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Hell's Bells
COMPANION BOOK TO NIGHTINGALE
Your favorite angsty rock star anti hero is back. Raven Xerces is getting married!
"As soon as something goes bad for you, you’ll be right back to using. I know you. When the going gets tough, Raven Xerces gets wasted."
Raven Xerces is getting married. Finally clean after a lifetime of substance abuse, Raven is quickly learning that perhaps he was better off on the drugs.
Meet the Parents meets Welcome to my Panic, Hell’s Bells is the story within the story, the missing piece between where Raven Song ended and its epilogue. How did Raven and Stanzie go from newly reunited soulmates to a picture perfect family of four? Not without a lot of retakes along the way. After battling aggressive fans and uprooting her entire life, Stanzie thinks she knows what she's in for, but nothing could prepare her for Raven's deepest family secrets and one giant bombshell.
With the help of his bandmates and everyone’s favorite trust fund kid, celebrity stylist Pretzel Freudenberg, Raven prepares for a life outside the spotlight. But is suburbia ready for a rock ‘n’ roll invasion?
From disastrous proposal to a worse meeting of the in-laws, down the aisle and straight into fatherhood. How will Raven manage without his crutch? Heaven only knows: Hell’s Bells, it’s Raven’s wedding.
Your favorite angsty rock star anti hero is back. Raven Xerces is getting married!
"As soon as something goes bad for you, you’ll be right back to using. I know you. When the going gets tough, Raven Xerces gets wasted."
Raven Xerces is getting married. Finally clean after a lifetime of substance abuse, Raven is quickly learning that perhaps he was better off on the drugs.
Meet the Parents meets Welcome to my Panic, Hell’s Bells is the story within the story, the missing piece between where Raven Song ended and its epilogue. How did Raven and Stanzie go from newly reunited soulmates to a picture perfect family of four? Not without a lot of retakes along the way. After battling aggressive fans and uprooting her entire life, Stanzie thinks she knows what she's in for, but nothing could prepare her for Raven's deepest family secrets and one giant bombshell.
With the help of his bandmates and everyone’s favorite trust fund kid, celebrity stylist Pretzel Freudenberg, Raven prepares for a life outside the spotlight. But is suburbia ready for a rock ‘n’ roll invasion?
From disastrous proposal to a worse meeting of the in-laws, down the aisle and straight into fatherhood. How will Raven manage without his crutch? Heaven only knows: Hell’s Bells, it’s Raven’s wedding.
424 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 17, 2022
11 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Brasington-Crowley
22 books47 followersJennifer Brasington-Crowley is an author, illustrator, artist and animal advocate. She is a graduate of E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and an advertising copywriter and graphic designer.
She is the author of the Lyndsay and Lainey Lion children's book series (www.sunnyvillezoo.com), as well as unconventional romance series Raven Song and Stillwaters, available for download from Amazon.com.
She is a little obsessive about things like music and animals and has finally come to terms with being sorted into Slytherin.
Learn more at www.sunnyvillezoo.com
She is the author of the Lyndsay and Lainey Lion children's book series (www.sunnyvillezoo.com), as well as unconventional romance series Raven Song and Stillwaters, available for download from Amazon.com.
She is a little obsessive about things like music and animals and has finally come to terms with being sorted into Slytherin.
Learn more at www.sunnyvillezoo.com
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 17, 2022
The final installment of the Raven series. Just saying that makes me want to weep. It's been a roller-coaster from the very beginning we met Raven in Raven Song. All the way through his own prequel back story Bird Song til now. Now... The end has come and what an end it is.
A bittersweet ending that had all the classic hallmarks of a romance novel but also none of them. Raven is on top form in this book as he struggles further with his trauma, revisiting his past, his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol, and of course his relationship with zoo keeper extraordinaire, Stanzie - a love that never fails to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Hell's Bells is one of those final novels in a series that is both fulfilling and saddening as you realise on the final page that this is the end. But the answers we get, the sheer joy and closure Brasington-Crowley gives the reader is well worth the tears and the emotion that is provoked.
Read it as a stand alone to welcome you into the world or read the finale having been here for the story of Raven and Stanzie since the beginning. Whatever you do, just read it. You won't be sorry. I am blessed I ever found these wonderful stories.
A bittersweet ending that had all the classic hallmarks of a romance novel but also none of them. Raven is on top form in this book as he struggles further with his trauma, revisiting his past, his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol, and of course his relationship with zoo keeper extraordinaire, Stanzie - a love that never fails to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Hell's Bells is one of those final novels in a series that is both fulfilling and saddening as you realise on the final page that this is the end. But the answers we get, the sheer joy and closure Brasington-Crowley gives the reader is well worth the tears and the emotion that is provoked.
Read it as a stand alone to welcome you into the world or read the finale having been here for the story of Raven and Stanzie since the beginning. Whatever you do, just read it. You won't be sorry. I am blessed I ever found these wonderful stories.
February 26, 2024
Another winner!
The things we endure make us the people we are. This is the underlying theme of Hell’s Bells, one of the must read books in the Raven Song series. Raven and Stanzie both have experienced troubles they wish they hadn’t, but then they would never have found each other, and that they’d never change. Like its companion series, Stillwaters, Brasington-Crowley has created flawed and troubled characters you can’t help but root for. Well done!
