!
This book is just too damn much!!! My heart and my mind just couldn’t take all of the emotions going on in this book. That soft spot you thought you never had will be written with CASH all over it!!!
5 BREATHE STARS!! I kept telling myself to breathe all the way through this book. My poor heart has been squeezed, crushed and played with…M. Robinson likes to do that to us readers. Cash and Journey needs to tell you their story, so try to relax and hear them. I am still having a hard time breathing, I think I forgot how. I need book 2, right now.
5 straight to favorites stars!! Damn it M. Robinson!! You destroy me with your duets. Ladies and gents this duet is no different. Get ready for the feels!
This is book one of “Life if Debauchery” and ends in one hell of a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger does not take away from the book. This book explains so much but yet leaves you needing more.
“…Though in the end, I love you were just words.
That destroyed us inside.”
We met Cash in “Hated You Then”. He is Dylan McGraw’s baby boy and Harley Jameson’s best friend. I always had a soft spot for him, until he fucked up. But even then I still held on to him. Now I am glad. This book gives me hope.
Cash is a hot mess. He needs someone. Good thing “Little Miss Thing” can always make him put his head on straight. But let’s see what 12 years of drugs, demons, rock and roll and loneliness has done to this poor soul. Can Journey bring Cash back?!?!
I usually have a hard time with rock star books. Not sure why but it’s not my thing. So I was worried. But I should know better. Anything to do with this crew from Oak Island, and I am hooked. Idk how this author continues rocking my world but she has yet to let me down. I mean I am falling for parents, children, grandchildren and so on. I love every fucking minute!!
Cash has always had this chip on his shoulder. But he is such a good hearted man that you just looked past that. But it all caught up and little did I know but he has some huge regrets he is dealing with. Craziness is coming I tell ya. Y’all who have kept up with the crew will be amazed with this book.
Journey turned into exactly what I thought. Damn I love her. I love these two. At first I was a little thrown but I see it. I see it all. This was love in the making.
You can tell that the author felt these characters. She felt their fears, tears, hopes, aspirations, loves and everything else in between. This isn’t a boy meets girl and bla bla bla. This book will knock you on your feet and then pick you right back up and cuff you directly to it. I had no choice but to keep reading. I was obsessed. I need the next book like I need my next breath.
This book is one you MUST read. It if full of anger, lust, hope, demons, loneliness, desperation, sexy time, and so much more.
**I received this book as an ARC and in return gave my honest review**
ARC received for an honest review
If you read the Love Hurts duet, you will already know Cash motherf&*king McGraw.
And like me, you probably don’t like him much after those books.
Gotta say, as much as I didn’t think she could do it, Ms Robinson has turned me around – well, mostly – and I am going to end up adoring the man.
His dreams have come true, and his girl Journey is all grown up. Boy, is she all grown up!
I need Cash to redeem himself for things he has said and done in the past, and, well I am still on the fence about whether Ms Robinson can really do it.
Music is life, music is his soul, but he is still a big ar$e douche for so much of this story that I wanted to climb into my Kindle and throttle him!
But this is an M Robinson story, and she does love to torture us with lots of angst before she makes thing better.
I know she will do it, but man oh man she makes it hard to love her characters sometimes.
It was great to see things from Cash’s side, and was great to see bits about his family and friends that were so not expected.
I am on tenterhooks waiting for the conclusion to this duet.
Gimme gimme gimme!
I know I have said it before, but I will say it again, ” No one writes a book, like this QUEEN OF ANGST does.” I connect with with each and every character, each and every book, like I never have. Granted, I do feel emotions from most books, but never like M. Robinson’s books. The emotions she evoked from me from this enthralling story, leaves me in a blank space. I feel like there is no much going on in my head, but it’s so hard to make sense of it all; it’s hard to digest it all.
The depth that M. Robinson provoked from Cash is unheard of. The depths that she took his story to, leaves me feeling like my whole body is numb. I have never been left feeling so vulnerable by a Male Leads story and yet here I am, feeling just that after chucking my kindle across the room after finishing ‘From The First Verse’. In ‘From The First Verse, we receive so much back story of Cash that was needed. I have wondered and wondered, and I now have the answers I have been desperately seeking since previous books. There is so much passion and determination in this one, emotions that will leave you feeling reckless. The feeling of being misunderstood had me clutching my chest. There was was so much sincerity behind it. I could go on and on, but that is pointless in the grand scheme of things, because I know when it comes to what is next, that this author is going to blow my mind. This may just the start of Cash’s journey, but I can not wait to see how the rest of his story unfolds.
*I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK
*REVIEWED FOR REVIEWS FROM THE HEART & THE AUTHOR
Well, if you have read Aiden’s books (Pierced Hearts duet) then you know Journey Pierce is his little baby girl and Cash is non other than Detective Dylan McGraw’s son. This is the story of two young people finding themselves, growing up and the mistakes the make along the way. The front man of Life of Debauchery, Cash McGraw, is a legend but it took him a bit to get there. This is his story and the bumpy relationship he has with his father. Journey always had a crush on the older boy that has been in her life forever. They are twelve years apart. He has big demons to fight within before he can find his solance. The demons he must fight within, the woman he met as a baby and the ups and downs they must go through. Again, we get a few prior book scenes but seen in Cash and Journey’s eyes as their past and present are told in book one of this duet. A rising star and the girl that fell for him. This is told when Cash is thirteen to thirty and Journey is a baby to eighteen. For me this gets interesting towards the 60% mark as they are adults then and it’s where the story takes off. I loved his band mates and hope they get books in the future too! Get ready for a crazy cliffhanger that will make you need they next book pronto; Told in dual POV towards the end.
