Monday, January 6, 2014

Real Ugly - C. M. Stunich

UPDATE!!  In anticipation of the imminent (hopefully only moments away!) release of Born Wrong, book 5 in the Hard Rock Roots Series, the first four books are no on sale at Amazon.com for 99 cents each.  4 books for $3.96!!!!!  That's crazy, when you consider how excellent these books are.  Go, buy, read!


I have recently read the first four books in this series, Hard Rock Roots, and I am loving it.  C. M. Stunich has a voice, and it's not like any other voice in "rock star romance" today.  She is raw, she is brutal, she is seductive and vulgar, poetic and plan.  Real Ugly (along with the other three books in the series) is an amazing read.

Turner f*cking Campbell is a drugged out, hard drinking, tattooed front man with an arrogant attitude, a rolling strut, and a natural affinity for the stage.  Naomi Knox is a beautiful, damaged woman who plays the guitar like an angel and parties like the rock star she longs to be.  She likes a good line or a good lay as much as the next girl, but she also takes her work very seriously.  Neither Turner nor Naomi is looking for anything like what they stumble upon in one another. At least, not at first...

There's a back story that I won't ruin for you, but suffice it to say that Naomi hates Turner and believes she has a good reason to.  I actually disagree with her and think they share equal responsibility for the situation, but apparently I'm the only one.  Anyway.  Both characters have had hard lives and rough patchs, and both are on their way to winning the brass ring:  A real live, hard core, sex-and-drug soaked rock 'n roll fantasy life.  They've worked hard and played hard, done some hard drugs and some hard f*cking, seduced the crowds, the promoters, and the groupies, and they're reaping the rewards of their efforts.  But what happens when TNT meets C4?  Well, it gets Real Ugly.

I love that Turner is so open to change without realizing that he is.  He's pretty honest with himself, too.  I don't think Naomi understands herself as well as Turner understands them both, but that sort of makes it more fun.

There are humorous moments, of course, and some sex scenes that are right in keeping with the rock 'n roll theme, and then there are the ultra-mega-uber hot scenes between Naomi and Turner. You could melt your Kindle on this book!  And don't worry, the next three books are just as hot.

The cliffhanger is shocking and, while the whole over-arching plot becomes a bit... stretched, further down the road, it's not a fatal flaw.  Acknowledge a move on, right?  Because it's worth it.

One thing I realized about halfway through the series is that Stunich makes the bands in these stories seem so real, and the lyrics she write for them are so good, I can practically hear the music in my head and I want to go to these shows!  Our author does a great job of making this world and these people seem believable.

Ultimately, Stunich is a really good writer with a very good understanding of who her characters are, and she allows them to grow and change in organic ways.  I am waiting anxiously and impatiently for book 5 in the series, Born Wrong. Stunich makes such a great world here, and gives life to a great set of characters, and if there are excesses?  Well, it's rock 'n roll, baby!

Born Wrong comes out on March 19, 2014.  Read the first four in the series before then because trust me when I say that you don't want to miss out!  Links to purchase on Amazon.com:









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