The things we endure make us the people we are. This is the underlying theme of Hell’s Bells, one of the must read books in the Raven Song series. Raven and Stanzie both have experienced troubles they wish they hadn’t, but then they would never have found each other, and that they’d never change. Like its companion series, Stillwaters, Brasington-Crowley has created flawed and troubled characters you can’t help but root for. Well done!
January 30, 2022
My favorite rock star is getting married! What could possibly go wrong?
Well, if you know Raven the way I do... everything. Everything could go wrong. And that's this book's -this series'- strength: that even when things go wrong, there's hope they'll make a turn for the better.
Raven is finally happy with Stanzie, but no matter how strong and powerful their love is, they constantly find themselves having to prove the nature of their feelings to others, whether it's Raven's demanding fans or Stanzie's even-more-demanding parents.
But the true conflict once again comes from within: Raven's past has never truly left him. Under the surface there's abuse, darkness and guilt that Raven has to deal with. And while Stanzie is always by his side, this time Raven has learned to let in also his friends, whose unconditional love he had failed to recognize before.
Some sections of this book will break your heart, some will fill your soul with happiness, some will probably make you angry, and all these emotions will hit with the intensity of a rock song.
Well, if you know Raven the way I do... everything. Everything could go wrong. And that's this book's -this series'- strength: that even when things go wrong, there's hope they'll make a turn for the better.
Raven is finally happy with Stanzie, but no matter how strong and powerful their love is, they constantly find themselves having to prove the nature of their feelings to others, whether it's Raven's demanding fans or Stanzie's even-more-demanding parents.
But the true conflict once again comes from within: Raven's past has never truly left him. Under the surface there's abuse, darkness and guilt that Raven has to deal with. And while Stanzie is always by his side, this time Raven has learned to let in also his friends, whose unconditional love he had failed to recognize before.
Some sections of this book will break your heart, some will fill your soul with happiness, some will probably make you angry, and all these emotions will hit with the intensity of a rock song.
April 12, 2022
The Final Notes of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy
Beat the drum and ring the cowbell (okay, ring the wedding bells) – author Jennifer Brasington-Crowley has done it again! An easy 5-stars to her latest – and last – book in the Raven Song series: “Hell's Bells.”
I was beyond excited when I learned a new book was being released this year. While I’m sad to see the series end, like all great rock anthems, the book “Hell's Bells” ends on a satisfying note. We come full circle as the author brings in a nod to the event that started the Raven Xerces (protagonist) and Stanzie Butler (fiancé) rock ‘n’ romance.
Brasington-Crowley stayed true to her Raven roots: He’s flawed, struggling, anxiety-ridden, sort of sober, kind-hearted, a fish out of water, and loveable. He’s been at the bottom and the top – where he sometimes still clings to the bad behavior that twisted his life into a mess following a brutal childhood. But you know what? Even recovering addicts / rock stars deserve a chance for some normalcy in life, and that’s what Raven’s going for when he asks the love of his life to marry him.
I don’t include spoilers in my reviews, but I found the interactions between Raven and Stanzie’s parents (Ellen and Stan) to be some of the most realistic situations EVEN in their over-the-top-ness. Because you know what? Weird things happen and get said when you bring someone home to “meet the parents.”
Especially if your parents are fairly (*ahem*) Waspy and the man you are going to marry is wearing black chipped fingernail polish.
And yet…Oh, the author pulled on my heartstrings when Raven’s doing his best to figure it out, to do things right, to be there for his fiancé, and to fit in. The line:
“…could have given him [Raven] a lot of pointers on how to behave or at least shown him the difference between all the forks at his place. He had been observant thus far and simply followed Ellen’s cue…”
One can imagine Raven sitting there, secretly watching his mother-in-law to be and what she did at the fancy dinner table to make sure he was doing it right, too. He really tries so hard sometimes.
See, it’s these little moments that Brasington-Crowley puts into her stories that suck you in. You can’t help but care about her characters. Admittedly, Raven is one of my favorites.
The author is a master of springing humor on readers when they least expect it. Often in scenes where a reader is wincing and thinking “oh, no, Raven… surely it can’t get any worse” – Brasington-Crowley will zap you with a funny line or throw her characters into deeper trouble. The humor the author injects in her novels is smart, but she’s not afraid to whip out zingers like:
“What’s that thing you get for brides on their wedding day?”
“An orgasm?”
Or
“Isn’t that what you meant by my joy day veev? I know it’s not that STD I got in France now; I looked it up.”
Again, I will avoid spoilers, but I was very pleased Raven was allowed to face some of his long-time demons and finally put them to rest. VERY satisfying for fans who have read the other books in the Raven Song series. I’m glad the author chose to wrap up some of the big things for readers.
While Pretzel, loyal friend to Raven and one of my favorite characters, did not have as big of a role as in prior books, the author gave us a very touching scene between Raven and Pretzel the night before his wedding. Another believable and beautiful moment is penned! And then, in true Raven fashion, what happens next finds you facepalming it. Oh, Raven. (Little gross, but it’s also really funny – especially Pretzel’s reaction.)
As Raven moves forward in his engagement, he finds himself thinking of a past love – not uncommon for most people nearing their wedding day. But I also found that this was an unexpected twist for me because Raven IS very much in love with Stanzie. Typically, he’s consumed by his feelings for her. His thoughts about this past love – and how they played out – were quite intriguing because I didn’t expect this side-story to crop up. It was interesting to see how Brasington-Crowley brought it to a head. And yes, the final scenes dealing with that sub-plot caught me by surprise – but it worked. I could see it happening. Again, real stuff in an outrageous story.
