Book Review – Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn

Rock Me (Ross Siblings Book 2)
This is yet another book that had me reading practically non-stop from page one, except I had to stop so I could sleep, and I didn’t even need or want to! Stupid responsibilities!

You know you love a book when you wake up in the morning, can’t stop thinking about it, and get excited when you run into people so you can tell everyone around you about it. Lily got my first dose of enthusiasm…

“So good
SO SO good
I think he is my new favorite. Everything he says or does or how he acts… mind blowing.”

It’s true. When I think back to the “hero” of this book, he felt so real. How he spoke (to her, to his brother, to his friends), his attitude towards life, his lifestyle, his entourage, even the Korn concert (and ohhhh wow did I LOVE that chapter).

“Can I have it, baby?” he whispered.

She gave the briefest of nods, which caused her mouth to slide over his.

“Yours.”

“Mine.”

He just felt, to me, like the real deal. In fact, I’ve known “him and his entourage”, once upon a time.

Then I gushed all over my Facebook girls…

It’s my #1 in a long time right now cause OMG I can’t stand how much I heart the bad boy – woooo hoooo – Like I told Lily (oh yah I gushed for an hour this morning – I gotta review it I can feel it in me)

I told her – I like ’em honorable deep down, but all attitude on the outside… and this one is THAT.

Then, well, I had to tell you all in a mini pre-review. I wasn’t even done yet, and I KNEW I was loving it right to the end. And what a great mood I was in all day knowing I had the rest of their story to look forward to that evening.

Of course it helped that I was totally in the mood for something of this calibre. Miss sweet and innocent (Candace) gets her first tattoo and crushes HARD on Brian – the badboy tattoo artist (to his obvious amusement). He might not have been an official “rock star”, but he had all the qualities of one. I quickly realized this might end up being a player’s game, and that I would get all of the rush and maybe even a bit of the heartache from her crush.

He dropped to the bed and went into her arms, pausing only to grab her battered old teddy bear from underneath him and give it a fling across the room. She could imagine him doing the same thing to her heart.

I nodded at that part. Oh yes. He was bound to break it.

‘Cept… I wasn’t expecting to feel so much from the book. Oh, I wanted to – this is exactly what I was looking for.  A nice jolt out of reality into pure emotion and angst. I originally thought it would be light and fluffy book candy (and it was, in a way – a total guilty pleasure), but it actually delved quite a bit deeper.

“You make me feel too…” He trailed off staring at her. She lifted her hand and stroked his cheek.

“Feel too what?”

“I don’t deserve this.”

Her heart broke. She’d never taken Brian for a guy who suffered from lack of confidence. He’d always been so vibrant and sure of himself. Why would he begin to have doubts about his self-worth here in her arms? Surely nothing she’d ever said or done led him to believe she didn’t think he was good enough for her.

“It’s not about deserving,” she said softly.

“You’re probably right, but it’s the easiest way I can sum up the situation. I can’t be who you need me to be.”

Ahhh, there it is… 🙄 and there’s more where that came from.

There was so much one on one time, so many moments of intensity and then… so much warranted insecurity. Instead of the author telling us how each character felt, or what they were “doing”, the characters told each other, and every motion, every subtle nuance between two would-be lovers, to their very intimate encounters, were detailed so perfectly. I forgot I was reading. It was if I was there. Like watching a movie, I could see every moment clearly, but it was even better than that, because my heart was fooled! Something about it was magic…

And like all love affairs in these novels, this one had a catch. Oh you’d think that getting the bad-boy to commit might be the biggest problem. And… maybe it was 😉 I’m not gonna say, cause that’s part of the fun in this book. But, while they both come from the “same side of the track” (both are from wealthy families), he is the black sheep of his, and she has been controlled and schooled all of her life for perfection. Mr. Long-haired, fully sleeved and pierced (yes, in all the right places) is not exactly someone you want to bring home to daddy. Well, at least not Candace’s daddy. And especially not her snob of a mother.

Moments of sheer perfection when you knew everything would be perfect, and that there was no question as to how they felt about each other, to moments of absolute uncertainty and angst when one (or the other) would start second-guessing exactly where it was all going.

Little baby “spoiler-ish” moment here (just one paragraph where I analyze Candace. It doesn’t really give anything away, but just in case) 😉

Mind you, Candace did get on my nerves a lot throughout this book. Her character is my main complaint. She is young, extremely inexperienced, and easily influenced. Her newfound need for independence mixed in with her need to please her family created so much instability in her thought process. She was a mess. Her intense feelings for Brian, suddenly had her scared to death, which added to the rattled state of my own emotions (let alone, theirs!). In the end, I mostly wanted to throttle her. The message was clear (become an independent person no matter who you are, and don’t let your feelings for someone dictate your future – yes – GOOD message), but in the end, I’m not so sure I buy Candace’s “evolution”. You’ll see what I mean.

Spoiler-ish moment over!

But as much as she drove me crazy, there was one moment that actually had me shedding a few tears very early in the book (and there could have easily been more of those, I just restrained myself). This moment simply caught me off guard. I was so caught up in their private little world, and suddenly my tears just fell, as hers did. And it wasn’t even a moment where something bad was happening to her, but it was a moment where she realized that she was lying to herself.

Time to put her on her big girl panties and deal with it. The consequences had been laid out for her from the beginning.

After a night of intimacy (as she convinced herself that she was just living in the moment and whatever the morning brought would be of no consequence), the light of day had her facing a different reality as they prepared to go their separate ways (for the day, or forever, she didn’t know yet).

But at least the water running over her face camouflaged the tears she finally let flow in earnest. Had to get them out of her system now. Get them out, get it over with. She didn’t have any idea where this was going, but it hadn’t hit a brick wall or anything. They had time. They were okay.

So why was she near sobbing?

She jumped and whirled when he entered the shower behind her, his chest brushing her shoulder. “Thought you were coming in later,” she said, hearing panic in her voice. He was looking straight into her eyes, which she knew were red and weepy. There was no hiding that, or the trembling of her bottom lip.

Dammit. Caught.

Brian slicked the hair back from her forehead, as he was apparently fond of doing, then put his hand to her elbow and gently moved it up to her shoulder. When he wordlessly pulled her to him, she hated herself for going so willingly, and for utterly breaking down when his arms wrapped securely around her, holding her tight to him as she sobbed.

*sniff* I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I felt this.

Interested in the series? It’s a series!! I read Book 1 (Unleashed – about his conservative, hottie brother) and it’s prequel (“Barely Unleashed” a free read!) after this one. They’re also very good – but I realized while I enjoy a bit of contemporary romance every once in awhile, I like it with a “rocker twist” (if i’m not reading about a vampire, he better be hot like one 😉 ). I’m looking forward to the next book! You’ll guess who it’s about a little past the Korn concert.

5 stars