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Pretty Broken #3
Pretty Wreck
Alister Fox
The pretty boy. The loner. Old Hollywood.
I had all kinds of names as the least known member of the most famous band in the world.
Behind all the hype and masks, I'm just a Pretty Wreck.
No one knows the disaster I am, my secrets hidden behind style and a smile.
I've been running for as long as I can remember, but I can't get away from the gilded cage of fame.
I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it together.
I'm forced to go back on tour to play the summer concert circuit, and so is the guy I've avoided for two years.
Ten years older than me, he's the bassist for the hottest punk band.
He beds a different girl every night, but while the rest of the world slept, he'd crawl into my bed.
He's the only person who has ever felt safe, but he's straight, so I ran from him, too.
Now I have to face him and it's all unraveling.
I'm afraid I'll be the first to break, bringing our fame crashing down.
Kingsley Cole
My words have gotten me in trouble for as long as I can remember.
They got me suspended from eighth grade and banned from online forums, but they also made us famous beyond our wildest dreams.
Poetry and scorn.
My deepest thoughts, raw and exposed for the fans to consume.
They spawned rumors and ruin, and they’re about to do worse.
He hasn’t spoken to me in years.
But our secret keeps bleeding into my songs.
My next album is a ticking time bomb and when it hits, it will be the end of us.
What will be left but a pretty wreck?
The pretty boy. The loner. Old Hollywood.
I had all kinds of names as the least known member of the most famous band in the world.
Behind all the hype and masks, I'm just a Pretty Wreck.
No one knows the disaster I am, my secrets hidden behind style and a smile.
I've been running for as long as I can remember, but I can't get away from the gilded cage of fame.
I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it together.
I'm forced to go back on tour to play the summer concert circuit, and so is the guy I've avoided for two years.
Ten years older than me, he's the bassist for the hottest punk band.
He beds a different girl every night, but while the rest of the world slept, he'd crawl into my bed.
He's the only person who has ever felt safe, but he's straight, so I ran from him, too.
Now I have to face him and it's all unraveling.
I'm afraid I'll be the first to break, bringing our fame crashing down.
Kingsley Cole
My words have gotten me in trouble for as long as I can remember.
They got me suspended from eighth grade and banned from online forums, but they also made us famous beyond our wildest dreams.
Poetry and scorn.
My deepest thoughts, raw and exposed for the fans to consume.
They spawned rumors and ruin, and they’re about to do worse.
He hasn’t spoken to me in years.
But our secret keeps bleeding into my songs.
My next album is a ticking time bomb and when it hits, it will be the end of us.
What will be left but a pretty wreck?
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 16, 2023
209 people are currently reading
679 people want to read
About the author
J.R. Gray
58 books1,298 followersWhen not staying up all night writing, J.R. Gray can be found at the gym where it's half assumed he is a permanent resident to fulfill his self-inflicted masochism. A dominant and a pilot, Gray finds it hard to be in the passenger seat of any car. He frequently interrupts real life, including normal sleep patterns and conversations, to jot down notes or plot bunnies. Commas are the bane of his existence even though it's been fully acknowledged they are necessary, they continue to baffle and bewilder. If Gray wasn't writing…well, that's not possible. The buildup of untold stories would haunt Gray into an early grave, insanity or both. The idea of haunting has always appealed to him. J.R. Gray is genderqueer and prefers he/him pronouns.
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February 11, 2025
He sang as if he knew me / In all my dark despair / And then he looked right through me / As if I wasn’t there (Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack).
Yup, so I just kind of found out that this is actually the third installment of an ongoing series. Oops, I'm so quirky! I wish I could say that there’s a good reason why I narrowed in on this particular one, but let’s be real… it’s the cover. It’s always the cover. What can I say? I’m not immune to the shirtless-suspenders look! Thankfully, my short-sightedness worked out for the better in the end because this was pretty good! Pretty Wreck, pretty good… is that anything? There’s something there. Umm… Normally I’m hesitant to dive right into books about in-universe famous characters (especially rockstars) because the story will often have this weirdly voyeuristic tone due the media and their fans being obsessed with the main characters, which in turn often gets in the way of any genuine show of emotion. Not to throw shade, but I thought that this was especially prevalent in books like The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass or Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick. Not a big fan, sorry. Oh, I also don’t like reading the made-up lyrics in books. I know that that’s incredibly hypocritical because I literally put song lyrics into every one of my reviews, but… I don’t know, whenever I see lyrics in a book I go into “skim-mode.” Eye’s glazed over and all that. I think it’s hard for me to read lyrics without having a tune to sing it to. Otherwise, I’m grateful that this book sidesteps most of my usual grievances with the superstar genre by making this story staunchly centered around the main couple, rather than their rocker-boy lifestyle and the intense fandom around them.
Though I definitely don’t go out of my way to do this, I think my thing has kind of unintentionally become the “guy-who-complains-about-the-love-interest,” guy. But now I think I’m going to have to attach an addendum saying, “and-also-complains-about-bad-nicknames,” because… sheesh… does this book have some bad ones! Those will be my two things, I guess. Unfortunately, the nickname thing probably wouldn’t even have been an issue if it didn’t jolt me out of the moment every time they’d come up (which was pretty often). I suppose I should probably talk about the plot though, and not the awful (awful) pet names that the characters used for each other ad nauseam. When it starts, we find Alister Fox, nicknamed “Little Bird” (barf) or “Lis” (short for “Listerine” I think) on the 23rd of loneliness as he struggles for control over his own life against an overbearing and abusive partner/manager. And I can’t lie, I normally don’t love it when it feels like an author is laying it on a little too thick, trying to get us to really feel bad for their characters, but they definitely got me this time. When it came to Alister? Yeah, I felt for him. Seriously, the guy couldn’t catch a break! After, like, the third terrible thing that happened to him in a single day, the whole thing started to seriously reek of twinkphobia! Er… that last bit was a joke. But yeah, poor guy. Anyway, Alister’s not the only one here because luckily, we also have his ex-part-time lover, Kingsley “It’s-Not-Gay-to-Top” Cole (nickname pending), to save the day! He’s another rockstar who’s probably a little too pushy to be healthy for someone like Alister, but has the whole “yearning” thing down pat, so he gets a pass. He’s also assumed straight by everyone for some reason. Which was a little odd to me, considering everyone around him knew he was messing around with Alister for years at that point.
Which actually leads me to my next point (if I even have one), in that there is an uncomfortable biphobic through line throughout the story from Alister’s end where he invalidates Kingsley’s sexuality by always distrusting his faithfulness and doesn’t believe he qualifies as queer simply because he’s only ever been with women before him. this gets brought up several times and it’s a little baffling that Alister never really gets called out for the fact that his insecurities come from a toxic place; believing that bi folk are “just pretending” and need to prove their queerness. It doesn’t help that it feels like a bit of a course-correction when Alister states that he’s actually insecure because of Kingsley’s history as a playboy and not just because of his sexuality… but nah, I’m thinking it’s just plain old biphobia. And normally this would be a couple of huge minus points towards the book, but because the whole thing was narrative driven rather than character driven, I think it works. I basically mean that if it felt like this was the message that the book itself was trying to tell, rather than simply the backward beliefs of a few of the characters, it’d be a problem. I know all too well that there’s actually a lot of people out there, like Alister, who have a similarly narrow views of bisexuality. Besides, I’m aware that a portrayal of something problematic isn’t an endorsement of said problematic thing. Alister is a flawed character, and though there isn’t a big, “I learned my lesson” moment, I don’t really think there needed to be one, as it’s a pretty realistic depiction and he sheds most of this insecurity by the end anyway. So that’s why I’m not too pressed about it, but I figured I should probably bring it up. On a more positive note, I really did enjoy this! And while I have a million ongoing “shirtless-man-on-the-cover” book series’ that I still need to get back to… when I do go back to one, I’ll probably go back to this one first.
“If I were a smarter man, I would have left him to get on with it. But I’ve never known what was good for me.”
Yup, so I just kind of found out that this is actually the third installment of an ongoing series. Oops, I'm so quirky! I wish I could say that there’s a good reason why I narrowed in on this particular one, but let’s be real… it’s the cover. It’s always the cover. What can I say? I’m not immune to the shirtless-suspenders look! Thankfully, my short-sightedness worked out for the better in the end because this was pretty good! Pretty Wreck, pretty good… is that anything? There’s something there. Umm… Normally I’m hesitant to dive right into books about in-universe famous characters (especially rockstars) because the story will often have this weirdly voyeuristic tone due the media and their fans being obsessed with the main characters, which in turn often gets in the way of any genuine show of emotion. Not to throw shade, but I thought that this was especially prevalent in books like The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass or Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick. Not a big fan, sorry. Oh, I also don’t like reading the made-up lyrics in books. I know that that’s incredibly hypocritical because I literally put song lyrics into every one of my reviews, but… I don’t know, whenever I see lyrics in a book I go into “skim-mode.” Eye’s glazed over and all that. I think it’s hard for me to read lyrics without having a tune to sing it to. Otherwise, I’m grateful that this book sidesteps most of my usual grievances with the superstar genre by making this story staunchly centered around the main couple, rather than their rocker-boy lifestyle and the intense fandom around them.
