For readers who loved The Edge of Darkness Trilogy and The Words, DISSONANCE is a haunting second-chance romance about a spiraling rockstar, the woman he left behind, and the powerful forces that never truly let him go. It is the first installment of The Falling Star Trilogy.
The world knows Jude Graves as the untouchable rockstar with a wicked smile and a platinum record.
Emma Easton knew him before the fame.
Before the darkness.
Before the night he shattered her heart and disappeared without a word.
Seven years later, a very public overdose sends Jude crashing off tour and straight back into her life.
The headlines call it reckless, but Emma isn’t so sure.
He’s unraveling in slow motion, desperate to hide the reasons why.
And this time, she refuses to look away.
Because Jude didn’t walk away all those years ago.
He was forced.
Powerful people still own him. Still control him. The kind who stage narratives, bury secrets, and silence anyone who gets too close.
Including her.
Loving him once nearly destroyed her. Trying to save him now might destroy them both.
THE CROWNED MONSTERS DUET is her debut work as a dark romance author. It has since been re-released with updates.
Her upcoming release is THE FALLING STAR TRILOGY (2026), a dark rockstar romance.
Adeline Humphries is a 31 year old dark romance author who writes stories that readers are unable to put down.
Her debut, Monsters Wear Crowns, ranked "Top New Release" on Amazon.
When she's not writing classically "unhinged," morally ambiguous characters who you can't help falling for, she's living a private life in the US with her husband and cat.
This is a MUST READ dark rockstar romance. And i mean DARK!! (think edge of darkness dark!!!)
Every character goes through so much my heart BREAKS for them.
And yall… Jude is my new top tier YEARNER. HE KEPT A PHOTO OF EMMA IN HIS POCKET FOR SEVEN YEARS. SEVEN. This is all while they’re broken up mind you!!!
Gah I cannot 😭
not only are Jude and Emma EVERYTHING— but the side characters?!! Micah & Heather?! Perfect friends. They are absolutely 100% who you want fighting in your corner.
This is book 1 in a trilogy and it is ABSOLUTELY a book you’re going to want to add to your tbr. Immediately.
What in the Kade Mitchell's drug addict rockstar brother did I just read!? Holy shit!!! I actually have been avoiding reading this until we got closer to book 2 release date because I just knew I would want book 2 asap and I am actually unwellllllllllll!!!!!!! Like tears, anxiety, I wanna throw up!
This was so good. I'm heartbroken. I'm mad! I truly can't even imagine how painful book 2 is going to be....I'm not ready... but also I need it like I need air!!
If first loves who get separated by fame and bad people who get you addicted to drugs and blackmail you to murder people then you OD on stage and are sent back to your hometown to clean up your act then run into your first love again sound up your alley I'm begging you to read this!!
One wrong decision...and everything changes. His choice didnt just alter his own life – it rewrote both of theirs, sending Emma and Jude down paths they may not have chosen.
Emma learned to move forward alone – and she did exactly what she set out to do, even if it meant doing it without him.
And Jude? Hes’ trapped. Trapped in a life he never would have chosen, paying for choices made when he was barely a man – wanting something he didn’t fully understand. Now he’s unravelling...stuck in a life that won’t let him go and might ultimately destroy him.
At it’s core this is an epic, all-consuming eternal tragic kind of love story.
Emma is so special from the very start. There’s something in her that needs to fix what’s broken, She’s carrying a weight and has been for 7 years, yet she still shows up with open hands and an open heart. Emma loves without limits. Without judgement. She puts the people she loves first – even when it could cost her everything. She is steady. She is selfless. She IS the calm.
Jude is so deeply broken and he is sinking deeper with every day. Day by day, piece by piece, he is becoming a version of himself he no longer recognizes. He’s trapped. Addicted. Stripped of control. A man who wants... but can’t. A man who is still breathing, but not really living. He IS the storm.
