Review by Ronny
Series Name: Stage Dive, # 2
Play is bonkers and spicy rock star romance.
Favourite Quote:
Damn, he was beautiful. My long-dormant hormones broke into a dance of joy. Something was definitely going on in my pants. Something that hadn’t happened in a very long time.
“There go the crazy eyes again,” he whispered.
Book Synopsis:
Mal Ericson, the drummer for the world-famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl.
Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?
Review:
I am going to forewarn you now, this book is not going to be everyone’s favourite in the series. Mal is A LOT and I mean A LOT. He is manic, hyper, and has one of the biggest personalities that I have ever encountered in a romance. With a personality that big and manic, Mal isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. He is a lot to take in. My first interactions with him in the first book was like being punched in the face. That being said, I would highly recommend still giving this book a try. Mal’s character has a lot more depth and is going to rip out your heart at times. I was worried his story would be one dimensional and just a filler until we get to Jimmy’s story, but it wasn’t.
I will admit, this isn’t my favourite book in the series. I still really enjoyed it and thought Mal’s story was so well done. This is a fake-dating, opposites attract, and roommates trope situation. Anne is Mal’s complete opposite; she is responsible and has been taking care of her mother and sister since she was a teen. But she is in trouble, and if she doesn’t come up with a way to pay rent, she is going to be homeless. Anne meets Mal at a party, and the crazy golden retriever of a man rubs Anne the wrong way. But somewhere in that chaotic first interaction, Mal declares that they are dating and plan to move in together. The next day, Anne comes home from work to find Mal living in her apartment, and the two strike up a deal. Mal needs a fake girlfriend and thinks Anne will be perfect for the job. In exchange, Mal will assist Anne with her financial difficulties. And any romance bookworm knows that lines in their fake dating relationship are going to be blurred and things are going to get pretty hot.
It’s fairly obvious that something is going on with Mal. I’m not going to say what it is, because no spoilers. But this secret he is keeping is causing him to act even more manic (if that is even possible) and exhibit mood swings that he normally wouldn’t have. There are some heartbreaking moments in this book, and it’s watching Mal deal with this secret that gives his character this depth I wasn’t expecting. I should note that this is a series; I would recommend reading in order because all the male MCs’ character arcs develop as the series progresses, which is super clever of Kylie because it allows her to give her male MCs depth and show their growth. Something that is harder to do, because these books are single POVs. We only see what the female leads see, but by having their character development happen over multiple books, there are always more opportunities to learn more about these men.
A lot of what happens in this book is what you would expect from a book centred around fake dating and two characters who are roommates. But there is that rock star twist, which adds a lot of drama to the plot. I enjoyed it. Anne is a great balance to Mal’s character, and Mal is great for Anne. He helps her emerge from the protective shelter world she has created for herself. There are many moments when poor Anne is just dazed and exasperated by Mal. He is a whirlwind of energy, but she holds her own and doesn’t let him bully her on the issues that matter. Of course, the romance is spicy and the banter is wild at times. Anne’s reaction to Mal in the beginning is super cute. She has had a super big crush on Mal since she was a teenager. She even had his posters up on her bedroom walls. This crush creates these sweet moments where she gets “crazy” eyes when she looks at him, and Mal just loves it, because of course, he is the only one who brings out those crazy love-struck eyes. This is another one of those romances where things move fast, which causes its own set of problems. I enjoyed the romance between these two. There were times when it felt like Anne had to act like Mal’s mom, reminding him to behave or keeping him in line, which I wasn’t particularly fond of.
Play is another great installment in the Stage Dive series.
