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Backstage Pass #1-5
Backstage Pass Boxed Set
Five irresistible guys...five unforgettable romances
Step backstage with the guys of Seconds to Juliet—the hottest boy band to hit the scene in years—and the girls who capture their hearts. Superstardom has never been so sexy...
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Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler
996 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2016
About the author
Erin Butler
7 books108 followersErin Butler is lucky enough to have two jobs she truly loves. As a librarian, she gets to work with books all day long, and as an author, Erin uses her active imagination to write the kinds of books she loves to read. Young Adult and New Adult books are her favorites, but she especially fangirls over a sigh-worthy romance.
She lives in Central New York with her very understanding husband, a stepson, and doggie BFF, Maxie. Preferring to spend her time indoors reading or writing, she'll only willingly go outside for chocolate and sunshine--in that order.
Erin is the author of HOW WE LIVED and LAST WISH, contemporary NA novels, and the YA contemporary romance titles, FINDING MR. DARCY: HIGH SCHOOL EDITION and FALLING FOR SHAKESPEARE. Find out more about her at www.erinbutlerbooks.com or @ErinButler on Twitter! You can also sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bylfx9
She lives in Central New York with her very understanding husband, a stepson, and doggie BFF, Maxie. Preferring to spend her time indoors reading or writing, she'll only willingly go outside for chocolate and sunshine--in that order.
Erin is the author of HOW WE LIVED and LAST WISH, contemporary NA novels, and the YA contemporary romance titles, FINDING MR. DARCY: HIGH SCHOOL EDITION and FALLING FOR SHAKESPEARE. Find out more about her at www.erinbutlerbooks.com or @ErinButler on Twitter! You can also sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bylfx9
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 18, 2016
Are you looking for a Christmas present? Or just a holiday read?
What about - Backstage Pass –
Five irresistible guys…five unforgettable romances in one bundle?
https://www.goodreads.com/series/1502...
To do reviews on a 5 in 1 bundle are quite the task so I will give the link to each individual book. I can say is each book is unique, the story lines good, and a fantastic gift idea
https://www.goodreads.com/series/1502...
Enjoy if you decide to read this! →
• Abby and the Cute One (Backstage Pass, #5) on Goodreads
by Erin Butler
• Anya and the Shy Guy (Backstage Pass, #4) on Goodreads
by Suze Winegardner
• Daisy and the Front Man (Backstage Pass, #3) on Goodreads
by Rebekah L. Purdy
• Mia and the Bad Boy (Backstage Pass, #2) on Goodreads
by Lisa Burstein
• Aimee and the Heartthrob (Backstage Pass, #1) on Goodreads
by Ophelia London
ARC received for honest opinion
https://coyoteuglyswaggerbookblog.wor...
(¯`v´¯)♥♥
Time to put on my reading glasses
A BIG Thank you from me to the authors for trusting me with your work! :D
December 4, 2016
Actual rating: 3.5 (I guess)
I usually tend to write down my overall impression of a book in a couple of sentences and move on, I see no point in nitpicking every single detail. It’s how I keep myself from spreading spoilers (sorry for failing this time). It’s how I try to show that I’m open to discussions about the books, instead of having a cemented opinion. For me to sit down and rant for 1000+ words, then the book must’ve made me furious. This is somewhat the case this time around.
I’m not going to talk about what the authors were going for with this series, that is something I have zero knowledge about. I also promise that I’m gonna try not to talk about the writing style too much; it’s five different authors, of course there will be dips and spikes.
The following is just my thoughts. I invite you to share your own.
And I don’t want to come off mean, if I seem that way, I apologize in advance. It’s simply that so many things bother me about this series.
Before I jump into that list, I’m gonna say this: the series is a quick and easy read, the serious subjects it touches were handled oh-so-lightly and in a way that doesn’t meddle with the main genre of the series: romance. There’s so much romance, and I enjoyed it. I see the books working amazingly as stand-alones as well, if you don’t wanna read them in order that is more fine with this series (may I suggest you save the best for last, and keep Mia and the Bad Boy for the end cause it’s the best of the lot). I leave it up to you to decide if you want to read the series in its entirety, if you wanna pick one of the books up, or if you want to read it at all.
Reviewing this series isn’t the easiest thing, I have to note. I am well aware that I’m past the target audience age for these books. But I’ve been hearing about this series for a long time and I’ve had it on my Goodreads to-read shelf for a while. Many things happened in the meantime, so many publications; I only remembered that I wanted to read it when I saw this edition on NetGalley. Then I was allowed to review it. And I was looking forward to it.
Overall impression at this moment, half an hour after finishing the last book in the series? ‘A giant cloud of confusion’ is the short answer.
The first thing I scribbled down in my notes is “Too fanfiction-like”. It’s the feeling I got from reading books 1, 3 and 4, and parts of 5 . That is always the tricky part when it comes to books with famous characters, as I’ve said many times before, making the text not come out as if it’s fanfiction is delicate. And the delicateness, in my opinion, is tightly connected to the pace. The whole series is fast paced, very light storyline. There aren’t many layers to the stories, in my opinion, there isn’t a lot of material to slow it down. I think this is why it seemed so much like fanfiction. While all the stops are pulled to make the boys realistic, like they’re normal people, not all of them did; that’s another thing that was done as well as possible, but not well enough.
The second thing I wrote down was While it seemed quirky at the beginning, it was annoying in book 5.
Thing three:
Thing four:
Thing five: “Why isn’t LJ fired yet? Who gives a shit if he’s ‘powerful’, he’s not as powerful as their brand.” I wrote this half-way into book three cause for fuck’s sake, everyone is trying to get away from the Simon Cowell, money hungry, puppeteer manager type, why aren’t these guys doing the same. Just look at One Direction and all the stunts they had to pull. Look at everything they are still pulling, this time in order to get away. And they actually have that asshole Simon Cowell pulling the strings.
Thing six: “Why aren’t these stories more connected with each other?” I wondered this all throughout reading the series. The guys are in a band together, you might remind me, and yes, that is true. But it didn’t feel like it. So little of the guys as well. And it would’ve been so interesting for me as a reader. But as I came to the end I was actually glad it didn’t happen. Why?
Because thing seven: INCONSISTENCIES!!!! SO MANY.
Okay. I better stop there because I’m getting really heated over it. I expected a whole lot more, I guess I feel sort of disappointed. So I’ll leave you with this:
Read Mia and the Bad Boy, and Abby and the Cute One (optional). Read the titles and summaries for the other four books. There, you’re all caught up as if you’ve read the entire series.
Also tell Ryder I love him. I actually enjoyed his complicatedness. And yes, I checked, complicatedness is a word, first used in 1640.
Update (Dec. 4th 2016):
In the essay above I somehow failed to mention that from the beginning this series seemed like a One Direction fanfic. I see a few parallels, I think I can even guess which character is based of each member, I see their characteristics. (My guess is Liam, Zayn, Louis, Harry, Niall in order of books. Or maybe it's Niall, Zayn, Louis, Harry, Liam... This is another option.) (And yes, I checked, by first publication date I conclude that the series has obviously been written before Zayn left).
