Saving her was his addiction.When Warning Sign drummer Malachi Shawcross first saved Elle Crandall, he put her in a box in his head–do not touch. Not that she remembered him anyway. Then he joined her band, and he got to spend every night behind the kit watching her shred on her guitar.Hating himself for wanting her.But that was before the night the band he’d never wanted to join became his … wanted to join became his family. The night he had to make a choice to save someone, and someone else was lost.
Of course he saved Elle. He’d do it every damn time.
Though she’s filled with guilt, Elle survived–with scars. With her reason to stay clean gone, even temporarily, she’s tempted to be bad.
Oh so bad.
Until Mal’s unexpected help as she recovers turns into something else entirely. She never expected him to offer her another kind of addiction, one just as dark and dangerous as the chemicals she craves.
Him.
But with the band under siege from a threat from the past, Mal is no longer fighting to keep from falling for the one woman he shouldn’t.
He’s fighting to keep her alive.
★-★-★-★-★-★
Raw Rhythm is book 6 in the Found in Oblivion rockstar series. Our other rockstar series are also set in the Oblivion world.
Series Reading Order
Found in Oblivion
Bedded Bliss
Triple Trouble
Dirty Duet
Lost Lyric
Perfect Pitch
Raw Rhythm
Finding Forever
Lost in Oblivion
Seduced (prequel)
Rocked
Rock, Rattle and Roll
Twisted
Untwisted
Destroyed
Consumed
Committed
Shattered
Fused
Owned
LIO Holiday Stories
Gifted
Merry Oblivion
Rock Revenge Trilogy
Rock Revenge
Rock Reclaimed
Rock Redemption
Made in Oblivion
Play Dirty
Hammered
Manaconda
Manhandled
Manipulated
Maneuvered
more
A really good read. Darker than the previous books in this series but I think Mal & Elle/Ricki needed it to be. He isn’t a light & fluffy person & her life has been hard generally!!
Getting to know these two on a deeper level was great, especially Malachi. He’s been such an enigma throughout all of the books, to finally gain some understanding was a relief We had come to know a fair bit about Ricki but it was from others points of view of her, throughout the two series as well. Looking at things through her eyes was quite different!! Thankfully, as a couple they worked really well & they steamed up the sheets & shower fabulously Ricki & Mrs Turnbull were hilarious making Mal squirm
This book, like the few before it, has a certain thread of menace running through it. We don’t know if these things are coincidence or not. That ratchets up a lot in this book
There is also all of the aftermath of the loss of a loved one from the previous book to deal with, I bawled so hard my nose got bunged up
This was a hard hitting book, in a similar way that Grey & Jazz’s was. Gritty with some deep & dirty emotions. It didn’t back away from the grief within the band, that impressed me!! I think this was an impressive 4.5 star read!!!
Debbie, 1970, UK
This book is meant to give you time to put the pieces of your heart back together. If you haven’t read the books before this, do yourself a favor and do that first. This book will mean so much more to you if you do. Mal and Elle’s relationship is built on insults and jabs. Until it becomes so much more than that. This book brings Mal fully into the Warning Sign family and the one trying to break their family apart will take you by surprise.
Well, I really loved Ryan’s story but I’ve been soooo curious about the bad, bad, stone cold Malaki Shawcross for quite a while now and wow..the wait for all the details was worth every minute! He’s been mentioned so many times between Lost in and Found in Oblivion, I knew his story was saved for last for a reason. He’s big, he’s bad, leaves all emotions at the door, he’s sarcastic and often mean, especially to Elle/Ricki Crandall. He’s also very sexy in a caveman sort of way and stands back from the crowd, observing and commenting but not wanting to become a part of anything much less the band he’s been coerced into joining. Or so he’d like you to think!
Oh, how I love this type of alpha man in my rocker romances! It’s so much fun to watch them in action and see what’s behind the mask! What he did for Elle, the woman he appears to hate and berate at every turn in the last book, was so gallant and brave, who couldn’t be affected by it?
This book has a theme of healing and change running through it that will toy with your heart, might make you cry and will certainly having you laughing despite the sometimes heavy subject matter that lingers on from book 5’s brutal ending. The sexy factor is burning hot and will leave you in a puddle one way or another. Mal and Elle/Ricki are are hilarious as they try to navigate their enemies to friends to ???? relationship and it’s a process you won’t want to miss out on. Nick, one of my most fav Oblivionites, played a big part in this book which showed off his crazy, protective twin brother side, along with his icy Dragon Lady wife Lila who may not be so cold after all. The epilogue was swoony and perfect…REALLY loved this one the most of all but I can’t wait to read the last (waaaaa) book of the series and see how it all wraps up for now. I’m hoping that we’ll still continue to see and hear about all our beloved rockers in future series and books which I’m sure these authors will make happen!
Big time recommend for this book and the entire amazing series!
Hot damn! Raw Rhythm is finally here and I loved it, floved it! After the shocker in Perfect Pitch, I needed to read Mal and Elle (Ricki’s) story even more, and it’s much more than I had even thought it would be. Mal shocked me, in a good way, in a great way.
