3 1/2 stars
A frustrated tabloid reporter gets more than she bargains for when she connects with a secretive, sexy country rocker in the second installment of the Get Dirty series by Lauren Landish.
Elise Warner works for The Daily Spot tabloid, digging up the secrets of the rich and famous. She is good at her job, but it is far from her dream of being a "real" investigative reporter. She convinces her sleazy boss Donnie to let her investigate Keith Perkins, a scorching hot country western star with a highly secretive private life. No one knows anything about Keith outside of his music, and Elise thinks that if she can discover his secrets, that it will open up doors for her to get a job with a better publication.
Elise tails Keith into a grocery store, and takes photos of him purchasing several types of feminine products. Elise feels that this is proof that Keith has a secret woman in his life. When the news hits the public, Keith is furious. He has worked hard for over a decade to keep his private life a secret for a very good reason, and he demands that his agent take care of the problem. His agent suggests allowing an "all-access" interview to deflect interest from the main issue at hand- the "woman" that Keith is attempting to protect from the media- his daughter. He reluctantly agrees. When Elise begins the interview, Keith insists on quid pro quo, and it causes a deepening of the already volatile chemistry between the pair.
Following a small show in a bar where Elise has a front row seat to Keith's magnetic on-stage performance, their passion explodes in a red hot back-stage tryst that marks the beginning of their secret love affair. But will the couple learn to trust each other enough to reveal all their secrets? And will Donnie accept Elise's cover-up...?
I really liked how this story started out. I'm a total sucker for stories about music stars, and the tabloid reporter was an interesting angle for the female lead. Keith was such an interesting character- the ultra sexy musician and the over-protective father all rolled into a terrific male lead. Elise was spunky and fun, and I enjoyed her character in the earlier and later parts of the book.
My issue with the story (and the reason for not giving it a 4 star rating) was the amount of very graphic sex scenes- mostly in the middle of the book. Now- I definitely have nothing against a good, spicy story- but when I'm reading a contemporary romance, there should be certain limits to the amount of spice. This book is definitely more like erotica in parts, it even contains some mild D/s scenes. There were also a few things that the hero did or said that just had me wrinkling up my nose and saying eww. The whole middle of the book was basically a free-for-all sex fest that felt out of place with the rest of the story. I personally think that the author could have left out the entire cabin scene and the book would have been better for it.
Overall, I did like the story- but the reader should be aware that the heat level in the middle of the book may take some by surprise. The ending came back around to more of what I felt gelled with the beginning, which ended up redeeming the book for me.
I received an ARC of this book, and I voluntarily chose to write an honest review.
A frustrated tabloid reporter gets more than she bargains for when she connects with a secretive, sexy country rocker in the second installment of the Get Dirty series by Lauren Landish.
Elise Warner works for The Daily Spot tabloid, digging up the secrets of the rich and famous. She is good at her job, but it is far from her dream of being a "real" investigative reporter. She convinces her sleazy boss Donnie to let her investigate Keith Perkins, a scorching hot country western star with a highly secretive private life. No one knows anything about Keith outside of his music, and Elise thinks that if she can discover his secrets, that it will open up doors for her to get a job with a better publication.
Elise tails Keith into a grocery store, and takes photos of him purchasing several types of feminine products. Elise feels that this is proof that Keith has a secret woman in his life. When the news hits the public, Keith is furious. He has worked hard for over a decade to keep his private life a secret for a very good reason, and he demands that his agent take care of the problem. His agent suggests allowing an "all-access" interview to deflect interest from the main issue at hand- the "woman" that Keith is attempting to protect from the media- his daughter. He reluctantly agrees. When Elise begins the interview, Keith insists on quid pro quo, and it causes a deepening of the already volatile chemistry between the pair.
Following a small show in a bar where Elise has a front row seat to Keith's magnetic on-stage performance, their passion explodes in a red hot back-stage tryst that marks the beginning of their secret love affair. But will the couple learn to trust each other enough to reveal all their secrets? And will Donnie accept Elise's cover-up...?
I really liked how this story started out. I'm a total sucker for stories about music stars, and the tabloid reporter was an interesting angle for the female lead. Keith was such an interesting character- the ultra sexy musician and the over-protective father all rolled into a terrific male lead. Elise was spunky and fun, and I enjoyed her character in the earlier and later parts of the book.
My issue with the story (and the reason for not giving it a 4 star rating) was the amount of very graphic sex scenes- mostly in the middle of the book. Now- I definitely have nothing against a good, spicy story- but when I'm reading a contemporary romance, there should be certain limits to the amount of spice. This book is definitely more like erotica in parts, it even contains some mild D/s scenes. There were also a few things that the hero did or said that just had me wrinkling up my nose and saying eww. The whole middle of the book was basically a free-for-all sex fest that felt out of place with the rest of the story. I personally think that the author could have left out the entire cabin scene and the book would have been better for it.
Overall, I did like the story- but the reader should be aware that the heat level in the middle of the book may take some by surprise. The ending came back around to more of what I felt gelled with the beginning, which ended up redeeming the book for me.
I received an ARC of this book, and I voluntarily chose to write an honest review.