Though I definitely don’t go out of my way to do this, I think my thing has kind of unintentionally become the “guy-who-complains-about-the-love-interest,” guy. But now I think I’m going to have to attach an addendum saying, “and-also-complains-about-bad-nicknames,” because… sheesh… does this book have some bad ones! Those will be my two things, I guess. Unfortunately, the nickname thing probably wouldn’t even have been an issue if it didn’t jolt me out of the moment every time they’d come up (which was pretty often). I suppose I should probably talk about the plot though, and not the awful (awful) pet names that the characters used for each other ad nauseam. When it starts, we find Alister Fox, nicknamed “Little Bird” (barf) or “Lis” (short for “Listerine” I think) on the 23rd of loneliness as he struggles for control over his own life against an overbearing and abusive partner/manager. And I can’t lie, I normally don’t love it when it feels like an author is laying it on a little too thick, trying to get us to really feel bad for their characters, but they definitely got me this time. When it came to Alister? Yeah, I felt for him. Seriously, the guy couldn’t catch a break! After, like, the third terrible thing that happened to him in a single day, the whole thing started to seriously reek of twinkphobia! Er… that last bit was a joke. But yeah, poor guy. Anyway, Alister’s not the only one here because luckily, we also have his ex-part-time lover, Kingsley “It’s-Not-Gay-to-Top” Cole (nickname pending), to save the day! He’s another rockstar who’s probably a little too pushy to be healthy for someone like Alister, but has the whole “yearning” thing down pat, so he gets a pass. He’s also assumed straight by everyone for some reason. Which was a little odd to me, considering everyone around him knew he was messing around with Alister for years at that point.
Which actually leads me to my next point (if I even have one), in that there is an uncomfortable biphobic through line throughout the story from Alister’s end where he invalidates Kingsley’s sexuality by always distrusting his faithfulness and doesn’t believe he qualifies as queer simply because he’s only ever been with women before him. this gets brought up several times and it’s a little baffling that Alister never really gets called out for the fact that his insecurities come from a toxic place; believing that bi folk are “just pretending” and need to prove their queerness. It doesn’t help that it feels like a bit of a course-correction when Alister states that he’s actually insecure because of Kingsley’s history as a playboy and not just because of his sexuality… but nah, I’m thinking it’s just plain old biphobia. And normally this would be a couple of huge minus points towards the book, but because the whole thing was narrative driven rather than character driven, I think it works. I basically mean that if it felt like this was the message that the book itself was trying to tell, rather than simply the backward beliefs of a few of the characters, it’d be a problem. I know all too well that there’s actually a lot of people out there, like Alister, who have a similarly narrow views of bisexuality. Besides, I’m aware that a portrayal of something problematic isn’t an endorsement of said problematic thing. Alister is a flawed character, and though there isn’t a big, “I learned my lesson” moment, I don’t really think there needed to be one, as it’s a pretty realistic depiction and he sheds most of this insecurity by the end anyway. So that’s why I’m not too pressed about it, but I figured I should probably bring it up. On a more positive note, I really did enjoy this! And while I have a million ongoing “shirtless-man-on-the-cover” book series’ that I still need to get back to… when I do go back to one, I’ll probably go back to this one first.
“If I were a smarter man, I would have left him to get on with it. But I’ve never known what was good for me.”
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August 2, 2023
"Does denial have you so desperate?"
Kingsley gasped with a nod, grabbing under my jaw to tilt my head back so he could kiss me. "It was fine until you came near me."
"And what did I do?"
"Invigorated this need I have for only you. This fucking craving." Kingsley sounded like a desperate man. His words sparked life inside my soul.
these two gave me whiplash with their push and pull, but i can't deny they had me invested with their dynamic. 😩 one thing i will say is, it gets tiring real quick when but it was just something minor that bothered me. aside from that, i truly did enjoy reading about Kingsley and Alister. while book two was meh to me, i'm glad books 3-5 ended up working and that i still continued with this series, despite my initial impression. 🥹
Kingsley gasped with a nod, grabbing under my jaw to tilt my head back so he could kiss me. "It was fine until you came near me."
"And what did I do?"
"Invigorated this need I have for only you. This fucking craving." Kingsley sounded like a desperate man. His words sparked life inside my soul.
these two gave me whiplash with their push and pull, but i can't deny they had me invested with their dynamic. 😩 one thing i will say is, it gets tiring real quick when but it was just something minor that bothered me. aside from that, i truly did enjoy reading about Kingsley and Alister. while book two was meh to me, i'm glad books 3-5 ended up working and that i still continued with this series, despite my initial impression. 🥹
February 17, 2023
I was so anxious and excited for this book... This was so bad... So bad... First, we have Lis and King... OK I can get behind those nicknames... But thinks got even more cringe.
Two years ago Lis ghosted King, we have a few clues about why he took that decision but nothing really certain.
King still wants Lis and appears to be in love, and Lis still loves King but guess what? No one talks with each other in this f* book!
Then we have Alex, the manager of the band, he is the most comic villain I ever saw, I mean, he was unnecessarily evil, like Disney (I will kill your parents to have power) evil. That didn't even make sense. Yes, labels have crazy demands for bands and musicians in general, but if you don't like the manager the label got you its easy for you to switch, you are the ones making money to the label, doesn't matter that your manager is really good. If you ask your label for something so simple they will switch your management to another musician.
They didn't really talk.
Yes some conversations are cringe, some are hard to have, being vulnerable is not for everyone but when someone you love ghosts you and you have a chance to finally talk to that person are you just gonna change the subject anytime something important happens? I hate books that use "misunderstandings" as a plot. The whole book is like that.
Before reading the book:
I'm really looking forward this book, the time between the second book and this one is a lot (maybe I feel this way because I read it when the second was barely out) but it feels like forever. Hope the wait will be worth it!
Two years ago Lis ghosted King, we have a few clues about why he took that decision but nothing really certain.
King still wants Lis and appears to be in love, and Lis still loves King but guess what? No one talks with each other in this f* book!
Then we have Alex, the manager of the band, he is the most comic villain I ever saw, I mean, he was unnecessarily evil, like Disney (I will kill your parents to have power) evil. That didn't even make sense. Yes, labels have crazy demands for bands and musicians in general, but if you don't like the manager the label got you its easy for you to switch, you are the ones making money to the label, doesn't matter that your manager is really good. If you ask your label for something so simple they will switch your management to another musician.
They didn't really talk.
Yes some conversations are cringe, some are hard to have, being vulnerable is not for everyone but when someone you love ghosts you and you have a chance to finally talk to that person are you just gonna change the subject anytime something important happens? I hate books that use "misunderstandings" as a plot. The whole book is like that.
Before reading the book:
I'm really looking forward this book, the time between the second book and this one is a lot (maybe I feel this way because I read it when the second was barely out) but it feels like forever. Hope the wait will be worth it!
June 3, 2025
Alister es el miembro menos conocido de la banda, pero también es el mas solitario. Sin embargo no siempre fue así, hubo un tiempo en que tuvo un mejor amigo, Kingsley, pero lo perdió todo cuando dejo que sus sentimientos interfirieran en su amistad. Aun así, Alister no quiere estar solo, quiere poder confiar en alguien, quiere de nuevo a Kingsley, pero su corazón no podrá soportar todo de nuevo. Pero cuando se entera que van a hacer otra gira con la banda de Kingley, no sabe que hacer, no sabe que pensar. Será que puede haber una posibilidad de una relación entre ellos? Será que Kingsley lo podrá amar solo a él? Y la banda? Será que los podrán resolver sus problemas con el Manager? Podrán volver a tener su propia vida?
Este fue el libro con mas drama y mas problemas mentales que he leído hasta ahora de esta serie. Y no es por las escenas eróticas, que resultaron mucho mas hot que en los anteriores, sino por la forma como el autor manejo todos los problemas de Alister y como su manager logró aislarlos a todos, y sobre todo a él forzándolos a una "esclavitud" simulada. Quizás por eso me gusto mas este libro, porque tiene un tema mucho mas profundo que solo el romance de la pareja protagonista, sino que también habla de la "esclavitud" en el mundo de la música y como los fans y el dinero generado son los que obligan a las bandas o cantantes a llegar al límite con su cuerpo y sus mentes solo para seguir "produciendo exitos".
En fin, ahora si le agarre el gusto a la serie y quiero saber que va a pasar con la banda y sobre todo que van a hacer para deshacerse del manager y que les va a costar. Así que seguiré con la serie, esperando a los últimos dos personajes y los mas complicados hasta ahora.
Este fue el libro con mas drama y mas problemas mentales que he leído hasta ahora de esta serie. Y no es por las escenas eróticas, que resultaron mucho mas hot que en los anteriores, sino por la forma como el autor manejo todos los problemas de Alister y como su manager logró aislarlos a todos, y sobre todo a él forzándolos a una "esclavitud" simulada. Quizás por eso me gusto mas este libro, porque tiene un tema mucho mas profundo que solo el romance de la pareja protagonista, sino que también habla de la "esclavitud" en el mundo de la música y como los fans y el dinero generado son los que obligan a las bandas o cantantes a llegar al límite con su cuerpo y sus mentes solo para seguir "produciendo exitos".
