5 Smooches!

Synopsis

Signing with Brighthouse Records was supposed to be everything we ever wanted—our better life. Our chance at everything we never had but always wanted. All our dreams would finally come true and we were on top of the world. It was our chance at the happiness we never had in life.

Our every desire was at our fingertips and the power of that feeling was all consuming. But then it took every dream we thought would come true and it slapped us in the face with the cold hard reality.

Dreams were just that…something that floated on the cusp of untouchable, taunting you with every graze of your fingertips before slipping even further away.

Happiness…that feeling is a joke.

In the end it became painfully obvious that each of us would always have each other, but we would forever be alone.

*Jaded Hearts is the first book in the Loaded Replay series.*

REVIEW

Jaded Hearts is the first book in Harper Sloan’s Loaded Replay series and is a spin-off of her Hope Town series. I’m a huge fan of Ms. Sloan’s, I’ve read everything she’s written, so it was a given that I’d be reading this. There is something special about a Harper Sloan alpha that never fails to make my romance reading heart happy. Always unique and individual, they share common threads of strength, protection, bravery, dominance and good looks with a bit of an edge and a complete commitment and devotion to their women. I was positively thrilled to see those core traits woven into the fabric of Chance’s character. I also noticed that this book had a definite Corps Security-esque feel to it, so readers of Sloan’s who have been saying that they hoped that this story would come from those roots got their wish.

“…fame and fortune were nowhere near anything I ever dreamed it would be like.”

I think a lot of people assume that the life of a rock star and all the trappings that come with that lifestyle would be a dream come true, but Sloan really did a great job painting the picture of the other side of the fame and fortune coin in Jaded Hearts. Years of a relentless and demanding recording and touring schedule required of them by their greedy record label have taken its toll on the members of Loaded Replay. It’s one thing after another, between appearances and interviews and the label ordering them back into the studio, and let’s not forget the little matter of the stalker fixated on Wren, the one that no one but the four members of the band is taking seriously. They’re all exhausted, and they desperately want and need a break.

“We’re cut from the same cloth, honey. Both of us wear the scars of our jaded past…”

My heart went out to the heroine, Wren, in the first few chapters. The only constant in this young woman’s life was her twin brother, Wes, and the only other genuine people around her were her bandmates, Luke and Jamison, and her best friend/stylist, Dyllan. It made for a rather lonely existence, and almost overwhelmingly, that’s exactly what I felt coming from her in those chapters. From the hurtful history of her and Wes’ childhood to the secluded, stressful existence of her present, Sloan makes it crystal clear why this young woman has become so cynical. Chance, whose experiences are different from Wren’s, has his own painful and valid reasons for being so guarded.

“…the something I’d been searching blindly for has finally been found.”

Just like Chance and Wren, I felt the attraction crackle between them from the first meeting. These two were drawn to each other in an insistent, unavoidable and undeniable way. I’ll even go so far as to say that this is about as close as you’re going to get to insta-love in a Harper Sloan novel. The thing is that these two had been through enough, they were both so beleaguered, so weary in matters of the heart, that I really wanted their connection to come easy and early. The fact of the matter is that their relationship was unconventional, and Wren said it best when she told Chance that theirs wasn’t like normal peoples’ relationships due to their circumstances, and because of that, it would advance at pace that takes most people years to attain. And, you know what, in this book, and in this situation, it worked exceptionally well. They were in sync, they were solid, and neither one of them waivered in their commitment to the other. I really liked the way that this part of the plot played out. They were just so great together – they were fun, they were sweet and they were sexy. But even more than that, they anchored each other in the storm of fame that constantly swirled around Wren, and in an industry where it doesn’t always play out that way, they recognized what they had in each other and held tight. Loved that!

“… the something I had been searching blindly for has finally been found.”

Based on their histories, both Wren and Chance came from places where drama and disappointment was often dished out to them by other people, and they were both suspicious and distrustful of others because of it. This book wasn’t short on drama, though, it’s just that it wasn’t a part of the love story portion of the plot. But what I said earlier about this book having a Corps Security feel to it holds true. The drama and angst in this book come from the suspenseful portion plot, and I liked that a whole lot. That part of the plot held my interest, hooked me right in and kept me tapping my Kindle. Ms. Sloan always does her suspense plots justice, though, so it’s no surprise that it was well done here.

“I need what you give me more than my next breath…People fight a lifetime to find this, and I had almost lost faith that I would have this.

I really enjoyed Jaded Hearts. I loved Wren and Chance both individually and as a couple, and I really liked all of the other characters. I’m very much looking forward to more in the Loaded Replay series, and Jamison’s story is next – I  can’t wait! Harper Sloan’s Jaded Hearts gets five smooches from me!

~ Danielle Palumbo

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