There are a few more “big life events” that happen before the reader sees the book’s resolution on the horizon. Again, spoilers, but I was pleased the author chose to include those “everyday events” – highlighting a couple’s struggle and their reactions – in this last installment of the series. The end of “Hell's Bells” will leave you with a smile and a sigh of relief. And yet… It’s not *quite* over.
My next steps: I’m eager to jump into “Nightingale” (Stillwaters Series) – the companion book to “Hell's Bells.” Brasington-Crowley has cleverly weaved the two storylines together, giving fans an even richer experience when they slip themselves into the beautiful and messy worlds of her characters.
Giving “Hell's Bells” a 5-star rating is a no brainer. It IS a standalone book, but from this reader’s perspective, if you read “Birdsong” and “Raven Song,” “Hell's Bells” will be even better. So run along… start the Raven Song series if you haven’t already, and if “Hell's Bells” is already on your TBR pile, move it up to the top.
Beat the drum and ring the cowbell (okay, ring the wedding bells) – author Jennifer Brasington-Crowley has done it again! An easy 5-stars to her latest – and last – book in the Raven Song series: “Hell's Bells.”
I was beyond excited when I learned a new book was being released this year. While I’m sad to see the series end, like all great rock anthems, the book “Hell's Bells” ends on a satisfying note. We come full circle as the author brings in a nod to the event that started the Raven Xerces (protagonist) and Stanzie Butler (fiancé) rock ‘n’ romance.
Brasington-Crowley stayed true to her Raven roots: He’s flawed, struggling, anxiety-ridden, sort of sober, kind-hearted, a fish out of water, and loveable. He’s been at the bottom and the top – where he sometimes still clings to the bad behavior that twisted his life into a mess following a brutal childhood. But you know what? Even recovering addicts / rock stars deserve a chance for some normalcy in life, and that’s what Raven’s going for when he asks the love of his life to marry him.
I don’t include spoilers in my reviews, but I found the interactions between Raven and Stanzie’s parents (Ellen and Stan) to be some of the most realistic situations EVEN in their over-the-top-ness. Because you know what? Weird things happen and get said when you bring someone home to “meet the parents.”
Especially if your parents are fairly (*ahem*) Waspy and the man you are going to marry is wearing black chipped fingernail polish.
And yet…Oh, the author pulled on my heartstrings when Raven’s doing his best to figure it out, to do things right, to be there for his fiancé, and to fit in. The line:
“…could have given him [Raven] a lot of pointers on how to behave or at least shown him the difference between all the forks at his place. He had been observant thus far and simply followed Ellen’s cue…”
One can imagine Raven sitting there, secretly watching his mother-in-law to be and what she did at the fancy dinner table to make sure he was doing it right, too. He really tries so hard sometimes.
See, it’s these little moments that Brasington-Crowley puts into her stories that suck you in. You can’t help but care about her characters. Admittedly, Raven is one of my favorites.
The author is a master of springing humor on readers when they least expect it. Often in scenes where a reader is wincing and thinking “oh, no, Raven… surely it can’t get any worse” – Brasington-Crowley will zap you with a funny line or throw her characters into deeper trouble. The humor the author injects in her novels is smart, but she’s not afraid to whip out zingers like:
“What’s that thing you get for brides on their wedding day?”
“An orgasm?”
Or
“Isn’t that what you meant by my joy day veev? I know it’s not that STD I got in France now; I looked it up.”
Again, I will avoid spoilers, but I was very pleased Raven was allowed to face some of his long-time demons and finally put them to rest. VERY satisfying for fans who have read the other books in the Raven Song series. I’m glad the author chose to wrap up some of the big things for readers.
While Pretzel, loyal friend to Raven and one of my favorite characters, did not have as big of a role as in prior books, the author gave us a very touching scene between Raven and Pretzel the night before his wedding. Another believable and beautiful moment is penned! And then, in true Raven fashion, what happens next finds you facepalming it. Oh, Raven. (Little gross, but it’s also really funny – especially Pretzel’s reaction.)
As Raven moves forward in his engagement, he finds himself thinking of a past love – not uncommon for most people nearing their wedding day. But I also found that this was an unexpected twist for me because Raven IS very much in love with Stanzie. Typically, he’s consumed by his feelings for her. His thoughts about this past love – and how they played out – were quite intriguing because I didn’t expect this side-story to crop up. It was interesting to see how Brasington-Crowley brought it to a head. And yes, the final scenes dealing with that sub-plot caught me by surprise – but it worked. I could see it happening. Again, real stuff in an outrageous story.
There are a few more “big life events” that happen before the reader sees the book’s resolution on the horizon. Again, spoilers, but I was pleased the author chose to include those “everyday events” – highlighting a couple’s struggle and their reactions – in this last installment of the series. The end of “Hell's Bells” will leave you with a smile and a sigh of relief. And yet… It’s not *quite* over.
My next steps: I’m eager to jump into “Nightingale” (Stillwaters Series) – the companion book to “Hell's Bells.” Brasington-Crowley has cleverly weaved the two storylines together, giving fans an even richer experience when they slip themselves into the beautiful and messy worlds of her characters.