And God did I love Micah. The kind of side character that doesn’t feel like a side character at all. He’s loyalty in human form, unwavering, and fierce. But so broken alongside Jude. He’s the one who stays when Jude needs him the most. He’s a constant in a world that is anything but.
And lets talk about how everyone deserves a best friend like Heather. Ride or die. Calm, cool, collected – but don’t mistake that for soft. She’s protective in a way that makes you feel safe...and maybe makes others think twice.
The writing? It’s brilliant.
It doesn’t just tell a story – it marks you. Every ounce of angst, pain, and quiet panic sinks deep and refuses to let go. ‘
This isn’t a soft kind of love story. There’s no easy romance here. No sunshine. No clean edges.
This book is dark in the heaviest ways.
Emotional in a way that sits in your chest and doesn’t leave.
It dives headfirst into the hard things – the ugly side of fame, the damage, the consequences – and it doesn’t look away.
And the writing? Effortless, beautiful, gut-wrenching, haunting.
A story built on tragedy, threaded with hope, soaked in loss... told in a way that burrows into your sould and stays there long after the final page.
I HAVE NEVER FELT MY STOMACH FLIP LIKE IT DID WHILE READING THIS STORY! OMG! ALL OF THE FEELS!
⚡️Check Tr!gger Warnings⚡️
🖤Second Chance- Dark Rockstar- Romance🖤
Young love destroyed by fame and dangerous people. I’m talking SOULMATES!! Reunited after 7 years, Jude and Emma are soulmates! The writing is just beautiful! The spice scenes are written perfectly and there’s just enough. PERFECTION! The tension and fear of what could happen next had me in a chokeh0ld! Jude is deep into heavy addiction and Emma is trying desperately to save him. It’s not just getting him clean, he’s in some dark sh!t with dangerous people.
Jude completely wrecked me in the best way. He’s chaos and tenderness wrapped into one, fighting addict!on, drowning in self-hate, shaped by pain… yet still capable of such deep loyalty and softness. You can feel how trapped he is, how much he wants to be more than his demons. My heart aches for him, even as he makes it impossible not to fall a little in love. Broken, beautiful, and unforgettable.
🫠🖤 I am rooting for Jude, Emma, Micah, and Heather!!!! !!!!!MUST READ!!!!!
If you like: Dark Rockstar Amazing Spice scenes 🫠🔥🔥 Heavy dr*G Addiction SA ** Black mail K!lling 🩸 DEEP PAIN 🥺 HEARTACHE YEARNING 🫠 Self hate🥺 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE 🖤 SWOONING 🫠 FEAR TENDERNESS GREIF HOPE 🖤
“You were light, Emma. You are light. And me? I’m just the f*€k!ng darkness that follows it around. That will smother and destroy it. It’s inevitable, don’t you get that?” ~ Jude. 🥺
This book made me feel things I haven’t in a long time. I was hooked instantly. I was a bit worried as it did seem verrrrry similar to another series BUT this has its own personality & I just fell in love with the characters. I think this hurt so much because I became so invested in them like I physically feel ill thinking about them 💔😭 ugh I cannot even express my thoughts. Go read it
4.5 ⭐️ wow I just want to hug everyone 😭 except for Nolan, Adriana and Alexei… they can get bent. I love a good rockstar romance.. add in small town and second chance romance?! Sold. Only things keeping this from 5 is it does feel a little repetitive through the middle and wish we had a little more rockstar vibes, but I’m eager to see where this is going in Resonance!
Honestly every part of this story had me in a chokehold. The flashbacks to Emma and Jude finding their way and falling in love young and then to the present story of how deep Jude’s love for Emma still is after all this time! I was hooked the whole time and I can not wait for the next book to see where this next journey takes them!
3.75 ⭐️ Jude’s addiction is so heartbreaking to read about. The situation he’s stuck in feels so suffocating. I loathe Adriana and Nolan. Love how cute Micah and Heather are. My heart hurts for Emma.
