Rock addiction, di Nalini Singh

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Rock addiction is the new book by Nalini Singh. It’s the first book in a new series, very different from the others that she is currently writing. It can be defined as New Adult romance, subgenre "famous and troubled boy meets wounded but profound girl“, or, better, the summary can be: "rock star meets normal girl, they have a lot of sex, develop love, surmount obstacles – in the present - and problems – from the past - and live happily”.

Written with Nalini Singh's usual mastery, it’s a contemporary romance about a rock star, Zachary Fox, and a librarian, Molly Webster. The two characters are both young (they are in their twenties), but they have a lot of bad, heavy past experiences that make really difficult for them to love and have faith in another person, save the inner circle of friends. In the story we see these circles: Molly’s best friend and sister, and the guys of Schoolboy Choir, the band. And we have also some glimps about future stories, that obviously will be about these persons.

The setting is from New Zealand to Los Angeles; very interesting the New Zealand part, that is so little present in romances.

The plot is not so new, but it’s used with freshness and ability. There are some beautiful moments: the first dialogue in the elevator, the visit at the zoo, various moments of revelation and getting over the past.

Each character has flaws and problems, but also the strenght to confront them and try to do the best thing.
And each character is well defined and vivid. Fox is really possessive, hard and attractive, but he is not a grown man, he is a young one. His blunt sexual words to Molly are not the words of a lover, but the tentative attemps of a learner. The fear, the blunderings, the bluntness of Molly are not the confidence of a woman, but the searching, by a wounded woman-to-be, of her true self. So, the book is the story of how they can grow and believe in a relationship, making it live, strong and positive.

The sexual interaction is abundant, but it doesn’t overtake the development of the story. Unfortunately, I haven’t, in this respect, found the sparkling and sizzling relationships between the characters that it’s the mark of the author. But these characters are other than Psy/Changelings and Archangels, so we have to appreciate them with an open mind. Maybe my difficulty (the lacking of chemistry, the little gooseflesh) is due to the growing matter, maybe it’s due to my unfathomable points of paragon in sexy rock stars, Bono from U2 and Luciano Ligabue. Yes, it’s understandable that nobody else in reality or fiction can be high on comparison.

So, if you are a lover of New Adult romances, if you can appreciate love stories with a lot of heavy past on the shoulders of the lovers, if you are smoldering for a sexy rock musician, if you are forever fan on Cinderella girls, if you want romances with a lot of sexual interaction, but not too bold or explicit, this is the book that is meant for you.

For me, it was a good read, and a beautiful, compelling love story.


ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



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