Reviewer: Tracy I Want You to Want Me by Erika Kelly
Series: Rock Star Romance series #2
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: July 7, 2015
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Derek Valencia finally has the success he’s worked so hard for. His band is touring its debut album and great reviews are rolling in. But when pictures of him tossing naked groupies off a balcony go viral, it’s damage-control time. He’s assigned a “babysitter” whose sole job is to keep him out of trouble.
Violet Davis swore she’d never work in the music industry again, but being a minder for a rock star will earn her enough to pay off the mortgage on her wildflower farm. And for a girl brought up in the foster care system, owning her own home means more to her than anything.
Though at first the two bang heads, the rocker and the farm girl soon grow close and realize that they make sweet music together. But can a girl who craves the stability of life on a farm really make it work with a man whose life is spent on the road with his band?
Tracy’s review of I Want You to Want Me (Rock Star Romance #2) by Erika Kelly
Derek Valencia taught himself to play the guitar with no help from his famous saxophone playing jazz father. He was always pushed away from being involved when his father’s “cronies” would come over but he loved music. He now is finally getting famous with the band he started, Blue Fire, but he still doesn’t feel fulfilled.
Violet Davis is a girl whose druggie mother dumped her at her grandmother’s house and then when she died four years later was dumped into the foster care system. She has been taking care of people her whole life and has made a career of “minding” people. When her friend Emmie Valencia calls her because the guys from Blue Fire are getting out of control with their partying, Violet takes the job.
Derek hates that his sister Emmie called a minder but he can’t seem to get Violet out of his head. From the first night she’s on the bus Derek is sleeping in his bed with her (platonically) but always with more in mind. Violet tells him in no uncertain terms that she only has her work reputation and if she sleeps with a client that will go down the toilet.
Despite her determination to help the guys they are pretty resistant to help until one of the guys, Pete, goes off the deep end. Violet does her best, but she’s can’t help everyone. She also wants Derek more than she cares to admit but she doesn’t trust that what she is to Derek means something. She has major trust issues and Derek has major insecurities and between the two major angst ensues.
I Want You to Want Me is the second book in the Rock Star Romance series. This one was a bit more angsty than I was expecting but still a good read.
Violet’s character, and what I liked most about her, was that she was a genuinely kind person. You could tell that she cared about people, and not just because of her job either. She’d had to be pretty brave during her childhood and that helped her in her adult life. The aspect of the book that had her wondering who she was deep down inside was pretty interesting. She’d had to play all of these parts because of her minding job and when it came down to it she really didn’t know who she was. It was a conflict that I haven’t seen in a romance book in quite a while.
Derek, because of his father’s fame and eventual derision towards his son, didn’t believe in himself. He knew he was a good bass player, to a point, but he didn’t believe he’d never achieved the level of artistry he was looking for. His goal was to make something called The Ledger List which named the top people in the industry. His father had been on it for 10 years and as much as he wanted it he never thought it would happen. I loved how Violet was there for him encouraging him time after time. As I said before both Derek and Violet have some pretty major insecurities as well as trust issues. Between the two of them I got pretty frustrated with the constant push and pull at times. But when the two weren’t at odds the two were really great together.
In the end the story was a good one and was enjoyable. While I didn’t like every aspect of the story it had enough good parts to it to make it worth reading.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This title is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This title was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
