“I couldn’t put this one down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning! There were moments that had me giggling while others had me talking back to the characters. I cried and got angry and ran the gamut of emotions. All four books worked in sync with each other, and I fell in love with the Rogue world!” – Amazon ReaderThis box set includes the first four books (PLUS a bonus chapter) … (PLUS a bonus chapter) of the rock star romance Rogue Series.
Meet Rogue, a band famous for big, messy, can’t-live-without-you love stories:
- Lead singer Gavin is the one you’ll want to save from himself.
- Guitarist Conor is the one playing with hearts.
- Drummer Shay is the shy one you’ll root for.
- Bassist Martin is the one finally coming into his own.
Love with a rock star can burn bright…or go up in flames.
♥ FULL ON ROGUE…
TANGLED UP IN YOU
Gavin McManus is the lead singer for Rogue. Gorgeous, passionate, and tortured, he’s the perfect rock band frontman. He pours his angst into music and his first love, Sophie. But everyone has a breaking point. Can Gavin forget his past and not let it define him or his future?
PLAYING AT LOVE
Gorgeous rock guitarist Conor Quinn is trying to right the wrongs of an affair and rushes into an engagement with his supermodel ex-girlfriend. When an old flame causes him to second guess everything, will he make the right choice and finally stop playing at love?
HITTING THAT SWEET SPOT
Shay Donnelly is the introverted drummer for the rock band Rogue who has a bad habit of taking care of everyone but himself – including the brother who is always looking for trouble. When his unwavering allegiance to his brother costs him his true love, he’s finally forced to find that sweet spot between caring for others and putting himself first.
FINDING RHYTHM
Martin Whelan is the “content with his lot in life” bassist for the rock band Rogue. But after years of a steady, routine marriage, his life is irrevocably upset. He’ll set out on a journey of epic highs and lows, and have to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice to find his rhythm.
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I adored all of the books in The Rogue Series, and Full On Rogue is a great way for new readers to fall in love with Lara Ward Cosio’s work. Reading these books is like traveling the world with this band of Irish rockers. Her descriptions of locations make it feel like you’re there. Her characters are so well-crafted, I have to wonder if Lara spent time on a tour bus herself. If you’re a fan of rock star romance, you NEED to read these books.
I have just finished the whole series. I couldn’t put them down once I started reading. The characters are dynamic and who doesn’t love a rockstar or 4! They are addicting. I loved this series, can’t wait for her to write some more like these!
Tangled Up in You – Gavin is the perfect moody front man, the singer in the band. He’s sexy and handsome but not in a conventional way. And when he opens his mouth, people are drawn to him, not only when he sings but when he is in any kind of crowd. And this is the man Sophie meets as a boy of 16 when she does a year of high school overseas in Ireland. He’s cocky and bold, and he holds his own. But like many young loves, life gets in the way, and they’re separated.
Fast forward a few years, and Gavin and his best friend Connor, along with their friends Shay and Martin have formed a bad, Rogue, that is sweeping the world. When they just happen to be playing in L.A., Sophie stops in. Hearts were broken, and the rejection is still fresh for both of them, but there’s something that draws them together, and they find out that their love has only become more intense. What neither of them suspected was that there was someone else who crushed on her too. Secrets are uncovered and love is betrayed. Will they make it through the muck and mire that is their pasts and their present, to find any kind of future together?
There were moments that had me giggling while others had me talking back to the characters. I cried and got angry and ran the gamut of emotions with this story. I only finished it an hour or so ago, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything my heart experienced. I love when an author can bring out all of the feelings I don’t really want to feel, and this author did exactly that.
Playing at Love – After finishing the first book in the series, I was dying to know what happened next for Gavin and Sophia. That’s why I bought the box set.
But oh, how much I wanted Conor’s love story. I knew he had a recovery to make after all that went down in the first book. And I knew he’d continue to make mistake after mistake because some people are just destined to go through the ringer before finding any kind of real happiness. But this was such an explosive love story from so many different angles, and the part that Felicity played in it made all of the difference.
Hitting that Sweet Spot – This one focuses mainly on Shay, the quiet drummer who has kept secret some horrifying truths about his childhood and continues to find his future tied up with that past, especially when his drug addled brother, Danny Boy, keeps making his life as difficult as he possibly can at every turn.
When he meets Jessica, a waitress who has some secrets of her own, and convinces her to move to Dublin with him. But when she finds herself mixed up in the circus that is his life, and the return of Danny Boy puts a wrench in the works, she can’t take it anymore. My heart went out to both of them as they pushed away from each other and continued the search for what would make them happy, wondering if they would discover that they would only find that happiness together.
It isn’t until they part ways that they each discover where the problems in their relationships have stemmed from, and each of them has to do an inner examination to find out if they can make another go at it or if this is the end of something sweet.
In the meantime, Gavin is still finding his balance after the news of Sophie and Conor’s one night affair. Working on his relationship with his best friend, Conor, and the woman he’s always loved, Sophie, and getting over the anger a jealousy is a hurdle that isn’t easy to cross. But that isn’t all. Felicia isn’t finding it easy to deal with how well Sophie knows Conor and the path they are choosing to take in their relationship either. She’s suspicious of them and afraid of Conor going back to his old, playboy ways.