En fin, ahora si le agarre el gusto a la serie y quiero saber que va a pasar con la banda y sobre todo que van a hacer para deshacerse del manager y que les va a costar. Así que seguiré con la serie, esperando a los últimos dos personajes y los mas complicados hasta ahora.
February 26, 2023
3.25/5 stars
Anything will top Pretty Obsessed, but this is not better than Pretty Toxic. Alister and Kingsley were fine. They were frustrating most of the time. I swear to god if I don’t get a Cas and Iris book, I am rioting.
Anything will top Pretty Obsessed, but this is not better than Pretty Toxic. Alister and Kingsley were fine. They were frustrating most of the time. I swear to god if I don’t get a Cas and Iris book, I am rioting.
March 9, 2023
✰ 3.5 stars ✰
"How do you fight someone you still love when they are everything you still want?"
Welcome to another edition of where I randomly decide to read the latest release from an ongoing series - of which I have no prior knowledge of - simply because the cover appealed to me. Wild, right? 😆😆 Hoping against hope that much like the pattern I've seen in series, where writers devote ample time to briefly brief us (pun intended) on the other character's histories, I am surprised and pleasantly pleased (there I go again!) that Pretty Wreck DID NOT do that! What do you know? This time around, we actually jumped right into the heart of the matter, and I don't even know that if all the past allusions to the two MC's characters was already mentioned in the previous books or not! So kudos to J.R. Gray for that...
Alister is the lead bassist of Pretty Broken one of the most famous bands in the world. Kingsley is the soulful songwriter and lead singer of Pink Hot Lips. Despite their ten year difference, they're the best of friends - drawn to each other every time their paths cross. And yet, Kingsley still doesn't want to make their relationship permanent, more meaningful - and Alister doesn't want to be just a quick fuck - his past is too traumatized, his present too toxic, that even the drugs are no longer escape. It hurts even more that Kingsley is the only one who can give him the raw affection that he craves to help him out of the mind funk that he's in. But to get Kingsley to admit that the two of them are really actually something is one hurdle he'll have to face on his own.
I have to admit - while the writing style wasn't exactly top-notch as certain parts could have benefitted from some quick editing, and some scenes and dialogue were a bit choppy, J.R Gray has created an interesting world of how the pressures of too much fame, of how toxic abusive managements can spiral mental health out of control, and the tortures of unrequited love that is then channeled into music at its very raw form. Phew! That was a long one!
And, I did feel for Alister and how hard he was trying to get out from under the thumb of his abusive controlling ex, who unfortunately was all his band's manager. I loved the platonic camaraderie he shared with the youngest member, Iris. I loved that despite how much he needed Kingsley's warped methods of affection, he still wouldn't hesitate to call him out on how he couldn't keep doing this -knowing that he's going to be in another woman's bed and still come back to him isn't what he signed up for. And I loved that Kingsley then had the stones to realize that maybe what he had been doing wasn't the right thing - that as much as the distance from his 'Little Bird hurt, it hurts even more thinking that he could not be the one to have him for keeps. And while that push and pull is what was most prevalent throughout the book, it was the eventual coming of them together as a whole, as a relationship that mattered, is what made it a worthwhile read for me. 💜💜
"When your entire life is formed in chaos, maybe mayhem feels like love and havoc like home."
Funnily enough, the sex scenes weren't very spicy for me - oh, they were there, but not enough to get my heart racing or anything with the limited details. But the yearning in their hate sex, the possessive Kingsley had to prove, to convince Alister of his feelings for him, I understood where it was coming from. a prevalent aspect of their relationship that I would like to mention was also that due to Alister's traumatic childhood of foster care, he has certain kinks that many may not be comfortable with. But, the comfort and understanding and willingness that Kingsley gives to him, without judgment or bias, was what made the two of them work so well together.
And special shout-out to all the other members of Pretty Broken. While there weren't many scenes of them actually together as a band the one moment where they banded together (oops, did it again!) against Alexander's controlling and vindictive rules was one of my absolute fav scenes - just five broken boys opening up and talking about their feelings and hugging it out and trying to find a way out of the mess that they were in - my fangirl heart was so blessed. 😊😊
There was something about the Pretty Broken boys' lives and the whirlwind of fame that they were caught up in that kept me invested in their story. I wanted to know more about the characters who've already had books dedicated to their POVs and HEAs. I am so very intrigued about Iris and Cas' volatile relationship and what's the story behind it. So, despite it's apparent flaws it wasn't a complete waste of time - rather, I had a good time with this. And I am so ready for Pretty F*cked because Iris stole the show and my heart! ✨✨
"How do you fight someone you still love when they are everything you still want?"
Welcome to another edition of where I randomly decide to read the latest release from an ongoing series - of which I have no prior knowledge of - simply because the cover appealed to me. Wild, right? 😆😆 Hoping against hope that much like the pattern I've seen in series, where writers devote ample time to briefly brief us (pun intended) on the other character's histories, I am surprised and pleasantly pleased (there I go again!) that Pretty Wreck DID NOT do that! What do you know? This time around, we actually jumped right into the heart of the matter, and I don't even know that if all the past allusions to the two MC's characters was already mentioned in the previous books or not! So kudos to J.R. Gray for that...
Alister is the lead bassist of Pretty Broken one of the most famous bands in the world. Kingsley is the soulful songwriter and lead singer of Pink Hot Lips. Despite their ten year difference, they're the best of friends - drawn to each other every time their paths cross. And yet, Kingsley still doesn't want to make their relationship permanent, more meaningful - and Alister doesn't want to be just a quick fuck - his past is too traumatized, his present too toxic, that even the drugs are no longer escape. It hurts even more that Kingsley is the only one who can give him the raw affection that he craves to help him out of the mind funk that he's in. But to get Kingsley to admit that the two of them are really actually something is one hurdle he'll have to face on his own.
I have to admit - while the writing style wasn't exactly top-notch as certain parts could have benefitted from some quick editing, and some scenes and dialogue were a bit choppy, J.R Gray has created an interesting world of how the pressures of too much fame, of how toxic abusive managements can spiral mental health out of control, and the tortures of unrequited love that is then channeled into music at its very raw form. Phew! That was a long one!
And, I did feel for Alister and how hard he was trying to get out from under the thumb of his abusive controlling ex, who unfortunately was all his band's manager. I loved the platonic camaraderie he shared with the youngest member, Iris. I loved that despite how much he needed Kingsley's warped methods of affection, he still wouldn't hesitate to call him out on how he couldn't keep doing this -knowing that he's going to be in another woman's bed and still come back to him isn't what he signed up for. And I loved that Kingsley then had the stones to realize that maybe what he had been doing wasn't the right thing - that as much as the distance from his 'Little Bird hurt, it hurts even more thinking that he could not be the one to have him for keeps. And while that push and pull is what was most prevalent throughout the book, it was the eventual coming of them together as a whole, as a relationship that mattered, is what made it a worthwhile read for me. 💜💜
"When your entire life is formed in chaos, maybe mayhem feels like love and havoc like home."
Funnily enough, the sex scenes weren't very spicy for me - oh, they were there, but not enough to get my heart racing or anything with the limited details. But the yearning in their hate sex, the possessive Kingsley had to prove, to convince Alister of his feelings for him, I understood where it was coming from. a prevalent aspect of their relationship that I would like to mention was also that due to Alister's traumatic childhood of foster care, he has certain kinks that many may not be comfortable with. But, the comfort and understanding and willingness that Kingsley gives to him, without judgment or bias, was what made the two of them work so well together.
And special shout-out to all the other members of Pretty Broken. While there weren't many scenes of them actually together as a band the one moment where they banded together (oops, did it again!) against Alexander's controlling and vindictive rules was one of my absolute fav scenes - just five broken boys opening up and talking about their feelings and hugging it out and trying to find a way out of the mess that they were in - my fangirl heart was so blessed. 😊😊
There was something about the Pretty Broken boys' lives and the whirlwind of fame that they were caught up in that kept me invested in their story. I wanted to know more about the characters who've already had books dedicated to their POVs and HEAs. I am so very intrigued about Iris and Cas' volatile relationship and what's the story behind it. So, despite it's apparent flaws it wasn't a complete waste of time - rather, I had a good time with this. And I am so ready for Pretty F*cked because Iris stole the show and my heart! ✨✨
February 17, 2023
"When you’re raised in chaos, chaos is the only thing that feels like love. But it’s not love. And no matter how many times I reminded myself I wanted real, calm love, every neuron in my brain was hard wired to crave the chaos."
Pretty Wreck is the third book in the Pretty Broken series about a band of young rock gods. The books can be read as standalones but they are part of a linked series and I would highly recommend that you read them in order, as there are so many references to the other characters in the series. This is Alister and Kingsley's story.
I have loved the series so far and absolutely loved this one too. Pretty Obsessed was my first read by J.R. Gray and I knew I'd be grabbing every book in this series thereafter.