Maybe I'm just too close to the fandom and I'm seeing things, but it's been bothering me throughout reading the series... I don't know, please tell me if you see it too.
I usually tend to write down my overall impression of a book in a couple of sentences and move on, I see no point in nitpicking every single detail. It’s how I keep myself from spreading spoilers (sorry for failing this time). It’s how I try to show that I’m open to discussions about the books, instead of having a cemented opinion. For me to sit down and rant for 1000+ words, then the book must’ve made me furious. This is somewhat the case this time around.
I’m not going to talk about what the authors were going for with this series, that is something I have zero knowledge about. I also promise that I’m gonna try not to talk about the writing style too much; it’s five different authors, of course there will be dips and spikes.
The following is just my thoughts. I invite you to share your own.
And I don’t want to come off mean, if I seem that way, I apologize in advance. It’s simply that so many things bother me about this series.
Before I jump into that list, I’m gonna say this: the series is a quick and easy read, the serious subjects it touches were handled oh-so-lightly and in a way that doesn’t meddle with the main genre of the series: romance. There’s so much romance, and I enjoyed it. I see the books working amazingly as stand-alones as well, if you don’t wanna read them in order that is more fine with this series (may I suggest you save the best for last, and keep Mia and the Bad Boy for the end cause it’s the best of the lot). I leave it up to you to decide if you want to read the series in its entirety, if you wanna pick one of the books up, or if you want to read it at all.
Reviewing this series isn’t the easiest thing, I have to note. I am well aware that I’m past the target audience age for these books. But I’ve been hearing about this series for a long time and I’ve had it on my Goodreads to-read shelf for a while. Many things happened in the meantime, so many publications; I only remembered that I wanted to read it when I saw this edition on NetGalley. Then I was allowed to review it. And I was looking forward to it.
Overall impression at this moment, half an hour after finishing the last book in the series? ‘A giant cloud of confusion’ is the short answer.
The first thing I scribbled down in my notes is “Too fanfiction-like”. It’s the feeling I got from reading books 1, 3 and 4, and parts of 5 . That is always the tricky part when it comes to books with famous characters, as I’ve said many times before, making the text not come out as if it’s fanfiction is delicate. And the delicateness, in my opinion, is tightly connected to the pace. The whole series is fast paced, very light storyline. There aren’t many layers to the stories, in my opinion, there isn’t a lot of material to slow it down. I think this is why it seemed so much like fanfiction. While all the stops are pulled to make the boys realistic, like they’re normal people, not all of them did; that’s another thing that was done as well as possible, but not well enough.
The second thing I wrote down was While it seemed quirky at the beginning, it was annoying in book 5.
Thing three:
Thing four:
Thing five: “Why isn’t LJ fired yet? Who gives a shit if he’s ‘powerful’, he’s not as powerful as their brand.” I wrote this half-way into book three cause for fuck’s sake, everyone is trying to get away from the Simon Cowell, money hungry, puppeteer manager type, why aren’t these guys doing the same. Just look at One Direction and all the stunts they had to pull. Look at everything they are still pulling, this time in order to get away. And they actually have that asshole Simon Cowell pulling the strings.
Thing six: “Why aren’t these stories more connected with each other?” I wondered this all throughout reading the series. The guys are in a band together, you might remind me, and yes, that is true. But it didn’t feel like it. So little of the guys as well. And it would’ve been so interesting for me as a reader. But as I came to the end I was actually glad it didn’t happen. Why?
Because thing seven: INCONSISTENCIES!!!! SO MANY.
Okay. I better stop there because I’m getting really heated over it. I expected a whole lot more, I guess I feel sort of disappointed. So I’ll leave you with this:
Read Mia and the Bad Boy, and Abby and the Cute One (optional). Read the titles and summaries for the other four books. There, you’re all caught up as if you’ve read the entire series.
Also tell Ryder I love him. I actually enjoyed his complicatedness. And yes, I checked, complicatedness is a word, first used in 1640.
Update (Dec. 4th 2016):
In the essay above I somehow failed to mention that from the beginning this series seemed like a One Direction fanfic. I see a few parallels, I think I can even guess which character is based of each member, I see their characteristics. (My guess is Liam, Zayn, Louis, Harry, Niall in order of books. Or maybe it's Niall, Zayn, Louis, Harry, Liam... This is another option.) (And yes, I checked, by first publication date I conclude that the series has obviously been written before Zayn left).
Maybe I'm just too close to the fandom and I'm seeing things, but it's been bothering me throughout reading the series... I don't know, please tell me if you see it too.
December 5, 2016
This is great for someone who loves rock romance. There are five different books within this series and all are dealing with a famous boy band. Each one has something different to offer and while I like some a little better than others, overall this is a really good rock series. Various authors make up this collection which is why the stories and the way they are approached may be a little different from each other but they all tie together nicely.
This book was provided as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given honest review.
This book was provided as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given honest review.
November 29, 2016
I received a copy of this title from NetGalley. It does not impact my review.
Backstage Pass: The Complete Series will be available December 5, 2016
I've read the first couple books in this series awhile ago and enjoyed them and always wanted to read the rest of the series. When I saw the whole series was being released as a set, I knew I had to request it. In my youth I was such a boy band fan (*N Sync was life) and I absolutely loved the idea of books about a boy band. I also thought it was really cool that each book was by a different author. I found that there were a few inconsistencies between authors, but for the most part I thought they did a really great job with it.
Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London - 3.5 Stars
This book was all kinds of adorable. I liked both Aimee and Miles. The romance was a little fast, but very sweet. There was some eye-rolling drama, of course. And some of the dialogue and Aimee's internal monologues bothered me - I think it was supposed to be "teenage slang", but it sounded silly to me. But maybe that's how kids talk these days? I don't know. I wished that the rest of the boy band members were a little more developed, but I can forgive it since each of them will get their own book. One thing I loved is that Aimee is a book reviewer and there is a part of the story where Miles wants to do something for her so he thinks about reading the books she's going to review so they can discuss them. I think that is the swooniest moment of the whole book for me.
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein - 3 Stars
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy - 3 Stars
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner - 3.5 Stars
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler - 3.5 Stars
Overall
Overall, the Backstage Pass series was so cute. Though the characters were a little uneven at time between the books, I thought all the authors worked together pretty well to make a cohesive series. I liked that there was a central theme throughout of the band working together to write their own music and be the kind of band they wanted to be, as well as learning that they could be in charge of their own personal lives, despite what the villainous manager, LJ, told them. I think fans of YA contemporaries and Boy Band lovers would really enjoy this series.
Backstage Pass: The Complete Series will be available December 5, 2016
I've read the first couple books in this series awhile ago and enjoyed them and always wanted to read the rest of the series. When I saw the whole series was being released as a set, I knew I had to request it. In my youth I was such a boy band fan (*N Sync was life) and I absolutely loved the idea of books about a boy band. I also thought it was really cool that each book was by a different author. I found that there were a few inconsistencies between authors, but for the most part I thought they did a really great job with it.
