Title: More Than Music (Chasing the Dream #1)
Author: Elizabeth Briggs
Date of Publication: June 17, 2014
Genre: contemporary NA romance
Blurb:
Music
major Maddie Taylor just finished her junior year of college and has a
summer internship lined up with the LA Philharmonic, yet every night she
practices guitar and secretly dreams of a louder life. But geeky girls
like her don't get to be rock stars. That is, until tattooed singer
Jared Cross catches her playing guitar and invites her to join his band
on The Sound, a reality TV show competition.
Once on the show, Maddie discovers there’s more to
Jared than his flirty smile and bad boy reputation – and that he’s just
as big a geek as she is. With each performance their attraction becomes
impossible to ignore, but when the show pressures them to stay single
they’re forced to keep their relationship secret.
As the competition heats up, Jared will do whatever it
takes for his band to win, and Maddie must decide if following her dream
is worth losing her heart.
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.
Excerpt:
Jared’s
guitar was beautiful, with a smooth white faceplate, gleaming struts, and a
shiny fingerboard. My fingers itched to touch the silvery strings, to form a
chord and let it ring out through the amp, to hear what it sounded like without
all the other instruments accompanying it. And if I was honest, I wanted to
close my eyes and pretend I was on stage, playing for a crowd, hearing them
scream for me. The longing I felt every time I went to a concert stirred up in
me again. It wouldn’t hurt if I played one chord, right? That was it. One
chord, and I’d put it back. No one would ever know.
Before
I could stop myself, I picked up the guitar and threw the strap over my head.
It settled against my shoulder, and with one hand on the fret board and the
other on the strings, I was home. I closed my eyes, picturing Jared when he was
on stage and how his talented fingers had moved across the guitar. I imagined
him singing my favorite song of theirs, “Behind the Mask,” and the words and
notes melted together in my head. I strummed the guitar, the sound ringing from
the amp, the vibrations traveling up the ground and into my feet. God, I loved
this guitar. It sounded just as good as my own, if not better.
Now
that I had the guitar in my hands, the compulsion to play was irresistible.
What was one more chord, right? I was alone and the room was soundproof. The
door had locked behind me. Kyle was dealing with Becca, and he’d given me
permission to come in here anyway.
I
knew it was a bad idea. I knew I should put the guitar down and walk out of the
room. But I started strumming anyway.
I was
hesitant at first, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. My hands found the
chords automatically, and the words flowed out of me with the music.
Exhilaration swept through me with each note, and I closed my eyes and let the
song take me away. Soon I was belting out the words, shredding the guitar like
I was on stage playing for a massive crowd. I’d never do this in front of
anyone else, but here, alone with this guitar, I could pretend. I could let
myself go.
And
then I opened my eyes and wanted to die.
Jared
stood in front of me, his eyes wide and mouth open slightly. He must have come
in while I was playing. How much did he hear? Or worse, see?
My
fingers slipped off the strings with a screech, and I nearly dropped the
guitar. Thank god for the strap. “I’m so sorry. Kyle gave me the key and I was
just—”
There
was no way to explain what was going on, so I shut up. I’d been singing his
lyrics, playing the song he’d written. Not to mention, I’d been using his
guitar. That was like wearing someone else’s underwear. You didn’t just play
another person’s guitar without their permission.
I
yanked the guitar off and tried to put it back, but knocked the stand over
instead. Hands shaking, it took me two tries to right it again, all while Jared
stood there, gaping at me. Why didn’t he say anything? Was he so angry he
couldn’t speak? I set the guitar down carefully, then backed away like it was
on fire—and ran straight into the drum set. Cymbals crashed as I fell against
it, knocking the equipment all over the floor. Great, now he must think I’m a
stalker and a complete klutz. I jumped up too fast, and my legs were so
unsteady I started to topple over toward the table. Jared caught me before we
had another disaster, his hands gripping my arms to balance me.
“You
okay?” he asked, his blue eyes holding mine and making my heart pound even
faster. If I stared into those eyes too long, I’d fall into them completely.
My Review:
This book totally captured my attention. I had the hardest time putting it down. I loved the conflict that Maddie had within herself and between other characters. I loved the continuous mentions of comics and all the things related to those, the quotes, the shirts, etc. And Jared. Jared, I fell in love with him. His own conflict, which was harder to see through Maddie's view point, was still there. The way that the TV show in the book, The Sound, reminded me of The Voice, was wonderful. The difference being that The Voice is not with bands but individual singers. I love the music mentioned throughout all of it. It was like I could picture the characters feelings through the songs, along with their conflicts.
This book totally deserves 5 stars. I wanted to be Maddie Taylor, as Jared became my new book boyfriend.
About Elizabeth Briggs
Elizabeth
Briggs is a Young Adult and New Adult author who lives in Los Angeles
with her British husband and a bunch of fluffy white rescue dogs. She's a
guitar-playing geek who loves books, rock music, and video games, goes
to Comic Con every year, and is still hoping to be a Jedi when she grows
up.
Elizabeth currently works with WriteGirl
to mentor at-risk or pregnant teen girls in writing, to help them get
through high school and into college. She also volunteers with Bichon FurKids
to help rescued dogs find a new, loving home. She previously worked as
an intern for literary agent Jill Corcoran of Jill Corcoran Literary
Agency, an intern for Entangled Publishing, and an editor for Curiosity
Quills Press.
Elizabeth is represented by Kate Schafer Testerman of KT Literary and is a member of SCBWI and RWA.
Website: http://www.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.
Pinterest: http://www.
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