I really enjoyed the the "2nd chance". Very accurate on the drug abuse. Was a bit to repetitive in the beginning building the plot, Id like to know why Emma doesnt hang out with Vanessa. Also, lost the plot a little of being a Rockstar, maybe a few more performances in the beginning or paps or such would've reminded me more, other than a few song lyrics here and there.
very EOD vibes, but with out the suspense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I picked it up because it was recommended to me by a friend, but I had also heard it constantly compared to EOD. While I thought EOD had an incredible premise with massive emotional potential, the execution personally felt too chaotic and messy for me to fully connect with. So when everyone kept saying this gave them “EOD vibes,” I was honestly nervous I was about to walk into another story with great bones that would lose me in the delivery.
But for me? This did what I wanted EOD to do.
It had the structure, the delivery, and the emotional weight to fully pull it off. This book wrecked me emotionally, but it also felt far more grounded and intentional in the way it handled trauma, addiction, manipulation, guilt, and emotional entrapment. Yes, there are similarities in premise—drugs, coercion, violence, being trapped in situations that feel impossible to escape, one catastrophic mistake made during young and vulnerable years that permanently alters the trajectory of multiple lives—but this story dug deeper into the psychological aftermath for me, and it did so in a cohesive, well-executed way.
What really stood out was how well the author captured the emotional complexity of someone who desperately wants out while simultaneously being too mentally, emotionally, and psychologically broken to believe escape is even possible anymore.
That nuance mattered.
Because with Jude, it’s not as simple as “just leave.” It never feels that simple. The author does an incredible job showing how prolonged trauma, manipulation, addiction, fear, shame, self-loathing, and even SA don’t just trap someone physically—they hollow them out mentally. At some point, the prison becomes internal too, and you can see how deeply Jude has been conditioned to believe freedom either isn’t possible or isn’t something he deserves.
And honestly, that was one of the most heartbreaking parts of this entire book. I resonated with that more than I would ever care to admit, but that’s also what makes this book so good. It’s so well written and emotionally accurate that even readers who have never experienced prolonged trauma, manipulation, addiction, fear, shame, self-loathing, or SA will still feel gutted by it because of how authentically it’s portrayed. But for those who have experienced situations where they felt cornered, trapped, broken down mentally and emotionally, or psychologically conditioned by trauma and manipulation to build a prison inside their own mind… this book is going to hit even harder.
There was a line of thinking throughout this book that hit me particularly hard because I’ve seen firsthand how survival mode rewires a person. How prolonged manipulation and fear can slowly strip away your ability to trust yourself, your instincts, your reality, and eventually even your belief that you deserve something better.
People love to ask why someone doesn’t “just leave,” but getting out is rarely the end of the battle—it’s usually only the first phase. And even that phase isn’t something you simply walk through. There are emotional, mental, physical, and psychological barriers that can make leaving feel almost impossible. After that comes the isolation, the manipulation of everyone around you, the destruction of your credibility, the mental warfare, the healing, and eventually the terrifying process of trying to learn how to live again after spending so long in survival mode. Jude wasn’t blind to the aftermath. He was absolutely trapped inside his own internal prison, but he also understood that leaving wouldn’t even be close to half the battle.
That’s why Jude felt so believable to me. Even in moments where there may technically be a way out, mentally and emotionally he’s been conditioned to believe there isn’t. The author captured that hopelessness, that emotional paralysis, in a way that felt painfully real.
And the book doesn’t spoon-feed that realization to the reader either. A lot of it exists in implication, behavior, avoidance, silence, self-destruction, and emotional reactions. The writing trusts you to understand what’s being said underneath the words.
There were multiple moments where I genuinely questioned what was true and what wasn’t about that first night everything happened to Jude. It’s been bouncing around in my head ever since he first talked about it. I honestly would not be shocked if a future book reveals that parts of Jude’s understanding of that night were manipulated. Whether he truly did what he believes he did or whether parts of it were staged, he was clearly terrified, vulnerable, and manipulated—not only into accepting the guilt, but also into accepting the offer that followed afterward.
