What chance does a small-town girl have with a world-famous rock star?
Famous in a Small Town, the all-new rock-star-next-door romance, from New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott, is out now!
I received this book for free from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Famous in a Small Town by Kylie ScottPublished by Kylie Scott on April 7, 2022
Genres: Adult Rock Star Romance
Pages: 219
Source: Social Butterfly PR
Format: E-galley
My Rating:
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Blurb:
Two years after his wife’s death, rock star Garrett Hayes hasn’t moved on. But he has moved out of L.A. Where better to escape his past than a small town in the Northern California mountains? If only he could get the townsfolk of Wildwood to leave him the hell alone.
Ani Bennet returned to her hometown for some much-needed serenity. The last thing she needs is a grumpy, too hot for his own good, rich and famous rock star living next door—and rent-free in her brain.
She set her fangirl tendencies aside and deleted his photo off her cell when they became neighbors. But when Garrett asks for help, she can’t say no. The problem is, spending time together is making those fangirl feelings resurface—and bringing them to a whole new level.
What chance does a small-town girl have with world-famous rock star? It’s time for Ani to set her fears aside and find out.
Rock out today!
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Apple Books: https://apple.co/3vgFwJx
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/Famous
Nook: https://bit.ly/3IraTVu
Kobo: https://bit.ly/35ziNxO
Alternative Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3JdyIQq
Alternative Nook Paperback: https://bit.ly/3iPNOkc
Excerpt
My new neighbor arrived at midnight on a Thursday. First came the moving truck, followed by a Jeep Wrangler. Mrs. Cooper, the former owner of the house, passed a while back. A damn shame. The woman was not only nice, but she made biscuits like you wouldn’t believe. For years the grand old Victorian house sat empty at the end of the cul-de-sac. Not unusual for a small town. Few people wanted to move to the middle of nowhere in Northern California, no matter how picturesque it might be. While the place had been sold not long after listing, there’d been no sighting of the new owner until now.
“What the heck?” I mumbled to myself, standing at the window.
Who moved in the middle of the night? It seemed covert and suspicious. Like something a criminal or government agent would do. Although, maybe they just traveled far and this happened to be the time they arrived. But most people would stay at a hotel and wait for daylight to do this sort of thing. Surely.
The only things ever happening at midnight in Wildwood were: 1. Harry, the town drunk, performing Bob Dylan classics in the middle of Main Street. 2. Me, an insomniac, wandering aimlessly around my house. That was it. Everyone else in the whole wide world—or our corner of it—was fast asleep.
Half hidden behind a curtain, I watched the truck being unloaded. A full moon shone down through the pine trees as the moving men hauled stuff inside. The first guy, the one who drove the Jeep, went straight into the house. He was tall and wore a ball cap. That was about all I could see. Maybe he was setting the place up for his wife and family. Maybe he had a boyfriend. He couldn’t possibly be single, heterosexual, under sixty, and emotionally mature. My luck just wasn’t that good. Not that I intended to date again in this lifetime.
Whoever he was and whatever he was doing, it would all be known in due course. Such was the joy of small-town life.
Once the furniture was moved inside, things got a little dull. There’s not much you can tell about a person from their boxes.
I took the opportunity to once again check the locks on all my windows and doors. After that, I made a cup of chamomile tea. Neither of these things helped me sleep, but the rituals were soothing. Mom always said I had a busy mind. I didn’t necessarily think about anything useful, I just thought a lot. At night, I tended to think about books, bad memories, and ex-boyfriends. The last two were often one and the same.
As a child, I was the daydreamer who got busted humming in class when everyone else was concentrating. (Like anybody actually needed algebra. If you can work out the discount at a sale, you’re good to go. Then again, this attitude might explain why my life had gone approximately nowhere.)
I returned to the window just in time to see my mystery man reappear. The new neighbor strode out to the Jeep and opened up the back. When he once more headed toward the house, the ball cap was gone and his short hair was on display. In each hand he carried a guitar case.
I perked up. Musicians were cool. Unless he owned electric guitars and believed in turning the volume up to eleven. That could get old fast.
As he got closer to the house, the porchlight hit him and…huh. Something about his profile tugged at a memory.
Guess he felt my gaze, because he turned toward my place. And whoa. His lips were a thin line, his jaw set to cranky, and none of it mattered—the man was beautiful. Though he really was strangely familiar.
Meanwhile, with only a lamp on behind me, I couldn’t have been more than an outline. A shadowy person lurking in the dark. Great. Nothing like being spied on to make you feel welcome in your new neighborhood. So much better than a casserole or cookies.
Wait! I knew where I recognized him from. Only it couldn’t be, because that would be crazy. Absolutely fucking wild. Yet there he stood.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
My new neighbor was a goddamn rock star.
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My Review
Kylie Scott knows how to write a rock star hero. She writes the broody ones, she writes the goofy ones that are my favorite, she writes them all. In this story we get the broody one for our hero with the goofy one for his band-mate. In a way this was a little bit simpler story than others by this author. Not in a bad way. And not saying that the characters had nothing going on. Both had issues in their pasts that made them understandably reluctant to get into a new relationship. I loved the small town, and the people and the way they were willing to take in Garrett and make him a part of their family. I also liked the way he was able to see them for the good people they were and give them a chance, as well as jumping in and becoming a bigger part of the town and helping in the ways he could.
While things did seem to move a little quicker than would be expected, even when they said they were taking things slow, it mostly worked for me. I mean even if Ani was a little younger, Garrett had enough experience and had already had the love of his life and knew what he wanted his life to be like. So when he found someone that made him feel things again, want to be alive and part of the world again, he knew to give in and be a part of it all.
I don’t know that we’ll get stories for other members of this band that was possibly getting back together in the end, but there are some good characters if so. Especially since Smith is thinking of moving there himself. And I’d read them all! Even if one of the band members was kind of a jerk to Ani, so he’ll have to redeem himself.
About the Author
Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014 & 2018, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.
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I haven’t read many books about rock stars, but this sounds good. Especially as it’s set in a small town.
I don’t read a lot of rock star romances, but Kylie Scott’s books I will always read!