This Is Our Song
The Shaughnessy Brothers series, Book 4
Samantha Chase
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Fiction, Romance
Themes: Stardom
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Description
Rock star Riley took a hiatus from his popular band to pursue a solo career... but the music just won't come through. It doesn't help that he's still smarting
from a media snub, or that his bandmates are doing great on their solo projects, not to mention how his other brothers all seem to be finding their own
happily-ever-afters. Even his long-widowed father has found a girlfriend. Now his agent's saddling him with a journalist for a publicity interview and a three-month
deadline on his solo album. The last thing he wants is someone nosing around in his private life and blabbing to the world how he's a sad-sack lonely loser who has
lost his touch, how maybe he never even deserved his fame in the first place. But this interview is nothing like he expected.
Savannah's one of the best journalists working the entertainment beat, known for finding angles and insights nobody else can and for presenting her subjects fairly...
not that she doesn't have opinions on the people or bands she encounters. That band Shaughnessy, for instance, had to be one of the more overrated pop groups in recent
years. So when her boss tells her she's to spend a month tailing lead singer Riley as he finishes his debut album, she almost walks off the job. Their first encounter,
over a plate of fries at a beachside restaurant, is awkward at least and aggravating at best. But Savannah's not about to go back to
hairdressing; she's a journalist, dang it, and one obnoxious rock star's not going to intimidate her, even with his unfairly-good looks and smoldering gaze.
What started as a simple article soon becomes something much deeper, something potentially life-changing... and potentially devastating to two hearts who aren't ready
to handle an unexpected love.
Review
Romances make nice palate-cleansers, in my experience, plus they can develop nice characters and dialog, even if the stories can seem a little formulatic. (Another bonus to the romance genre is that it often isn't necessary to track down Book 1 of a series; they tend to be stand-alones with some character crossover, not long arcs building on each other.) This Is Our Song ticks many of the usual boxes, but creates well-balanced characters and some great chemistry, not to mention sizzling (yet non-explicit) romance. Knowing the formula, one can see certain issues coming well ahead of time, but the story plays out decently nonetheless, even if the climax plays out a bit forced; I wasn't sure I quite bought the great Moment of Doubt that threatened to destroy the pairing. I also felt like there were a few plot elements that should've come into play by the end, but were left dangling. On the whole, though, it was a fun, fast read, and if the itinerary of this road trip was a little familiar, at least the scenery was pleasant and the company decent.