*Click on the book titles for the synopsis of each book*
Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London - 3.5 Stars
This book was all kinds of adorable. I liked both Aimee and Miles. The romance was a little fast, but very sweet. There was some eye-rolling drama, of course. And some of the dialogue and Aimee's internal monologues bothered me - I think it was supposed to be "teenage slang", but it sounded silly to me. But maybe that's how kids talk these days? I don't know. I wished that the rest of the boy band members were a little more developed, but I can forgive it since each of them will get their own book. One thing I loved is that Aimee is a book reviewer and there is a part of the story where Miles wants to do something for her so he thinks about reading the books she's going to review so they can discuss them. I think that is the swooniest moment of the whole book for me.
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein - 3 Stars
This book wasn't as cute as the first one in the series, but there was still enough cuteness that I enjoyed it. The romance happened really fast and I didn't buy into it as much as I would've liked to, but as I said, there was still cuteness. It read a little more like a less graphic NA than a YA read. I enjoyed the banter between Ryder and Mia and between Ryder and Miles. I enjoyed Ryder's sarcastic sense of humor a lot and that we got a little more insight into the rest of the band.
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy - 3 Stars
This was probably closer to 2.5 stars, but I'm rounding it up to 3 because I thought it ended well. I really liked Trevin in the first two books and was looking forward to his POV, but I actually liked him a lot less in this one. I also thought both Miles and Ryder were portrayed as big jerks for most of the book, even though they were both supposed to be nicer after the events of the previous books. Daisy drove me crazy almost the whole time. She was way, way too overdramatic and very petty. There was a big thing with her mom that is revealed towards the end of the story and I thought the mom got off way too easily. I did like Daisy's developing relationship with her father and there were a few cute moments throughout to make me smile. This was my least favorite book of the series.
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner - 3.5 Stars
Though it took me a bit to get into this, I ended up really liking Matt and Anya. Though it happened a little fast, their romance was cute. I also liked that it had a little more serious subjects - homelessness, drug addiction - but still stayed a cute contemporary. I thought the other band members were represented well, which I appreciated. One thing that bugged me, though, was that there seemed to be some consistency issues. We never find out exactly when Will and Matt switched places. There were comments made in two of the three preceding books that made it seem like it's been going on for awhile, but I thought this book made it out that it was more recent.
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler - 3.5 Stars
This one was So Cute! Though it was a little instalove-y, I really shipped Nathan and Abby. Nathan was so sweet and he's probably my new favorite boy bander. I thought the rest of the band was really well represented and loved all the scenes of them together. There is a big thing to happen with the whole LJ (band manager) as a villain arc that has been going on through the whole series that I wish we would've gotten to see, but overall it was a good ending to the series.
Overall
Overall, the Backstage Pass series was so cute. Though the characters were a little uneven at time between the books, I thought all the authors worked together pretty well to make a cohesive series. I liked that there was a central theme throughout of the band working together to write their own music and be the kind of band they wanted to be, as well as learning that they could be in charge of their own personal lives, despite what the villainous manager, LJ, told them. I think fans of YA contemporaries and Boy Band lovers would really enjoy this series.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars
December 15, 2016
Backstage Pass is a collection of five stories written by various authors. They have all been published as single books, but have now been combined to make one book. I'm going to be reviewing each story individually so you get an idea of the book as a whole, and link to each book in the mini title.
Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London
Aimee has plans of spending a few weeks with her best friend while her parents go to Doctors Without Borders, but they come crashing down when her friend gets sick, and Aimee is sent to stay with Marsha, Mum to Miles Carlisle, member of Seconds to Juliet. This duo used to be friends, but as they got older they grew apart, and Aimee is not happy at all about these changes to her Summer.
I really enjoyed how we get to go on tour with the band, seeing the insider information on what goes on behind the scenes for this famous band. I liked getting to see this new friendship develop, and discovering things that were said may not have been true. Aimee and the Heartthrob is a great introduction into this series and definitely gets you hooked and needing to know more. I love how Aimee is not scared of showing her stubbornness around Miles and how she doesn't easily fall at his feet.
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein
This is Ryder's story, the bad boy in the band who isn't afraid to wind the girls up. However, his secret is one that must remain a secret, and his tutor Mia must promise to do so. Ryder never passed his GED, so Mia is hired to help him study so he can pass, but to explain her presence she must pretend to be his girlfriend, but will these pretend feelings soon turn into real, or will it get too complicated for them both.
I went into this one not expecting to like it much, already knowing I wasn't too fond of Ryder from the previous book, but as I got to know him and see a different side, I realised that this front he puts on is not the real him.
I finished the book with a very changed opinion about Ryder, but also thinking Mia is the perfect person for him. She brings out both the good and bad sides of him, and somehow mixes them together giving us a very unique individual.
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy
Daisy wins a competition and gets to go on a date with a band member of her choice, Trevin. But with cameras and friends waiting for him to arrive, she is blown off with a signed picture. From that moment on Daisy is planning revenge, looking for the perfect opportunity to get revenge on this self centered pop star. Nine months later the perfect opportunity arises, and Daisy finds herself traveling with her father, bodyguard for Seconds to Juliet, for the summer.
Daisy was someone who I connected with immediately, I just clicked with her easily and really felt sorry for the situation she was put in. I liked her determination, even if it was for the wrong reason, and how she doesn't let this one thing push her down. Trevin isn't as innocent in all of this, especially making a bet with the band members that he will get Daisy to fall for him. But with two sets of wills determined to win, how can this situation ever be resolved.
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner
Anya is hired to follow Will for two weeks, to write blog posts about him and post them online. This is the perfect opportunity for her to earn some money, and help get herself to a better place, finally having somewhere to call home. However, no-one knows about her situation, or her age, and she hopes that only herself will ever know the details. Will isn't too keen on the arrival of Anya, as he has his own secrets to hide. Will is in fact Matt, twin brother to Will and covering for him whilst he is in rehab, to keep the band together and avoid his Mum having to pay fines.
The more time Any spends with Matt, the more she finds little differences in his words, his actions, and his behavior, but she also can't help falling for him.
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler
After the recent shake up of Seconds to Juliet and their supporting acts, Abby is brought on after a spectacular audition. But Nathan isn't too keen on this idea, being part of the tour means he can't date her, and he really wants to date her. To make matters worse Nathan is supposed to show her around and be the welcoming committee, whilst also 'dating' another celeb, all in order to keep fans interested in the band.
This is the final book in the series, but we get to see what has happened to the previous band mates during this tour, and I really liked seeing the band stick together for one of their own. This felt like a shorter read than the previous books, but also ended the series on a great note.
Final Verdict
Backstage Pass has a great selection of authors, several new to me, all writing to make up a complete collection. I enjoyed seeing the different styles of writing, and meeting such an enigmatic mix of characters.
Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London
Aimee has plans of spending a few weeks with her best friend while her parents go to Doctors Without Borders, but they come crashing down when her friend gets sick, and Aimee is sent to stay with Marsha, Mum to Miles Carlisle, member of Seconds to Juliet. This duo used to be friends, but as they got older they grew apart, and Aimee is not happy at all about these changes to her Summer.
I really enjoyed how we get to go on tour with the band, seeing the insider information on what goes on behind the scenes for this famous band. I liked getting to see this new friendship develop, and discovering things that were said may not have been true. Aimee and the Heartthrob is a great introduction into this series and definitely gets you hooked and needing to know more. I love how Aimee is not scared of showing her stubbornness around Miles and how she doesn't easily fall at his feet.
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein
This is Ryder's story, the bad boy in the band who isn't afraid to wind the girls up. However, his secret is one that must remain a secret, and his tutor Mia must promise to do so. Ryder never passed his GED, so Mia is hired to help him study so he can pass, but to explain her presence she must pretend to be his girlfriend, but will these pretend feelings soon turn into real, or will it get too complicated for them both.
I went into this one not expecting to like it much, already knowing I wasn't too fond of Ryder from the previous book, but as I got to know him and see a different side, I realised that this front he puts on is not the real him.
Ryder turned so Miles could see his shiny eyes. "You should probably collect these in a bottle. They're rare, like unicorns."
Miles sighed. "Since you won't let me touch you, I want to let you know I am mentally hugging you right now."
Ryder's shoulders fell. "I'm mentally allowing you to."
I finished the book with a very changed opinion about Ryder, but also thinking Mia is the perfect person for him. She brings out both the good and bad sides of him, and somehow mixes them together giving us a very unique individual.
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy
Daisy wins a competition and gets to go on a date with a band member of her choice, Trevin. But with cameras and friends waiting for him to arrive, she is blown off with a signed picture. From that moment on Daisy is planning revenge, looking for the perfect opportunity to get revenge on this self centered pop star. Nine months later the perfect opportunity arises, and Daisy finds herself traveling with her father, bodyguard for Seconds to Juliet, for the summer.
Daisy was someone who I connected with immediately, I just clicked with her easily and really felt sorry for the situation she was put in. I liked her determination, even if it was for the wrong reason, and how she doesn't let this one thing push her down. Trevin isn't as innocent in all of this, especially making a bet with the band members that he will get Daisy to fall for him. But with two sets of wills determined to win, how can this situation ever be resolved.
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner
Anya is hired to follow Will for two weeks, to write blog posts about him and post them online. This is the perfect opportunity for her to earn some money, and help get herself to a better place, finally having somewhere to call home. However, no-one knows about her situation, or her age, and she hopes that only herself will ever know the details. Will isn't too keen on the arrival of Anya, as he has his own secrets to hide. Will is in fact Matt, twin brother to Will and covering for him whilst he is in rehab, to keep the band together and avoid his Mum having to pay fines.
The more time Any spends with Matt, the more she finds little differences in his words, his actions, and his behavior, but she also can't help falling for him.
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler
After the recent shake up of Seconds to Juliet and their supporting acts, Abby is brought on after a spectacular audition. But Nathan isn't too keen on this idea, being part of the tour means he can't date her, and he really wants to date her. To make matters worse Nathan is supposed to show her around and be the welcoming committee, whilst also 'dating' another celeb, all in order to keep fans interested in the band.
This is the final book in the series, but we get to see what has happened to the previous band mates during this tour, and I really liked seeing the band stick together for one of their own. This felt like a shorter read than the previous books, but also ended the series on a great note.
Final Verdict
Backstage Pass has a great selection of authors, several new to me, all writing to make up a complete collection. I enjoyed seeing the different styles of writing, and meeting such an enigmatic mix of characters.
August 23, 2021
https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/08/...
OVERALL SERIES:
3.5 stars — I had both high and then low expectations for this series, and I came out with solid, but had so much potential to be better.
The biggest problem for me was that in binging the series, there were waaaayyyyyy too many tiny little discontinuity details that I picked up on. Unfortunately, my brain snags on shit like that, and while these authors tried to get some main facts straight, there were other parts that were different from book to book and it drove me crazy. Not just that, but in some books some of it was completely unrealistic to the point I had a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief.
They really needed a series editor to go through and make sure that the characters felt true in each book (it was pretty good, but Ryder in particular wasn’t always what I expected after his own story). And then to make sure that the basic logistics of the tour stayed consistent throughout. For example, in Ryder’s book the author had them sleeping in the *dressing rooms*…which is a) not done (hello, they’re usually locker rooms); and b) not consistent to the hotels/bus sleeping arrangements in the other books. It was done to help the plot, but surely the author could have figured something else out.
I know most readers probably won’t even notice that stuff, but for me it was aggravating because I can’t help it. Ah well.
AIMEE AND THE HEARTTHROB:
This is the one book I had read previously in this series, but it had been so long that I reread it.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
3 stars — And the slump continues. Overall I just couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t always like Aimee or Miles (though I think I liked Miles more), and I wasn’t always cool with the things they were doing. I’m such a non-rule-breaker, so sneaking around just isn’t exciting for me, even vicariously. And I was largely displeased with Nick’s various roles. As someone older, and a professed best friend, I guess I expected to a) see him more b) have him behave less irrationally and c) actually see and understand who his best friend was. If that makes any sense. Which it probably doesn’t, but oh well.
So while it had some great kissing scenes, and I enjoyed some of the hanging out that Miles and Aimee got to do (especially the writing session), in the end I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for realistic 16/17 year olds, I was looking for the more mature variety (which is on me).
ON REREAD:
3 stars — Yeah, did not improve with time. I mean, at least it didn’t get worse. The thing is, the cute parts were SERIOUSLY adorable! I could see all this potential for an even better story, but there just wasn’t enough of those moments to outshine the grrr and meh.
I think the sneaking around wasn’t quite as displeasing for me, but I still wasn’t happy with Nick…like AT ALL. I think my biggest problem is that some of the various conflict felt sort of contrived and not well executed — particularly everything surrounding Aimee’s blog. Joke was not the right word. And the reactions were just not as authentic as I would have liked.
So yeah. Not a great start. Bummer.
MIA AND THE BAD BOY:
3.5 stars — This one started out much stronger than the first one, and I think a lot of that had to do with Ryder’s depth. I mean, he was still a dick, but I could at least see lots of different pieces of him behind all that…reasons, you know?
And in general I liked Ryder. I mean, from how he is with his band mates, I expected him to be a pretty hard sell, but he really did have a lot of hangups from his childhood…and I felt like I did see little bits of growth in him — and fairly believable growth. His part in the conflict/climax didn’t surprise me, and I wasn’t too mad at him. It was predictable, but I was worried he was going to say something he couldn’t come back from, and in general I don’t think he did.
Mia had her ups and downs for me. I didn’t quite get her relationship with her parents, and their expectations of her. I feel like in some ways her being Mexican American was used as a plot device for those pressures from immigrant parents. If that was the case, I kind of wish it’d been explored more. It affected so much of who Mia was, how she buried her dreams in favour of her parents dreams, how she didn’t know who she was. And I think that could have been really interesting, but I don’t feel like her story got nearly the same time and care that Ryder’s did. I liked her, she was sweet and sassy, bold and innocent. I just wanted MORE from her. And I totally wasn’t on board with her reaction after *that* night. I didn’t quite follow it, and I didn’t appreciate the way she would test Ryder.