Giving “Hell's Bells” a 5-star rating is a no brainer. It IS a standalone book, but from this reader’s perspective, if you read “Birdsong” and “Raven Song,” “Hell's Bells” will be even better. So run along… start the Raven Song series if you haven’t already, and if “Hell's Bells” is already on your TBR pile, move it up to the top.
May 2, 2022
I was so excited when I learned this book was coming, and it did not disappoint. Hell’s Bells, Raven’s wedding, is the perfect mix of laughing out loud, and heartbreaking moments that make it impossible to put it down. If you love Raven as much as I do, you’ll love this book! 5 stars! If you haven’t already read the other books in the Raven series, what are you waiting for!! Do it, you won’t regret it!
February 20, 2022
The much awaited story of the gap between Raven Song and its epilogue is finally here, and as always, the author does not disappoint!
If you're familiar with Raven Song and Bird Song, you'll want to know what made him fall head over heels over Stanzie, stuck with her, even when the 'in laws' factor is added into the equation... and vice versa from Stanzie's POV. This book is the answer to it all.
As with the author's other books, there are plenty of ROTFL moments in the book, but also just as much heart-wrenching ones as we learn more about Raven. There are super romantic moments (it may or may not involve a wild motorbike ride) and there is also a big closure that fans of Raven must have been waiting for.
Raven is not perfect, but this book is the perfect imperfect piece of the puzzle that makes him. And from every part of my brain and heart that reads and understands where he comes from, that makes this the perfect book to end the Raven series.
If you're familiar with Raven Song and Bird Song, you'll want to know what made him fall head over heels over Stanzie, stuck with her, even when the 'in laws' factor is added into the equation... and vice versa from Stanzie's POV. This book is the answer to it all.
As with the author's other books, there are plenty of ROTFL moments in the book, but also just as much heart-wrenching ones as we learn more about Raven. There are super romantic moments (it may or may not involve a wild motorbike ride) and there is also a big closure that fans of Raven must have been waiting for.
Raven is not perfect, but this book is the perfect imperfect piece of the puzzle that makes him. And from every part of my brain and heart that reads and understands where he comes from, that makes this the perfect book to end the Raven series.
July 11, 2022
Raven learned to fly
The promise of Raven Xerces getting married was enough for me to begin the book, but in true to the author fashion, I couldn't put the book down once I started.
Jennifer took her anti hero and gave him wings in this book. His character had been building to this moment from the beginning. After watching Raven struggle with addiction, self sabotage, and demons from his past, this book was a refreshing reminder of why his character lives in my mind. He is worth saving and he is worthy of not being given up on.
Raven getting married was only part of what this book is about. It continues his life alerting event of falling in love with Stanzie, a plain Jane from Ohio, and brings her world to the newly, somewhat sober, Rockstar. With a mouth like a sailor and his reputation preceding him, meeting Stanzie's parents showed us how out of depth Raven was, but also solidified his undying love and commitment to his new life.
In order to get there, he had to revisit his past. The home he grew up in was full of pain and abuse from a father who didn't love him. It was hard to go there with Raven and experience the emotions he did as he purged himself. However, this was key to letting his character spread his wings and become the man he knew he could be.
This book also had priceless Raven moments, like the golf club scene when Raven wore a skirt and threatened to expose himself to writing love songs for Stanzie.
If you haven't discovered Raven yet, start at the beginning or read backwards from this one, but find him and let him help you find your way.
The promise of Raven Xerces getting married was enough for me to begin the book, but in true to the author fashion, I couldn't put the book down once I started.
Jennifer took her anti hero and gave him wings in this book. His character had been building to this moment from the beginning. After watching Raven struggle with addiction, self sabotage, and demons from his past, this book was a refreshing reminder of why his character lives in my mind. He is worth saving and he is worthy of not being given up on.
Raven getting married was only part of what this book is about. It continues his life alerting event of falling in love with Stanzie, a plain Jane from Ohio, and brings her world to the newly, somewhat sober, Rockstar. With a mouth like a sailor and his reputation preceding him, meeting Stanzie's parents showed us how out of depth Raven was, but also solidified his undying love and commitment to his new life.
In order to get there, he had to revisit his past. The home he grew up in was full of pain and abuse from a father who didn't love him. It was hard to go there with Raven and experience the emotions he did as he purged himself. However, this was key to letting his character spread his wings and become the man he knew he could be.
This book also had priceless Raven moments, like the golf club scene when Raven wore a skirt and threatened to expose himself to writing love songs for Stanzie.
If you haven't discovered Raven yet, start at the beginning or read backwards from this one, but find him and let him help you find your way.
March 18, 2022
Rockstar Raven Xerces is getting married! But family, friends, and the past all threaten to disrupt his plans to wed his long-time girlfriend Stanzie.
HELL’S BELLS is an alternately hilarious and poignant story about what happens when we grow up, move on, and confront our worst fears.
Raven and Stanzie have lived lifetimes of pain, and yet still believe in the possibility of happily ever after.
Swoon.
Read this wonderful novel as a stand-alone, as the final installment of the Raven Song trilogy, or (as I did) folliwed immediately by NIGHTINGALE, Brasington-Crowley’s companion novel and finale installment of the Stillwaters trilogy.
HELL’S BELLS is an alternately hilarious and poignant story about what happens when we grow up, move on, and confront our worst fears.
