Lashell Collins

Wow. What to say? Really?
Noah, the lead guitarist for Jagged Ivory, is sexy, brooding and a womanizing ass. At least that’s what Mercy thinks. They had a one night stand and then he dropped her like a bad habit four years ago before his band made it big. But she was a loyal fan because she loved the music and she continued to follow his career and the band’s stardom.
Mercy joins Jagged Ivory on tour because her dad is their manager (though Noah never knew this) but their relationship isn’t all rose petals and love ballads. Nope. Tension strikes in all shapes and forms: there’s Noah’s brother who wants Mercy, Noah’s alcohol dependency, other band members and their drug problems, the groupies, and just general mistrust and secrets between Noah and Mercy.
I was totally engrossed in the story but I was a little irritated that it took so long for Noah and Mercy to finally get together. I mean, they kissed for the first time at 60% of the ebook, had sex at around 71% and then they finally discussed the giant pink elephant in the room after they had sex. The frustration and sexual tension they felt toward each other through the first half or so of the book just lasted too long in my opinion and I was dying for them to finally talk. Once they did, however, everything just seemed to fall into place and a beautiful relationship blossomed.
We learned quite a bit about Otis, Noah’s big brother, and Noah’s best friend Cory but not so much about Buzzy and Benji, other than Benji’s heroin addiction. All the guys have indulged in drugs and wild sex with strangers (Cory seems the cleanest), and it’s easy to blame it on the rock and roll lifestyle, but choices are choices and the guys act like arrogant idiots sometimes. But it’s hard for the reader not to get pulled into their heads and see life as they see it. I understand why they are the way they are, and that’s good writing.
Speaking of the writing, the book flowed well and transitioned from chapter to chapter so fluidly that I had to keep reading. I couldn’t put it down. There were some typos, mostly missing commas, and the POV shifted all over the place, from the main characters to the side characters and back again all in the same chapter. It was a little hard to follow at times and to know who was talking or thinking. Even with these problems, I loved the book and the characters. You just can’t help but fall in love with the bad boys of Jagged Ivory.
I haven’t read many rock star romances and this is the first book I’ve read by the author, Lashell Collins. I have the other four books in the Jagged Ivory series waiting on my Kindle and I’ll be sure to get to those soon. (Stay tuned for the reviews.)
4 Stars.

Disclaimer – Thank you, Lashell Collins (author) and Stephanie Biedlingmaier (book promoter) for sending me an ebook copy for an honest review. I am a reader. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason.… (meer)

Benji was awesome and Fae was even more awesome!
Though it was hard to read about how Benji hit rock bottom, he dragged himself back up by the skin of his teeth and I couldn’t have been more proud of him. Getting clean in rehab was the easy part. Being out in the real world and surrounded by people who still used and wanted him back as their drug buddy would be hard. Benji wanted to break so many times and he often panicked. Luckily, his bandmates, his brothers, were there for him. The drug use and Benji’s emotions weren’t glossed over, his trouble was very real, so kudos to the author.
Part of recovery is not to start a new serious relationship and to be careful with the relationships you already have. Stress is a key factor for falling off the wagon. All throughout the book Benji was like ‘my recovery comes first’. Bravo!!! The band and Fae understood that and went out of their way to keep temptation away from Benji. The guys of Jagged Ivory were so sweet and understanding, determined to see their brother clean. Benji didn’t have any real family (he was orphaned at the age 5 and ran away from a horrible foster home at 15) and he loved his bandmates so much.
Fae is Benji’s new bass guitar tech and she has a huge crush on him. As they get closer, they become fast friends and their relationship is totally platonic. Fae had a similar upbringing as Benji’s but it wasn’t as bad. She has two surrogate parents (a wonderful gay couple who took her in after her mom OD’d) and she couldn’t have been luckier to find Wayne and Dave. Her tattoos are beautifully described and I love the story behind them.
She’s more wild looking from the other heroines in the previous books (Mercy and Donna) and I think she was my favorite. I related to her very well. I loved her and Benji’s interaction, friendship and the sweet romance that slowly bloomed.
This was a tearjerker of a story. My favorite of the series so far and the one I was most looking forward to reading. I didn’t want this story to end.
I noticed more typos in this book than with the previous two in the series -- little words were missing in a sentence, the wrong word was being used, misplaced commas, too many exclamation points when characters are whispering, etc. And of course the switching POV shifts irk me. Anyway, I still followed the book pretty well.
Normally, I would knock off a star for editing problems but I think this is the author’s style of writing (meaning the POV shifts), so I’m keeping it at 5 stars because this story is just wonderful and heartfelt. I’m so happy I got the chance to read it.
5 Stars.

