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A review by christyduke_5117
American Love Songs by Ashlyn Kane
4.0
The one thing I wanted growing up and, in fact, if I'm honest with myself, I still do, is musical talent. Any kind of talent, whether it's playing an instrument and reading music or being able to sing and have perfect pitch. Unfortunately, I'm a complete and utter musical dud. Luckily for the guys in 'American Love Songs' they are not and the way the author wrote about the music and their part in it allowed me to feel as if I were right there experiencing it with them. This is my first book by Ashlyn Kane but I do not believe it will be my last.
Jake, Chris, Jimmy, and Kylie comprise Wayward Sons, a start-up band featuring them as bass guitar, lead singer, drummer, and lead guitar, respectively. Unfortunately, Kylie accepts an offer to study overseas and get her degree leaving them without a lead guitar. In steps Parker to fill that void and he and Jake become the best of friends. Seems Parker is from South Dakota, originally, but for some reason he can't go home and he's just ended up here, eighteen hours before he meets Jake, actually. Funniest part? He didn't even know about the audition. He was carrying his guitar but he stopped to ask Jake for directions and then he ended up in a band and with a place to live as Jake's new roommate after Kylie left. As Jake said, it was "serendipitous"!
Wayward Sons gets picked up with a recording contract and thus begins their rise to fame, which was really fascinating to watch. Particularly with some things, like finding a production manager, since Chris, lead singer, has an ego beyond control, so they needed a woman, but not one who would sleep with him. It was actually kind of funny the whole interview process. And Jake was right in the choice, Allanna turned out to be a godsend. I loved how the author showcased what was going on with the band and their lives by using Jake's (and occasionally Parker's) blog posts on the band's web site, comment footnotes, and even magazine articles and interviews. It was a genius way of getting to know everyone while still using basically only one person's point of view.
Jake and Parker become best friends and roommates. All the while Jake is trying to get some more background on Parker but he's remarkably closemouthed about family, his home, and why he can't return there. It's not until the second tour that Jake realizes he's got a case of the unrequited lust going for Parker. It's partly Parker's fault though, as at the end of their last tour, Parker got drunk and high and kissed Jake. Being guys and in a band together, they never spoke of it. So now they're back on tour and sharing hotel rooms and a tour bus. Hmmm. I wonder what will happen now?
I fell in love with Jake and Parker. Jake is smart, funny, shameless, and has no filter between his brain and his mouth. He also knows how to love and how to take care of the people important to him. Parker is a musical genius, sweet, shy, and having survived a conservative right wing religious upbringing, Parker is remarkably gentle and loving. The fact that their relationship began as a very strong friendship before moving on to a loving partnership was a wonderful change of pace to what can be the norm.
This is a fantastic book and as I mentioned previously, it's not the last Ashlyn Kane book I will read. I can highly recommend this as a great story.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Jake, Chris, Jimmy, and Kylie comprise Wayward Sons, a start-up band featuring them as bass guitar, lead singer, drummer, and lead guitar, respectively. Unfortunately, Kylie accepts an offer to study overseas and get her degree leaving them without a lead guitar. In steps Parker to fill that void and he and Jake become the best of friends. Seems Parker is from South Dakota, originally, but for some reason he can't go home and he's just ended up here, eighteen hours before he meets Jake, actually. Funniest part? He didn't even know about the audition. He was carrying his guitar but he stopped to ask Jake for directions and then he ended up in a band and with a place to live as Jake's new roommate after Kylie left. As Jake said, it was "serendipitous"!
Wayward Sons gets picked up with a recording contract and thus begins their rise to fame, which was really fascinating to watch. Particularly with some things, like finding a production manager, since Chris, lead singer, has an ego beyond control, so they needed a woman, but not one who would sleep with him. It was actually kind of funny the whole interview process. And Jake was right in the choice, Allanna turned out to be a godsend. I loved how the author showcased what was going on with the band and their lives by using Jake's (and occasionally Parker's) blog posts on the band's web site, comment footnotes, and even magazine articles and interviews. It was a genius way of getting to know everyone while still using basically only one person's point of view.
Jake and Parker become best friends and roommates. All the while Jake is trying to get some more background on Parker but he's remarkably closemouthed about family, his home, and why he can't return there. It's not until the second tour that Jake realizes he's got a case of the unrequited lust going for Parker. It's partly Parker's fault though, as at the end of their last tour, Parker got drunk and high and kissed Jake. Being guys and in a band together, they never spoke of it. So now they're back on tour and sharing hotel rooms and a tour bus. Hmmm. I wonder what will happen now?
I fell in love with Jake and Parker. Jake is smart, funny, shameless, and has no filter between his brain and his mouth. He also knows how to love and how to take care of the people important to him. Parker is a musical genius, sweet, shy, and having survived a conservative right wing religious upbringing, Parker is remarkably gentle and loving. The fact that their relationship began as a very strong friendship before moving on to a loving partnership was a wonderful change of pace to what can be the norm.
This is a fantastic book and as I mentioned previously, it's not the last Ashlyn Kane book I will read. I can highly recommend this as a great story.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.