Raven and Stanzie have lived lifetimes of pain, and yet still believe in the possibility of happily ever after.
Swoon.
Read this wonderful novel as a stand-alone, as the final installment of the Raven Song trilogy, or (as I did) folliwed immediately by NIGHTINGALE, Brasington-Crowley’s companion novel and finale installment of the Stillwaters trilogy.
August 9, 2023
A lovely ending to the Raven Song series, fitting snugly before the wonderful A Very Raven Christmas, Hell's Bells explores the next steps for Raven and Stanzie's relationship, including navigating unimpressed in-laws as well as reconciling the ghosts that haunt Raven's past. "From disastrous proposal to a worse meeting of the in-laws, down the aisle and straight into fatherhood." Raven is learning how to cope with life beyond the crutch of drugs, and the support he finds was warming to read. Ending a series is always bittersweet but I'm so glad to have met Raven and Stanzie, whose relationship is such a breath of fresh air, in this heartfelt, genre-defying series.
June 13, 2022
perfectly imperfect
Raven is not perfect and that makes him perfect. I was so annoyed with him. But his mistakes were real. He feels real.
JBC continues to rule the character game.
Raven is not perfect and that makes him perfect. I was so annoyed with him. But his mistakes were real. He feels real.
JBC continues to rule the character game.
August 23, 2022
Raven Xerces and Stanzie Butler are total opposites. One is an emotionally beat up, internally and externally scarred, druggie rock band front man, the other is an outwardly stable, internally scarred professional from a high upper-middle class family. They met on a plane, and opposites attract. Now they're in love and going to get married. Despite the odds, both are determined to make it work.
This is their story.
More specifically, this is story of their engagement and early marriage as "Hell's Bells" is the third book in the "Raven Xerces" series and Jennifer Brasington-Crowley is back in fine form. My favourite of the series was the first book "Bird Song" which was gritty and real, and I feel like Brasington-Crowley taps back into that style while easily mixing the more love-story style of "Raven Song" into the character redemption for Raven. Healing from trauma and addiction is desperately hard, and we see Raven putting in the work to get his life on track for the sake of love. It's empowering to see him struggling but making progress, and I applaud Brasington-Crowley for including an end note about a Help Line for readers who may also have addiction in their lives.
"Hell's Bells" was classic Raven Xerces entertaining and also satisfying. It can be enjoyed and read as a stand alone, though to fully appreciate the victories that Raven scores for himself in this story, you're best served to read the series: you won't be disappointed.
This is their story.
More specifically, this is story of their engagement and early marriage as "Hell's Bells" is the third book in the "Raven Xerces" series and Jennifer Brasington-Crowley is back in fine form. My favourite of the series was the first book "Bird Song" which was gritty and real, and I feel like Brasington-Crowley taps back into that style while easily mixing the more love-story style of "Raven Song" into the character redemption for Raven. Healing from trauma and addiction is desperately hard, and we see Raven putting in the work to get his life on track for the sake of love. It's empowering to see him struggling but making progress, and I applaud Brasington-Crowley for including an end note about a Help Line for readers who may also have addiction in their lives.
"Hell's Bells" was classic Raven Xerces entertaining and also satisfying. It can be enjoyed and read as a stand alone, though to fully appreciate the victories that Raven scores for himself in this story, you're best served to read the series: you won't be disappointed.
September 20, 2024
🚨Spoilers🚨
This book is about Raven and Stanzie.
This book is sooooooo GOOD! I am struggling to put it into words.
The book starts off with Raven talking to his band mate Mike and he is freaking out because he is going to ask Stanzie to marry him and he has bought several rings because he doesn’t know what she will want and then he is so nervous he calls a uber to pick her up for the airport and his friend is like dude calm down she already loves you and you can’t give her 6 ring because thats crazy and you have to go get her because you just being a wossy and she doesn’t want to marry a wossy. So he rush out to meet her and he is so happy to see her because they have been apart for 3 months and he wraps himself around her like a snake and she is like we just talked why are u being so clingy and he is having this profound moment that she is still unaware of. He just blurts it out Stanzie will you marry me? And in an effort not to do this in front of the whole airport she moves him along and he suddenly starts to have a panic attack because he thinks she is saying no. After a lot of drama they make it to the car and he apologizes for doing this all wrong and asks her again and she say YES!!! Of course i will marry you and he pulls out all these rings and it is this whole fun sweet moment. Then then they go home and then later to his “spare” parents Sally and Sal and you see this totally mom moment where Sally pulls him aside and totally moms him and it is a good moment for Raven to feel loved. He tell Sally about the proposal and the 4 of them have a very sweet night, with Sally and Sal raining affection on them both in their own ways and Raven asked them both to come to their wedding as the parent of the groom. They also had a run in with some unruly fans, talked out their best friend and what role they have played in each of their lives and talked about jealousy a bit and then what role they would play in their wedding.
Stanzie let him know he now has to meet her parents and get the ball rolling on this marriage stuff. Raven is terrified. He is having panic attacks, he takes too many Xanax on the way there and Stanzie is a bit annoyed but she really does accept him as he is and tries to help him be a better person. They have some grocery store drama and it really shows how little Raven has known about normal life. Well the visit with her parents is an absolute nightmare. Her parents are all high class judgmental people, they both played in symphonies orchestras and they think, especially her dad that his brand of self taught noise is nothing to be proud of and that he isn’t having his daughter involved with the likes of this mess before him. It ends with an argument. There will be many moments in the book where there is an argument with one or both of her parents. Raven even thought he is often the victim of these situations he still goes all in with them to defend Stanzie, and as driven and independent as she is her parents are her weak spot and she need him to defend her and it makes them even closer.
