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Hell's Music
Sometimes trouble comes in a very appealing package
It’s never nice when your boyfriend leaves you for someone else. It’s even more of a slap in the face when he leaves you for a man. Emily Clark has put her wild years and the boyfriend she considered “safe” behind her, ensconcing herself in a Luddite lah-lah land centered on her secondhand bookstore.
But when her self-absorbed younger sister runs away from home to end up on her doorstep,Emily discovers the past has a funny way of creeping back into her life. And when an alternative
musician uses her shop as a hideaway from a nosy reporter, Emily finds herself falling for the enigmatic man. By the time she realizes his celebrity status, it’s too late--she’s head over heels for Simon van Helsdingen, a notorious shock-rocker. Not only must she deal with her sister’s delinquent ways and their dysfunctional family, but Emily must navigate the stormy seas of being with a man whose reputation for trouble puts Ozzy Osbourne in the shadows.
Content Warning: Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
It’s never nice when your boyfriend leaves you for someone else. It’s even more of a slap in the face when he leaves you for a man. Emily Clark has put her wild years and the boyfriend she considered “safe” behind her, ensconcing herself in a Luddite lah-lah land centered on her secondhand bookstore.
But when her self-absorbed younger sister runs away from home to end up on her doorstep,Emily discovers the past has a funny way of creeping back into her life. And when an alternative
musician uses her shop as a hideaway from a nosy reporter, Emily finds herself falling for the enigmatic man. By the time she realizes his celebrity status, it’s too late--she’s head over heels for Simon van Helsdingen, a notorious shock-rocker. Not only must she deal with her sister’s delinquent ways and their dysfunctional family, but Emily must navigate the stormy seas of being with a man whose reputation for trouble puts Ozzy Osbourne in the shadows.
Content Warning: Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll.
172 pages, ebook
First published September 5, 2011
49 people want to read
About the author
Nerine Dorman
70 books238 followersNerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of science fiction and fantasy currently living in Cape Town, with short fiction published in numerous anthologies. She is a contributor to the Locus Award-winning Afro-Centered Futurism in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon (Bloomsbury, 2024). Her novel Sing down the Stars won Gold for the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2019 and The Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Children's and Youth Literature in 2021. Her YA fantasy novella, Dragon Forged, was a finalist in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2017, and she is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. Her short story “On the Other Side of the Sea” (Omenana, 2017) was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. Her novella The Firebird won a Nommo for “Best Novella” in 2019. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2011
Though the title might make one think this is a horror story, it’s actually a romance. A well-written story, touted as “erotic” but more than that. An entertaining and enjoyable novel of several levels, as it depicts a love story, a panoramic view of Capetown life in general, and the gothic subculture in particular.
Though the characters vacillate a bit and Simon on more than one occasion back-slides—and whether or not it’s as bad as the papers say is up to the reader to decide—he does love Emily and appears to want to work into some kind of life with her. Emily, hurt many times before, can’t believe Fate would send her someone like Simon to finally love and accepts that it’s going to be an uphill battle. The question is: Are they strong enough to fight it, or will they let the force of the media, public opinion, and Emily’s buttinski mother keep them apart? (NOTE: Never wanted to deck a woman before, but Mrs. Clark comes perilously close.)
Though Simon appears to be searching for that special person and finding her in Emily, his way of fighting something appears to be simply to absent himself as far as possible from the whole thing while Emily frets and mentally flagellates herself, then tries to go on with her life. It takes intervention from an unexpected source to bring about the confrontation that brings about a slightly ambiguous ending.
Ms. Von Willegen’s descriptions of Capetown makes one want to actually go there and see those sights. Her characterizations are flawless and the depictions of the goth scene with its “coffin children” is just a little chilling. There’s also a “cameo” appearance of another character from the author’s “Khepera” novels and it’s interesting to see James Guilliame through eyes other than his own.
Though the characters vacillate a bit and Simon on more than one occasion back-slides—and whether or not it’s as bad as the papers say is up to the reader to decide—he does love Emily and appears to want to work into some kind of life with her. Emily, hurt many times before, can’t believe Fate would send her someone like Simon to finally love and accepts that it’s going to be an uphill battle. The question is: Are they strong enough to fight it, or will they let the force of the media, public opinion, and Emily’s buttinski mother keep them apart? (NOTE: Never wanted to deck a woman before, but Mrs. Clark comes perilously close.)
Though Simon appears to be searching for that special person and finding her in Emily, his way of fighting something appears to be simply to absent himself as far as possible from the whole thing while Emily frets and mentally flagellates herself, then tries to go on with her life. It takes intervention from an unexpected source to bring about the confrontation that brings about a slightly ambiguous ending.
Ms. Von Willegen’s descriptions of Capetown makes one want to actually go there and see those sights. Her characterizations are flawless and the depictions of the goth scene with its “coffin children” is just a little chilling. There’s also a “cameo” appearance of another character from the author’s “Khepera” novels and it’s interesting to see James Guilliame through eyes other than his own.
October 16, 2012
New author (for me) discovery. I rarely turn down the opportunity to read a book with a ‘rock star’ as one of the main characters and was excited to come across this book mentioned by another author. This book had so much more than a hot rocker and Simon is definitely all bad boy with his shock rock god image along with his 6’4’’ tatted body, long black hair and mint green eyes. This book was a story of sisterly love, relationships, taking chances, self-discovery and healing. The rich characterizations and the descriptions of Capetown, where the story takes place, made for such an interesting read. I have never been to Capetown, but I felt like I was there and even though I never personally experienced the goth scene or metal rock scene, I was able to relate to the characters because of the very real and human way in which the author wrote them.
Looking forward to reading more from this author!
Looking forward to reading more from this author!
June 3, 2012
"A complex story, Emily has a very dysfunctional family that creates quite a bit of havoc in her relationships while Simon has his own personal demons he is chasing and trying to rid himself of."
Full review on Sensual Reads
http://sensualreads.com/?p=7176
Full review on Sensual Reads
http://sensualreads.com/?p=7176
March 20, 2021
This book's second edition has recently renamed 'Hell's Music' to "Hell's Hearts" and is listed under Nerine's other pen name Thérese von Willegen so if you have trouble locating it, that might be why. The 'Hell's Music' title and cover art doesn't accurately convey the vibe of the story, which I believe is why the second edition changed the name and cover. I'm not sure the new cover art is exactly right either, though it is getting closer to matching the tone.
I started Hell's Hearts thinking it would be part of the dark romance sub-genre, and found it was closer to contemporary romance, arguably woman's literature given the family focus, with a sprinkling of darkness. This wasn't a disappointment as I like romance novels in most of its forms, however, it was different to what I expected to be. It's potentially leaning on the light side of the light-dark border in terms of romance content.
The book alternates between two point-of-view characters, Rae and Emily. They are sisters and are quite different in personality. Their narrative voices were strong and the dialogue was witty and delightful to read. Essentially the story has romances on each of the girls' sides, and also has a plot about their family dramas. The family details were great and had me laughing at loud at multiple points. A chapter about a family Christmas was all too relatable with the girls trying to avoid their family members and having to put up with shitty vegetarian options because everyone caters to meat eaters by default. In other forms of media the way family drama is resolved sometimes makes me feel a bit ill because it makes everything look so easy, like parents are reasonable humans that can be reasoned with all the time- when that is not always the case. I like that Hell's Hearts had the girls navigating a challenging family dynamic and figuring out how to manage it in a way that won't make them go crazy.
As someone who is dating a metal head who shares some physical features in common with Simon (the long hair, the nose and eyes) - I enjoyed this book on a level I imagine most readers wouldn't. The references to the metal scene made me smile. It was believably done without getting lost in detail that may alienate readers who know nothing about it. I once did the corpse paint for my boyfriend's band, so found the contrast between Simon's stage and real persona's hilarious. I texted my partner when in the book there's Black Sabbath playing in the car, and my partner texted back that at the time I sent the message he was also in a car where Black Sabbath was playing. Weird coincidence!
The romance scenes were well written, often making me smile due to Emily's narration spinning some circumstances in an entertaining, cynical way. Generally I was impressed with Nerine's use of language and humour in the narration. It was often clever and poignant, usually making me giggle, smirk or feel warm and fuzzy. There is a mystery surrounding the main love interest which drives the story forward - and the family drama follows! It was engaging and I often found myself trying to guess what would happen. Suspense scenes were nicely done and had me freaking out - don't do that! Run away!
The concert scenes were wonderfully described and brought back memories of metal concerts I have been to (especially in smaller local venues). The reveal at the end was something I guessed, though it was still a nice ending to the story. My only gripe was that a lot of the mystery surrounding Simon's character remains an unknown, as details are left unexplained. I would have liked to have learned more about him before he met Emily.
A highly enjoyable read that contained enough soul bleach that all the darkness was healed by the end (without feeling like I have been like Trump and injected myself with it). I would highly recommend it.
I started Hell's Hearts thinking it would be part of the dark romance sub-genre, and found it was closer to contemporary romance, arguably woman's literature given the family focus, with a sprinkling of darkness. This wasn't a disappointment as I like romance novels in most of its forms, however, it was different to what I expected to be. It's potentially leaning on the light side of the light-dark border in terms of romance content.
