Rowena’s review of Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols.
Hero: Sam
Heroine: Bailey
From the author of the “real page-turner” (Seventeen) Such a Rush comes an unforgettable new drama that follows friends-turned-lovers as they navigate the passions, heartbreaks, and intrigue of country music fame.
Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.
Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…
Jennifer Echols made me a fan of hers when I read Going too Far and while I haven’t enjoyed every single book by hers that I’ve read, I still gobble her books up whenever they come out. Dirty Little Secret was another winner for me and I’m still smiling over how much I liked this book.
Bailey’s having a bad year. For as long as she can remember, she’d been playing her fiddle with her sister all over the place and when a record label wants to sign her sister, without her, Bailey is kicked to the curb while her sister goes off and gets famous. Suddenly, left without a band to play in, Bailey hides her disappointment and hurt with her parents by acting out. Now she’s moved in with her grandfather while her parents are out on the road with her sister and she can’t do a damn thing on her own. She can’t make trouble, she can’t tell anyone her last name because the record label people don’t want a scandal that will taint the progress that they’re making with Julie’s career.
I really liked this book. I loved the Nashville setting, the country music scene and the romance that blossomed between Sam and Bailey and I really liked when Bailey finally spoke up for herself. It’s really disappointing for me as a parent to see parents portrayed so selfishly and displaying favoritism toward their kids. I’m not perfect but my daughter’s happiness is important to me and I try to make her as happy as I can be and it’s sad to me that not too many parents are portrayed as good parents in the books that I’ve been reading lately. Bailey’s parents fall into this selfish category and they pissed me off in this book.
So Bailey joins Sam’s band and the band really takes off. There’s a lot of drama between the bands because Sam used to date the drummer and she hasn’t gotten over him but he’s trying to keep the peace even though he really likes Bailey. So that was interesting and I really liked that they played songs that I actually know and like. It’s not very often that I know the songs that are mentioned in the books that I’m reading but I love me some Zac Brown Band and I loved Sam and Bailey’s band because they covered their songs.
What I really liked about this book is that the story came alive through the words on each page. I was so wrapped up in the story that I felt like I was a part of the book and not just reading it. I think Echols excels at this and when I closed the book, I had a goofy smile on my face because the book ended just the way that I wanted it to and I felt the resolutions in the book were dealt with in a realistic way and I really liked that.
There were times when I wanted to strangle both Sam and Bailey because they fought so much and usually they found about things that in the grand scheme of things were just not important. But you can see the growth between not just them but each character in the book and I really liked that.
I definitely recommend this book.
Grade: 4 out of 5
This book is available from Harper Teen. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
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