I am not a big fan of her parents but they are not all bad they just want a good life for their daughter( their only child) on their very stuffy terms. Also not that i want to defend them at all but i feel i should say as a parent as well that if my very straight laced, very driven and always try’s to do the right thing child show up with a guy who smokes, has done drugs, has crazy hair, is super fidgety, has been married and divorced and a long string of meaningless sex with other women, who comes from the worst home imaginable and also plays heavy metal music for a living no matter how successfully i would take a pause too but i am much more open minded so i would hear them out and hope my child thought this out, and maybe checked of the details and worried questions in private. There is nothing wrong with him or his profession as long as he is good to her and they are happy.
Raven friends have and intervention with him because they want to see him happy and have it last this time, so they talk him into going on a emotional trip to the past so he can let some demons go. His best friend Pretzel goes with him and he really does what he needs to. He goes to his old home which has been torn down but he walks around the rooms where they would have been and he talks to the ghosts of his past and starts to panic but he call Stanzie and she comforts him( she should be there for this but she couldn’t leave at the time of the trip). Him and Pretzel find a cat and Raven claims him as his emotional support animal and they set out to find if the cat has a owner and in doing so he discovers that he didn’t kill his father after all but he died in prison because even criminals don’t take kindly to child molester. So a huge weight is lifted off him because not only is he not the killer he always feared he could be but his dad also got what was coming to him so there was some justice for Dove. ( for him too but he doesn’t see it that way). Then he asks Pretzel to stop one more place and he stops at the house of the only teacher that ever believe in him or trying to help him un anyway, Mrs Rodrigues. It takes her just a minute to realize its him and she welcomes him in with open arms and they have this really nice moment where he apologizes for steeling her credit card all those years ago and she said if she had really know how bad it was she would have bought the bus tickets herself or tried to adopt him and then pulled out a scrapbook that show all of his success. She had been keeping track of him and rooting for him all these years. He invited her to his wedding and then he heads back to Stanzie because he has missed her so much and after this crazy trip he just needs her.
There is a good bit of time devoted to the wedding planing and the actual wedding and on the day of his wedding he is woken up with an erotic dream about his X Indy and he is with Pretzel and they talk about it and he is determined to put this out of his mind, its old news. They get married have a wonderful time and then when the wedding info is leaked they end up on a wild ride to avoid the paparazzi. The very next day Stanzie gets the news she has been dreaming about her whole adult life and she has been offered her dream job but it will cut into their honeymoon and change many aspects of their life moving forward. They will live half a year in LA and half in Africa. Then to top it off they find out they are having not just one but two babies. More fighting with her parents. Raven and Stanzie also get into a fight because 🤯Raven never told anyone that he was a twin and that his twin died when they were little. She is really angry because she thinks if he kept this big of a thing from her what else isn’t he telling her and he starts shouting all of the injustices that have been put upon him and his sister as a children and he had a epiphany that his father beat him because he lived, and he falls completely apart because he thinks everything that happened to them all is his fault for living. Stanzie quickly realizes how wrong she was and is quickly to explain to him what probably actually happened. In truth the only reason he even knew he had a twin was because his sister Dove told him a few times and she called him Sid ( she was only 4yrs old when they were born and she delivered them herself because their dad refused to drive her mom to the hospital so if the other boy died she would have been between 4-7yrs old I can’t imagine she would remember all the details) but after putting the piece together they realized he probably died of sids. Because all the kids had bird names Dove and Robin that he changed to Raven.
Before the move to Africa Pretzel calls in a holy Mary card with Raven and even though it’s terrible timing agrees to do a benefit concert for someone Pretzel has loved most her life. (Hunter who was in the beginning of the book). The concert is all sold out with a local band and a band from England and Pretzel talked Jake Nightmare (Jay nightingale, from the cross over series) out of retirement because he owes Pretzel as much as Raven does. While at this venue Raven runs into his X Indy and she try’s every play she has to get him to hook up with her and she kisses him and at first he starts to kiss her back and then realizes he is serious messing up! He loves his wife and they are having twins and Indy has a husband and baby!! He pushes her away and in that moment he realizes he is more than ready to let her go for all the times she has haunted him in his dreams. She was his first love, and he has carried that love for her all these years but he knows in that moment that she isn’t and never had been the one for him. When he leaves the room he runs into Stanzie who slaps his face because she saw him kiss the girl and assumed the worst and tells him when she said she would always stand by him that mean with drugs and drinking not other woman. This is the worse time for this because he is due on stage and he goes but then he sees her run out and wants to go after her but Cayman (Jay’s wife) steps up to help him out and when he gets off stage its to a still mad Stanzie but a more understanding one. Cayman after hearing what happened made Indy (Cayman‘s best friend) come in there and explain her actions to Raven Wife and Stanzie realize that yes he did kiss her briefly he did not want it nor did he pursue Indy in anyway. She is still hurt but it’s not a dealbreaker. The End!
Other bits of information, Raven tries very Hard to get Jake Nightmare to have a reunion tour and i think thats what the 3rd book in that series could be about.. if not for then maybe the 4th book. One of them i think will be a prequel because this author writes like that but i can’t be totally sure till i read them and i definitely will be!
