Blog Tour Review: The Vinyl Frontier (Lessons Learned #4) by Lola West

Posted May 16, 2023 by Lisa Mandina in Blog Tour, Review / 8 Comments

The Vinyl Frontier, an all-new opposites attract college romance from USA Today bestselling author Lola West, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blog Tour Review: The Vinyl Frontier (Lessons Learned #4) by Lola WestThe Vinyl Frontier by Lola West
Series: Lessons Learned Book #4
Published by Smartypants Romance on May 4, 2023
Genres: NA Contemporary Romance
Pages: 268
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
My Rating: five-stars
Goodreads

Blurb:

What happens when an uptight preppy frat boy sets his sights on a punk rock princess? #superherolevelchaos

Zack Worthington’s life is a carefully curated performance. Controlled by his politician father, he stands on his mark and recites his lines. There’s no room for deviation, no time for comic books and no patience for obscure Trekkie facts. He’s all business, polished to a shine–the sparkling jewel in his father’s crown.

Then one night, Zack lays eyes on a girl he can’t unsee…

Open minded, self-sufficient, Deaf drummer, Molly Mills is working hard to find her rhythm in a competitive college music program. She’s driven to prove herself to nearly everyone, even while living off of packaged noodles and thrift-store clothing.

Watching her alone on the dance floor, punky, free and wild, Zack told himself that opposites attract was totally not a real thing. But a couple days later when he realizes he’s the teaching assistant in her research methodologies class, he can’t ignore his instincts. He has to know her.

Only Molly isn’t interested in his platitudes and superficial chit-chat.

Suddenly, all bets are off because this buttoned up, rule-following rich guy actually wants to be more than meets the eye…

‘The Vinyl Frontier’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #4 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Grab your copy TODAY!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3kfKjYP

Amazon UK: https://bit.ly/3XRvf12

Amazon CA: https://bit.ly/3SlpDuP

Amazon AU: https://bit.ly/3Ipf7hE

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3Y78dDL

Excerpt

Leaning against the wall, I nursed my soda and watched the growing crowd. The event seemed to be somewhat of a success. And it was sort of magical to watch people dance in utter silence. Even though they heard music, the fact that you couldn’t hear it completely reframed their movements. Strangely, dancers without music were akin to astronauts without gravity—floating in a way that felt impossible to understand.

I glanced at my watch, noticing we were closing in on the hour I’d promised, and I was considering rounding up my crew when she walked in and took my breath away. She was a little pixie of a thing, five feet at most. Her hair was dark, and there was tons of it, long and silky, and in an enticing disarray. She also had huge eyes, giant slightly buggy saucers she outlined in thick, dark liner. She wasn’t curvy or busty. She wasn’t classically pretty in any way, but something about her was utterly magnetic. She reminded me of Arwen from Lord of the Rings, downright ethereal. 

She strolled with purpose to the headphone guy, pointed to a pair, silently questioning if she was free to just take them. He nodded, smiling at her in a way that made me uniquely unhappy. I didn’t often find myself concerned with the way strange men flirted with a woman I’d never met, and, honestly, I was sort of shocked by my reaction. I even cleared my throat like I had something to say. To whom, I am not exactly sure, but watching him talk to her made me want to rant at someone. 

The only thing keeping my irrational response in check was her total indifference. At first, she seemed to listen with great intensity as he pointed to the parts and explained the headphones, watching his mouth as he spoke, but when he handed them to her, she gave him a tight smile, tipped her head in thanks, and immediately walked away without having said anything.

I watched her back as she approached the dance floor. She was wearing jeans, a black band T-shirt and black Converse. Her overall look was plain but also punky. Once she picked her spot, she half-faced me again, and then grasped the headphones between her thighs as she twisted her hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Hair fixed, she fussed with the headphones for a bit before putting them on, instantly becoming a punky Princess Leia. 

I was into her, drawn to her in a way that didn’t make sense. She wasn’t part of the plan. I was one hundred percent sure my father, senior senator in the U.S. Congress, would not approve. This was not the kind of girl who stood next to you on the podium as you swore to uphold the law. This was the kind of girl who went with you to the county fair, screamed something profane from the top of the Ferris wheel, and licked the cotton candy off her fingers.

She looked like normal and wild all rolled into one. I bet she hung out in her dorm room with friends eating junk food and wearing pajamas. Her life was regular, the kind of life where you borrowed your parents’ car to run to the store and decorated your childhood bedroom with posters of your favorite bands. I was not this kind of person, not at all. 

Tranced out watching her, I didn’t hear Ashton next to me until he said, “Huh, I never would have thought punky was your type.”

“She’s not,” I said, my voice calm and completely even. Luckily, I was not easy to fluster. 

“Say what you will, but I’ve known you three years, Zack, and I’ve never seen you watch a woman the way you were just watching that one.”

My Review

This book grabbed me from the first few pages and I was hooked! It’s so hard to review right now because I loved it so much I don’t know what all to say! While I’ve been reading more books lately with characters that have some sort of disability, this one about a girl who was deaf really blew me away. I learned some really interesting things about how the deaf community may consider certain things rude that for the hearing world wouldn’t be considered that way. I also really enjoyed how much Molly just lived her life and didn’t let her deafness define her other than just that it was a part of her.

And then there was Zack. Gah, such a sweet guy, who just really didn’t know how to be himself because of how or should I say who his father was. He tried so hard with Molly, making so many mistakes, some understandable, others just cute/funny, and still one or two just terrible. While I understood Molly’s feelings about when his dad just showed up that morning, I also disagree with her a bit, because who wants that to be your first meeting with the dad of your current date/relationship, especially knowing what she knew about him from Zack’s stories.

I loved Zack’s nerdiness and how Molly had fun with him with their texting and teasing with the pop culture references. Although I disagree again with her, and maybe a lot of people, because I never really liked Kylo Ren. I always thought of him as a bad guy. Whereas I definitely had moments where I felt for Draco Malfoy and wanted to see him maybe change. I mean Kylo had good parents. Draco had a horrible father, so who had more reason to behave the way they did? Lol, sorry for the ramble on my nerdy opinions.

But this story will probably end up being one of my favorites of the month, if not the year. I keep thinking about so many bits and pieces. I definitely love some of Zack’s mistakes with his signing, like what he mistakenly signed instead of pink. Highly recommend this one, and hoping to read more by this author in the future!

About the Author

Lola West writes short, sweet, smart, silly, sexy romance. With a PhD in women’s studies and a flair for the dramatic, Lola likes to keep it real.  Her loves are cotton candy, astronomy, kitten heels and small-town hunks. Lola’s heroes make you swoon and her heroines talk back. Also, she believes that consent is always sexy, even in books.

You can learn more about Lola by visiting lolawestromance.com and find a FREE READ or  you can find her hanging out all over the internet.

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