Seduced Review

Title:  Seduced
Series:  Lost in Oblivion #.5 (Full-Length)
Author:  Cari Quinn & Taryn Elliott
Release Date:  July 4, 2013

Characters: Simon Kagan, Deacon McCoy, Nick Crandall, Grayson Duffy, & Jasmine "Jazz" Edwards

My Rating:  4 Rockin', Seductive ♥'s

Synopsis:

Music kept them going. Now it might tear them apart…

Guitarist Nick Crandall has one focus in his life—Oblivion, the band he started with his closest friends, lead singer Simon Kagan and bassist Deacon McCoy. After losing their drummer to rehab, they’re struggling. Until Deacon poses a surprising suggestion.

Bring in someone new. Two new someones, and one of them happens to be a chick.

One YouTube video gone viral later, the band is heading to the top faster than they ever dreamed.

If the band doesn’t break up—and hearts don’t get broken—before they manage to sign their first recording contract.

**The guys are in the driver's seat in Seduced…and the ride's gonna rock. This prequel is the novel-length introduction to the band Oblivion and occurs before the books about each of the band members.**

Review:

Seduced is a great opening act to this series . . . a full-length prequel that introduces readers to all the players, along with the guitar cases they tote - all overflowing with emotional baggage.  Oblivion is a rock band in turmoil - living in a run down apartment under a laundromat - adrift and in danger of crashing & burning out.  The magic is gone, and the words just won't come as in-fighting & the loss of their drummer to drug rehab is threatening the solidarity of the band.  In a last ditch effort to turn things around, Deacon suggests bringing in another drummer and guitar player extraordinaire - Jazz (a spunky, sparkly, drum playing chick) and her "friend" Grayson (who can smoke the strings off a guitar).  But, not all the original players are open to bringing in outsiders - plus a chick in a band is just asking for trouble, right?  Tension is high, tempers flare, jealousy raises its ugly head, and the band is close to imploding.   Success in the rock world is illusive - so close & yet so far away.  The guys of Oblivion can see it, taste it, smell it . . . but can they grab it & hold on?  Are Jazz & Gray the creative spark they are missing?  Or will they be the straw that finally breaks the guitar strings?

Seduced is told through the alternating pov's of Simon and Nick.  At first, I felt a little like a leaf blowing in the wind, hoping to land on one pov or the other.  However, the transition between them soon began to flow smoothly, and I found being inside the minds of both guys added an emotional connection & sense of urgency that might have been missing otherwise.  All of the characters have strengths & weaknesses that are revealed as their vulnerabilities are exposed & exploited.  Everything from passion to unrequited love to jealousy to resentment to guilt to addiction (to more than drugs) are evident as this story plays out.  

Seduced is a great introduction to this series as it familiarizes readers with each of the characters, including their hopes & dreams, wants & needs, and desires & vulnerabilities.  Beyond that, it's also a great read with lots of smokin' hot sex, drama, and heartache. And then there's the music, carrying & moving the story forward on a melody, relaying in lyrics what some can't find the courage to say any other way - it's all there in the words of their songs.  Seduced is as essential to this series as each of these characters are to the band.  What an awesome "opening act"!  A Must Read!

My Rating:  4 Rockin', Seductive ♥'s . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra