Cailin is battling a few major life changes at once and kind of goes off the rails. She is recently divorced from her bland (and almost loveless) marriage. And, she is also recently back on the job hunt after losing her position as a senior-level executive public relations position at a major corporate healthcare company. After reaching out to a friend for any openings at her indie music PR firm, Cailin took on the role of public relations manager for Jax, the bad boy of her favorite boy band from her teenage years, on his first solo tour.
So, Cailin is headed out on tour!
Since Jax is launching his first solo album, he is eager to improve his public image from the bad boy to someone who can be taken seriously as a musician. He's very nervous about this change but Cailin handles his public presence with ease adn grace in the beginning of their working relationship.
As Jax and Cailin set out for tour, they are both working hard to reach his goal to debunk any preconceived notions people may have about Jax. It turns out that Cailin wasn't the only one crushing, either. They fell in love quickly and deeply, but there were some major drawbacks to their relationship – especially considering Cailin is on the rebound from not only her failed marriage, but is also going through a transition with her job, but also because this is her first time going out on tour.
Most of the novel was filled with overly sappy romanticism. If you're looking for a way to escape some of the realism of your life and are going through a big change right now, this is a great read for you! The narrative is 100% nice, loving, and very committed. The connection between Jax and Cailin is super cute to me – but absolutely unrealistic.
Cailin's character was a little all over the place because she really harped on being 100% honest with one another and accepting one's actions in light of their repercussions. It deepened my admiration for Cailin as a character. Sadly, she utterly destroyed that in later chapters. While this story was pretty cringe worthy to me from the start, Cailin's extremely immature reaction to the story's climactic moment in the last 3/4's of the book absolutely destroyed this book for me.
In a state of heightened emotion, I can see how it might be easy to act rashly and say or do something stupid. The majority of us can probably identify with that. However, a woman who held a senior-level executive position at a corporate public relations job would not react the way Cailin did. In fact, Cailin ran from the problem, instead of using her crisis communication background to fix it. She just let the public take the narrative and run with it – which goes against everything a crisis communications expert lives for. And, simultaneously, it also counteracted all of Cailin's experience in the book since she often mentions her "training" in crisis communications and how she takes the lead on a story when things go sideways.
After her actions, I found it impossible to like Cailin – but it also ruined the book for me. I trudged through this book even after I lost interest, mainly because this is my first review for a free digital copy from BookSirens and I wanted to take this review seriously.
Anyways, I feel like I need to say something positive so I will mention that I enjoyed the Trash the Dress chat rooms provided some comedic relief from the unbelievable of this story. However, there were so many moments that left me scratching my head because I didn't understand what the purpose of the conversations were to set us up for the next chapter. If this turns into a series, I could understand how the Trash The Dress chats would set up a series and tie everything together for the other divorcees in the group.
If you want to experience some escapism from your real life and dive into the love life of an over-the-top, instant-love, and falling head over heels in love with a civilian, male main character – then this read is for you!
I wish I liked this book more and I wish I loved a male main character that is so infatuated with his lover that he can't see straight. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. If it's your cup of tea, then I would absolutely LOVE to hear what your thoughts are on this one.
Happy reading :)