Disclaimer – Thank you, Lashell Collins (author) and Stephanie Biedlingmaier (book promoter) for sending me an ebook copy for an honest review. I am a reader. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason.
… (meer)

I was looking forward to reading Cory’s story since I’d met him in book 1. I love how Cory and Noah are best friends and closer to one another than Noah is with his blood brother Otis. Friendship and brotherhood play a huge part in the series.
I liked how both Cory and Donna are celebrities in their right and Donna’s movie and TV career was interesting and entertaining. I expected more rock and roll and touring like in the first book but this one focused more on life outside the arena, which was good. It’s different.
The best part of this story for me was the father-son subplot. Cory finding his long lost dad was a great addition to the story and added more drama and depth to Cory’s character.
The Prologue starts with the guys coming back to the States after the European leg of the tour and Cory tells Noah he plans to ask Donna to marry him.
Chapter One begins with Cory and Donna’s divorce three months later.
Chapter Two to the end of the book was how and why the couple broke up. I felt ‘Why am I reading this?’ since I already know the couple is getting a divorce and, since it’s a romance, I know the couple will make up in the end. I didn’t like having the ‘divorce’ spoiler in Ch 1 and I probably would’ve enjoyed the story more had it been linear.
The book was a little hard for me to get into and I couldn't connect well with Cory and Donna. The couple's problems stemmed from miscommunication and, though I teared up a few times, I thought Cory was selfish. I understand why Donna lied to him but, after the truth was out, he should’ve accepted her feelings and not made her feel guilty about it. But I understand he was heartbroken so he acted out like a child. It just didn't make sense to me that they would argue over the same things, again and again, when a good heartfelt conversation would take care of it. But neither of them really wanted to talk. They wanted to yell and place blame.
The writing flowed well and I noticed very few typos. As with the first book, however, there were multiple POV shifts within a chapter with both the main and side characters. I also don't understand why exclamation points are used so often, especially when a character is talking softly or whispering.
For anyone who's experienced Cory's and Donna's problems would probably relate to this book very well. Even though it isn't my favorite book in the series, it's still a good story and the drama/pain/mistrust between the main characters is believable.
3.5 Stars.

Disclaimer – Thank you, Lashell Collins (author) and Stephanie Biedlingmaier (book promoter) for sending me an ebook copy for an honest review. I am a reader. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason.… (meer)

Janie and Buzzy (or Robby as she called him) fell in love in high school but then she broke off their relationship without ever telling him why. He later followed his dream and became a rock star while she gave up her dream of a writing career and now works as a waitress to raise their son. When they reconnect years later, sparks fly and old hurts surface.
The best part about the book, for me, is Bobby—Janie and Buzzy’s eight year old son. He’s sweet and genuine.
I liked Buzzy for the most part but I couldn’t connect with Janie. I understand why she broke Buzzy’s heart and never told him about their son, but it irks me when a woman puts aside her wants and needs for a man’s wants and needs. Her reasoning was flawed and she was just too prideful.
I understood and felt Buzzy’s anger and pain much better than Janie’s. I lost respect for Buzzy, however, when he cast aside his live-in fling that had traveled with him on the road for about two months. He kicked the woman off the tour bus because Janie had come back into his life and he didn’t even give her money to go back home. Did he expect her to hitchhike? Did he care if she wandered homeless through the streets of Cleveland? Low blow, Buzzy. I laughed when she ranted at him in front of everyone but I didn’t think Buzzy was punished enough for the callous way he’d treated her, especially since Janie wasn’t mad at him. Anyway, that subplot just rubbed me the wrong way.
The story was good, well thought out, but I’d guessed a lot of the plot points early on. I enjoyed it mainly because of the child, Bobby, and the side characters. The band mates are awesome as usual and I love seeing how the other relationships progress.
There was a lot of head hopping, passive voice and a few typos that took me out of the story. The formatting of the book was superb, like the others, but I wished it would’ve been edited better.
I liked the book all in all and will read the last book of the series soon.

3.5 Stars

Disclaimer – Thank you, Lashell Collins (author) and Stephanie Biedlingmaier (book promoter), for sending me an ebook copy for an honest review. I am a reader. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason.
… (meer)