This was such a good read and you will love it if you're into:
🌶 past lovers-to enemies(ish)-to lovers
🌶 second chances
🌶 steamy scenes 🔥🔥🔥
🌶 destructive rock god lifestyles
🌶 high angst
🌶 mm romance
🌶 hard won HEA
Definitely recommended!
Steamy and angsty 4 star read ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pretty Wreck is the third book in the Pretty Broken series about a band of young rock gods. The books can be read as standalones but they are part of a linked series and I would highly recommend that you read them in order, as there are so many references to the other characters in the series. This is Alister and Kingsley's story.
I have loved the series so far and absolutely loved this one too. Pretty Obsessed was my first read by J.R. Gray and I knew I'd be grabbing every book in this series thereafter.
This was such a good read and you will love it if you're into:
🌶 past lovers-to enemies(ish)-to lovers
🌶 second chances
🌶 steamy scenes 🔥🔥🔥
🌶 destructive rock god lifestyles
🌶 high angst
🌶 mm romance
🌶 hard won HEA
Definitely recommended!
Steamy and angsty 4 star read ⭐⭐⭐⭐
April 11, 2025
MMC - Alister: 4 🌟
MMC - Kingsley: 4 🌟
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
Likes: I love the raw emotion both Alister and Kingsley feel for one another. This was a breath of fresh air in a way, compared to other romance books, because it wasn't all just giggles and sweet moments and a fairytale HEA. These characters fight and deal with emotional trauma in a way that feels so realistic, and they find their happy ending together through all of it 💕
Dislikes: I would've liked to see what happens with the band's manager in the end. That was a big source of conflict throughout the story, and it felt like the band was getting somewhere, and then the book ended :p
Outside of the plot and characters, there were a handful of technical errors, where the book could've been edited better. But I'm an editor, so that's just me being a little picky lol. Overall, I very much enjoyed the book, though!
Favorite moment: Alister and Kingsley's first "I love you" to each other
MMC - Kingsley: 4 🌟
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
Likes: I love the raw emotion both Alister and Kingsley feel for one another. This was a breath of fresh air in a way, compared to other romance books, because it wasn't all just giggles and sweet moments and a fairytale HEA. These characters fight and deal with emotional trauma in a way that feels so realistic, and they find their happy ending together through all of it 💕
Dislikes: I would've liked to see what happens with the band's manager in the end. That was a big source of conflict throughout the story, and it felt like the band was getting somewhere, and then the book ended :p
Outside of the plot and characters, there were a handful of technical errors, where the book could've been edited better. But I'm an editor, so that's just me being a little picky lol. Overall, I very much enjoyed the book, though!
Favorite moment: Alister and Kingsley's first "I love you" to each other
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2024
⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶/5
TW - depression (discussed), excessive drug use (weed, 2C-B, pills, cocaine), excessive alcohol consumption, parental death (mentioned), family members with addictions, robbery, gun violence, gaslighting & cheating (sc on the MMC), poverty (past, mentioned), manipulative & abusive power dynamic (manage x client) incl grooming (past, mentioned, before manager title), concussion memory loss / post concussion syndrome, parental abandonment / neglect (past, implied), difficulty eating (sc, mentioned briefly), abuse (alluded to, past), foster system (past, mentioned), rehab (sc, mentioned), homophobia, physical violence and threat of murder (past, recounted), nightmares (mentioned), panic attack (on page), suicide ideation (song lyrics and sc)
CW - public play, kink shaming (sc to MMC, past), somnophilia / sleeping beauty syndrome
Tropes - celebrities, rock stars, 10yr age gap, love triangle-esque, obsessed, possessive, jealousy, forced proximity, hurt x comfort, one bed, miscommunication
Representation - MM, bi for you, mental health rep
Initially, I thought this was going to be a tortured rock star unrequited love story but, the MCs are so clearly, desperately in love with each other but they, for some reason, can't see that. In the beginning, my heart broke for Alister (MMC); he needed a safe place to land, was tired of Kingston's (MMC) games and could no longer trust his manager, Alex.
These feelings towards Alister slowly faded when you realise just how bad at communicating these MCs are. This story is essentially based on miscommunication and misunderstandings and, honestly, it got annoying very fucking quickly. This book started to feel very discombobulating, for lack of a better word. The sequencing of the story felt off, the MCs seemed reluctant to actually communicate with each other and they end up having the same back and forth for more than 50% of the book.
One of the main things I struggled with in this book is that their history is off page and isn't disclosed to the reader until after the 80% mark. They've known each other for years, have been together previously and have been driven apart and none of it is explained to the reader so while there seems to be all of this angst, it seemed pointless because, in the present, they seem so close to having *something* but someone will push away or not communicate properly and we're back to square one with no explanation of why. It felt like I was missing a lot of context throughout the majority of the book. The lack of knowledge about their history through the majority of the book made it feel like the characters were being unreasonable and their behaviour became increasingly frustrating to read.
Circling back to Alex - he's Alister's and his band's manager and is what is creating to love triangle (ish). Alex is manipulative and abusive (not physically) and creates A LOT of problems in this book i.e., he is the main evil being fought by the characters. We don't get a resolution of how they deal with it in the end and that felt like the last nail in the coffin of how I felt about this book because, if you're not going to tell us how this situation (which made up a lot of the plot) was resolved, what. was. the. point?
Scale:
⭐️ - would've DNF'ed / continued out of spite
⭐️⭐️ - shit, but whatever
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - meh, could've been better
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - lit 👅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved it, inject this shit into my veins 🤪
🫑 - no smut
🌶 - no point
🌶🌶 - mediocre at best
🌶🌶🌶 - standard smut, hot
🌶🌶🌶🌶 - 🥵 okay, some CW
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 - fuck me 🥵🥵 CWs / filthy with a side of filth - see Poison / Room Twenty-Two: Hide and Seek/ The Naughty List
TW - depression (discussed), excessive drug use (weed, 2C-B, pills, cocaine), excessive alcohol consumption, parental death (mentioned), family members with addictions, robbery, gun violence, gaslighting & cheating (sc on the MMC), poverty (past, mentioned), manipulative & abusive power dynamic (manage x client) incl grooming (past, mentioned, before manager title), concussion memory loss / post concussion syndrome, parental abandonment / neglect (past, implied), difficulty eating (sc, mentioned briefly), abuse (alluded to, past), foster system (past, mentioned), rehab (sc, mentioned), homophobia, physical violence and threat of murder (past, recounted), nightmares (mentioned), panic attack (on page), suicide ideation (song lyrics and sc)
CW - public play, kink shaming (sc to MMC, past), somnophilia / sleeping beauty syndrome
Tropes - celebrities, rock stars, 10yr age gap, love triangle-esque, obsessed, possessive, jealousy, forced proximity, hurt x comfort, one bed, miscommunication
Representation - MM, bi for you, mental health rep
Initially, I thought this was going to be a tortured rock star unrequited love story but, the MCs are so clearly, desperately in love with each other but they, for some reason, can't see that. In the beginning, my heart broke for Alister (MMC); he needed a safe place to land, was tired of Kingston's (MMC) games and could no longer trust his manager, Alex.
These feelings towards Alister slowly faded when you realise just how bad at communicating these MCs are. This story is essentially based on miscommunication and misunderstandings and, honestly, it got annoying very fucking quickly. This book started to feel very discombobulating, for lack of a better word. The sequencing of the story felt off, the MCs seemed reluctant to actually communicate with each other and they end up having the same back and forth for more than 50% of the book.
One of the main things I struggled with in this book is that their history is off page and isn't disclosed to the reader until after the 80% mark. They've known each other for years, have been together previously and have been driven apart and none of it is explained to the reader so while there seems to be all of this angst, it seemed pointless because, in the present, they seem so close to having *something* but someone will push away or not communicate properly and we're back to square one with no explanation of why. It felt like I was missing a lot of context throughout the majority of the book. The lack of knowledge about their history through the majority of the book made it feel like the characters were being unreasonable and their behaviour became increasingly frustrating to read.
Circling back to Alex - he's Alister's and his band's manager and is what is creating to love triangle (ish). Alex is manipulative and abusive (not physically) and creates A LOT of problems in this book i.e., he is the main evil being fought by the characters. We don't get a resolution of how they deal with it in the end and that felt like the last nail in the coffin of how I felt about this book because, if you're not going to tell us how this situation (which made up a lot of the plot) was resolved, what. was. the. point?
Scale:
⭐️ - would've DNF'ed / continued out of spite
⭐️⭐️ - shit, but whatever
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - meh, could've been better
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - lit 👅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved it, inject this shit into my veins 🤪
🫑 - no smut
🌶 - no point
🌶🌶 - mediocre at best
🌶🌶🌶 - standard smut, hot
🌶🌶🌶🌶 - 🥵 okay, some CW
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 - fuck me 🥵🥵 CWs / filthy with a side of filth - see Poison / Room Twenty-Two: Hide and Seek/ The Naughty List
November 3, 2023
3.5 philosophical somnophilia exploration stars.
Picked this up specifically just for the somnophilia kink. It's not a book I would probably pick up otherwise, but I did enjoy it.