They were pretty cute together, I especially loved the times when they were alone and Ryder could let his guard down. Between studying, singing, and just “being normal”, it was fun to watch.
The ending was entirely unbelievable and completely unexplained from Mia’s parents perspective, which is a bummer.
I was expecting not to like this one as much, just because I’m not really a bad boy girl, and Ryder was numero uno dick in the first book. So maybe my low expectations helped me enjoy it more — I love when a book surprises me in a good way. Still not wow, but definitely a step up from the first book.
DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN:
3.5 stars — There were parts of this book I really loved, and then there were parts that made me want to beat my head against the wall.
I know this publishing line often has predictability to it, and sometimes I actually like that. But the outcome of this book was predictable almost from the very beginning, and that was a bit of a bummer. It’s like you know a train wreck is going to happen, you know exactly what the train wreck is going to look like, and I think it makes it a teensy bit harder to just let go and get lost and captivated with our characters.
I guess my main bummer with all that is that Daisy hung onto the revenge thing longer than I wanted and kept coming back to it. It didn’t always feel realistic, and more like just a plot device. Similarly, Trevin hung on to the bet thing longer than I wanted. They both waffled back and forth, but then they’d jump back on the train because without those things, the conflict wouldn’t have worked. And hence predictability. I think I was more bummed with Trevin, because the way he would banter back with Ryder about the bet made him seem like a dick, and he just didn’t feel bad enough about it.
Initially I thought this one might be my fave so far, but I think the above might have affected me more than I thought. So the endless debate about rounding up or down.
When they weren’t holding on to those plot devices, I actually liked both of them. Daisy was very jaded, but I got it. And I appreciated that we got to see some growth with her relationship with her Dad and stuff. And Trevin had some very sweet moments. It was fun to watch them date, even as they had these conflicting emotions in the background. I kind of wish that we’d seen some closure between Trevin and his Dad, otherwise why was it there?
So yeah. Writing all that out, I think I’ll be rounding down. It had great potential, but I wanted it to be more.
ANYA AND THE SHY GUY:
3.5 stars — Am I the only one that is bummed that we’ll never get Will’s story? Plus, then we’re missing out on a shy guy, and I actually really like a shy guy. But maybe I’m the only one. I was a Jonathan (NKOTB) fan if that tells you anything.
I kind of love the little bits of surrounding story that were with this one — homelessness for Anya, and drug addiction for *actual* Will. We didn’t get much on either, which is a bit too bad, b/c they’re kind of prescient topics, but what can you do.
So even though we didn’t get actual Will, Matt was pretty cute himself. I appreciated how hard it must have been to play this role, with so much riding on it. And while he was not at all shy, he was still pretty sweet and actually felt closer to his age.
And Anya had a rough time of it, but it was heartwarming to see her develop that friendship with Natasha, and learn that some people are worth trust.
And their romance was pretty cute in general.
I found this one felt quicker than the others. I’m going to be pretty bummed if LJ doesn’t get his comeuppance by the end of Nathan’s book.
ABBY AND THE CUTE ONE:
4 stars — Yay! This one was my favourite! I think it’s just really hard not to love poor naïve Nathan…and Abby was pretty great too.
The thing is, I love sweet good characters. Sure, they mess up and make mistakes, but deep down they have good intentions. The thing is that Nathan was pretty young, and kind of on his own at such a young age. So I guess I could believe that he was taken advantage of by LJ. I truly bought in that he believed that the fate of the whole band was in his hands. He’s lucky that he had a certain great security chief and some awesome (if oblivious) bandmates to eventually figure things out and help him.
I loved how sweet he was, how innocent in some ways. I loved how grateful he was for the opportunity, and how, of all of them, he didn’t take it for granted.
And Abby was super sweet too! It’s not that she didn’t have fire, she did…but she was just someone easy to love. It was exciting to see her have this opportunity, even if it was tainted by other stuff happening at times.
And they were so cute together. I loved them from their first meeting to the end. I rooted for them.
I was a bit bummed that LJ’s comeuppance wasn’t dramatic and on page, but ah well…can’t have everything.
OVERALL SERIES:
3.5 stars — I had both high and then low expectations for this series, and I came out with solid, but had so much potential to be better.
The biggest problem for me was that in binging the series, there were waaaayyyyyy too many tiny little discontinuity details that I picked up on. Unfortunately, my brain snags on shit like that, and while these authors tried to get some main facts straight, there were other parts that were different from book to book and it drove me crazy. Not just that, but in some books some of it was completely unrealistic to the point I had a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief.
They really needed a series editor to go through and make sure that the characters felt true in each book (it was pretty good, but Ryder in particular wasn’t always what I expected after his own story). And then to make sure that the basic logistics of the tour stayed consistent throughout. For example, in Ryder’s book the author had them sleeping in the *dressing rooms*…which is a) not done (hello, they’re usually locker rooms); and b) not consistent to the hotels/bus sleeping arrangements in the other books. It was done to help the plot, but surely the author could have figured something else out.
I know most readers probably won’t even notice that stuff, but for me it was aggravating because I can’t help it. Ah well.
AIMEE AND THE HEARTTHROB:
This is the one book I had read previously in this series, but it had been so long that I reread it.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
3 stars — And the slump continues. Overall I just couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t always like Aimee or Miles (though I think I liked Miles more), and I wasn’t always cool with the things they were doing. I’m such a non-rule-breaker, so sneaking around just isn’t exciting for me, even vicariously. And I was largely displeased with Nick’s various roles. As someone older, and a professed best friend, I guess I expected to a) see him more b) have him behave less irrationally and c) actually see and understand who his best friend was. If that makes any sense. Which it probably doesn’t, but oh well.
So while it had some great kissing scenes, and I enjoyed some of the hanging out that Miles and Aimee got to do (especially the writing session), in the end I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for realistic 16/17 year olds, I was looking for the more mature variety (which is on me).
ON REREAD:
3 stars — Yeah, did not improve with time. I mean, at least it didn’t get worse. The thing is, the cute parts were SERIOUSLY adorable! I could see all this potential for an even better story, but there just wasn’t enough of those moments to outshine the grrr and meh.
I think the sneaking around wasn’t quite as displeasing for me, but I still wasn’t happy with Nick…like AT ALL. I think my biggest problem is that some of the various conflict felt sort of contrived and not well executed — particularly everything surrounding Aimee’s blog. Joke was not the right word. And the reactions were just not as authentic as I would have liked.
So yeah. Not a great start. Bummer.
MIA AND THE BAD BOY:
3.5 stars — This one started out much stronger than the first one, and I think a lot of that had to do with Ryder’s depth. I mean, he was still a dick, but I could at least see lots of different pieces of him behind all that…reasons, you know?
And in general I liked Ryder. I mean, from how he is with his band mates, I expected him to be a pretty hard sell, but he really did have a lot of hangups from his childhood…and I felt like I did see little bits of growth in him — and fairly believable growth. His part in the conflict/climax didn’t surprise me, and I wasn’t too mad at him. It was predictable, but I was worried he was going to say something he couldn’t come back from, and in general I don’t think he did.
