The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Release Day Blitz & Giveaway for Kylie Scott's "Play (Stage Dive #2)."
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1l7OInf
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1rGet1W
Synopsis:
Kylie Scott returns with the highly anticipated follow-up to international bestseller LICK Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl.
Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?
Blitz Review: Surj Harvey
OMG Mal Ericson has left me absolutely exhausted. I can't for the life of me remember him being so energetic in "Lick" but even by 20%, I was cream crackered. I was really trying to work this man out and every possibility went through my mind: Was he high? Maybe a raging alcoholic? A manic depressive? Bi-polar? My head was a buzz with explanations because Mal's mood swings went literally from extreme highs to extreme lows and even the other characters were struggling to work him out.
The drummer was nuts. He'd always been riding the edge of needing immediate admission to
a nice soft padded white room. And for a while, it had even been kind of charming
in an off beat fashion. But now he'd lost all semblance of control.
Very early on in "Play," I knew something wasn't quite right with the drummer of Stage Dive. He was hiding something from me. He was hiding something from everyone and that became more and more apparent with the direction the story took.
Anne Rollins was a door mat. She didn't see it that way. She saw herself as a loving, supporting, helpful friend and she was but that resulted in those closest to her taking advantage of her good nature and walking all over her. Bless her because she never saw it that way until a stranger who didn't know her from Adam pointed it out to her. OK so maybe he wasn't a stranger she'd just met at a party she was forced to go to because she needed cheering up. Nope, said stranger was actually Anne's childhood poster pin up... none other than Mal Ericson.
“Whatever you’re imagining, it’s bigger.”
“ I’m not imagining anything.”
“I’m serious, it’s basically a monster. I cannot control it.”
“Malcolm…”
“You’re pretty much going to need a whip and a chair to tame it, Anne.”
“Stop it.”
The initial encounter between Mal and Anne was odd. Bizarre. Random. Weird. Crazy. In fact it was all of those things but the end result was Mal moving in with Anne and the couple feigning a relationship... but who would benefit? Well Anne had just been left high and dry when her flat mate left without paying rent, taking most of the furniture with her and Mal... well for some reason he wouldn't even share with Anne, needed a short term stable girlfriend to play happy families with. The mind boggled.
"Play" was told from Anne's POV and I have to say I really connected with her character. She was witty, funny and very much the girl next door. But she also had insecurities and fears and that just made her even more relatable. Her reaction to meeting the man she had idolised as a teenager was hilarious and even after they moved in together, her behaviour towards him and her inner dialogue had me in stitches. You don't just forget your living with a bloomin' rockstar over night do you and Anne Rollins definitely didn't!!!
If he started yelling about sexual healing again I’d throw him out, cool furniture, drum kit, and all. Or I’d lick him all over. With my current confusion and stress levels, chances were 50/50.
Mal's character was hilarious. Some of the things he came out with were just brilliant and although initially I wondered what the hell was up with his manic behaviour, I soon realised that everything that came out of his mouth was him.... it was part and parcel of his wacky personality. Yes he did have a secret and that brought out some of his darker mood swings but the personality (that at times resembled someone with ADHT) was all HIM!!! Yes it was exhausting at times but it was fun too and definitely made this book more of a light hearted read.
"You come across as this happy go lucky type dude most of the time,
but you are in fact a man of many layers. You're kind of complicated."
The banter between Mal and Anne was brilliant and they played their parts in their fake relationship perfectly (although Mal did piss me off a couple of times when he forgot his role for a split second!!!). I did initially wonder though, whether Mal would just be another person to take advantage of Anne but to honest, as much as she would have liked more, she knew exactly what they were doing together so tried not to think to much about it. She wasn't stupid by any means and absolutely put Mal in his place a few times... thank god.
"You're good for me. You take me in any mood I come in. I don't have to always be happy
around you. You roll with any shit I say and give as good as you get. You don't let me
push you around if it doesn't suit you and you haven't asked me to buy you a fucking thing."
I knew that despite lines getting blurred and things getting quite heated between this couple, the fake bubble they were in couldn't last forever and I had a sneaky suspicion everything would at some point come crashing down around them.... and how right was I!!! Yup their lives took a nose dive as secrets were revealed but hey, that's what us readers like... right? Hearts and flowers is fine but a bit of angst and heart break never hurt anyone!!!
Mal didn't seem like he'd hurt a fly. But he might accidentally trample one.
The supporting characters in "Play" were brilliant. Ev and David, Lizzy and the rest of the band really helped to seal the deal with this book and I can't wait to see whose story we get next. Ben's maybe?
This was a really good second book in the "Stage Dive" Series and as much as David Feris will always have the biggest chunk of my heart, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mal and Anne's story. Yes it was light hearted but for me (and I have a feeling I'll be in the minority), I did read this book with a nervousness... Mal's secret playing on my mind for the most part. A definite read if you loved "Lick," I rated "Play" 4 Hearts
About the Author:
USA Today Bestselling Australian Romance Writer.
Email: kylie@kylie-scott.com
Website: http://www.kylie-scott.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KylieScottbooks
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