Review of Play Your Heart Out by Crystal Kaswell

Have I read the first three installments of the Sinful Serenade series? No, no I have not. Do I regret anything about reading Play Your Heart Out by Crystal Kaswell? Yes, yes I do. But before you start thinking of me as a horrible book reviewer, I only meant that I regret not knowing about this band series first and not reading the other three books in the series. On that note, here's my review of Play Your Heart Out.

Title: Play Your Heart Out (Sinful Serenade #4)

Author: Crystal Kaswell

Publication Date: May 24th 2016

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Source: ARC Given by Tour Organizer

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29515206-play-your-heart-out

SYNOPSIS:

He parties like a rockstar.

She's there to make sure no one finds out...

Jess James has her eye on the prize. She is finding the money to pay for law school. Period. She is starting a new life on her own. Period. And she's absolutely staying in Los Angeles, three thousand miles away from the people who expect her to lie for them. It doesn't matter how lonely she gets on her own, how exhausted she is from working overtime as a cocktail waitress, or how deep the knife wound in her back cuts. She is going to be a lawyer, whatever it takes.

Only she doesn't have what it takes. She can barely afford to pay her rent.

Sinful Serenade bassist Pete Steele has enough to pay Jess's rent and buy her a small island in the Caribbean. The famous, talented rock star has everything... except the one thing his manager wants. Pete rose to fame as a devoted boyfriend. Doesn't matter that his ex slept with his best friend, he needs to stop screwing his way through Los Angeles to keep his reputation clean. Pete works hard, and parties harder... and the sweet, blond waitress is exactly the girl he needs on his arm if he wants to keep the record company happy.

Their arrangement is simple: he pays her tuition, she plays his girlfriend. They'll lie to the world, but not to each other. Especially not when they're alone, in his bed, him figuring out exactly which buttons to push to get her moaning his name.

Jess is good at keeping up appearances. She can play the enigmatic rock star's girlfriend. But Pete shouldn't play games with a girl who's been broken before...

REVIEW:

Going into the world of Sinful Serenade, I admit that I had a lot of reservations. I have read a few other novels with a similar plot outline--bad boy rock star, good girl falls in love with him, they struggle, they end up together, blah blah blah. So you can say that I was preparing myself mentally to not roll my eyes at cliche lines and scenes.

"If you thought this book is unoriginal, then why did you want to review it?" you might be thinking. I have a simple answer for this: the author was obviously doing something right to get people hooked on this world, and I wanted to see it for myself.

There are three things I'm absolutely certain as I'm writing this review: first, Crystal Kaswell is a talented and passionate author. The way she wrote Play Your Heart Out, (and her other books too, I'm sure) with such seamless story telling, colorful dialogues, and vivid descriptions prove that this is not her first rodeo. Her ability to effectively spin a story, add deep layers to its plot, and create complex and relatable characters is a testament to her years of experience, hard work, and colorful imagination.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not reviewing the author. I just wanted to show you why and how Play Your Heart Out exceeded my expectations and broke all my premature assumptions.

Now I don't know how Pete was in the first three parts of the Sinful Serenade series, but the Pete in this book is a hard-headed man-whore who is in the road to self-destruction -- career-wise and in life. But I think for me, what sets this guy apart from all the other bad boy rock stars is he used to be a good guy who wanted a long and happy relationship but got hurt big time. So he's not who or what he is just because, there's a reason behind it making him relatable to some people who got hurt by their exes. Now Jess, she also got hurt. But because of the strength she possesses, she decided to push through in life. She's intelligent, career-minded, and goal-oriented, which should help her do what she has to do easily, but doesn't really. Jess and Pete's chemistry is great, their verbal exchanges colorful, and their pain and sadness real.

I don't want to say too much about the book, only that it's amazing and you should read it ... but not before parts 1-3, because you won't get the whole Sinful Serenade experience...like me.

Check this out you guys.

RATING:

PURCHASE LINKS:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Crystal Kaswell writes steamy new adult and erotic romance books. She loves when flawed characters fall head over heels for each other. Especially if they fall into bed first. She loves police procedurals, tea, and The Hunger Games series. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website: http://www.crystalkaswell.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrystalKaswell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379758.Crystal_Kaswell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crystalkaswellwriter/?fref=ts

TOUR ORGANIZED BY: