Lisa Suzanne

Born the daughter of a rock star and his groupie, my life should have been full of glitz and glamour. But the excess and embarrassment of that life didn't interest me. Instead, I killed time at Vintage, a record store where I stocked shelves and lacked ambition. Everything changed the moment I pressed play. One simple lyric awakened me. When I stopped denying my attraction to the man behind the music, I started questioning his intentions. We were meant to cross paths, but it wasn't because of fate. Someone was playing with our lives.

Vintage Volume One

Anna Ureta

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
 
As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE fan of Lisa Suzanne’s work. Ever since I first received a review copy of her first novel How He Really Feels, I was in love. If you’re expecting a book similiar to all of her previous contemporary romance novels, you should just STOP, because her newest novel Vintage: Book 1 is something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! I had moments where I questioned characters, where their actions were justified, where I couldn’t stand them, and even parts when I thought they were being sort of ‘wimpy’. Guitarist, Parker James isn’t your typical Lisa Suzanne hunk-o-man. You might think he’s perfect but you may think he’s sort of dumb for some of the decisions he makes, but there’s just something a lot more…human more realistic, about the way he and Roxanna act in this book that is different to any other novel by Lisa Suzanne.
 
If you think living a normal life is hard, try being the daughter of the world’s most famous rockstar. Sure there’s money, fame, and lots of perks involved, but the only thing Roxanna Cecelia Price wants to be is normal.
 To the princess of rock, there have been more disadvantages than advantages. People have used her for her connections, hurt her, and broken her heart. The only peace she gets is by working at Vintage, a little music store of no consequence. It’s there in that store, during a band signing that she meets guitarist for an upcoming band called Flashing Lights, named Parker James. The first time she hears his lyrics and his music she is unexplicably drawn to him, as he is to her the first time he sets eyes on her. He wants her, and if Parker James wants something, he gets it. But Roxanna is no damsel and is no prize to be won. She knows Parker’s kind and has made it a rule to never date musicians.
 
Like I said earlier, this novel is SO DIFFERENT from all the other novels Suzanne has written. She informed me that it was the first time she’d written suspense and I applauded her for it. It isn’t easy to write out of your comfort zone and man is this book suspenseful… The cliffhanger at the end…oh man, I freaked out, and if I was Roxy I’d be freaking out too!
 
Again, like I said earlier, there is something very realistic about these characters in comparison to the others Suzanne has written in the past. With all the bad things that’s happen to Roxy and the way she’s reacted to it, I think it’s very normal and very empowering to her to act the way she does – strong, independent, if not a little indifferent to the world. In contrast, Parker is very outgoing, confident, very snarky, but later on also shows a very vulnerable side to him, and it is there that we see instances of the man clearly way more attracted to the girl than she is to him.
 

“Perfect. I have a short set to play at eleven, but I can be back here around midnight.”
 “You have no reason to come back here.”
 He took off the hat he wore backwards and set it on the table with the grooves.
 I stared down at the hat for a second, memorizing it. It was black. The word, “Sox” was embroidered in black letters, black on black. It was the Chicago White Sox logo.
 “Looks like I forgot my lucky hat. I can’t go on tour for six weeks without it.”
 
As happy as I am that this is something different, I do admit that it wasn’t my favourite Suzanne novel. I DO MISS the swoony unrealistic men that set up unrealistic expectations… I mean Parker is still pretty unrealistic but he seems…maybe a bit more human than any of her other fictional men. The same goes with Roxy. I feel like there was a lot of time we spend in Roxy’s head rather than her …womaning-up, and doing something about it. She does get very verbal and she has every right to, but she just wasn’t my favourite female lead. Maybe because they were both just so human? :P
 

He made me feel different. Special. Unlike anything I’d experienced before.
 I wanted more of it. I just had one thing standing in my way.
 It was me.
 I was standing in the way, and I wasn’t sure how to myself myself enough to get out of my own way.
 
Vintage: Book 1 is still an amazing book in its own right. Whether you like realistic characters who LEARN to be better through A LOT of self-reflection, or characters who aren’t afraid to say what they want and do whatever is in their power to protect the ones they hold dearest, this book is definitely for you. It also gives you a great insight on what goes on behind the stage in the music industry and I’ll have to admit that was pretty cool to read about.
 
Vintage: Book 1 is real, intense, and learning how to forgive others and forgive yourself in the process.
 I have so many questions I can’t wait for book 2!
 
4/5 Hearts of Love

Cat Imb

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!

How is this the end? That was abrupt... 

There are a couple of reasons why I wasn't overly fond of this book. First, because of the ending. There is a difference between a cliff hanger and an unfinished story. The book revolves around CCs protection against something she knows nothing about. Throughout the novel, we see that CC has considerable doubt about her new step-mother. For me, the main focus if the book was not CC and Parker's so called romance, but the unnamed danger in the main character's life. This issue is present throughout the book, yet never developed and resolved. I would have much rather gotten a development in the security/danger/unknown evil issue and have Parker and CC makeup in the second instalment. I feel like the priorities in this novels were a little off, however this may be due to point number two. Another plot issue I have, is that, although there is some action in this book, it seeks to be concentrated at the beginning and at the very end. The middle of the book is drawn out and long for no gain to the book.

Point number two: I quite like CC/Roxanna/Jimi, but I am not a fan of Parker. As soon as he is introduced in the novel, I get this *off* feeling about him; something doesn't seem quite right about him, and I don't trust him. Maybe it is because of how rough he is, or how his emotions are all over the place, but he doesn't seem like a good match for our main character. They seem to be addicted to each other, and to their physical attraction rather than on an emotional level, hence the fact that they only begin to try to get to know each other at the very end of the book. Yes, I am aware that CC has trust issues and so on, but the kind of relationship she has with Parker, is not doing her any good either.

Although this book didn't meet my expectations, it did spark some intrigue in me in regards to CC's step-mother. I may read the second book just to please my mind.

Vintage Volume One

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