And frankly, even if he did make that terrible choice that first night, the book still does an incredible job exploring how people can become trapped inside the consequences of a single moment. How one night can completely alter the trajectory of your life. But beyond that, it also explores how fear, shame, survival instincts, addiction, and prolonged psychological damage can compound over time until someone no longer even recognizes themselves anymore.
That woman loved with every piece of herself. You could feel the yearning, the history, the grief, the hope, and the desperation woven through every interaction between her and Jude. Their relationship hurt in the best possible way. The chemistry, the emotional tension, the push-and-pull, the longing after years apart—it was beautifully written and genuinely gut-wrenching.
This was one of those books where I physically did not want to put it down. I actually had to force myself to only read it at night because I knew if I picked it up during the day, I’d accomplish absolutely nothing else. I wanted to fully sit in the atmosphere of it. To soak in every painful little moment without interruption.
And because this is a trilogy, there’s this looming sense of dread hanging over everything. You know things are going to get worse before they get better, and that tension bleeds through every page.
I also appreciated Emma’s growing awareness toward the end of the book. Not because she stopped loving Jude—she absolutely didn’t—but because she slowly started recognizing how dangerous and consuming his darkness could become for her too. There’s something incredibly heartbreaking about loving someone deeply while simultaneously realizing their destruction could pull you under with them.
And then we have Micah.
Listen… side character of the year award. Immediately.
I adored Heather, and I loved the friendship dynamic there, but Micah absolutely stole scenes for me. I genuinely think he may have been my favorite character in the entire book, which is wild considering he’s technically a side character. That man is loyal, emotionally intelligent, caring without being overbearing, and just… such a genuinely good friend in a story filled with so much wreckage.
I need more of him immediately.
A spinoff? Bonus POVs? Anything. I’ll take crumbs.
Overall, this book was emotionally heavy, dark, painful, and addictive in a way that made me completely lose track of time while reading. At its core, it’s about how one terrible night—and the choices made afterward—can ripple outward and destroy lives in ways that never stop compounding. It’s about guilt, survival, addiction, trauma, love, shame, and whether broken people can ever truly claw their way back to themselves again.
And despite how emotionally brutal this first book was, there’s still this small flicker of hope running through it all that kept me completely invested.
I’m immediately jumping into book two… even though I already know it’s probably going to emotionally ruin me.
This was my first rockstar romance and I will definitely be needing more.
Jude and Emma’s relationship hits so hard. That feeling of first real love, only for it to be stripped away by the most vile people… actually heartbreaking. I really need my girl Emma and Jude to get their HEA because they’ve both been through way too much.
Micah and Heather are not just “side” characters. Their story is one I found myself really invested in. Micah is such a teddy bear who just needs a little guidance, but he loves his people so deeply. And Heather is such a mama bear—she will absolutely put up a fight to protect her people, and that’s what makes them so great together.
Jude… he deserves SO much better. And Emma, I just hope she takes care of herself too while fighting for Jude because I can already see her starting to spiral and I cannot have that.
I’m really excited to see where the story goes next. I’m sat for the next one.
Definitely check your trigger warnings on this one.
4.5 ⭐️ wellllppp that one ripped me to shreds… I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with one of the main characters experiencing addition to hard drugs (except for my angel baby Kade from EOD - but this took it a step further). Absolutely devastating and soul crushing reading about Jude’s life and how he ended up the way he is. I wanted to jump into the pages of this book and give him a cuddle and tell him everything will be ok. But honestly, I don’t know if it will!?
Micah is the sweetest golden retriever traumatised man and I ADORED him. I definitely want more of him & Heather in the next book. His friendship with Jude is so beautiful (and sad?), they are trauma bonded the poor loves.
