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WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR
Molly Ivers thought she found Prince Charming, but without a devilishly sexy accent, and six months ago she gave into their undeniable attraction. But the swarm of ever-present groupies was so not part of the fairy tale. As much as it hurt her heart, she shut out rocker Evan Castle.Mbr>
Now, on the verge of finishing her graduate degree and moving to Paris—she even hires a French life coach—Molly begins to realize Evan, who hasn’t given up on her, might be the man of her dreams after all.
My Review
Even though this was mostly a smutty romance without a ton of plot, I still got to know Molly and Evan enough to see their chemistry. Unlike some other romance stories where the characters instantly fall in love and stay together forever, this couple stayed away from each other for 6 months. Molly tried to date other guys in that time, but she had such bad experiences that she fell for Evan even harder the second time around.
There wasn’t that much character development as the story was fairly short, but it was interesting to see how Evan and Molly had changed in the six-month period.
The setting was also fairly unique, as Molly is a successful woman who wants to move to France and Evan is a mysterious guitarist in a small band. It seemed rather strange that Evan’s band was small, but he had a lot of groupies that caused them to separate at the start of the novel. Do the lead singers in small bands really have that many groupies while still playing at small bars and restaurants?
Also, I thought that this entire issue could have been worked out if they just had a real discussion about the groupies before separating. They seemed to be good at talking to each other after the six months were up, but these communication issues could still be “present” in the relationship since the story showed only a small part of it.
The only weak thing that I had really noticed besides the lack of communication was the “damsel in distress” scene. Almost all short romance novels have at least one, and I never really get mad at them for having it. However, most of them have a little bit of a unique quirk to the “villain” that shows up as a little bit of hero action for the main male character. This “villain” just seemed rather unimportant to the story, and it made the “hero” scene just seem random and a bit cheesy.
Other than this, I had no issues with the book. The plot flowed well, steamy scenes were steamy, and it was just a nice quick afternoon read for me. I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a new adult romance short story.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Read an Excerpt:
“Thanks, guys.” Evan’s smooth voice came over the mic while the guitar music died. “We’re gonna take a quick break, but we’ll be back in ten, so stick around.” He hopped off the low stage to scattered applause and whistles. Molly schooled the smirk on her face as he sidled past the flirting girls and made his way toward their table.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Wonder Twins, TWT, Inc.”
He slid into the empty space beside Molly in the booth. She exchanged an amused look with Nell. He’d christened them with the moniker upon moving in. They were never Nell and Molly, but Fischer and Ivers, TWT. Their eye color, skin, and facial features couldn’t be more different, but they were both the same height, petite-figured, and had wide, generous mouths and lots of hair.
“So, where’s the right-wing Republican boyfriend tonight?” he asked.
He stretched his arm over the back of Molly’s seat in a casual way. His forefinger grazed the edge of her earlobe, and a pleasant shiver ran through her.
“I thought you two were attached at the hip.”
Molly went silent and looked at her drink. Great, here it came.
“They broke up,” Nell chipped in.
Molly gave her a look of mock gratitude from across the table as Evan turned to her in surprise. His sexy hazel eyes searched hers. She waited for one of his classic Evan Castle comments, but the solemnity in his expression told her he wouldn’t give any.
He whistled low. “Sorry, Ivers, that sucks. You guys were together for a while.”
She hid her cringe as she took another sip of her drink. “Yeah…” Gulp, gulp, uncomfortable silence.
The drummer in Evan’s band called over to him, and Evan told him he’d be right there. He rapped his knuckles on the table and flashed them both a flirty smile.
“Well, Ivers,” he said as he slid out of the booth. “You’ll have a lot of attention to deal with, now that you’re back in the jungle with the rest of us primates. Do me a favor, eh, and don’t forget to put a bag over your head when you go out from now on, or you’ll have every guy in the room at your feet and beating down your door. Then I’ll never be able to talk to you.” He gave her a cheeky wink and walked off.
Molly turned crimson. Nell mouthed, Wow! as she put her palm over heart, and her jaw dropped open. They watched him walk off.
“What a compliment and a half! I did wonder why you two never got together. He always looks at you like he’s about to walk you against a wall and have at you.”
“What? No, he looks at all the girls like that. He’s just sweet and being a total flirt.” Molly waved it off, but her heartbeat accelerated as she remembered when he had, indeed, taken her against a wall their third time the night they’d spent together.
About the Author:
Roxanne D. Howard writes sizzling erotic romance with Boroughs Publishing Group and The Wild Rose Press. She is a U.S. Army veteran, and a Columbia College alumni. She loves to read poetry, classical literature, and Stephen King. Also, she is an avid Star Wars fan, musical theater nut, and marine biology geek. Roxanne resides in the western U.S., and when she’s not writing, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband, children, and furry companions. Roxanne loves to hear from her readers, and encourages you to contact her via her website and social media.
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Thanks for hosting!
Great review, I enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for your awesome review. I’m glad you enjoyed Flip the Beat. It was a fun rom-com to write. I hope you’ll check out my other books. I am available all day to answer any questions for readers. Thanks for having me on the blog today!
All the best,
Roxanne
Thanks for commenting, I will definitely take you up on that offer!