OH THE ANGST! The Love and Lyrics series continues with my most anticipated couple in this emotional, gripping, roller coaster of a second chance love story. Nikki continues to deliver drama, swoons, and soul with this rockstar series. Needless to say, the broken but dreamy men of Raging Chaos have captured my heart, and I’m loving seeing these imperfect heroes find their HEAs after so many tribulations.
Like Controlled Chaos, Silent Chaos takes us back in time- to the same catalyzing series of traumatic moments that indelibly shaped young men and hopeful rockstars.While a central trauma united them all, each of them had their own hardships, both in the past and the present, and I was so excited to dig into what I knew would be a messy and gut-wrenching story between Braxton and Kaylee, once hopeless in love high school sweethearts now estranged after Kaylee’s heartbreaking mistake the night that this group forever changed. Heed the trigger warnings Nikki provides- the more I get into the series the more it deals with messy and potentially triggering topics. Loss, trauma, assault, abandonment, deep deceit, cheating, addiction. And for anyone who read the first story, you already know just what broke this couple up- and you already know it’s a topic some won’t read.
Because of the second chance, hate-to-love dynamic this certainly felt different than book one and Nikki’s usual vibe. Braxton is bitter and angry, and at times intentionally cruel. This is no swoony book boyfriend, though it’s clear to us that he has lingering longing for the love he had with Kaylee. Kaylee is also a bit broken- continually manipulated and hurt by the men around her while also wracked with guilt by hurting the one man who protected and loved her years ago. There is so much friction and tension between them, but Nikki ensures they show up for each other when it matters most. She breathes new, mature life into their relationship as they figure each other out as adults, even if the road is really rocky.
The chemistry is tense and angsty, but ultimately when important revelations come out, we get more to the type of Nikki hero I enjoy most- broken but dreamy, edgy but hopelessly devoted. I wished we’d gotten there a bit more with Brax, and we had a bit more grovel. I did love seeing them in the past though, since it established Brax for the type of man he could be, so we had that frame for the future. A lot happens at the end of this book, and I did feel the ending to be a bit glossed over and wanted a bit more time for them to deal with the impacts of this, particularly on Kaylee (it seemed more focused on Braxton and his growth in trust, which was also important). I adored Kaylee and really felt for all she goes through- and I’m glad to see Braxton grow up in how he deals with their issues..
I’m loving this series- it certainly has more pain and sadness than Nikki’s last few, and it’s great fodder for the chaos of heartbreak and pain to break apart and pull people together. If the epilogue is any indication, the next book is going to be a really hearthurter - this is a story I’ve been anticipating because I know it’s going to be a hard one, and I can’t wait to see this rocker heal.