Mia had her ups and downs for me. I didn’t quite get her relationship with her parents, and their expectations of her. I feel like in some ways her being Mexican American was used as a plot device for those pressures from immigrant parents. If that was the case, I kind of wish it’d been explored more. It affected so much of who Mia was, how she buried her dreams in favour of her parents dreams, how she didn’t know who she was. And I think that could have been really interesting, but I don’t feel like her story got nearly the same time and care that Ryder’s did. I liked her, she was sweet and sassy, bold and innocent. I just wanted MORE from her. And I totally wasn’t on board with her reaction after *that* night. I didn’t quite follow it, and I didn’t appreciate the way she would test Ryder.
They were pretty cute together, I especially loved the times when they were alone and Ryder could let his guard down. Between studying, singing, and just “being normal”, it was fun to watch.
The ending was entirely unbelievable and completely unexplained from Mia’s parents perspective, which is a bummer.
I was expecting not to like this one as much, just because I’m not really a bad boy girl, and Ryder was numero uno dick in the first book. So maybe my low expectations helped me enjoy it more — I love when a book surprises me in a good way. Still not wow, but definitely a step up from the first book.
DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN:
3.5 stars — There were parts of this book I really loved, and then there were parts that made me want to beat my head against the wall.
I know this publishing line often has predictability to it, and sometimes I actually like that. But the outcome of this book was predictable almost from the very beginning, and that was a bit of a bummer. It’s like you know a train wreck is going to happen, you know exactly what the train wreck is going to look like, and I think it makes it a teensy bit harder to just let go and get lost and captivated with our characters.
I guess my main bummer with all that is that Daisy hung onto the revenge thing longer than I wanted and kept coming back to it. It didn’t always feel realistic, and more like just a plot device. Similarly, Trevin hung on to the bet thing longer than I wanted. They both waffled back and forth, but then they’d jump back on the train because without those things, the conflict wouldn’t have worked. And hence predictability. I think I was more bummed with Trevin, because the way he would banter back with Ryder about the bet made him seem like a dick, and he just didn’t feel bad enough about it.
Initially I thought this one might be my fave so far, but I think the above might have affected me more than I thought. So the endless debate about rounding up or down.
When they weren’t holding on to those plot devices, I actually liked both of them. Daisy was very jaded, but I got it. And I appreciated that we got to see some growth with her relationship with her Dad and stuff. And Trevin had some very sweet moments. It was fun to watch them date, even as they had these conflicting emotions in the background. I kind of wish that we’d seen some closure between Trevin and his Dad, otherwise why was it there?
So yeah. Writing all that out, I think I’ll be rounding down. It had great potential, but I wanted it to be more.
ANYA AND THE SHY GUY:
3.5 stars — Am I the only one that is bummed that we’ll never get Will’s story? Plus, then we’re missing out on a shy guy, and I actually really like a shy guy. But maybe I’m the only one. I was a Jonathan (NKOTB) fan if that tells you anything.
I kind of love the little bits of surrounding story that were with this one — homelessness for Anya, and drug addiction for *actual* Will. We didn’t get much on either, which is a bit too bad, b/c they’re kind of prescient topics, but what can you do.
So even though we didn’t get actual Will, Matt was pretty cute himself. I appreciated how hard it must have been to play this role, with so much riding on it. And while he was not at all shy, he was still pretty sweet and actually felt closer to his age.
And Anya had a rough time of it, but it was heartwarming to see her develop that friendship with Natasha, and learn that some people are worth trust.
And their romance was pretty cute in general.
I found this one felt quicker than the others. I’m going to be pretty bummed if LJ doesn’t get his comeuppance by the end of Nathan’s book.
ABBY AND THE CUTE ONE:
4 stars — Yay! This one was my favourite! I think it’s just really hard not to love poor naïve Nathan…and Abby was pretty great too.
The thing is, I love sweet good characters. Sure, they mess up and make mistakes, but deep down they have good intentions. The thing is that Nathan was pretty young, and kind of on his own at such a young age. So I guess I could believe that he was taken advantage of by LJ. I truly bought in that he believed that the fate of the whole band was in his hands. He’s lucky that he had a certain great security chief and some awesome (if oblivious) bandmates to eventually figure things out and help him.
I loved how sweet he was, how innocent in some ways. I loved how grateful he was for the opportunity, and how, of all of them, he didn’t take it for granted.
And Abby was super sweet too! It’s not that she didn’t have fire, she did…but she was just someone easy to love. It was exciting to see her have this opportunity, even if it was tainted by other stuff happening at times.
And they were so cute together. I loved them from their first meeting to the end. I rooted for them.
I was a bit bummed that LJ’s comeuppance wasn’t dramatic and on page, but ah well…can’t have everything.
November 26, 2016
I read book one from this series a while back, and I can recall just how much I enjoyed it. It was so enthralling that I found myself wishing for more. So, of course, when I became aware of this complete series package, I knew I had to R2R it. I'm so glad I did.
Book 1 -> Aimee and the Heartthrob: (This was my original review from 3/26/15/Note: I did reread it this time around as well. It's still just as good as I remember.)
Without a doubt, this book was all kinds of sweet. I absolutely loved it! I was not expecting the story to be as engaging as it was, but it completely held me captive until the very end. Aimee and Miles were fetching.
Aimee and the Heartthrob had so many interesting characters. Ryder, Trev and Becky got my attention. I could not help but wonder what the future might bring for each one of them.
Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: Clean (mild petting & parking)
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Series Potential: Yes
Book 2 -> Mia and the Bad Boy:
Rating: 3/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA/NA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 3 -> Daisy and the Front Man:
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 4 -> Anya and the Shy Guy:
Rating: 3.5-4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 5 -> Abby and the Cute One:
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
NetGalley
Book 1 -> Aimee and the Heartthrob: (This was my original review from 3/26/15/Note: I did reread it this time around as well. It's still just as good as I remember.)
Without a doubt, this book was all kinds of sweet. I absolutely loved it! I was not expecting the story to be as engaging as it was, but it completely held me captive until the very end. Aimee and Miles were fetching.
Aimee and the Heartthrob had so many interesting characters. Ryder, Trev and Becky got my attention. I could not help but wonder what the future might bring for each one of them.
Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: Clean (mild petting & parking)
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Series Potential: Yes
Book 2 -> Mia and the Bad Boy:
Rating: 3/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA/NA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 3 -> Daisy and the Front Man:
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 4 -> Anya and the Shy Guy:
Rating: 3.5-4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
Book 5 -> Abby and the Cute One:
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: YA
Status: M
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
HEA: Yes
NetGalley
December 5, 2016
Thanks to Entangled Teen Publishing for allowing me to read this complete collection. I have read a lot of adult contemporary rockstar romance stories before. This is my first time with teen versions. And as they are about a boy band, well, that made it perfect! I am a huge New Kids on the Block fan. I've never missed a single one of their concerts in my town. In fact, a couple weeks ago I had to buy tickets to their next concert this coming summer of 2017! So the whole boy band aspect was a blast for me! All of the stories in this were really good, although the last one was not my favorite. What is perfect about having them all collected together is that it is about a boy band, and so after every story, or during each story, you want to know what will happen for the other guys in the band.
