My rating: 4 stars for redemption of hero, but knocked down to 3 due to Abe's past treatment of Sarah and her "tragic loss/OM drama."
Rocky start doesn’t even begin to sum up the beginning of this main couple’s relationship/first marriage, folks. Abe Bellamy was in no way shape or form ready to take a wife while dealing with his complete despair and alcohol/drug abuse in an attempt to numb his anger/grief over the death of his eight year old sister, Tessie. He ended up meeting/marrying beautiful, kind, sweet Sarah Smith, who is broken in her own way, and briefly holds onto her like a lifeline, until sinking back into his abyss of despair/self-destructive ways.
**spoilers possible**
Sarah seems determined to be there for him, loves him unconditionally, puts up with being ignored/always left behind while he goes on tour, only gets brief moments of happiness with him during short lived periods of sobriety, until the unthinkable happens. Abe comes home, while under the influence, and verbally lashes out at her in such a demeaning, hurtful, heartbreaking way she walks away thinking he never really loved her. After all, she can’t hold onto something that was never there to begin with, his love. She files for divorce.
Two years later she finds herself alone again after suffering another tragic loss and the end of a relationship with Jeremy Vance, an older man who befriended her right after leaving Abe. I must say it felt kind of strange for Abe to hold her in his arms comforting her from something that linked her to Jeremey, whom she never really loved.
These two were reunited when Abe sees Jeremy physically hurt Sarah. He’s determinedly back in the picture and resolves to win her back. Fortunately, he’s been clean and sober for some time. After going to rehab shortly after spiraling out of control after their divorce, he soon realized what a precious gift he lost when Sarah left.
A little too soon for my taste, about 13% into it, they share a kiss and soon an intimate moment, which leads to a major bonding that now has them once again back in each other’s lives. The rest of the story is surprisingly drama free and focuses mainly on Sarah letting herself trust Abe again. There are lots of rock band friends and family moments, including 3 weddings, and talk of honest feelings and full reveals regarding secrets they kept from each other. Turns out Sarah had a shockingly hard knox kind of childhood, which makes you feel even more sorry for how Abe treated her.
You pretty much get a front row seat to this hero singing a major tune of redemption. It will be up to you if you want to listen to it or not. Here’s to hoping my review makes that decision a little easier. My rating: 4 stars for redemption/knocked down to 3 for hero's past behavior and Sarah's "other drama/tragic loss" involving Jeremy.
**major spoiler alert possible***
Romance Safety Gang: Some won’t be able to forgive the hero for his briefly described neglect of the heroine during the marriage and his brief but very painful, hurtful remarks right before she left him. Some may choose to attribute it to him not being mentally sound/well before he got married due to his grief/substance abuse. Either way, by 13%, the story focuses on him being a determined-to-win-his girl-back type of guy. Abe does claim he was faithful to her until they officially separated. She slept with Jeremey after seeing a tabloid pic of Abe during that same time. No OTT graphic details are given of OW/OM. Here's the big one that may kill this one for you...Look away if you don't want to know....Sarah then willingly decides to have a baby with Jeremy but doesn't marry him.
Title: Rock Wedding, Series: Rock Kiss (Book 4), Author: Nalini Singh, Pages: 345, stand-alone but meant to be read as part of a series, implied OW drama after separation/divorce but no graphic details/only tabloid pics, heroine has a relationship with OM after separation/divorce, miscarriage/infant death, unexpected pregnancy, a one-time abusive boyfriend incident.
(This review is based on NetGalley ARC issued in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion. No compensation was made to the reviewer, nor is there any affiliation between the reviewer and/or author/publisher.)