Series: Black Addiction #1 (A Power Station Series spin-off)
Genre: Rock Star Romance
~Blurb~
Touring as an opening act for a huge rock band and landing a record contract means you’ve hit the big time, right?
Sadly, neither of those things gave Rusty Crawford, lead guitarist of the band Black Addiction, worldwide fame and fortune. Which was a shame because he had the lifestyle down to a fine art—without the clichéd stint in rehab.
Even being back in the Bronx, paying his dues didn’t rattle the charismatic axe man, ladies loved him and men wanted to be him. Fate would just have to catch up. Seemed like fate had more than just a platinum album planned for his future.
Alison Williams had the perfect life. Or at least she did until her world came crashing down around her, in the most epic way.
With her future no longer a certainty she finds herself out of her comfort zone and into unchartered territory—a place where Rusty Crawford likes to spend most of his time.
Will the charming and ridiculously hot rock god help her find her feet, or send her further down the rabbit hole? One thing was for sure; both of them were in for the ride of their lives.
~Book Review~
4.25 Stars
Rusty Crawford is the guitarist from Black Addition, introduced in the previous Power Station book that featured lead singer Angie. Alison Williams is a down-on-her-luck gal who previously admired neighbor Rusty from a far but gets the chance to know him up close and personal. A series of events has Alison and Rusty becoming insta roomies and while the pair have as much in common as Felix and Oscar from The Odd Couple, they have a smoking hot apartment full of attraction.
“Like a sexual vigilante on a mission, I stormed into his room and saw he had a mission of his own happening.'” – Alison
Who could blame the girl for wanting to jump the cool and collected rocker’s bones? Rusty is smooth and relaxed, a real panty wetting kind of guy with a heart of gold.
“‘I’m not great with chick-flicks but I’m happy to comfort you after and I can buy a pack of tampons without breaking a sweat. If you could just give me a heads up when you are going to have a period, that would be cool. As for me being on the road, you don’t have to worry about that either. I’m over the groupie thing, so keeping my dick in my pants isn’t an issue.’” – Rusty
Rusty’s sweet and loyal ways had me swooning. He was a guy with a lot of integrity. Alison is a girl that really needs some love. She’s uptight and awkward and lacks self-esteem. When the plot was about Alison getting her groove back, it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed two-thirds of the story. Then there was a twist I didn’t see coming and while it was an interesting reveal, the story changed course after that and lost it’s fun in exchange for unnecessarily relationship drama which up until then it had avoided nicely.
I was really disappointed in Alison towards the end. I understood her until then but how she acted with the reveal was just stupid, her problems having nothing to do with Rusty and yet she did what she told Angie she’d never do. At that point, her issues were no longer tolerable. I honestly lost interest in what happened with them as a couple because my patience with Alison was shot.
Like the previous books, the writing and narration is entertaining and witty, and the rocker hero is the star of the show. Rusty is absolutely the best part of the book! Told via Rusty and Alison's alternating first person POV, Slide is an overall light-hearted read that while part of a series, can be read as a standalone.
~Excerpt~
“Hello, ladies.” His voice purred, sending vibrations through my body.
It was him. My beautiful mystery man. The one who I’d seen plenty but never spoken to. He was standing in front of me, smiling.
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been so surprised. There weren’t many bars in our little neighborhood where you didn’t need a Hep C shot before you entered. This particular establishment promised an impressive beer menu without the risk of a communicable disease, so it would stand to reason he would know about it too.
“Hi.” Was all I was able to manage, convinced he was probably talking to someone else. Perhaps he meant the Amazonian redhead who was sitting to my left, openly staring—that would make a hell of a lot of more sense. They could probably shoot joint commercials for teeth whitener and make adorable, if not freakishly tall, children together.
“I couldn’t help but notice your friend stole your drink. Ordinarily I’d overlook such thievery, but I’d hate for there to be a brawl in my favorite bar. So in the interest of keeping the peace, I’d like to replace it for you.” His voice smooth, as was his delivery. I had to remember to breathe.
“She wasn’t going to drink it, but you can totally buy her another drink,” Renee answered before I’d gotten the chance. Her smile widened as she turned to face me and mouthed the words “he’s hot.” She needn’t have bothered; his hotness was not something that needed to be confirmed.
“That’s okay, I’m good.” Thankfully words came out of my mouth even if they sounded in no way intelligent.
“Well, glad to hear you’re good. Nice to meet you, my name is Rusty.” He smiled as he moved in closer, his hand signaling the bartender. “What were you drinking?”
In what I can only explain as temporary insanity—probably from the shock of having the beautiful man talking to me—I blurted out, “I have a boyfriend.”
I officially wanted to die.
While I did have a boyfriend, and hopefully in a few hours I would be moving into his upscale apartment, there was no reason to announce it so dramatically. Almost as if to prove that I hadn’t secretly fantasized about him while in the shower every day this week—which I had. Sweat prickled at my brow.
“Is that some code for you’re not thirsty?” Rusty’s lips curved in amusement. While the words weren’t sexy, the humor in his voice was a definite turn on, a hot button straight to my libido as he stood there grinning at me.
“No, I-I just mean I can’t accept . . .” What was the word again? “A drink from you.” Yes, that’s what I wanted to say. “Or . . . or anyone else. N-not just you.” My mouth tried to regain some composure. It really wasn’t doing a great job.
“Well, would you look at the time? I have a thing, wouldn’t want to be late.” Renee tapped her naked wrist—her watch missing in action, as was her tact. “Call me, Ali.” She gave me a hug and whispered, “If you don’t screw this guy, you’re dead to me.” And just like that, she evaporated from the room.
Awesome.
“Your friend always bail on you like that, Ali?” Rusty’s voice curled seductively around my name as he smiled, moving to the barstool Renee had vacated.
“It’s Alison.” Ali was just too personal, like him kissing me on the mouth. I totally would not have been okay with that. Mostly.
~Also in the Series~
~Author Bio~
T Gephart is an indie author from Melbourne, Australia.
T's approach to life has been somewhat unconventional. Rather than going to University, she jumped on a plane to Los Angeles, USA in search of adventure. While this first trip left her somewhat underwhelmed and largely depleted of funds it fueled her appetite for travel and life experience.
With a rather eclectic resume, which reads more like the fiction she writes than an actual employment history, T struggled to find her niche in the world.
While on a subsequent trip the United States in 1999, T met and married her husband. Their whirlwind courtship and interesting impromptu convenience store wedding set the tone for their life together, which is anything but ordinary. They have lived in Louisiana, Guam and Australia and have traveled extensively throughout the US. T has two beautiful young children and one four legged child, Woodley, the wonder dog.
An avid reader, T became increasingly frustrated by the lack of strong female characters in the books she was reading. She wanted to read about a woman she could identify with, someone strong, independent and confident and who didn't lack femininity. Out of this need, she decided to pen her first book, A Twist of Fate. T set herself the challenge to write something that was interesting, compelling and yet easy enough to read that was still enjoyable. Pulling from her own past "colorful" experiences and the amazing personalities she has surrounded herself with, she had no shortage of inspiration. With a strong slant on erotic fiction, her core characters are empowered women who don't have to sacrifice their femininity. She enjoyed the process so much that when it was over she couldn't let it go.
T loves to travel, laugh and surround herself with colorful characters. This inevitably spills into her writing and makes for an interesting journey - she is well and truly enjoying the ride!
Based on her life experiences, T has plenty of material for her books and has a wealth of ideas to keep you all enthralled.