Jaded and worn out rock stars, all mixed with drugs and alcohol and manager drama. I think this is the first time I've said this, but there was so much showing so we didn't need all that telling too!
Dual POV and both MCs had their own inner demons and regrets, heartache and struggles. Gaslighting abusive ex manipulating everyone (the band manager) and a gruelling tour schedule. But these two guys found time to sneak around, try to move past old hurts and fix their communication issues.
Surprising in-depth conversations about somnophilia! It delivered on that kink. Happy I read it!
Picked this up specifically just for the somnophilia kink. It's not a book I would probably pick up otherwise, but I did enjoy it.
Jaded and worn out rock stars, all mixed with drugs and alcohol and manager drama. I think this is the first time I've said this, but there was so much showing so we didn't need all that telling too!
Dual POV and both MCs had their own inner demons and regrets, heartache and struggles. Gaslighting abusive ex manipulating everyone (the band manager) and a gruelling tour schedule. But these two guys found time to sneak around, try to move past old hurts and fix their communication issues.
Surprising in-depth conversations about somnophilia! It delivered on that kink. Happy I read it!
February 24, 2023
I'll always miss the way you made me believe you loved me."
"That wasn't a lie."
"All of it was."
These two absolutely killed my heart. Alister and Kingsley just could not get out of their own way. Both of them just can't stop hurting each other. Every time they get together it's pain. The worst part is that they are both feeling pain over the same thing, the loss of the other. Now you have to remember these men are both rock stars. They live life hard and they come from nothing. The guys in the bands are not the picture of mental health. Their coping mechanisms range from drugs to sex to running away from it all. Trust is far from easy to give, so even when it's staring them in the face that they both want the same thing, they're blind to it. How do people who've never known real love recognize it when they finally have it?
"I couldn't keep meaning nothing to the person who meant everything to me."
There were numerous times I wanted to smack the MCs on the head, but I knew they had to figure things out in their own time. And while they did their soul searching they also engaged in an enormous amount of filthy, dirty sex. It was fabulous. I love a good ol' fashioned possessive and passion fueled romp in the hay. And we get several.
"Leave marks on me."
"Before you go on stage?"
"Yes, I need them. I told you I hated when they fade."
I mean seriously. 🔥🔥 Also I knew that fuck Alexander was no good. Though I didn't know just how much of a predator he'd turn out to be. He was always awful when it came to Iris. Speaking of Iris, that man is the glue that holds that band together. His life is spiraling, yet he never fails to be there for his friends. I hate that he thinks so little of himself. It did make me happy that the band seems to be getting back to the friendship they had when they started. We have 2 books left and the next one stars Cas. I'm guessing, well hoping, that's because its going to take 2 full books to fix what's broken with Cas and Iris. There's a truckload of baggage there and it's definitely gunna take some time to wade through.
"That wasn't a lie."
"All of it was."
These two absolutely killed my heart. Alister and Kingsley just could not get out of their own way. Both of them just can't stop hurting each other. Every time they get together it's pain. The worst part is that they are both feeling pain over the same thing, the loss of the other. Now you have to remember these men are both rock stars. They live life hard and they come from nothing. The guys in the bands are not the picture of mental health. Their coping mechanisms range from drugs to sex to running away from it all. Trust is far from easy to give, so even when it's staring them in the face that they both want the same thing, they're blind to it. How do people who've never known real love recognize it when they finally have it?
"I couldn't keep meaning nothing to the person who meant everything to me."
There were numerous times I wanted to smack the MCs on the head, but I knew they had to figure things out in their own time. And while they did their soul searching they also engaged in an enormous amount of filthy, dirty sex. It was fabulous. I love a good ol' fashioned possessive and passion fueled romp in the hay. And we get several.
"Leave marks on me."
"Before you go on stage?"
"Yes, I need them. I told you I hated when they fade."
I mean seriously. 🔥🔥 Also I knew that fuck Alexander was no good. Though I didn't know just how much of a predator he'd turn out to be. He was always awful when it came to Iris. Speaking of Iris, that man is the glue that holds that band together. His life is spiraling, yet he never fails to be there for his friends. I hate that he thinks so little of himself. It did make me happy that the band seems to be getting back to the friendship they had when they started. We have 2 books left and the next one stars Cas. I'm guessing, well hoping, that's because its going to take 2 full books to fix what's broken with Cas and Iris. There's a truckload of baggage there and it's definitely gunna take some time to wade through.
March 16, 2023
* 3.5 stars *
Pretty Wreck is a second chance story between two former best friends and lovers, Alister and Kingsley. There's also an evil ex/manager that is the main force driving the plot and a lot of secondary characters.
I liked Kingsley's nickname for Alister and the connection between them. There was so much history and pain there, but there was also love, support, respect, and understanding. Together, they could be either perfect or a wreck, depending on their willingness to communicate with each other.
It's told in first person dual POV, but the characters' voices were so similar that I often had trouble remembering who was narrating, and the fact that the name of the other MC was mostly replaced by an antonym didn't help matters. I often had to go back several pages to figure out whose chapter it was.
Some of the situations they found themselves in with their manager seemed a bit stretched, and the back and forth between the MCs became repetitive after a while, but I still wanted to see them making it together, so I kept reading.
Even though each book features a different main couple, there's an overall arc spanning the series and, as this isn't the final book, it's not resolved yet. There's absolutely no cliffhanger at the end of the book, though.
I haven't read either of the first two books in the series, but maybe I should have. I think this is best read as part of the series instead of as a standalone. There are a lot of characters present—though they're not getting too much page time—and I'm still unclear about the members of each band. I won't even try to guess their positions in each band or their backgrounds. I think that there were details that were left out as already known because they were mentioned in one of the first two books, so I felt a little lost at times.
It's always the same with this author for me: I like the blurb and the general arc, but I don't gel well enough with the writing style. That's a 'me' problem, though. I still insist on reading his books because I like his plot ideas, and at the end of the day, I still end up liking them despite the bumps along the way.
If you like second chance stories and troubled characters, this could be a good fit for you, but maybe it'll be best to start with the first book of the series.
~ Copy provided by Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn't a requirement. ~
Pretty Wreck is a second chance story between two former best friends and lovers, Alister and Kingsley. There's also an evil ex/manager that is the main force driving the plot and a lot of secondary characters.
I liked Kingsley's nickname for Alister and the connection between them. There was so much history and pain there, but there was also love, support, respect, and understanding. Together, they could be either perfect or a wreck, depending on their willingness to communicate with each other.
It's told in first person dual POV, but the characters' voices were so similar that I often had trouble remembering who was narrating, and the fact that the name of the other MC was mostly replaced by an antonym didn't help matters. I often had to go back several pages to figure out whose chapter it was.
Some of the situations they found themselves in with their manager seemed a bit stretched, and the back and forth between the MCs became repetitive after a while, but I still wanted to see them making it together, so I kept reading.
Even though each book features a different main couple, there's an overall arc spanning the series and, as this isn't the final book, it's not resolved yet. There's absolutely no cliffhanger at the end of the book, though.
I haven't read either of the first two books in the series, but maybe I should have. I think this is best read as part of the series instead of as a standalone. There are a lot of characters present—though they're not getting too much page time—and I'm still unclear about the members of each band. I won't even try to guess their positions in each band or their backgrounds. I think that there were details that were left out as already known because they were mentioned in one of the first two books, so I felt a little lost at times.
It's always the same with this author for me: I like the blurb and the general arc, but I don't gel well enough with the writing style. That's a 'me' problem, though. I still insist on reading his books because I like his plot ideas, and at the end of the day, I still end up liking them despite the bumps along the way.
If you like second chance stories and troubled characters, this could be a good fit for you, but maybe it'll be best to start with the first book of the series.
~ Copy provided by Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn't a requirement. ~
February 21, 2023
Things are so fucked up between Alister and Kingsley. I wanted to slap them and shake them to wake them up and face what was in front of them.
It’s a heart-wrenching story, raw, emotional, and toxic.
We travel with Alister and his band through the daily business of the music industry and even more important, their noxious manager Alexander. Alister has huge trouble staying out of this man's claws.
Kingsley is hurt, Alister left him two years ago and ghosted him. He tried to contact him but there was no response.
Alister tries to get out of the claws of their toxic manager.
Touring around with also Kingsley is almost unbearable for Alister, Kingsley was everything he wanted, but Alister felt like he was never enough.
You can understand reconnecting is one big struggle, push, pull, love, and fight. For Kingsley, the opportunity finally to show him how he feels... if Alister let him.
The sexual tension is huge and dripping off the pages, gawd the intensity was scorching.
Pining, yearning, it was torture. Superb done!
Overall a read with a lot of raw feelings, drama, lust, hot encounters, and love.
The songs… made me cry.
It’s a heart-wrenching story, raw, emotional, and toxic.
We travel with Alister and his band through the daily business of the music industry and even more important, their noxious manager Alexander. Alister has huge trouble staying out of this man's claws.
Kingsley is hurt, Alister left him two years ago and ghosted him. He tried to contact him but there was no response.
