Made in Nashville by Mandy Baggot
Publication date: February 6th, 2014
Pages: 274
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
An on-stage attack left Honor Blackwood with more scars than just the one on her face. It's been ten years since she left her spot at Nashville's brightest country music star. Is now the time to return? And is she brave enough to do it?
Country rebel and rock star, Jared 'Jed' Marshall is hot property on the Tennessee music scene in more ways than one. He's wild, he's sexy and everybody wants a piece of him. But when he sets his sights on Honor, is it pure attraction or just distraction on his mind?
Honor's record label signs the ex-boyfriend that dumped her and suddenly going back to her old life is harder than she thought. Can she get a new contract? Will she get to perform at the Marlon Festival? Or will Dan Steele destroy everything?
When a secret from the past becomes public knowledge it's no longer just about the music. Are all the people in her life lying to her to get what they want? An who is really behind the anonymous gifts she keeps getting sent?
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Review:
I receive an e-copy of this book from the publishers at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It is no surprise that a girl, such as me, raised in the south would find a contemporary book written about country music intriguing. I have started to notice a spike in rock star books and have drank the kool-aid. I find myself loving rocker romances and all their gritty drama that comes along with them. What was unique about this book was that instead of being rock 'n roll as most of the rocker romances seem to be, this was about country music. Southern men are often seen as gentlemen in literature. I was curious to see if this held true in the world created by Mandy Baggot.
Honor has issues. She has several, in fact. A little over a decade ago she was attacked on stage by a maniac and was left with a Z-shaped scar marring her face. Since that event, Honor has been in hiding. She dropped from the music scene and started working at a music store instead. She has no desire to go back into the studio, but when her advisor approaches her with a deal she is hard-pressed to refuse, she has to consider overcoming her fears and getting back into the swing of things. What Honor didn't expect was a hunky country superstar approaching her with yet another deal. Accompany him or his tour and he will not take no for an answer. Honor has to decide what she wants to do with her career and whether she wants to get back into the music that she fell in love with so many years ago.
Jared doesn't want any sort of romantic entanglement right now. He just wants to star in his first countrywide tour and find an act to accompany him on it. When he hears Honor's voice for the first time he is transfixed and has to have her on his tour. What he didn't expect was that he would find the tormented singer so attractive. Jared struggles to fight his feelings for Honor while trying to convince her to join him on tour. He also must tango with his dark past and keep it well hidden from Honor and the world.
When Honor's ex-boyfriend becomes a part of her record label, Honor wants out of her record contract and away from the man who broke her heart. Can Jared be the savior she needs or will he be yet another man who does nothing but lie to her?
I don't know what has been going on with my reading material but I have found the last two authors to be very repetitive in their writing. Whereas the last was the repeat of 'chortle', this one was the constant reference to Vince Gill. I am not sure if that was intentional to hammer home the fact the protagonists are involved in the country music scene or whether the author just really likes Vince Gill. It was another instance where I really wanted to turn the reading into a drinking game. Mention Vince Gill, take a shot.
Other than that, the story was fairly well written. There were points where I grimaced and there were moments when I actually laughed out loud (usual for me). I found Jared's chaste ways to be very unrealistic since he was a big time country singer and I found Honor's fear being overcome so easily as to dismiss seemingly maleficent scenarios as coincidences. If one is afraid of their own shadow then they jump when something dark and mysterious starts to happen in their lives. It's just not something that is easily gotten over.
All in all, I liked some of the book, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would have been. It was a bit shaky, but I can't say I hated it.