You can see my full review on Lisa Loves Literature
You can see my full review on Lisa Loves Literature
December 6, 2016
I reviewed all of these books previously, as individual books. I had the pleasure of getting ARCs of each, and I think the series as a whole deserves 4 stars! I love that they finally released it as a set.
While each book was written by a different author, it stays so consistent and flows so well that they could have all been written by one person.
I didn't even know boy band books were something I could be interested in, but it turns out I can! These were just so sweet and adorable, and just a touch of sexy at times, so that it pushes the boundaries to mature YA in certain moments. Also, they are so funny sometimes!
Ryder will always be my favorite (still a sucker for a bad boy with a good heart).
While each book was written by a different author, it stays so consistent and flows so well that they could have all been written by one person.
I didn't even know boy band books were something I could be interested in, but it turns out I can! These were just so sweet and adorable, and just a touch of sexy at times, so that it pushes the boundaries to mature YA in certain moments. Also, they are so funny sometimes!
Ryder will always be my favorite (still a sucker for a bad boy with a good heart).
May 16, 2017
Rating 4.5 of 5
This series is for any teenage (or former teenage) fangirl or fanboy. It's for anyone who ever covered their walls with posters of their favorite bands. It's for readers who spent countless hours reading Teen, Bop, and Tigerbeat to get a glimpse into the lives of their favorite musicians.
Each book of the series compliments the one published before it. They are fun, entertaining, and "take me back to my teens" books. I love recommending them to my friends.
This series is for any teenage (or former teenage) fangirl or fanboy. It's for anyone who ever covered their walls with posters of their favorite bands. It's for readers who spent countless hours reading Teen, Bop, and Tigerbeat to get a glimpse into the lives of their favorite musicians.
Each book of the series compliments the one published before it. They are fun, entertaining, and "take me back to my teens" books. I love recommending them to my friends.
December 14, 2016
Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London -4 Stars
This was absolutely adorable.
Aimee has had a crush on Miles Carlisle since she was a kid. But after learning from her brother that Miles used to make fun of her for following them around, she stopped him cold turkey. But it's kind of hard to avoid someone who is:
a. her brother's best friend, and
b. a member of the hottest boy band on the music scene - Seconds to Juliet
When her brother gets an internship to help S2J on the road, he jumps at it, and because of unforeseen circumstances, Aimee is brought along for the ride.
Miles hasn't seen Aimee in a few years. so it's no surprise that he doesn't recognize her when he first sees her. But once he does, it doesn't matter anyway because best friends' little sisters are off limits. Especially to guys like him who aren't looking for relationships after having previously been burned...twice.
Band books are one of my weaknesses. I love them. Throw in the fact that Miles is British and insert swoon here. Old crushes are rekindled, secrets are revealed, and older brothers are out for blood. Drama, music, and romance. If those sound like things you enjoy, then I'm sure you would gobble this up.
Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein - 3 Stars
I didn't like this one as much as I've liked others in this series and I think that's mostly due to pacing.
When Mia gets hired as a tutor to a member of her favorite band, she thinks it's the best thing ever. However, once she meets Ryder, she discovers that his bad boy image just means he's an asshole. As 1/5 of the hottest boy band around, Ryder can't afford to let people in. When he decides to step up and get his GED, he wants to do so in secret. Hire a tutor, have her pretend to be his girlfriend, get his GED, leave said boy band to study music at a prestigious school. Easy, right?
Wrong.
Instantly Ryder is attracted to Mia. She's spunky, doesn't put up with his shit, and smart. I'm all for instant attraction, so at least there wasn't insta love. However, the rate at which the romance progressed was extremely fast - like pages, not chapters. I get for such a short book that the author had to move the story along, but since it's contemporary fiction, make it at least believable.
This was riding at a solid two stars for me - just because I didn't feel a connection with anyone, but I bumped it up to three because of the grand gesture at the end. I'm a sucker for those type of things.
Daisy and the Front Man by Rebekah L. Purdy - 3 Stars
Daisy wins the ultimate teen dream - her favorite pop star, Trevin, is going to take her to Homecoming. She's over the moon until she gets stood up - in front of the media and everyone in town. Fuming, she starts planning her revenge. She finally gets her chance when she's forced to spend the summer with her father, who just happens to be Seconds to Juliet's main bodyguard. Trevin is in her sights, now she just need to find a way to humiliate him like he did her.
Meanwhile, Trevin has no idea why his bodyguard's daughter hates him immediately. So he makes a bet with a fellow bandmate that he can get Daisy to fall for him. Obviously this is a good idea. Not.
This book had it's cutesy moments and I liked Trevin for the most part. But I had issues with Daisy. While I get that her fangirl heart was broken, why not confront him and ask what happened? No, instead she sulks that he doesn't remember her or what happened. I don't know. Maybe I'm just being too harsh on her, but I felt that she was extremely childish about the entire situation. And her revenge plan? Make him fall for her to crush him later...how does this make you a better person?
I think Trevin can do better, but eh...
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner - 3 Stars
Anya Anderson hasn't had the best life. She's been homeless since she was a kid, bouncing in and out of shelters just trying to survive. After publishing an article on homelessness, she gets a job touring with the hottest boy band in the industry. She has one job, follow Will Fray around and find out some interesting dirt. All she has to do is keep her own secrets and find out Will's. That turns out to be easier said than done.
Will Fray isn't...well, he isn't Will Fray. His name is Matt and he's Will's twin brother. Matt is covering for his twin while Will is in rehab. No one besides one other band member know this and the last thing Matt needs is some reporter poking around trying to find his deepest secrets. His goal: Keep Anya away from anything too personal.
This is the fourth in a series and the first one I've actually read. It was a fun read. There were qualities in each that I liked. Matt was loyal to his family and willing to sacrifice everything so that no one knew what his brother was going through. When he realizes that he's falling for Anya, his internal struggle to tell her the truth begins to wear on him. He was both endearing and frustrating. But with Anya being a reporter, you could tell why he was reluctant to be honest.
Then there was Anya. I liked her strength and her determination. She had a crappy life and saw a way out of it, even temporarily. When she starts developing feelings for Matt, who she still thinks is Will, she has to weigh out just how important selling secrets is to what she's feeling for Matt.
The book includes adorable dates and interactions between the two giving us time to watch their relationship grow. The drama was predictable, but I don't think we read these types of books for the suspense. Ultimately, we know the ending. It's just the in-between parts that we're interested in.
Abby and the Cute One by Erin Butler - 3 Stars
What a cute ending to this set.
Nathan has been labeled the "cute one" of Seconds to Juliet. Being the only one single left in the group, management has been leaning on him hard to boost their social media ratings. The brilliant idea - have him "date" other celebrities but not settle down. Nathan is willing to do it if it saves the band, but then he meets Abby.
Abby is the newest opening act for S2J and she knows the rule - don't get involved with anyone in the band. But there's a connection with Nathan that she just can't seem to ignore. With neither of them willing to put their careers in jeopardy, they embark on a game of hide the feelings and try to be friends.
This was probably the least dramatic of the bunch with me only getting slightly frustrated with how they let LJ, their manager, control every aspect of their lives. I'm so glad that the other guys finally realized what was going on and they stood up to LJ and really had each others back.