Emma started out as an FMC that I was really vibing with, I loved her for the first 30-40%. Not to say I don’t still hold space and care for her as a character but she made some poor choices and didn’t use her thinking brain enough in this book 🥲 Also, Nova was nowhere to be seen or heard in the last good bit which bothered me. Please return her in book 2 🙃
This felt reminiscent of my favourite trilogy EVER - Edge of Darkness by Leigh Rivers. There were many similarities but also many differences and I truly ate it up. We love a trauma dump.
The ending was a cliffhanger and I’ll be chomping at the bars of my cage while I await book 2. I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.
This story pulled me in with its glimmer of fame and nostalgia, but it quickly revealed something much heavier beneath the surface. The writing carries a weight that you can actually feel, like every page is pressing down on you, making it impossible to look away. It’s not just emotional, it’s consuming.
My heart shattered for Jude and Emma over and over again. Their history isn’t just something that happened in the past, it lingers in every interaction, every glance, every unspoken truth. You feel the ache of what they lost and the tension of what they might never get back. Jude especially is written with such raw vulnerability beneath his hardened exterior that it’s painful to witness his unraveling.
What makes this story hit so hard is the darkness surrounding it. The control, the manipulation, the sense that something bigger and more dangerous is always lurking just out of reach. It adds a constant undercurrent of dread that never lets up. Emma’s determination to stand by him, even knowing what it could cost her, makes every moment feel even more fragile.
This isn’t a light or easy read. It’s heavy, intense, and at times almost suffocating in the best way. The kind of book that lingers long after you finish it, because you didn’t just read it—you felt it.
I keep seeing a comparisons with The Edge of Darkness Trilogy and The Words. With my whole chest, this is DISSONANCE full stop. My first top 6 star read of the year.
Adeline's writing captivates you into the story as if you're experiencing it yourself. Whether through the rawness of the words on the page (or screen) or consumed feeling like you're in the cottage with the characters. You're in the car with Jude, you're on the deck with that sweet memory. You feel the pain when Jude and Micah are painting through Emma's POV while Can You Feel My Heart by BMtH is playing. Some of the most amazing, and enthralling writing that deserves recognition.
Jude is fighting for his life in the start of this trilogy. He's still there, the man he wishes he was before everything. When he comes back home to heal and sees Emma, welcoming her back in his life after seven years of their split, he realizes he does have a reason to fight, to end things, to LIVE.
But the journey to healing is never linear and when you're just a piece on a chessboard that 3 others are controlling, reaching for the light-for her-isn't possible. Second chance, addiction, mental health, abuse, dark, masked un-aliver, and the most beautiful pain in a dark romance. Check your triggers!!!!
THIS is the dark rockstar romance you need to read. If you liked the edge of darkness trilogy, you will love this!!! The ending has my heart breaking and I know book 2 is going to break it even more 😭 this is a super dark story of a rockstar’s struggles with addiction, sexual assault, and being “owned” by others and forced to do terrible things. The FMC is a loving and supportive art therapist. She is the light that balances his dark. Both of them YEARN for each other (including the 7 years they were apart!). And I absolutely loved their best friends and their side love story. Micah is also struggling but not as severely as Jude, so his attempts to help his best friend were simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking 😭 I love this book and HIGHLY recommend it. This is easily a top dark romance for me!
I was very fortunate to have received an arc for this book! If you are looking for an mmc who gives kade mitchell vibes but make him into a $lutty little rockstar, this book is it! I am forever in my rockstar romance era and this story is everything!!
We follow Jude Graves as he navigates his life which isn’t what it seems like on the surface and how he gave up the love of his life 7 years ago. Emma Easton is living her life, doing her favorite job, and still longing for the man who broke her heart 7 years ago.
This second chance romance is everything and it mixes in angst, longing, healing, trauma, and darkness. Please read your trigger warnings.
This story was so incredibly painful yet beautiful to read and I just want to hug them both. The ending of this was absolutely insane and I cannot wait to dive into the next book!
Whew, when you are scrolling tik tok and THE RACHEL DANE says that you need to read this book, you immediately go and add it to your immediate TBR. This is so much like the edge of darkness series and the words all in one!