Alister tries to get out of the claws of their toxic manager.
Touring around with also Kingsley is almost unbearable for Alister, Kingsley was everything he wanted, but Alister felt like he was never enough.
You can understand reconnecting is one big struggle, push, pull, love, and fight. For Kingsley, the opportunity finally to show him how he feels... if Alister let him.
The sexual tension is huge and dripping off the pages, gawd the intensity was scorching.
Pining, yearning, it was torture. Superb done!
Overall a read with a lot of raw feelings, drama, lust, hot encounters, and love.
The songs… made me cry.
February 2, 2024
"I love you unreasonable when it comes to me."
What a beautiful concept. Vaguely problematic depending on context but isn't this so romantic??? 😩😩😩
That aside, I think I'd have loved this more if 80% of the romance drama wasn't based on miscommunication.
Y'all were head over heels for each other and this somehow went unsaid for two years? Howwwww? Honestly the first few chapters had me hating Kingsley because I thought he was a dick.
Then it turned out it was miscommunication x Lis being an insecure martyr. Oh well.
Also, I find the diminutive Lis for Alisdair. It seemed so intimate idc idc🥰. Wasn't helped by the fact that it was always said in Tor Thom's rich, deep voice.
Also, I've finally made it to Cas and Iris' story!!!!
Will be taking a break for a few palette cleansers so that fatigue from this universe doesn't detract from my enjoyment of their romance. But then I'll be all over their story like white on rice.
What a beautiful concept. Vaguely problematic depending on context but isn't this so romantic??? 😩😩😩
That aside, I think I'd have loved this more if 80% of the romance drama wasn't based on miscommunication.
Y'all were head over heels for each other and this somehow went unsaid for two years? Howwwww? Honestly the first few chapters had me hating Kingsley because I thought he was a dick.
Then it turned out it was miscommunication x Lis being an insecure martyr. Oh well.
Also, I find the diminutive Lis for Alisdair. It seemed so intimate idc idc🥰. Wasn't helped by the fact that it was always said in Tor Thom's rich, deep voice.
Also, I've finally made it to Cas and Iris' story!!!!
Will be taking a break for a few palette cleansers so that fatigue from this universe doesn't detract from my enjoyment of their romance. But then I'll be all over their story like white on rice.
February 17, 2023
Alister... Alister.. so much trauma in your past and so many bad decisions... was Kingsley one of them? Let's read and see... As the third book in the Pretty Broken series, this one deals with themes of past abuse, horrible families, drugs, manipulation and that's just the first few chapters...
This book was angsty, steamy, sweet and an excellent read. You'll be lost if you try to jump into the series now, since a lot of the storyline with Alexander creeps in from the first two books, but if you really need to read it as standalone, you'll still enjoy the interactions between Alister and Kingsley, but you'll miss the bigger picture and want to go back and read the first two books!
This book was angsty, steamy, sweet and an excellent read. You'll be lost if you try to jump into the series now, since a lot of the storyline with Alexander creeps in from the first two books, but if you really need to read it as standalone, you'll still enjoy the interactions between Alister and Kingsley, but you'll miss the bigger picture and want to go back and read the first two books!
May 23, 2024
What to say, what to say. This one frustrated the living fire out of me. I hate the miscommunication trope. HATE IT! And this one was 85% that. God, Alister was clueless. I could pick up that Kingsley wanted him and he just couldn't pull his head out of his ass long enough to see it.
Not to mention, if someone ghosts me once, yeah, you're gone. Alister does it over and over and over again and Kingsley still takes him back. But Alister thinks he doesn't want him, lol.
It ruined the story for me. His insecurities sucked the life out of this one. Had it stopped earlier in the book, maybe it could've been saved, but no, this lasted almost the entire book. Not sure if I want to read Cas's or not now after this train wreck.
Not to mention, if someone ghosts me once, yeah, you're gone. Alister does it over and over and over again and Kingsley still takes him back. But Alister thinks he doesn't want him, lol.
It ruined the story for me. His insecurities sucked the life out of this one. Had it stopped earlier in the book, maybe it could've been saved, but no, this lasted almost the entire book. Not sure if I want to read Cas's or not now after this train wreck.
February 15, 2023
Pretty Wreck is the third book in the series, Alister and Kingsley story is very intense, so many past hurts, misunderstandings and lack of communication between them is the cause of these two fall apart, these two have very emotional and complicated relationship, Alister is in love with King and even if they share intimacy in the past he is straight and Alister knows ta he would never loves him like he wants so he just left, Alexander is definitely part of the problem between them he is so possessive of Alister and I hate how he treats him and the group, he is awful! There is a lot of unfinished things between Alistar and King, they need to sort through their feelings and that to get back what they have, many insecurities make Alistar no to trust King, I like that King was really committed to Alistar and wants to make things work, they time together was so explosive these two have a great chemistry!!! The little moments of intimate between them was everything, I love how these to can’t resist each other and they were so adorable. The band is ready to reveal again Alexander and I totally support it..lol… i can’t wait for the next book! This was si good.
February 11, 2023
I was completely hooked from page one. This one is emotional. Lis and King have this intense passion but they both don't know how to voice it properly to each other. I wanted to grab them and shake them. I wanted to scream out "you guys are so in love, what are you doing?" and that made me love this story even more. I was captured by these two. Their hurt, their fears, their love, it grabs you and sinks in. JR did a fantastic job with pulling the reader into their lives. These two are simply amazing.
The drama that started to unfold in this one-oh man. This is going to be big and I can't wait to see how it plays out and for a certain someone to be handled. Oh he was making me so upset.
I cannot wait for the next book. I know it's going to be gut wrenching and obliterate me.
The drama that started to unfold in this one-oh man. This is going to be big and I can't wait to see how it plays out and for a certain someone to be handled. Oh he was making me so upset.
I cannot wait for the next book. I know it's going to be gut wrenching and obliterate me.
February 23, 2023
Why do I keep reading this weirdo series??! The writing is horrible. Everything was so abrupt. And the sex scenes... Oh goodness! The lack of prep was sending me. Also, the overuse of the word 'fluid' had me dying. ITS LUBE! 🤣 This book had potential. There were some really sweet scenes. But the miscommunication was annoying. Come on, Alister! Ya'll are together the whole time, how in the world are you still confused. I just wished we would have at least been told how they got together. Even Iris wanted to know. Anyway I'm sure I will continue reading this series. Although my feelings are hurt that Cas and Iris won't be a couple. The author teased them since book one, so I was pretty freaking confused.
June 2, 2023
5 stars
I literally didn’t care at all about Alister before this book. I was SHOCKED at what was really going on with him behind the scenes. Probably my favorite in the series so far. Loved trying to figure out who is really the bad guy. Loved Kingsley. Wishing I could read more of Royal and Aspen.
I literally didn’t care at all about Alister before this book. I was SHOCKED at what was really going on with him behind the scenes. Probably my favorite in the series so far. Loved trying to figure out who is really the bad guy. Loved Kingsley. Wishing I could read more of Royal and Aspen.
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February 27, 2023
Alister and Kingsley are second chance at it’s best. This book had super high angst from a source that was both expected and unexpected…hard to explain until you actually read through their turmoil and heart break. However it wasn’t until they were able to open up and be honest with one another that they could heal but omg we still got all the smexy times in between and I loved every minute.
February 12, 2023
This is book 3 in the series and the storylines keep getting darker. This is a complex story because there is so much emotion laid bare and a lot of hurt from the past. It's not an easy book to read; the storyline with Alexander is disturbing and definitely gave me shivers. Because there is a lot for both MC's to sort through it takes time for the intimacy to get going, but they are hot when they start. You are rooting for them throughout because together they are a beautiful thing. The song lyrics are amazing and help to explain Kingsley's deep feelings. I loved the intimate moments when Alister would lay in Kingsley's lap allowing him to draw on him, these tender moments spoke volumes of how they felt about each other. It was good to catch up with the other band members and there are possible hints to who may have a story with Cas in his upcoming story; Pretty F* cked. This is proving to be a great series, dark, deep emotion and real intimacy. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 23, 2023
This was not my favorite of the series so far. I appreciated their journey and where they ended up, but man, their communication issues were not fun to read.
dnfs
March 7, 2023DNF @ 50%.
February 10, 2023
Alister and Kingsley’s story is quite intense and heavy going in parts.
Alister..being in his mind was exhausting, it was so well written to be able to feel that exhaustion and depression and loneliness. I got whiplash from his thoughts, especially when it came to Kingsley.
Kingsley had me all over the place, I liked him then I didn’t, but ultimately the poor guy is navigating rocky ground. But you can really feel his love for Lis.
This is a well earned HEA, so much drama around all the guys in this story, but it highlights that emotional strength in the characters to push through the bad and live their lives. Nothing is sugar coated and I really appreciate that.
Alister..being in his mind was exhausting, it was so well written to be able to feel that exhaustion and depression and loneliness. I got whiplash from his thoughts, especially when it came to Kingsley.
Kingsley had me all over the place, I liked him then I didn’t, but ultimately the poor guy is navigating rocky ground. But you can really feel his love for Lis.
