Bassist Brand and filmmaker Lexi have both suffered traumatic pasts, but together, they can heal and have a happy future. THE GRUMPY BASSIST Brand Kife, bassist for heavy metal band, Viciöus, is known in the metal world as “the man who never smiles.” He has even less reason to smile when he learns that his band’s tour is going to be disrupted by beautiful filmmaker, Lexi Adams, who’s making a … disrupted by beautiful filmmaker, Lexi Adams, who’s making a documentary about Viciöus. Brand has secrets that Lexi can’t learn.
AND THE BEAUTY QUEEN
Former child beauty pageant winner, Lexi Adams resists her mother’s pressuring her to become a model and is instead determined to be a successful filmmaker. She’s thrilled to film a documentary on one of her favorite metal bands, but Brand Kife is making her work difficult. First by being uncooperative in interviews, then by distracting her with his sinful good looks and aura of mystery. When they give into temptation, Lexi wants to learn about Brand’s traumatic past, but first, she will have to trust him with her own.
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Another wonderful, gritty story in the world of Vicious. This time it was Brand’s backstory. His past was full of pain which he kept locked inside, and I felt for him as he revealed it to Lexi. I loved Lexi’s spunk to be what she wanted, to move beyond her own unhappy past, and to accept without pity Brand’s past. As the story moved along, I became invested in the outcome and cried when it ended. With this story, Brooklyn Ann touched me deep once again with the emotions in the story. I recommend this story and the series.
I received an ARC of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.
Brand is the dark brooding bassist for Vicious and has many secrets that he is hiding from his past. Only making music with Vicious gives him any kind of true happiness which has also made him known as the guy who never smiles or better known as Oscar the Grouch…but then again if you had his childhood you wouldn’t be smiling much either. So when indie film maker Lexi enters his world as the person who will be filming a documentary on the band when they are on the next road tour you can imagine that he’d be the last person to cooperate with the strong, talented and beautiful film maker. He needs all of his secrets to stay just that…secrets.
Lexi didn’t have much of a childhood either but that didn’t stop her working her way to the top of her art. The thing that first started breaking down Brand’s walls was their shared love of horror movies and the electric sparks that flew between them anytime they touched.
I loved this rock romance giving me a glimpse into life on the road, overcoming your pasts and a whole lot of steam. This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be checking out more from her.
Hot chemistry, romance, drama, and perceived betrayal make up this gripping rockstar romance. Heart Throb is the 7th book in this author’s Hearts of Metal series, but it can be read as a standalone. There is some character overlap, but I only read book 1 and had no trouble following along.
I always love a good, dark, broody hero and Brand is just that. The surly bass player of Vicious is accurately known as “the man who never smiles” and Oscar the Grouch. He wants to avoid love and relationships because of his secret, troubled past. He is hot, sexy, and vulnerable and my heart completely broke for him when his troubled childhood was revealed.
I loved Lexi in that she is a strong character and was able to break away from her past to pursue her dream of becoming a film director. She works hard and wants to be respected in her field . She is immediately drawn to Brand as he is to her. The two make a good couple in that they have amazing chemistry and they play on each others strengths and faults.
Heart Throb is an entertaining read that moves at a good pace, thus keeping you entertained until the very end. Both Brand and Lexi are likable characters and are well developed. It was also great to see the other band members of Vicious and Bleeding Vengeance. On a more random note, what many people don’t realize is that there are various types of heavy metal such as thrash metal, sleaze metal, death metal, etc and I loved how the author dove into the different metal genres. I really enjoyed this book and I am definitely going back to read the rest of the series and I hope that this is not the final book in her Hearts of Metal series. I received this book as an ARC and I voluntarily leave this review.
The main female character has ongoing abuse issues from her past that she has yet to resolve. The main male character met her through them being neighbours. He has a checkered past and is trying to re-engage with his sister, who coincidentally is a good friend of the main female character. Very good story with all sorts of twists and turns in it, with high drama, much angst and the start of an attraction and romance. The characterizations are all well done, to the point that the reader feels like they are right there in the same room with the characters. The author details with vivid imagery and sets stages to pull on a reader’s heartstrings. The chemistry between the main male and female characters, along with excellent dialogue … bantering back and forth; is highly entertaining.
Well worth readers taking the time to knock back this novel.
I voluntarily received an advance review copy of this novel via Booksprout and I am leaving an honest and unbiased review. I have no affiliation to this author.
This series will hook you from the beginning! This is the seventh and unfortunately the final book in the series but it can definitely be read as a standalone.
Lexi is well aware of her looks and doesn’t need to be reminded of them every five seconds. At this point in her life she’s more concerned about making a butt-kicking documentary about the metal band Vicious and fulfilling her dream of making a feature horror film. She just needs to stop worrying about (and staring at) the grouch in the band in order to meet her deadline.
Brand, the bassist of the band, is that grouch. He’s had a tough childhood and doesn’t let anyone get close. Letting people into his life means giving them a chance to hurt him and he’s tired of that. Not even the model-look-alike disrupting his life is going to change that.
Lexi and Brand were a super cute couple. They both tried to deny their attraction from the beginning and so drama and plenty of laughs ensued when they pretended there was no chemistry between them. Brand might have acted all gruff and indifferent at times but he had some deeps scars that made him act that way. Luckily Lexi saw past that dark exterior and focused more on the man that worried about and cared for her. He made some huge mistakes along the way but he learned his lessons and proved he was capable of love.
I don’t want this series to end because I need more from all of the bands! I loved the way each character was not only depicted as skilled at what they did but also as imperfect, vulnerable, normal human beings. I also appreciate how they went through some ordinary, real life situations because that made them even more real. Like when Lexi was having some bad cramping and everyone kept commenting on her looks instead of how she was feeling… yeah, that right there made me want to hug the author! Situations like that happened in all of the books and man, I loved those little bits in each of the books. You can also tell the author loves the metal rock world by the way she describes it and lets us readers be a part of it. I didn’t think I was a fan but after going behind the scenes of the music I know I will give it a try. This was a fabulous read, with well-developed characters and a fascinating setting. I definitely recommend it.
*I received this book at no cost to me and I volunteered to read it; this is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher*
You know how you can tell a good author? When they write about a subject that you know nothing about (heavy metal) and have no real interest and you love the book! I am an ol fart,no interest in heavy metal and yet after I finished reading this I started looking things up:) Along with some of the horror movies referenced. I really enjoyed the story, 2 people, each coming from different back grounds, each having come from a background that was in some form or other various degrees of horrific. All laid out in the music background. I will admit that when Brand really laid it all out, I teared up. I really enjoyed that there was no real game playing between the two, it was how things happen. Thank you Net Galley thank you Book Buzz Net for the arcs and thank you Brooklyn for a great read! All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not solicited.