Lovin' los libros

A book blog dedicated to young adult and new adult novels

Review: The Duet by R.S. Grey

By 8:14 AM , , , , ,

The Duet
   by: R.S. Grey

Publication Date: Nov. 7, 2014
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Page Count: 326 pages
Order Links: Amazon
My Rating: 3/5 stars

When 27-year-old pop sensation Brooklyn Heart steps in front of a microphone, her love songs enchant audiences worldwide. But when it comes to her own love life, the only spell she’s under is a dry one.

So when her label slots her for a Grammy performance with the sexy and soulful Jason Monroe, she can’t help but entertain certain fantasies... those in which her G-string gets more play than her guitars'.

Only one problem. Jason is a lyrical lone wolf that isn’t happy about sharing the stage—nor his ranch — with the sassy singer. But while it may seem like a song entitled ‘Jason Monroe Is an Arrogant Ho’ basically writes itself, their label and their millions of fans are expecting recording gold…

They’re expecting The Duet.

 
 
After reading and loving R.S. Grey's Scoring Wilder, I definitely wanted to give her newest book a try! I LOVED the premise- Brooklyn being a pop singer and Jason being the soulful, brooding folk star. The two's music couldn't be more night and day and yet their record label STILL forces them to collaborate together! I love all things music, so this book was right up my alley! I didn't like it as well as Scoring Wilder, but I think that had to do with the love interest here. Jason didn't quite do it for me like Liam did. Still, the chemistry and tension are as delicious as ever and Grey yet again employs her witty, humorous tone that just makes Brooklyn such a fun lead.

Brooklyn is just a great character. I absolutely love her relationship with her sister, Cammie. Grey does such a good job of developing female friendships. Cammie and Brooklyn are all each other has, having lost their parents when they were younger, so the two are practically inseparable. Cammie is usually the one to talk Brooklyn down, but is still a bucket of fun herself. She is getting ready to graduate with an architecture degree and has worked hard to do so. I am really excited that Grey is going to write Cammie's story because there is quite a lot of unspoken tension between her and Brooklyn's friend, Grayson.

As I said, the story revolves around Brooklyn and Jason coming together to write a duet to perform at the upcoming Grammy's. However, these two do NOT get off on the right foot at all. Having had a bit too much fun the night before, Brooklyn isn't exactly the epitome of professionalism, arriving late to their meeting wearing a less than appropriate shirt that never should have remained in her closet in the first place! I love that Brooklyn doesn't take his crap though. She throws it right back at him and stands up for herself, at least in the beginning. I was a little upset with her towards the end because of how she let him treat her. He does redeem himself, but I'm never a fan of when guys make girls feel like they are just being used for sex. Granted, Jason is not completely to blame. Brooklyn should have spoken up or at least put an end to it once she realized her heart was involved.

Jason isn't a bad guy though. He is a very private person and bringing Brooklyn up to his ranch in Montana to write is deeply personal for him. He is not very welcoming of her in the beginning, merely tolerating her presence for a job they've been forced to do. Thankfully, she isn't completely isolated there. She easily befriends LuAnne and Derek, both of whom are good friends of Jason and work on the ranch.

I don't know much about writing music and certainly don't know the work that goes in to collaborating with another person, but watching two people try to come together and develop a song when they don't even know each other seems pretty complicated to me. Music is such an expression of thoughts and very personal, so of course Jason and Brooklyn would have trouble working together. Brooklyn tries to make an effort, but Jason is determined to keep her at arm's length. We do start to see his tough exterior start to crack though, as we catch glimpses of the actual man he really is. The two have chemistry together and they decide to explore it in hopes afterwards they can actually begin to write a song now that the awkward sexual tension is out of the room. However, Jason makes it clear he isn't in the right place for a relationship and Brooklyn quickly agrees. As their song starts to come together, it's very clear that walking away when it's all said and done is not going to be as easy as they originally thought....

I missed Jason and Brooklyn actually falling in love and that is something that really irked me. I am assuming it happened during their writing sessions, but we as readers don't experience that, so when they did admit their feelings to one another, I was a little like, really? Where is this coming from? Not witnessing their romance happen is what really brought this one down for me.  I did love going to the ranch with Brooklyn though because Derek and LuAnne are such great secondary characters. There were definitely a few tearjerker moments, but a lot of ones that also made me smile. Overall, this wasn't one to rave and write home about, but I'm not unhappy I gave it a shot.

You Might Also Like

4 comments

  1. Not being able to experience the romance is not the greatest feeling. It makes me want to quit the book. I've heard great things about this author's previous book, but I'm not sure this is for me. I'm glad you enjoyed some parts, Jess.
    Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This has a great premise so its a shame it fell a bit short... I hate it when the book doesnt really show me the characters falling in love. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This one does sound like it would be a good read. But it does suck, and would irk me as well, that they just fell in love and you didn't really see it. You've got to see and feel it! The premise of the book isn't something I generally lean to, but glad you gave it a shot!

    Lovely review!

    ReplyDelete
  4. No, they totally didn't fall in love, they hated each other, then they didn't and it irritated me so so so much. I reaaaally didn't like this one.

    ReplyDelete

Leave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!

My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.

Search This Blog

Powered by Blogger.