It is your dark rockstar romance. Where two young adults fall in love only to be ripped apart by the thing that built up Jude the FMC. Jude and Micah are together through everything that they are being thrown at by Nolan and the evil witch! However, neither Jude or Emma have forgotten about one another!
Make sure you check your triggers because this one is dark, it's very heavy in the substance abuse. But remember if it takes you a little longer to read that is okay because your mental health matters! However try to push through it because this story will have you reaching for more!
I will never forgive the author for destroying my heart this way 😭😭😭 This book deserves 10 stars, because 5 simply isn’t enough.
I started this story with my heart shattered 💔As the plot unfolded, it slowly began to heal, stitch by stitch… only for those stitches to be ripped out mercilessly in the end, with no pity whatsoever.💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
Getting to know Jude and Em’s story shows us the raw and brutal reality of drug addiction, without pretty words or romanticization, because there is nothing poetic about addiction — only real desperation.
This is the kind of book I wish I could read again for the very first time, and one that will stay in my heart forever.
Adeline, thank you so much for letting me meet these two. 🖤🖤🖤
This book gave me allll the feels ugh. Gave me the same feelings I had while reading the edge of darkness trilogy, my heart hurts for Jude. As someone who has loved ones who’ve struggled with addiction this one hit home and i related sooo much to emma. Truly a gut wrenching story about the reality of addiction & loving someone with addiction.
Normally not a fan of past & present timeline stories BUT Adeline wrote it in the PERFECT way. She wrote just enough about their past to make you feel that connection and yearning, but not to the point where I was forgetting what was going on in the present. I FELT the longing between the two and it was so raw and real and brutal
This book made me feel so much and yanked me out of my slump from chapter 1!
I absolutely adored this book and can’t wait to dive into book 2 & 3.
this has been on my tbr for so long, and after yearning for a good rockstar romance, i picked it up! make sure to check trigger warnings <3
my heart broke for jude and the situation he'd been forced into, as well as how helpless and undeserving he felt. also, emma?? i loved her sm can we have more fmcs like her pls?
my only complaints are that this whole book were building up that they're going to try to save themselves, but literally did nothing??? idk, and also a lot of talk about being skinny and having to work out for hours after a slice of pizza so
but overall, engaging, easy to read, and heartbreaking
This book was fucking amazing 10/10!!!! Very scared for what’s coming in book 2 but I need it released like NOW ☹️ I haven’t read a book that has had me this hooked since the EOD trilogy!! So so so good BUT I did not love that the FMC willingly let the MMC drive everywhere while fully knowing he was high on meth and heroin…like girl if you don’t get behind the wheel and drive you are literally sober
If you read the edge of darkness triology and are still chasing the high of Kade and Stacy you need to meet Jude and Emma.
I will be thinking about this book probably forever.
Check your warnings because this is dark romance and this isnt meant for the girls just starting in dark romance.
This is a second chance romance that will eat you alive and make you sob your heart out. All I know is I need book two immediately getting this the second I can because I need to know what happening next
I legitimately think I was near tears this whole book. Drugs is not something I like to read about and this had me all kinds of screwed in the head. I genuinely worry that someone could write this but also the emotion this author dragged out of me… at one point I wanted to throw up.
What a book! Tortured rockstar who is controlled by his addiction & forced to do the bidding of others... if he refuses, they'll come for the only person he loves. This has The Edge of Darkness vibes with shades of Cori Zahara's A Heart as Black as Cole. Straight into book 2!
This book is soul destroying in the best and worst way!
Jude is a rockstar whose life has been turned upside down by his publicist’s, they control him using drugs and make him do unspeakable things! This is why he can’t be with the only person he has ever loved because he may just put her in harms way…
If you love the Edge of Darkness series by Leigh Rivers and The Words by Ashley Jade then this book is their baby!
I really enjoyed this book and I thought the author did an amazing job of capturing what it’s like to have a drug addiction and the impact it has on the addict and the people who care for them.