I received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Release date: October 3, 2023
Rating: 1/5
Melody and Beat are the children of two former rockstars who disbanded in 1993. No one knows what caused the rift and the two rock legends refuse to talk about it. They’ve been enemies since the disbandment. In a Parent Trap fashion, Melody and Beat agree to work together to convince their mothers to reunite for a Christmas concert.
I have many issues with this book. Let’s start with Beat’s edging kink, which is rooted in his guilt for being a privileged white man. Am I supposed to feel sad for a privileged boy who likes to be punished because everything in life came so easy to him? For not being deprived of anything? For never being told no? Cry me a damn river!! This is like the atrocious Devil in Spring book all over again. Am I supposed to cry for privileged white boys? LMAO.
And then we’ve got Melody, who’s a self-declared introvert. But she is totally excited about revealing her crush on Beat and making wisecrack jokes on live television. Am I supposed to believe she’s an introvert??
Not to mention the fallacies surrounding privacy. Beat and Melody and their production team emphasize that they need to keep their future locations secret because otherwise they will be bombarded by fans and the press. What do they do? Openly discuss their plans for the next day while the camera is still filming. What is this clownery??
In terms of romance, the author tried to convince me that Beat and Melody have always felt a ~connection~ even though they had only met once in person years ago. I’m sorry, but no, the fated mates trope does not work here. The author also tried to morph Beat into this overprotective Alpha male. She is usually really good at writing these types of heroes, so I understand what she was trying to accomplish with Beat here. But he came across as a concerned parent babying Melody, instead of an Alpha male who wants to protect his woman at all costs 🤡 The only one bed trope is also badly forced into this story. The only one bed trope only works if there are no other alternatives aside from sharing the same room and bed. In this case, Beat and Melody literally had the choice to find a hotel, even more so for security purposes.
Oh, and there’s a blackmailing plotline weaved through all of this drama, something that could have been easily resolved if Beat had just spoken to his mom. I can understand not wanting to bring it up to his father, but he should have talked to his mom at the very least. And finally, when we find out what really broke up the band…we get the most cliche and anticlimactic explanation ever. But at least the characters are awake enough that they admit it’s super cliche.
This all leads me to my core issue with this book: everything feels forced, from the entire set up of the story to Beat’s edging kink to the forced romance. This was a total miss for me.
Romance Library 