This is a well earned HEA, so much drama around all the guys in this story, but it highlights that emotional strength in the characters to push through the bad and live their lives. Nothing is sugar coated and I really appreciate that.
February 28, 2023
2.5 stars rounded down
I quite like JR Gray as an author, but this book had me seriously questioning things. I’m invested in this series overall (the mess of the band mates is very compelling), but this was a real low point, despite improvements in the Iris area.
So you know the phrase “this meeting could have been an email”? This book could have been a conversation.
Alister is the “least famous member of the most famous band” (but I thought that was Lowe, from the previous book?) and Kingsley is his ex-situationship best friend who is in a famous punk band.
It’s been two years since the pair have seen each other, because Alister ghosted Kingsley at the height of their friends-with-benefits arrangement. In that time, Alister has started back up with his band’s abusive, controlling manager. But their back in each other’s lives because they’re going to be touring together once again.
They are both equally heartbroken over how their “relationship” ended … BUT it was the most frustrating reading experience I’ve had in a while because these two just … wouldn’t talk things all the way through? I took forever for them to even begin to address the issues that made them “break up” last time and when they did finally start, it was so annoying. One would say something really important or honest and the other would comment on some other part of what they said, not the important thing? This was like miscommunication on steroids because their communication was just so bad.
Also, JR Gray really tried to make it seem like they were both equally culpable in the demise of their initial relationship, when that just isn’t true? Alister fell in love with Kingsley, and it hurt him that Kingsley just kept sleeping with women. Kingsley said “it was fun, I thought you were on the same page.” Like, obviously not??? And then Kingsley is insisting he’s “not into men” in one chapter out loud to his brother as a reason why he’s not been with Alister formally and then when Alister expresses concerns over that, Kingsley has the gall to say “I’m into you, isn’t that enough?” Like, yes, it is, but you were just insisting you were straight and that absolves you from your crap treatment of your best friend.
Kingsley is also super angry at Alister for ghosting him for two years, even AFTER they find out Alister’s shitty manager/partner had blocked Kingsley’s number on Alister’s phone with out his knowledge, prevented him from seeing any social media DMs AND stole all the letters Kingsley sent him? Yes, Alister wanted to get away from him and likely would have not responded, but it really felt like Kingsley’s feelings about that didn’t change when it was apparent Alister had been purposing isolated so his manager could assert more control over his life.
It is not a bad or mean thing to cut someone out of your life who is continually hurting you. Alister did what he did to protect his already fragile mental state, and for some reason, no one seems to get that? And they blame him for hurting Kingsley and sending him on a bender? How about Kingsley take some personal fucking responsibility for his callous (even if unintentional) behavior? It doesn’t have to be on purpose for someone’s actions to hurt.
And if they had just sat down and got this all out in the first third of the book, it would have been over. And it was so frustrating for the story to continue in this asinine way because these two kept on … halting conversations at their most critical points.
That all being said, this book really improved how Iris was there. In the previous two books, his part was actually really distracting from the main plot. This time, he feels more like a supporting character that interacts with the main plot in a way that makes sense. He’s a friend to Alister and taking a bit more agency in his life, even though he his still seriously messed up and has a long road ahead of him.
At one point, the plot with the shitty manager controlling the band’s every movement was the most compelling thing in the book because the Alister/Kingsley thing was just so annoying and not moving forward at all. I don’t get why the band was stuck the way they were — OK, so the manager got them security that wouldn’t let them go anywhere, including not allowing Lowe to see his HUSBAND? Getting out of the contract is hard and a nightmare, but they could have destroyed this man’s reputation. At one point, we learn that the manager was in a relationship with Alister when he had been 17. They drop this as an avenue because it wasn’t illegal (the age of consent in Illinois being 17), but ummmmmm, it doesn’t make it morally right? They could have released that information and exposed him for the groomer creep he is? I didn’t get it.
Anyway, I finished it and will read the next book because I am invested in the universe, but woooh boy was this a rough one.
| I received an ARC, and this is my honest, freely given review. |
I quite like JR Gray as an author, but this book had me seriously questioning things. I’m invested in this series overall (the mess of the band mates is very compelling), but this was a real low point, despite improvements in the Iris area.
So you know the phrase “this meeting could have been an email”? This book could have been a conversation.
Alister is the “least famous member of the most famous band” (but I thought that was Lowe, from the previous book?) and Kingsley is his ex-situationship best friend who is in a famous punk band.
It’s been two years since the pair have seen each other, because Alister ghosted Kingsley at the height of their friends-with-benefits arrangement. In that time, Alister has started back up with his band’s abusive, controlling manager. But their back in each other’s lives because they’re going to be touring together once again.
They are both equally heartbroken over how their “relationship” ended … BUT it was the most frustrating reading experience I’ve had in a while because these two just … wouldn’t talk things all the way through? I took forever for them to even begin to address the issues that made them “break up” last time and when they did finally start, it was so annoying. One would say something really important or honest and the other would comment on some other part of what they said, not the important thing? This was like miscommunication on steroids because their communication was just so bad.
Also, JR Gray really tried to make it seem like they were both equally culpable in the demise of their initial relationship, when that just isn’t true? Alister fell in love with Kingsley, and it hurt him that Kingsley just kept sleeping with women. Kingsley said “it was fun, I thought you were on the same page.” Like, obviously not??? And then Kingsley is insisting he’s “not into men” in one chapter out loud to his brother as a reason why he’s not been with Alister formally and then when Alister expresses concerns over that, Kingsley has the gall to say “I’m into you, isn’t that enough?” Like, yes, it is, but you were just insisting you were straight and that absolves you from your crap treatment of your best friend.
Kingsley is also super angry at Alister for ghosting him for two years, even AFTER they find out Alister’s shitty manager/partner had blocked Kingsley’s number on Alister’s phone with out his knowledge, prevented him from seeing any social media DMs AND stole all the letters Kingsley sent him? Yes, Alister wanted to get away from him and likely would have not responded, but it really felt like Kingsley’s feelings about that didn’t change when it was apparent Alister had been purposing isolated so his manager could assert more control over his life.
It is not a bad or mean thing to cut someone out of your life who is continually hurting you. Alister did what he did to protect his already fragile mental state, and for some reason, no one seems to get that? And they blame him for hurting Kingsley and sending him on a bender? How about Kingsley take some personal fucking responsibility for his callous (even if unintentional) behavior? It doesn’t have to be on purpose for someone’s actions to hurt.
And if they had just sat down and got this all out in the first third of the book, it would have been over. And it was so frustrating for the story to continue in this asinine way because these two kept on … halting conversations at their most critical points.
That all being said, this book really improved how Iris was there. In the previous two books, his part was actually really distracting from the main plot. This time, he feels more like a supporting character that interacts with the main plot in a way that makes sense. He’s a friend to Alister and taking a bit more agency in his life, even though he his still seriously messed up and has a long road ahead of him.
At one point, the plot with the shitty manager controlling the band’s every movement was the most compelling thing in the book because the Alister/Kingsley thing was just so annoying and not moving forward at all. I don’t get why the band was stuck the way they were — OK, so the manager got them security that wouldn’t let them go anywhere, including not allowing Lowe to see his HUSBAND? Getting out of the contract is hard and a nightmare, but they could have destroyed this man’s reputation. At one point, we learn that the manager was in a relationship with Alister when he had been 17. They drop this as an avenue because it wasn’t illegal (the age of consent in Illinois being 17), but ummmmmm, it doesn’t make it morally right? They could have released that information and exposed him for the groomer creep he is? I didn’t get it.
Anyway, I finished it and will read the next book because I am invested in the universe, but woooh boy was this a rough one.
| I received an ARC, and this is my honest, freely given review. |
June 8, 2024
old post reposted
Yet another accidentally-stumbled-upon book/series. At least this one is by the same author as the last? This is J.R. Gray's Pretty Broken series. The third book is titled "Pretty Wreck."
["Alister Fox
The pretty boy. The loner. Old Hollywood.
I had all kinds of names as the least known member of the most famous band in the world.
Behind all the hype and masks, I'm just a Pretty Wreck.
No one knows the disaster I am, my secrets hidden behind style and a smile.
I've been running for as long as I can remember, but I can't get away from the gilded cage of fame.
I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it together.
I'm forced to go back on tour to play the summer concert circuit, and so is the guy I've avoided for two years.
Ten years older than me, he's the bassist for the hottest punk band.
He beds a different girl every night, but while the rest of the world slept, he'd crawl into my bed.
He's the only person who has ever felt safe, but he's straight, so I ran from him, too.
Now I have to face him and it's all unraveling.
I'm afraid I'll be the first to break, bringing our fame crashing down.
Kingsley Cole
My words have gotten me in trouble for as long as I can remember.
They got me suspended from eighth grade and banned from online forums, but they also made us famous beyond our wildest dreams.
Poetry and scorn.
My deepest thoughts, raw and exposed for the fans to consume.
They spawned rumors and ruin, and they’re about to do worse.
He hasn’t spoken to me in years.
But our secret keeps bleeding into my songs.
My next album is a ticking time bomb and when it hits, it will be the end of us.
What will be left but a pretty wreck?"]
Okay, in the last book, we say fuck to Dave. I'd like a loooooooong list of fucks and fuck off and fuck yous to Alexander. Honestly. I thought I hated him in the first book, or at least didn't understand him/his motives. No. Fuck that, fuck him. And, as I'm writing this, I'm only 20% into the book, so it better not get any worse (...*sigh* I know it will).
...it did. It got worse. A few more fucks to Alexander, please. Like, 99.9999% of the Trigger Warnings below are about/because of him.
I just…the opening scenes made me dislike Kingsley before we got to know him and his relationship with Lis, and part of me hates that it was there and included, because it spoiled his first impressions. His own POV very shortly after quickly changed my opinion, but it was a little jarring.
These two…they’re a lot. They’re a little toxic to each other, pushing away only to be upset when they’re alone. Though, love and heartache and childhood trauma will do that to you. Likely, without the help of fucking Alexander (fuck. him), they found their way to a happily ever after (well for now, the band is well and truly in some shit—because of fucking Alexander—and we won’t have final HEAs until the series ends (I just hope Alexander gets a big karma punch in the face).
Also, I need an angst break. My head and my heart hurt..And my anxiety.
Trigger Warnings: major descriptions of depression, drug use, talk of suicide, assault, domestic abuse, domestic abuse isn't always physical, blackmail, lying, gaslighting, manipulation, and more
#prettyobsessed #prettytoxic #prettywreck #prettyfucked #prettyblack #prettybroken #prettybrokenseries #jrgray #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks
Yet another accidentally-stumbled-upon book/series. At least this one is by the same author as the last? This is J.R. Gray's Pretty Broken series. The third book is titled "Pretty Wreck."
["Alister Fox
The pretty boy. The loner. Old Hollywood.
I had all kinds of names as the least known member of the most famous band in the world.
Behind all the hype and masks, I'm just a Pretty Wreck.
No one knows the disaster I am, my secrets hidden behind style and a smile.
I've been running for as long as I can remember, but I can't get away from the gilded cage of fame.
I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep it together.
I'm forced to go back on tour to play the summer concert circuit, and so is the guy I've avoided for two years.
Ten years older than me, he's the bassist for the hottest punk band.
He beds a different girl every night, but while the rest of the world slept, he'd crawl into my bed.
He's the only person who has ever felt safe, but he's straight, so I ran from him, too.
Now I have to face him and it's all unraveling.
I'm afraid I'll be the first to break, bringing our fame crashing down.
Kingsley Cole
My words have gotten me in trouble for as long as I can remember.
They got me suspended from eighth grade and banned from online forums, but they also made us famous beyond our wildest dreams.
Poetry and scorn.
My deepest thoughts, raw and exposed for the fans to consume.
They spawned rumors and ruin, and they’re about to do worse.
He hasn’t spoken to me in years.
But our secret keeps bleeding into my songs.
My next album is a ticking time bomb and when it hits, it will be the end of us.
What will be left but a pretty wreck?"]
Okay, in the last book, we say fuck to Dave. I'd like a loooooooong list of fucks and fuck off and fuck yous to Alexander. Honestly. I thought I hated him in the first book, or at least didn't understand him/his motives. No. Fuck that, fuck him. And, as I'm writing this, I'm only 20% into the book, so it better not get any worse (...*sigh* I know it will).
...it did. It got worse. A few more fucks to Alexander, please. Like, 99.9999% of the Trigger Warnings below are about/because of him.
I just…the opening scenes made me dislike Kingsley before we got to know him and his relationship with Lis, and part of me hates that it was there and included, because it spoiled his first impressions. His own POV very shortly after quickly changed my opinion, but it was a little jarring.
These two…they’re a lot. They’re a little toxic to each other, pushing away only to be upset when they’re alone. Though, love and heartache and childhood trauma will do that to you. Likely, without the help of fucking Alexander (fuck. him), they found their way to a happily ever after (well for now, the band is well and truly in some shit—because of fucking Alexander—and we won’t have final HEAs until the series ends (I just hope Alexander gets a big karma punch in the face).
Also, I need an angst break. My head and my heart hurt..And my anxiety.
Trigger Warnings: major descriptions of depression, drug use, talk of suicide, assault, domestic abuse, domestic abuse isn't always physical, blackmail, lying, gaslighting, manipulation, and more
#prettyobsessed #prettytoxic #prettywreck #prettyfucked #prettyblack #prettybroken #prettybrokenseries #jrgray #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks
February 20, 2023
I love this series. It's so full of angst, drama, heat, banter that it lets me skip things I probably wouldn't condone, like drug use. But, come on, it's a realistic part of the celebrity world, so all in all, I'm here to enjoy these books!
In this third book we have the story of Alister and Kingsley. Two people who make miscommunication and misunderstandings worthy of an award. They meet during a tour shared by the two bands they belong to, becoming very good friends immediately. Kingsley helps him break up with Alexander, with whom Alister was in an abusive relationship (not to mention that Alexander seduced him when Alister was still a minor of 17 years old). Their friendship deepens and changes, Alister falling in love with Kings and Kings... Well, King seems quite oblivious to this fact. One thing that bothers me about Kingsley is that he claims to know Alister like no one else, to understand him like no one else. So, if that was so, how did he not realize how much it hurt Alister that he slept with a different woman every day and then slept with Alister, as if he were a second option? One understands that Alister did not know how to defend himself from the things that happened to him, after all, he was really young, but Kings was already in his thirties and had already risen to fame for years. He had experience. So why was he so surprised when Alister pulled away from him to protect himself in the only way he knew? I mean, ghosted him was not the best option but sometimes one doesn't know a better way.
As Kings spirals into self-destruction after losing Alister, Alister fell back into Alexander's hands...Now, two years after, he was still in love with Kings, he was feeling feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of breaking when he discovers that Alexander cheats on him once more time, so he decides he has to change. He has to start to take care of himself, and it is at that moment that he meets Kingsley again. And while Alister wonders why Kings hadn't had aproach him again, not even to ask for an explanation during those two years, everything comes to light soon after they reconnect.
Although at the beginning of the reunion they find it difficult to communicate, and Alister has trust issues and he doubts Kingsley (after all, since his point of view Kings never stopped jumping from bed to bed, always with a different one, why was he going to change now?) and they have to face with the obstacles that a controlling and abusive Alexander places not only on them but on the entire band, they find a way to overcome them. Their intimate moments are incredible. When they share their love and their desire for each other, especially when Kings makes Alister feel accepted and seen and loved, it's absolutely amazing.
In this book the band finally begins to overcome the distance that existed between all of them, caused by Alexander, and they start to look for a way to free themselves from him. Not only do we see the MCs from the previous books, but Iris and Cas appear more and interact more.
I'm happy because the next book will be Cas's, and even though I expected his story to happen with a certain character, and apparently it won't, I'm still looking forward to it!
I was received an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.
In this third book we have the story of Alister and Kingsley. Two people who make miscommunication and misunderstandings worthy of an award. They meet during a tour shared by the two bands they belong to, becoming very good friends immediately. Kingsley helps him break up with Alexander, with whom Alister was in an abusive relationship (not to mention that Alexander seduced him when Alister was still a minor of 17 years old). Their friendship deepens and changes, Alister falling in love with Kings and Kings... Well, King seems quite oblivious to this fact. One thing that bothers me about Kingsley is that he claims to know Alister like no one else, to understand him like no one else. So, if that was so, how did he not realize how much it hurt Alister that he slept with a different woman every day and then slept with Alister, as if he were a second option? One understands that Alister did not know how to defend himself from the things that happened to him, after all, he was really young, but Kings was already in his thirties and had already risen to fame for years. He had experience. So why was he so surprised when Alister pulled away from him to protect himself in the only way he knew? I mean, ghosted him was not the best option but sometimes one doesn't know a better way.
As Kings spirals into self-destruction after losing Alister, Alister fell back into Alexander's hands...Now, two years after, he was still in love with Kings, he was feeling feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of breaking when he discovers that Alexander cheats on him once more time, so he decides he has to change. He has to start to take care of himself, and it is at that moment that he meets Kingsley again. And while Alister wonders why Kings hadn't had aproach him again, not even to ask for an explanation during those two years, everything comes to light soon after they reconnect.
Although at the beginning of the reunion they find it difficult to communicate, and Alister has trust issues and he doubts Kingsley (after all, since his point of view Kings never stopped jumping from bed to bed, always with a different one, why was he going to change now?) and they have to face with the obstacles that a controlling and abusive Alexander places not only on them but on the entire band, they find a way to overcome them. Their intimate moments are incredible. When they share their love and their desire for each other, especially when Kings makes Alister feel accepted and seen and loved, it's absolutely amazing.
In this book the band finally begins to overcome the distance that existed between all of them, caused by Alexander, and they start to look for a way to free themselves from him. Not only do we see the MCs from the previous books, but Iris and Cas appear more and interact more.
I'm happy because the next book will be Cas's, and even though I expected his story to happen with a certain character, and apparently it won't, I'm still looking forward to it!
I was received an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.
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