Hidden in the Stars

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Title: Hidden in the Stars
Author: Sadie Grubor
Publication date: 08/13/2015
Publisher: Book Nerd Revelations
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 4 out of 5
 
Amazon blurb
When you're Jackson Shaw, guitarist of The Forgotten, and your hearts been broken, shattered by the deception of a woman you thought was the one. You can't hide from cameras and millions of fans hanging on every dirty detail printed and posted.

What you can do, is swear off love and dull the ache with gorgeous women who look nothing like that girl who tore you apart. A supermodel girlfriend and sexplicit escapades splashed across the tabloids is the ultimate revenge.​

It's also the perfect way to hide your pain in the media. But when the ache turns to a hollow pit, and there isn't enough sex, drugs, or alcohol to fill the emptiness, what do you do?

You cut your losses and head to L.A. to mentor the latest reality talent show. You follow an old friend into a world where the art of the tease and bump and grind were perfected. Where the sound of her voice calls to every primal instinct buried within your body and makes the demand for your attention.
​
Jackson's an addict, and just one taste puts him back in the precarious position of falling in love with a woman who's mastered the art of ensnaring and teasing.

My Review
I approach new-to-me authors and rock star romances cautiously. And when I say “cautiously,” I mean scared-little-bunny-eyeing-a-hungry-wolf levels of CAUTION. I’ve been let down too many times by new-to-me authors to count, and whenever I read about rock stars who do drugs and bang tons of nameless groupies falling in love, all I can think is, oh my God, he probably has gonorrhea, syphilis, and who-knows-what other STDs and he’s going to give all of them to that poor, trusting heroine. (*Shudders*) But when the author asked if I wanted to give this book a read, her note was so funny and sweet and compelling that I HAD to give the book a chance. And I’m really glad I kept an open mind and didn’t fall prey to my usually prejudices, because Hidden in the Stars was A LOT of fun.
 
First and foremost, yes, this book is part of a series, but it stands alone nicely, so don’t assume you’ll need to go back and read the previous book to keep up. I mean, you definitely CAN go back and read it, but you don’t HAVE to, which is nice. Stand alone reads that are also part of a series are kinda rare and I give the author props for pulling that off so seamlessly.

And with that out of the way, here’s what I LOVED:

1. Liza is a great heroine. She’s a hardworking single mom who never fails to put her kids needs first. And she doesn’t bitch and moan about it, either. There’s no “oh, woe is me” crap and “what might have been” musings from Liza. No way. She takes her life in stride and does what she needs to do to get by. I totally dig that about her.
2. There’s also no slut shaming or body shaming in this book. Liza sees Jackson, wants Jackson, takes Jackson. No angsty morning-after “I’m such a slut” ramblings. She’s also a curvy girl who doesn’t feel self-conscious about her size or wish she was smaller. She’s happy with her body as it is (as she should be). That doesn’t happen in NEARLY enough books, in my opinion.
3. The supporting cast of characters is FABULOUS. When the bands all get together, there are some truly laugh-out-loud pieces of dialogue and interactions that I totally enjoyed.
4. I’m not lumping Sid in as a supporting character because I loved her too much for that. She’s a force of nature. Hilarious, smart, fiercely protective of her friends, but still showing little hints of vulnerability here and there, Sid is a character to be reckoned with. I’ll totally read her story.       
5. The author’s writing style is super engaging. It really draws you in and makes you feel like you’re part of the story.  

  
But, no read is perfect. So, here’s what I didn’t love:

1. In the beginning of the book, Jackson is a mess. He’s a sloppy addict who treats Liza like crap after a stupid misunderstanding leaves him thinking she’s married. I pretty much wanted her to knee him in the nuts and tell him to eff off. The only reason I kept reading was that I was truly enjoying the author’s writing style at this point in the book, and I understood that as an addict, certain aspects of Jackson’s personality (all the crap I hated about him) were probably drug-induced, or at the very least, drug influenced. No spoilers, but he is eventually redeemed.    
2. I’m no prude, but I don’t think unprotected sex has a place in romance novels. ESPECIALLY when one of the characters is a rock star who has banged multiple randoms while snorting coke off a supermodel’s boobs. It only happened once in this story, and it wasn’t an intentional decision not to use protection, but hell, if it’d been me, I’m not sure I would’ve touched Jackson without insisting on a thorough disease screening and a full-body condom. But maybe that’s just my own personal rock star prejudice (see above).
3. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but Jackson’s recovery seemed awfully easy. I certainly wouldn’t want the author to spend tons of time detailing every little symptom of his withdrawal and struggle to get clean, but a little more info probably would’ve been good in this case. Maybe an extra chapter or something? A short one?​

 
I will warn you that there’s instalove in this story. It’s not a deal-breaker for me personally. I don’t find the concept of instalove any less believable than, say, vampires and werewolves, and I still read about those. But if you’re the kind of reader who can’t handle instalove, this one probably isn’t for you. (It’s your loss, though.)
 
And for all the grammar Nazis out there (and you know who you are), yes, there are a few misused words here and there. (Just a few. Nothing that hurt my enjoyment of the story.) But I dare any of you to find a book that is 100% error free. Editors are human. Mistakes happen. I encourage all grammar Nazis to ease up a bit and try to just enjoy the story. No one asked you to proofread the damn thing, after all.
 
All that being said, the author has created a fun world and a super-interesting cast of characters that I wouldn’t mind revisiting. Go ahead and one-click this one, folks. My guess is you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.          
 
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
There are a few parts that come dangerously close to being unrealistic, but overall, I’d say this one doesn’t contribute to the romance stigma. No rehab needed.  
 
Other reading suggestions
For more fan-freakin-tastic rockstar reads, try the Stage Dive series by Kylie Scott.

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