The other thing that is pretty disturbing is that Raven band mates baby daughter is named Ophelia ‼️‼️‼️ as in Jonathan’s evil spirit in the other series 😳😳. As in Caymans dead love of her life before Jay 🤯. Thats creepy
Also i have been suspicious of Indy from the beginning and i always hated how she acted like a spoiled brat. Yes Raven should have told her his age but given his life history would he even have know the age of consent or care at all, probably not. I can see her side too it would be upsetting but there were better ways to handle it and it seams as if she came and went many times but never stayed to help and then wanted to ruin it for him when he finally had a slice of happiness 🤬🤬🤬‼️ not a fan! I am curious what Cayman said to her and i am looking forward to reading about it.
Well that was long again🤔 sorry about that, I just love these books so much i want to say it all i guess.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️= wonderful end to this series and some nice bits for the other series.
☀️= of course there is sex, they are having twins but its very undetailed.
🤯= the Ravens twin thing so very unexpected‼️
🤬= i just want to cuss and grumble for a long while about Indy, worst kinda women 🤬
⚠️= where to begin with triggers, drugs, drinking, death, abuse of every kind, suicidal ideation, most of this is brushed over but just be aware.
🔊= audiobook made possible with speechify app.
®️= rented it from Kindle unlimited but i plan to buy it.
Off to the last two 📖 books of the crossover series.
This book is about Raven and Stanzie.
This book is sooooooo GOOD! I am struggling to put it into words.
The book starts off with Raven talking to his band mate Mike and he is freaking out because he is going to ask Stanzie to marry him and he has bought several rings because he doesn’t know what she will want and then he is so nervous he calls a uber to pick her up for the airport and his friend is like dude calm down she already loves you and you can’t give her 6 ring because thats crazy and you have to go get her because you just being a wossy and she doesn’t want to marry a wossy. So he rush out to meet her and he is so happy to see her because they have been apart for 3 months and he wraps himself around her like a snake and she is like we just talked why are u being so clingy and he is having this profound moment that she is still unaware of. He just blurts it out Stanzie will you marry me? And in an effort not to do this in front of the whole airport she moves him along and he suddenly starts to have a panic attack because he thinks she is saying no. After a lot of drama they make it to the car and he apologizes for doing this all wrong and asks her again and she say YES!!! Of course i will marry you and he pulls out all these rings and it is this whole fun sweet moment. Then then they go home and then later to his “spare” parents Sally and Sal and you see this totally mom moment where Sally pulls him aside and totally moms him and it is a good moment for Raven to feel loved. He tell Sally about the proposal and the 4 of them have a very sweet night, with Sally and Sal raining affection on them both in their own ways and Raven asked them both to come to their wedding as the parent of the groom. They also had a run in with some unruly fans, talked out their best friend and what role they have played in each of their lives and talked about jealousy a bit and then what role they would play in their wedding.
Stanzie let him know he now has to meet her parents and get the ball rolling on this marriage stuff. Raven is terrified. He is having panic attacks, he takes too many Xanax on the way there and Stanzie is a bit annoyed but she really does accept him as he is and tries to help him be a better person. They have some grocery store drama and it really shows how little Raven has known about normal life. Well the visit with her parents is an absolute nightmare. Her parents are all high class judgmental people, they both played in symphonies orchestras and they think, especially her dad that his brand of self taught noise is nothing to be proud of and that he isn’t having his daughter involved with the likes of this mess before him. It ends with an argument. There will be many moments in the book where there is an argument with one or both of her parents. Raven even thought he is often the victim of these situations he still goes all in with them to defend Stanzie, and as driven and independent as she is her parents are her weak spot and she need him to defend her and it makes them even closer.
I am not a big fan of her parents but they are not all bad they just want a good life for their daughter( their only child) on their very stuffy terms. Also not that i want to defend them at all but i feel i should say as a parent as well that if my very straight laced, very driven and always try’s to do the right thing child show up with a guy who smokes, has done drugs, has crazy hair, is super fidgety, has been married and divorced and a long string of meaningless sex with other women, who comes from the worst home imaginable and also plays heavy metal music for a living no matter how successfully i would take a pause too but i am much more open minded so i would hear them out and hope my child thought this out, and maybe checked of the details and worried questions in private. There is nothing wrong with him or his profession as long as he is good to her and they are happy.
Raven friends have and intervention with him because they want to see him happy and have it last this time, so they talk him into going on a emotional trip to the past so he can let some demons go. His best friend Pretzel goes with him and he really does what he needs to. He goes to his old home which has been torn down but he walks around the rooms where they would have been and he talks to the ghosts of his past and starts to panic but he call Stanzie and she comforts him( she should be there for this but she couldn’t leave at the time of the trip). Him and Pretzel find a cat and Raven claims him as his emotional support animal and they set out to find if the cat has a owner and in doing so he discovers that he didn’t kill his father after all but he died in prison because even criminals don’t take kindly to child molester. So a huge weight is lifted off him because not only is he not the killer he always feared he could be but his dad also got what was coming to him so there was some justice for Dove. ( for him too but he doesn’t see it that way). Then he asks Pretzel to stop one more place and he stops at the house of the only teacher that ever believe in him or trying to help him un anyway, Mrs Rodrigues. It takes her just a minute to realize its him and she welcomes him in with open arms and they have this really nice moment where he apologizes for steeling her credit card all those years ago and she said if she had really know how bad it was she would have bought the bus tickets herself or tried to adopt him and then pulled out a scrapbook that show all of his success. She had been keeping track of him and rooting for him all these years. He invited her to his wedding and then he heads back to Stanzie because he has missed her so much and after this crazy trip he just needs her.
