3.5 Smooches
Synopsis
Abby Gauthier is close to getting everything she’s worked so hard for. The band she manages, Sinister Riot, has been offered a major record contract. But it comes with a catch: the band must add Eli Jamison, winner of the talent show The Spotlight, to the lineup.
Devon Sinclair is the singer of Sinister Riot, and he’s Abby’s best friend. She’s in love with him, but fears she’ll lose him if she makes the first move. Devon knows adding Eli to the band is a mistake, and he’s right. Eli’s interested in more than just making an album. He wants to take control of the band, and he wants to get to know Abby better. A lot better. When tensions between Devon and Eli threaten to destroy Sinister Riot, Abby must act on her true feelings or lose everything she’s ever wanted.
Review
Abby Gauthier and Devon Sinclair have been best friends since middle school. Over the years, they piece together a band, Sinister Riot, and thanks to Abby’s tireless promotion of them, the band is now a local fan favorite of the New Orleans music scene. While going to college to pursue an entertainment management degree, she books their shows, manages their social media presence and sells their merchandise at their shows.
Devon is pursuing his dream. Sinister Riot is his and Abby’s youthful brainchild, and he pours his heart and soul into the band. With Abby as his best friend and his rock, he has somewhere to call home when it all falls to pieces. Abby, constantly reminded by her sister that she has to stop living her life for Devon, is also secretly in love with Devon. It pains her greatly when he plays the field and comes running to her when it falls apart. Unwilling to risk what they have for what they might have, Abby doesn’t tell Devon how she feels. Then the new band member, Eli Jamison, shows her he’s interested in her outside the band, and for the first time, Abby is interested, too.
“Devon Sinclair sucked the single right out of me.”
During one of their shows, a representative approaches Abby from a record label. That conversation is the break they’ve been hoping and praying for, but it comes with a catch. Ultimately, that catch changes everything for the band. The band will have to make concessions, and only time will tell if those concessions will have been worth it.
I liked Abby. She was an interesting mix of mature qualities in someone so young. She had a vision for the band and focused on pursuing it, she was selfless in her work on behalf of the band, and she completely believed in them. It was hard, however, to watch her find her footing in life as she struggled to have that same belief in herself and her abilities. She had trouble recognizing her own self worth, and it was frustrating at times to see her so unsure of her value to and place with the band. It didn’t help that her sister and parents told her often that she was living for Devon and that pursuing a career in music entertainment management wasn’t realistic or worthwhile.
For Devon, it took him the complete collapse of his dream to help him figure out what he really wanted. He was on the verge of losing Abby, and his antics during that time were the catalyst to the wake up call he needed. Having been replaced in the band that was his dream and his brainchild was a nearly devastating blow, but Devon really surprised me. He could have easily buckled under that defeat, but instead he did the smart thing and focused – on his music and on his relationship with Abby. Together, they did what they always did. They came together, they moved forward and they started from scratch.
This book is a standalone novel within Strassel’s Spotlight series. She is a talented author, and this book is very well written with likeable characters, a realistic and interesting plot and a sweet romance between the main characters. While not at all a cliffhanger, this book has a fade to black feel to the ending.
3.5 smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