A very fun series and quick to read.
I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
November 24, 2016
via netgalley
overall good read.
overall good read.
January 31, 2017
Aimee and The Heartthrob by Ophelia London
I have to say I wasn't into this book at all!! It was very predictable! It had its moments where it was good but it was really not my thing a little slow! Not much of a interesting storyline!
Mia and The Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein
I really did enjoy this book, so much better than the first book. The only thing I can say is that neither one of these books in the series had much of that roller coaster feel it's all pretty mellow with one big issue that is quickly resolved!
Daisy And The Front Man by Rebekah Purdy
Loved this book it had more of a story that went really smooth and keep ya guessing!
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner
This book is just like the other books even if it was written by a different author! This was a very predictable book it really sucks that it wasn't will falling in love!
I have to say I wasn't into this book at all!! It was very predictable! It had its moments where it was good but it was really not my thing a little slow! Not much of a interesting storyline!
Mia and The Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein
I really did enjoy this book, so much better than the first book. The only thing I can say is that neither one of these books in the series had much of that roller coaster feel it's all pretty mellow with one big issue that is quickly resolved!
Daisy And The Front Man by Rebekah Purdy
Loved this book it had more of a story that went really smooth and keep ya guessing!
Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner
This book is just like the other books even if it was written by a different author! This was a very predictable book it really sucks that it wasn't will falling in love!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2017
Just couldn't get into it
Not my cup of tea. I found it predictable, and superficial. But might be a good light read for someone.
Not my cup of tea. I found it predictable, and superficial. But might be a good light read for someone.
December 7, 2016
When I read the blurb for this book on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. I LOVE rock star romance. This book hit all my loves in this genre of romance, not just once by 5 separate times.
I absolutely loved the romance in these fabulous stories! Each was well written and sucked me in and would not let me out until I finished each and every one. Watching these young couples come together was awesome. My heart fell for each of these guys while I was reading these stories. Well, that is the idea, is it not, to fall for the hero of the story? My only problem, I had to imagine them as quite a bit older, seeing as I am old enough to be their mom. I would be proud to have any of them as a son. They were just that awesome.
If you are looking for great stories about young love, stories about rock stars, then this book is certainly for you!
Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for gifting me with the opportunity to read these fabulous stories. Keep up the fabulous work!!!
Thank you for reading my review
I absolutely loved the romance in these fabulous stories! Each was well written and sucked me in and would not let me out until I finished each and every one. Watching these young couples come together was awesome. My heart fell for each of these guys while I was reading these stories. Well, that is the idea, is it not, to fall for the hero of the story? My only problem, I had to imagine them as quite a bit older, seeing as I am old enough to be their mom. I would be proud to have any of them as a son. They were just that awesome.
If you are looking for great stories about young love, stories about rock stars, then this book is certainly for you!
Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for gifting me with the opportunity to read these fabulous stories. Keep up the fabulous work!!!
Thank you for reading my review
December 6, 2016
I received this box set via Net Gallery in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed reading these stories about each boy from S2J. Getting to experience each boy falling in love. Each boy was different and it was cool reading there experience within being in the band. I would have liked an actual book on Will thought. I know we got read about his brother Matt but would have been nice to actually get to know Will "the Shy one" and what he went through. I think there could have been a good story there.
It was hard not to fall in love with each boy. Even though each of the boys were different and Ryder being a pain, they had a strong connection between them as a band. They were more then a band they were brothers, a family that would do anything for each other.
I would recommend this series.
I really enjoyed reading these stories about each boy from S2J. Getting to experience each boy falling in love. Each boy was different and it was cool reading there experience within being in the band. I would have liked an actual book on Will thought. I know we got read about his brother Matt but would have been nice to actually get to know Will "the Shy one" and what he went through. I think there could have been a good story there.
It was hard not to fall in love with each boy. Even though each of the boys were different and Ryder being a pain, they had a strong connection between them as a band. They were more then a band they were brothers, a family that would do anything for each other.
I would recommend this series.
December 3, 2016
I liked the stories and thought that the stories and writing styles worked well together. I read them all one after the other which was good. There were probably a few inconsistencies not quite sure.
Overall I thought the stories were cute rather than a bit gritty that I would have preferred, but there's good well developed characters. There were some good themes covered but again it was cute and maybe a bit more realness would be good.
But it's rare that a series with different authors that is so closely woven works well and this does that.
Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
Overall I thought the stories were cute rather than a bit gritty that I would have preferred, but there's good well developed characters. There were some good themes covered but again it was cute and maybe a bit more realness would be good.
But it's rare that a series with different authors that is so closely woven works well and this does that.
Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
December 5, 2016
It is definitely hard to review a box set, but I am going to review as best I can as a set.
If you are looking for something quick, light and easy to read, this is perfect for you. These stories are so cute. I read through them so quickly. They definitely held my interest.
The thing I had a little trouble with is that I felt like rather than a cohesive series, I felt like I was reading a bunch of standalones that could be related to one another. There were quite a few inconsistencies in the characters and storylines.
However, that being said, I would still recommend this series. It definitely made me smile.
If you are looking for something quick, light and easy to read, this is perfect for you. These stories are so cute. I read through them so quickly. They definitely held my interest.
The thing I had a little trouble with is that I felt like rather than a cohesive series, I felt like I was reading a bunch of standalones that could be related to one another. There were quite a few inconsistencies in the characters and storylines.
However, that being said, I would still recommend this series. It definitely made me smile.
December 6, 2016
Backstage Pass box set was five stories of band members falling in love. The members were quite young, still high school age. These books were well written and entertaining. I thought the books would be more appropriate for a young adult age. Each author did a fantastic job on their books, they kept them light and easy reading with a sweet romance in each book.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I received from
Net Galley and Entangled Publishing.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I received from
Net Galley and Entangled Publishing.
January 5, 2017
Honestly I liked the series. It was overall cute. I mean cheesy but I somehow enjoyed most of the novels. And I was on a ya cheesy book binge read thing, so it was sort of what I wanted.
Anyway I'll be reviewing each book separately, so yeah. All in all, if you want a predictable romance check this series out. Also be forewarned that there are some intimate scenes (not in all of the books) and language throughout.
Anyway I'll be reviewing each book separately, so yeah. All in all, if you want a predictable romance check this series out. Also be forewarned that there are some intimate scenes (not in all of the books) and language throughout.
December 6, 2016
It's been a while since my teenage years but the Backstage Pass series took me back there for a brief visit. First crush, first love, first heartbreak are all relived though the pages of this awesome series. Talk about living vicariously. I'm not ashamed to admit Aimee, Mia, Daisy, Anya and Abby had me wishing for those days of carefree fun.
January 8, 2017
Great concept!!
What a fun, flirty read! I loved the collaborative nature of five women writing a series together, blending their styles and building off of each other! Each story was unique and creative. Just kept imagining One Direction the whole time.
What a fun, flirty read! I loved the collaborative nature of five women writing a series together, blending their styles and building off of each other! Each story was unique and creative. Just kept imagining One Direction the whole time.
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