Jealousy abounds, and misunderstanding is the word of the day. And each misstep is played out in the tabloids and on social media. It’s up to them to take control of their hearts and their lives as they forge through the dirt to find a path that gives them new meaning (and new song writing material).
Finding Rhythm – I couldn’t put this one down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning. There were so many of the “typical” expectations from Martin because he’d married while young, and he didn’t know any better than the life he’d had with his wife, Celia. He’s always been the butt of jokes and had people putting him down, from his bandmates to his wife. And he’s never been much for working out like the rest of the band, so he’s a bit out of shape. That is until he meets the woman who is supposed to be helping Danny Boy stay clean. She shows him the man underneath the man who has been at the bottom of the totem pole. When all of the changes start having an affect on his marriage and his public image, he begins drawing the scrutiny of the tabloids as the rest of the band before him. We are left wondering if he will cave and go back to the life he worked so hard and went through so much trouble to overcome or if he will finally find the kind of happiness he didn’t realized he’d been longing for.
I felt so sorry for Martin when his story began. It was tough watching him hang in the shadows of everyone around him. And when he stepped out into the light, he had no idea how to handle it and ended up tripping over himself. It was tough to watch but growing experiences are never easy.
It was fun catching up on the other members of the band and seeing what kind of mayhem Martin could get himself into. This was one of those stories you can see coming, know it’s going to wreck, and you can’t help watching it anyway. I knew it was going to be difficult from the first time he caught a medicine ball, but it was amazing to see him push through all of it. This one brought tears to my eyes and made me chuckle.
I’m glad I had the chance to read this series. It was full of teenage angst, growing pains, hard truths and moving forward. I really enjoyed it. And I look forward to finding out how Danny Boy fares in the next book.
Hands down one of the best rock series out there!
Hands down, one of the best RR series out there. Lara Ward Cosio is a truly exceptional writer! She brings you right into the room, the hearts, and the minds of these flawed yet brilliant characters. The story is raw, it is real, it is so well balanced between each member of the band, weaving the story through their love, their loss, their friendship, the betrayal and ultimately their redemption and forgiveness.
This is by far the most realistic storytelling of the rollercoaster of the music industry, touring, and the tangled web of the tabloids I have ever read. Yet no matter the lies that are told, there is always a shred of truth and that truth can either haunt you or set you free. These boys stick together through it all and come out better for it. True love is tested. Friendships are tested. But the bonds of brotherhood are stronger than any mistake can break. When there is a “Question?” then ” I’ve got an answer. ”
These books will wrap you up into their lives and take you around the world. Each city is described with such accuracy that you will feel like you are right there with them. I hope you love them as much as I did!
And, you might as well take a listen to Koladine (yes, an Irish band) while your reading. Their songs embody the story so well it’s uncanny. (No, I have no idea if related)
Exceptional Rock Romance Boxset!!
Tangled Up in You
5+++ This is an exceptionally written book in which the author has you feeling a bit voyeuristic. She takes you in and has you actually feeling so many of the emotions of her characters and has you believing in love, success, heartbreak, and betrayal, which turn has you believing that you are a part of this book. It is a rock romance which stands above a lot of them because it doesn’t sugar coat the rock star life. The author gives you a look at not only the glamorous side of rock but also the “real life” that isn’t all tinsel and bright lights. She knows how to take you front and center for the lives the men of Rouge lived and knows how to break your heart right along with her characters.
Set in Dublin, Connor and Gavin have been best friends since they were 7 years old and have a special bond that few can say they have. From childhood on they shared everything including their love of music which would be their one way ticket from the type of childhoods they both came from. Sophie was the quintessential American girl who came into their lives when she was 16 years old to go to their school for one year. Sophie and Gavin gravitated toward each other with Gavin even proposing marriage to Sophie when was to leave to go back home to America. Of course she had to turn it down since she was only 17 by the time they parted ways. But Gavin was always the only boy that held her heart.
Along with Connor and Gavin, other friends Martin and Shay round out to make the rock band, Rouge. The boys pushed and believed in themselves until they finally got their break. It was years in the making to get them to where they were now. It took hard work and dedication to get here but now they were living the lives most young guys could only dream of…sex, drugs and rock and roll. Sophie and Gavin eventually found their way back to each other but it wasn’t pretty. Gavin pretty much gutted Sophie on their first meeting after so many years and dashed her hopes that they could maybe pick up where they left off in Dublin a few years ago. Connor also had deep feelings for Sophie which she did not realize and only thought it was a sexual yearning that he felt towards her. Events happened in which Gavin began to push Sophie away which turned all of their lives upside down.
I cannot recommend this book enough being a rock romance fanatic and a lover of any book in which the author takes you on a ride that you don’t want to get off. This is the second book on the boys from Rouge and is actually a prequel to Playing At Love. Both of these books are exceptional and you will have you on board the fan bus that is the Rouge series.
