Nothing can stand in the way of outspoken, rule-breaker-extraordinaire; Kaddy Richston…except destiny. She set her sights on being in a rock band and leaving her small Wyoming town along with the painful memories of her past.
But destiny had other plans for her.
The observant Cole Huntington enters her life and becomes the bump in the road Kaddy is trying to pave for her future. Striking blue eyes, features to make any girl swoon, he’s everything but the new-to-town bad boy. Calm, cool, and always collected, he plans on unraveling every one of Kaddy’s dark secrets.
Kaddy is determined to undermine whatever intentions he has until she learns of a destiny she never asked for. The only person she can turn to for answers is the last person she’d want help from: Cole Huntington, who seemed to dislike her rule-breaking as much as she dislikes his rule-following.
When I first started this book, I saw Mike and Kaddy together. I knew that Cole was going to be coming up later in the story, so I was stelling myself for one of those super-cringy love triangles between the childhood best friend and the mysterious new guy in town. Eventually, I figured out that there would be no love triangle, and this made me happy. Nevertheless, this is not the only book in this series, so I am not sure of what will happen in future installments. Just know that for now, there are no love triangles!
Kaddy is an inspirational main character. She was abused throughout her childhood by her father after her mother and brother abandon them. She hasn’t seen her mother and brother since they left, and sometimes she blames her mother for leaving, which caused her father to break down and become abusive. Nevertheless, even though she has horrible night terrors about the abuse that she endured, she won’t let her past stop her from pursuing her dream of music.
Cole has a unique story of his own that is discovered within the book. I won’t speak about it too much, especially since not everything is really known about him by the end of the story. I will just let you know that it is definitely worth the read.
Kaddy’s friends in the band each have their own unique personalities, and each of them has their own issues. For example, this book even discusses the drug culture that lies within rock bands and their music, and the effects of drugs on the people using them and the families around them. This is only one of the small things that are included in the story that make it more realistic.
The worldbuilding and character development go hand in hand in this story, as Kaddy learns more and more about herself and the truth of the world around her. Again, I can’t say too much about it without spoiling the entire story. As I was reading it, I felt just as confused as Kaddy was. By the time everyone started to understand what was really going on, the story ended as the wait began for the next installment of the series. I was upset when I saw that I would have to wait to find out more about Kaddy’s story, and I can’t wait to see where the next book takes her.
I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy-romance or paranormal romance that is YA but does not contain a love triangle, and that has realistic characters with good character development.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 6 out of 5 stars.