After what happened in Perfect Pitch, Elle is recovering. But, she’s hurting, and not just physically. Mal is determined to be there for her, to help her fight the demons she hasn’t always been successful in fighting in the past. That they find their way to each other was a shock to Elle, but not to Mal. Mal, who has quietly watched her for years now. Mal who saved her once upon a time, even though she doesn’t remember (at first). Mal who masked his feelings for her with scowls and his brooding, grumpy façade.
But, there are more obstacles to Elle and Mal being together than just Elle’s demons. There’s the fact that her brother, Nicky, probably won’t approve. There’s Lila, Elle’s sister-in-law and Warning Sign’s manager. And most significantly, there’s still the crazy, unknown person out there who caused the tragic events in Perfect Pitch. The crazy events that everyone is now having to face the results of. The results that just may push Elle back to her old ways. But, wait, she has Mal now. Or does she? He hasn’t really said and she hasn’t asked, what they are to each other. Are they just blowing off some steam? Are they finally just giving into their obvious attraction? Or are their feelings real, and true?
If you’ve been reading Cari and Taryn’s series, you already know the answers. If not, I highly recommend you pick up Raw Rhythm today. It’s sexy, emotionally substantive, it’s got rockstars, it’s sweet, and you’ll fall in love with Mal and Elle (and their whole rockstar squad) the way I have. Oh, and that epilogue? Pure perfection!
Love this series!
4.75 stars–RAW RHYTHM is the sixth instalment in Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliott’s contemporary, adult FOUND IN OBLIVION erotic, rock star romance series focusing on the rock band WARNING SIGN. This is Warning Sign’s drummer Malachi ‘Mal’ Shawcross, and guitarist Richelle ‘Elle’ aka Ricki Crandall’s story line. The FOUND IN OBLIVION series is a spin off from Quinn and Elliott’s LOST IN OBLIVION series. Several characters from LIO cross over including Nick Crandall, band manager Lila Shawcross and Ripper Records owner Donovan Lewis. You do not have to have read the original series to follow or understand the events of RAW RHYTHM although some of the events in the current time line are as of a direct result of earlier events in the original series. RAW RHYTHM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion. Mal is the brother of Michael Shawcross (Bedded Bliss / Found In Oblivion #1), and step-son to band manager Lila Shawcross; Elle is the twin sister of Nick Crandall (Owned / Lost in Oblivion #5).
NOTE: If you have not read book five –PERFECT PITCH-there may be some spoilers in my review.
Told from several third person perspectives including Mal and Elle, RAW RHYTHM picks up immediately after the events of book five PERFECT PITCH in which an accident tore apart the rock band Warning Sign leaving our heroine struggling for her life, and grieving the loss of a close-member of their music family and crew. For three years, Malachi Shawcross has been both protector and foil to Warning Sign guitarist Richelle ‘Elle’ Crandall, a former drug addict whose rock and roll lifestyle was spiralling out of control. A deadly on-stage accident finds our heroine struggling to move forward as grief and survivor’s guilt weigh heavily on her fragile shoulders. Enter Mal Shawcross, adversary and enemy, and the man with whom Elle would fall in love. What ensues is the building romance between Mal and Elle as Mal helps our heroine through acceptance and recovery, and the potential fall out as the past comes seeking revenge against the people he believes have done him harm.
Throughout the series Mal and Elle have battled their apparent attraction and hatred towards one another as Mal continues to watch from the sidelines as the woman with whom he had fallen in love slowly destroyed what was left of her life. Elle struggled to remain clean but the rock and roll lifestyle fed the addiction that was to become the devil inside. But the accident brought everything into perspective including our couple’s sexual attraction and desire for one another. The $ex scenes are erotic, passionate, seductive and intense.
There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including all of the members and their spouses of the rock bands Oblivion and Warning Sign; employees of Ripper Records; and Lila’s parents aka Grandma and Grandpa Ronson; and Elle’s friend Teagan.
RAW RHYTHM is the second to last instalment in the authors’ FOUND IN OBLIVION series. The romances are provocative and emotional; the characters are heartbreaking and real; the story lines are powerful and inspiring. RAW RHYTHM is a story of two people fated by circumstance pulled together by mutual grief and loss; battling the demons that all but destroyed their lives. The premise is riveting; the characters are animated; the romance is edgy and hot.
Raw Rhythm is the 6th book in the Found in Oblivion series. I think this story would be best enjoyed if read in order to give deeper insight to the secondary characters, but if anything – Perfect Pitch should be read first as Raw Rhythm begins where Perfect Pitch left off.
I know I’ve said this before, but this time I mean it more than the last…. Mal and Elle are my favorite couple of the series. They are one of those couples who seemed very comfortable in the background of life. He the drummer, she a guitarist who stays in the middle of the stage. They ignore each other – perhaps because they see each other as equal vs the air they both put on. Together, they burn so bright that there is no way they could just blend into the background.
Elle has some issues in her past and the way that Mal deals with it is just fantastic. This whole series involves families of the heart and families of origin. It’s awesome to see how they all meld together into one amazing team.
This story actually had me feeling all the feelings. It seriously has a bit of everything: romance, hot sex, angst, mystery and most of all the sweetest grandparents a person could ask for.
I absolutely recommend this book, this series and these authors.