Playing at Love
Fine Wine. You know how you want to take your time to make sure you get everything that it has to offer and then some. That’s what this book was for me. Being a rock romance fanatic this book is ranking up there with being one of the top reads. I haven’t read this author before so I had set this book on the back burner for a bit and now realize what a mistake that was. This author knows how to write so that you are actually feeling that you are on the same journey as the books characters. She gives you the “bad” as in Collette, the good as in Felicity and Sophie, Gavin’s wife, who played a significant part in both Gavin and Connor’s life. The center of these three women was the bad boy rock star from Dublin. Connor had it all as in killer guitar skills, the bad boy persona which he lived up to and a lifelong friendship with Gavin who was the lead singer of Rouge and whose friendship he more than destroyed. Would there ever be coming back from the choices he made?
He and Gavin had grown up together and Felicity was the hometown girl that had been a friend and a backer of the band from the day they started. She and Connor had friends with benefits relationship but when the band hit the road Felicity found her own road to take as in going to college and getting married to the man she thought was for her. Of course that man turned out to be a jack*ss and she ended up back home in Dublin years later. As for Sophie that is a tragic story in itself. Gavin had turned on Sophie in their marriage and Sophie turned to Connor who had a love for Sophie for years and thought she was “the” girl for him….just that she was married to his best friend. As the Sophie/Gavin/Connor issue worked itself out Collette came back in to the picture as the self-centered, publicity seeking b*tch she was and the future she wanted as Mrs. Connor Rockstar…oh, I mean as Connor’s wife. Connor settled with Collette bound on making the relationship work the second time around now that Sophie was definitely out of the picture in Connor’s future. After Connor met up with Felicity again and all the old friends were back together he started to have thoughts of her again as something more than friends. Felicity knew that Connor was good at “playing at love” he was a huge flirt and had a beautiful model as his fiancé so she couldn’t see anything working out with Connor.
Following the band and the turmoil that Connor is going through was one of the best storylines I’ve read for a while. It’s intense and has you wondering if and when he was going to wake up to what was important to him. It had me hating him for not having the balls to follow through with some things and loving him and his giving himself totally to the various situations. It was following a bad boy rock star that you hoped would stop playing at love and wake up before he lost everything. Felicity was a woman who deserved to have more in her life than the husband who left her blindsided but was Connor that man? Be ready to sit back and savor one of the best rock romances that will have you hoping that there is a lot more to come from the boys of Rouge.
Hitting That Sweet Spot
Hitting That Sweet Spot is exactly what Lara Ward Cosio did in writing Shay’s story. This is another exceptional book by this author who knows how to take you places and makes you actually feel what her characters feel. The relationship between Shay and his brother Danny Boy is one of love and responsibility to the point of heartache. Addiction leaves those who love them torn between the love of the person who used to be and the person they become with drug use.
Shay, the quiet drummer for the rock band Rogue is finally getting his chance at real love with a woman who not only has Shay enter her “normal” life but she gets the rock star lifestyle that comes with that. That lifestyle is like none she has ever known with groupies and the paparazzi. Jessica finds out that with Shay she gets his struggling brother and the Rogue family which has had its fair share of complications.
Lara Ward Cosio does an extraordinary job at giving us Shay’s story but she also gave us Gavin and Connor yet again not taking anything away from Shay. It felt like an added bonus. I cannot speak highly enough of the ability this author has to bring me another character with so many dimensions but still give me everything I was craving from her previous characters. I can’t recommend this book highly enough and as far as that goes any of her books within this series. I still need to hear more from the guys from Rogue and the people they love.
Finding Rhythm
This is a phenomenal series that brings bass player and family man, Martin to the forefront. If you were like me you were totally surprised how Martin was the “good” family man that did not partake in the wild parties and the groupies. Martin was denying himself all the came with being a successful rock star because he knew of no other way at that time. He married his high school sweetheart at 19 just as the band was taking off. He became the father of three boys that he loved with all his heart but it was the judgmental and rigid Celia that did not give Martin the backing and love that a marriage partner needs to. His “just getting through life” spilled over into his band as well. He was allowing the rest of the guys in the band to be the leaders and let him be the brunt of their jokes as well. That is until Danny Boy’s keeper, Ashley, joined the tour and she began to point out that he was someone who didn’t even like himself very well. Ashley was there to whip Martin in to shape that would give him a rock hard body along with piercings and tattoos. This was so far out of line for Martin but he was beginning to see what he was denying himself for way to long just to keep status quo.
Martin was denying himself any kind of true happiness and love which was out there waiting for him until Ashley opened his eyes to that as well. Martin knew his marriage was over but there was no way he’d ever be over raising his boys. He was realizing that he could be happy in life if he just stood up and took the reins on his own life. Martin went crazy at first when he found his freedom but it was learning how to reel things back in that showed him the life he deserved. He began being more vocal and noticeable with his band but with all of this he still hadn’t found that person who was able to love him and cherish him as he deserved…until?
Lara Ward Cosio has given us a rock romance series that makes these men seem multidimensional. We are given the hard driving life of a rock star and their journey from young men starting to get a taste of the good life to becoming the adults they are now with having significant others and children. This is a series that has tackled difficult subjects as well from addiction, to depression, to fidelity and leaves you wanting only more from the men of Rogue.