[Book Review] Hard Rhythm
Hard Rhythm (The Secrets of a Rock Star #3) / Cecilia Tan
Previously Reviewed
Set revolving the band and the kink club we've come to know in the previous two books, Hard Rhythm follows hostess Madison and drummer Chino.
Unfortunately, this is probably my least favorite of the series, little details just bothered me and I don't generally expect my favorite parts of an erotic romance to be the ones that have nothing to do with the relationship or sexy times. That being said, it's a pretty good series overall.
Ironically perhaps, I felt the public D/S scenes were just too showy for me to even enjoy reading about. Yeah, I get where that's sort of the point of a public show, but they felt like just show and no substance. I also felt we were a bit teased by a chance of a relationship with Madison as the dominant, or some element of switch. The story opens with her thinking about Chino submitting to her, then turns into her regularly going almost instantly into subspace with him. Other things that stood out the wrong way include a weird mix of expressing concerns over limits then going into scenes blindly without regard for any possible issues, as well as holy crap that's a short period of time to get someone's name inked on yourself (and making decisions like that mid scene... o.O).
As for the positives, among other things I totally didn't see the villain angle of the story coming, which is great because I thought I had it pegged as a overdone cliche. I was so happy to be wrong. I think the story really handled the issue of domestic abuse well, and I loved the idea of using a safeword for more than a stop, but as a check-in for acknowledging an issue that is difficult to confront.
Advance Reader Copy courtesy of Forever (Hachette) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.
Previously Reviewed
Unfortunately, this is probably my least favorite of the series, little details just bothered me and I don't generally expect my favorite parts of an erotic romance to be the ones that have nothing to do with the relationship or sexy times. That being said, it's a pretty good series overall.
Ironically perhaps, I felt the public D/S scenes were just too showy for me to even enjoy reading about. Yeah, I get where that's sort of the point of a public show, but they felt like just show and no substance. I also felt we were a bit teased by a chance of a relationship with Madison as the dominant, or some element of switch. The story opens with her thinking about Chino submitting to her, then turns into her regularly going almost instantly into subspace with him. Other things that stood out the wrong way include a weird mix of expressing concerns over limits then going into scenes blindly without regard for any possible issues, as well as holy crap that's a short period of time to get someone's name inked on yourself (and making decisions like that mid scene... o.O).
As for the positives, among other things I totally didn't see the villain angle of the story coming, which is great because I thought I had it pegged as a overdone cliche. I was so happy to be wrong. I think the story really handled the issue of domestic abuse well, and I loved the idea of using a safeword for more than a stop, but as a check-in for acknowledging an issue that is difficult to confront.
Advance Reader Copy courtesy of Forever (Hachette) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; changes may exist between galley and the final edition.
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