The book alternates between two point-of-view characters, Rae and Emily. They are sisters and are quite different in personality. Their narrative voices were strong and the dialogue was witty and delightful to read. Essentially the story has romances on each of the girls' sides, and also has a plot about their family dramas. The family details were great and had me laughing at loud at multiple points. A chapter about a family Christmas was all too relatable with the girls trying to avoid their family members and having to put up with shitty vegetarian options because everyone caters to meat eaters by default. In other forms of media the way family drama is resolved sometimes makes me feel a bit ill because it makes everything look so easy, like parents are reasonable humans that can be reasoned with all the time- when that is not always the case. I like that Hell's Hearts had the girls navigating a challenging family dynamic and figuring out how to manage it in a way that won't make them go crazy.
As someone who is dating a metal head who shares some physical features in common with Simon (the long hair, the nose and eyes) - I enjoyed this book on a level I imagine most readers wouldn't. The references to the metal scene made me smile. It was believably done without getting lost in detail that may alienate readers who know nothing about it. I once did the corpse paint for my boyfriend's band, so found the contrast between Simon's stage and real persona's hilarious. I texted my partner when in the book there's Black Sabbath playing in the car, and my partner texted back that at the time I sent the message he was also in a car where Black Sabbath was playing. Weird coincidence!
The romance scenes were well written, often making me smile due to Emily's narration spinning some circumstances in an entertaining, cynical way. Generally I was impressed with Nerine's use of language and humour in the narration. It was often clever and poignant, usually making me giggle, smirk or feel warm and fuzzy. There is a mystery surrounding the main love interest which drives the story forward - and the family drama follows! It was engaging and I often found myself trying to guess what would happen. Suspense scenes were nicely done and had me freaking out - don't do that! Run away!
The concert scenes were wonderfully described and brought back memories of metal concerts I have been to (especially in smaller local venues). The reveal at the end was something I guessed, though it was still a nice ending to the story. My only gripe was that a lot of the mystery surrounding Simon's character remains an unknown, as details are left unexplained. I would have liked to have learned more about him before he met Emily.
A highly enjoyable read that contained enough soul bleach that all the darkness was healed by the end (without feeling like I have been like Trump and injected myself with it). I would highly recommend it.
January 5, 2015
Review to come soon from Nocturnereads.com
This story is about a couple of characters trying to figure out life. Emily, a completely relatable character, is in a crossroads in her life. She needs to get out of the slump she is in by either dabbling in her “younger days” lifestyle or finding something new. Although she has times where her mother shines through she is trying to help her sister out while taking some leaps of faith in her own life.
Simon is the misinterpreted rocker with low self-esteem, but that’s okay because he is totally hot, and great in bed. I love this character and he is a good match with Emily. They complete each other because Emily is Simon’s constant home connection and Simon is Emily’s wild side coming out to shine. The sub characters are great and I would love to see where Rae and Davy’s story goes, and even Eric for that matter. Hopefully this will be the start of a future series.
The writing style was good; the story was engaging and hard to put down. There were not a lot of sex scenes, but during those few times terms like “seek entry to her swollen passage” didn’t fit with the dialog or mood and sounded juvenile, and the orgasmic timeline was too rushed so it wasn’t believable. Overall a good story I wouldn’t be afraid to read again.
This story is about a couple of characters trying to figure out life. Emily, a completely relatable character, is in a crossroads in her life. She needs to get out of the slump she is in by either dabbling in her “younger days” lifestyle or finding something new. Although she has times where her mother shines through she is trying to help her sister out while taking some leaps of faith in her own life.
Simon is the misinterpreted rocker with low self-esteem, but that’s okay because he is totally hot, and great in bed. I love this character and he is a good match with Emily. They complete each other because Emily is Simon’s constant home connection and Simon is Emily’s wild side coming out to shine. The sub characters are great and I would love to see where Rae and Davy’s story goes, and even Eric for that matter. Hopefully this will be the start of a future series.
The writing style was good; the story was engaging and hard to put down. There were not a lot of sex scenes, but during those few times terms like “seek entry to her swollen passage” didn’t fit with the dialog or mood and sounded juvenile, and the orgasmic timeline was too rushed so it wasn’t believable. Overall a good story I wouldn’t be afraid to read again.
August 30, 2012
The book opens up with a simple bookseller who is quite content with normal life, who is reminded of days past. Enter Simon, who hides out in her shop one fine day. Result?
Well it is a romance.
Wrapped around a simple mystery, the two protagonists push and pull at one another's heartstrings. Add in some metal-rocker flavor (along with some interesting costuming) and you've got a grand novella, perfect for curling up with on a chilly night.
Well it is a romance.
Wrapped around a simple mystery, the two protagonists push and pull at one another's heartstrings. Add in some metal-rocker flavor (along with some interesting costuming) and you've got a grand novella, perfect for curling up with on a chilly night.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews