Rockin' & Reviewing: Promo Tour

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Promo and Review: Falling Stars by J.L. Brooks - Empress DJ

Drugs, Sex, & EDM

It had all the makings of a perfect plot, and for bestselling author Lila Keaton-it was a hedonistic past she kept hidden far away. Many nights were spent crossing the velvet rope, dancing until dawn and bedding one of the worlds biggest DJ’s, Hunter Michaels AKA Arial Assault.

When Lila’s agent uncovers her thrilling secret, it appears as if nothing is off limits when it comes to pitching the story, whether Lila wants to tell it or not. Despite knowing her reluctance is career suicide, she cannot bring herself to open her heart once more to the man who nearly destroyed it.

Given the opportunity to escape her predicament, Hunter attempts to reconcile the pain he has caused, and rekindle the passion that was abandoned long ago. When a series of events causes history to repeat itself, Lila sets off unaccompanied through out the west to test her boundaries with the sensual and surreal, and ultimately come face to face with the only thing that can keep her from falling.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

“I was being a fool. My own reservations about the kind of person I was would never let me be happy with anyone ever. I would always find an excuse as to why it wouldn’t work to protect my heart from getting hurt.”

“Where you come from is not nearly as important as where you are going, and in my world the underdog stands a chance at being somebody. This is what I remember, and what I will take with me to the grave.”

“Looking back I could feel the conflict of leaving what was familiar for what was possible, consciously weighing out which regret to carry.”

My Review:

From beginning to end, the entire time I was reading this novel, I could not make up my mind if I liked it or not. I frequently felt… annoyed, and a bit on edge. I was annoyed with the story as well as the main character. While the writing was interesting, it seemed a bit choppy, as if it was written as a screenplay, often jumping abruptly from scene to scene without closure or continuity. The story was also incompletely presented – like I had missed part of the conversation, or there was a private joke that I was assumed to know - but didn’t - which had me uncomfortable. I could not seem to shake an under-current of unease or of being unsettled while reading. Add to that, I could not seem to care for the main character. She seemed more than a bit of a shrew, unable to be ever be satisfied, always pushing to the extreme edge, immature, self-centered, spoiled, and lazy. I felt sorry for those she come into contact with as she made odd choices and rash decisions. When the story finally took a more uplifting turn, damn, a dramatic cliffhanger, I wish someone had warned me… I huffed in disgust and was cranky for the rest of the day.

Empress DJ