There is a good bit of time devoted to the wedding planing and the actual wedding and on the day of his wedding he is woken up with an erotic dream about his X Indy and he is with Pretzel and they talk about it and he is determined to put this out of his mind, its old news. They get married have a wonderful time and then when the wedding info is leaked they end up on a wild ride to avoid the paparazzi. The very next day Stanzie gets the news she has been dreaming about her whole adult life and she has been offered her dream job but it will cut into their honeymoon and change many aspects of their life moving forward. They will live half a year in LA and half in Africa. Then to top it off they find out they are having not just one but two babies. More fighting with her parents. Raven and Stanzie also get into a fight because 🤯Raven never told anyone that he was a twin and that his twin died when they were little. She is really angry because she thinks if he kept this big of a thing from her what else isn’t he telling her and he starts shouting all of the injustices that have been put upon him and his sister as a children and he had a epiphany that his father beat him because he lived, and he falls completely apart because he thinks everything that happened to them all is his fault for living. Stanzie quickly realizes how wrong she was and is quickly to explain to him what probably actually happened. In truth the only reason he even knew he had a twin was because his sister Dove told him a few times and she called him Sid ( she was only 4yrs old when they were born and she delivered them herself because their dad refused to drive her mom to the hospital so if the other boy died she would have been between 4-7yrs old I can’t imagine she would remember all the details) but after putting the piece together they realized he probably died of sids. Because all the kids had bird names Dove and Robin that he changed to Raven.
Before the move to Africa Pretzel calls in a holy Mary card with Raven and even though it’s terrible timing agrees to do a benefit concert for someone Pretzel has loved most her life. (Hunter who was in the beginning of the book). The concert is all sold out with a local band and a band from England and Pretzel talked Jake Nightmare (Jay nightingale, from the cross over series) out of retirement because he owes Pretzel as much as Raven does. While at this venue Raven runs into his X Indy and she try’s every play she has to get him to hook up with her and she kisses him and at first he starts to kiss her back and then realizes he is serious messing up! He loves his wife and they are having twins and Indy has a husband and baby!! He pushes her away and in that moment he realizes he is more than ready to let her go for all the times she has haunted him in his dreams. She was his first love, and he has carried that love for her all these years but he knows in that moment that she isn’t and never had been the one for him. When he leaves the room he runs into Stanzie who slaps his face because she saw him kiss the girl and assumed the worst and tells him when she said she would always stand by him that mean with drugs and drinking not other woman. This is the worse time for this because he is due on stage and he goes but then he sees her run out and wants to go after her but Cayman (Jay’s wife) steps up to help him out and when he gets off stage its to a still mad Stanzie but a more understanding one. Cayman after hearing what happened made Indy (Cayman‘s best friend) come in there and explain her actions to Raven Wife and Stanzie realize that yes he did kiss her briefly he did not want it nor did he pursue Indy in anyway. She is still hurt but it’s not a dealbreaker. The End!
Other bits of information, Raven tries very Hard to get Jake Nightmare to have a reunion tour and i think thats what the 3rd book in that series could be about.. if not for then maybe the 4th book. One of them i think will be a prequel because this author writes like that but i can’t be totally sure till i read them and i definitely will be!
The other thing that is pretty disturbing is that Raven band mates baby daughter is named Ophelia ‼️‼️‼️ as in Jonathan’s evil spirit in the other series 😳😳. As in Caymans dead love of her life before Jay 🤯. Thats creepy
Also i have been suspicious of Indy from the beginning and i always hated how she acted like a spoiled brat. Yes Raven should have told her his age but given his life history would he even have know the age of consent or care at all, probably not. I can see her side too it would be upsetting but there were better ways to handle it and it seams as if she came and went many times but never stayed to help and then wanted to ruin it for him when he finally had a slice of happiness 🤬🤬🤬‼️ not a fan! I am curious what Cayman said to her and i am looking forward to reading about it.
Well that was long again🤔 sorry about that, I just love these books so much i want to say it all i guess.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️= wonderful end to this series and some nice bits for the other series.
☀️= of course there is sex, they are having twins but its very undetailed.
🤯= the Ravens twin thing so very unexpected‼️
🤬= i just want to cuss and grumble for a long while about Indy, worst kinda women 🤬
⚠️= where to begin with triggers, drugs, drinking, death, abuse of every kind, suicidal ideation, most of this is brushed over but just be aware.
🔊= audiobook made possible with speechify app.
®️= rented it from Kindle unlimited but i plan to buy it.
Off to the last two 📖 books of the crossover series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2024
The show must go on!
This tale of two people from different worlds just unfolds in a way that the show must go on. I love their tale of true love and rising above the people and events in life that try to bring you down.
This tale of two people from different worlds just unfolds in a way that the show must go on. I love their tale of true love and rising above the people and events in life that try to bring you down.
Want to read
June 13, 2023🎁The Complete Series is FREE on Amazon today (6/13/2023)! 🎁
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