Our queen of angst did it again!
When I opened this book I knew I wouldn’t sleep til I finished it. This book has all the emotions and roller coaster ride. My head is spinning with all of the angst in it. I was so upset with Cash in Jackson and Harley’s book but reading Cash’s POV, my heart broke for him, over and over. I couldn’t help but to love Cash more and more.
This book is phenomenal and you will not be disappointed. This is Monica’s best book to date! I highly recommend this book! You will love Cash and Journey as much as I do. I can’t wait for the second book “Til the Last Lyric”
From The First Verse will strike a chord with you right from the start and will take your heart on a hell of a journey. This book is raw, real and devastating and you won’t be able to let these characters go. You will feel such a melody of emotions from hope to heartache and loss to love that you won’t know where one emotion starts and the other stops. This story takes rockstar status to a whole other level and you will not want want to put this book down for a second. When I first met Cash, I hated him because he broke my heart, but then I fell for the man with the tortured soul who just wanted to be loved and understood. I would read this for the diary, the guitar pic, and the pinkie promise alone and it is action-packed with so much more than that. If we only knew how his Life of Debauchery was going to turn out, Cash McGraw stole my heart and makes me want to chase all his demons away!
Tracey, Life Reads With Friends
Cash McGraw always knew music was his destiny from the first moment he strummed a guitar, no matter what the cost. Growing up, he finds an enamored fan in Journey Pierce. The road to success is never easy yet Cash perseveres even after his family disowns him. But what really sends him off the rails happens with his best friend Harley when he lets her down in the most unbelievable way. You would think being the most sought-after rock star would make him happy but he carries his demons deep. When he crosses paths with a grown-up Journey, the life he left behind is put front and center. Journey knows she loves Cash, has since she was a little girl. When she finds herself on his tour bus, will she find this love returned? Or will Cash maintain his track record and crush her? I needed to know Cash’s story. I love his passion and gift for music but his decision making about the relationships in his life isn’t always the best. I felt every emotion of this challenging road for him but what will happen next? Excited and desperate to read part 2. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
The rating I gave this book sums up my feelings about this book. But I’ll just say I felt absolutely nothing for the story, the characters, or whatever may happen next in the second book. It was highly disappointing.
Cash is trash. Completely unlikable and any attempts to endear me to his troubles and heartache had me so unsympathetic. He treated his family like trash, even if he felt misunderstood or like the black sheep, what he did was beyond childish. He of course does drugs I’m pretty sure or is surrounded by it, he’s an alcoholic, and don’t even get me started on the threesomes and foursomes that are mentioned. Then, he is all into his best friends little sister who he babysat.
There is no romance. Unless I really missed something. No connection between Cash and Journey other than the memories they have of each other when she was a very small child. Like what? I’m all for age gap romances, but it has to be done well and this turned me off. I will not be reading the concluding novel. I hate to say that because the books I’ve read by this author thus far have been very enjoyable.
3.5 stars but rounded up because I still want to read book 2 so that tells me I like it alright. My first from this author although I have been dying to read her forever. I probably should have started elsewhere but in any case, the story was intriguing enough. The writing style is a bit different but it did make an impact as to where these characters were in their lives to a degree. I’m hoping book 2 brings it all home for me.
This is the 1st book I read by M. Robinson. I liked the music & the guitar . The storyline could have been better.
WHAT THE EVER LOVIN’ HELL DID I JUST READ??!!
Two hours after I finished this book and still no idea what I want to say or how to feel about it…. I do know that I liked it enough to want to read book two ‘Til the Last Lyric. Mostly because I felt like this book left off right in the middle of the story. No answered questions, no HEA, no come to Jesus moment.
I did feel like Robinson went a bit far on some of the things young Journey was thinking or feeling because I mean she was six years old!! I have a degree in early childhood development and even working with the smartest of six-year old’s they do not generally think that way. While I get this was a book and you must let your imagination wander, I still felt like it was a bit much.
Now Johnny Cash McGraw was everything delicious and lovely about a tortured artist. There was nothing I did not love about him through all the stages of his life. The way Johnny and June were brought in to the story and was woven into the basis of it gave me more feels than I thought it would because I have always had a love affair with Johnny Cash (the singer).
After writing my thoughts down I have concluded that despite the flaws and the parts that bothered me I really did adore this book. I enjoyed the last 50% more than the first so I cannot wait to read book two and hope that all my questions will be answered.
From the First Verse
The Life of Debauchery Duet, Book 1
By: M. Robinson
Narrated by: Marcio Catalano, Addison Barnes, Troy Duran
M Robinson can write angst to perfection. The story of Cash is raw and emotional, drawing me in and keeping me intrigued. At first, I wasn’t even sure that I liked him. So arrogant, making horrible choices, rude and mean, leaving his life behind, I couldn’t get behind him. And then it struck me. The story burst into his truths, and feelings and my heart was immediately stolen. Cash is broken, and we get glimpses of why. We get the camaraderie of his band mates and the dysfunction they all bring. And we get the one person who may be able to help him heal. Secrets revealed, a little taboo with an age gap and the story just flows, leaving us hanging and wanting more. Book 2 is queued up and ready to go!
Marcio Catalano, Addison Barnes and Troy Duran are the cast of characters. I love all three! Catalano has a sorrowful, edginess to his narration, creating Cash flawlessly. Barnes comes in as a child and later a woman with sass and spunk. And Duran as the band adds some flavor and humor. I can’t wait for the second part of this story!
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