Irresistible Refrain

Teenage friends form a rock band called Tempest and get themselves a record deal. Fast forward a couple of years and they're the opening act on a US tour. Lace used to be with the band and in a relationship with the lead singer, after a bad situation she re-joins them on the road and rekindles her old relationship with lead singer, War. Only problem, she's in love with the lead guitarist and has been since she was five. He loves her too but out of loyalty to his friend won't cross that line. But what happens when your feelings become too much, and you can't fight how you feel anymore? Can love overcome loyalty?

I struggled with rating this book. The book is good but it's very gritty, showing the dark side of rock and roll. I have more light-hearted tastes usually. With that being said it is written well and does highlight a very serious issue. I really liked Michelle Mankin's style of writing, she grabs the reader's attention and immerses them in the lives of these characters where you want to know what happen in the past, or what is going to happen next. I like the flashes to the past, it gave more insight into the characters and was very easy to follow. I'll definitely be listening to the next in the series.

I didn't find many of the characters that likeable which I think is why I'm struggling, I like to have someone to root for, a couple to want to end up together, and honestly, I loved Bryan, but I wanted him to find someone else. I didn't realise until well into the book how young the characters actually are. Lace was the character with the most development and progression through the book and I must say my opinion changed throughout. I wanted to slap her so many times. I like strong women in my books and until the last hour or so, she just wasn't. But she does come through in the end and I did end up liking her and was happy that she made the changes she made. She just seemed to lack a backbone. War was an arse, he supposedly cared about Lace but continued to tempt her with drugs that he knew she didn't want. He was incredibly selfish and seemed more intent to keep Lace as a possession rather than the love of his life. Bryan aka Bullet was a redeeming character, I really liked him and felt bad for him. He was so obviously in love with her but his misguided loyalty to War had him all over the place.

Kai and Wen were amazing with this duet narration. They had to perform some very difficult scenes and did so with conviction and beauty. It was wonderful to listen to. Hearing them both perform children was endearing. The production was done really well with several different sound effects, I loved the instrumental music during the songs, although on one I felt the music drowned out Kai's voice but maybe that was intentional. At the end of the book are some facts of drug use which I felt was an excellent inclusion.