Rock Redemption: Rock Kiss, Book 3

Author: Nalini Singh
Book Name: Rock Redemption
Series: Rock Kiss
Order: 3
Genre: Romance
Rating:  Excellent




Blurb:  Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness…until the night Noah deliberately shattered her heart.

Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music. It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night. Chasing oblivion through endless one-night-stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and his bad boy reputation.

When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.

Review:  This is how you do broken beautifully.  Seriously.  There just aren’t many books with truly broken characters that I like quite as much as I like Noah.  He is seriously messed up, in a way that makes your heart want to bleed for him, and even though he thinks he is destroyed, he isn’t.  He still has heart and is willing to try.  There is no letting the brokenness be all that there is, but it is also absolutely there and a part of who he is, not written off or made to be a nothing bit of just history.  That is what makes it beautiful.

It would be easy to say that Kit’s character isn’t as strong personality wise, but hers is a quite, subtle strength that isn’t in your face.  It almost comes at you from behind the scenes, but it is a critical element to support and balance out Noah’s much stronger, obvious presence.

I think that what I love the most about this book (and it is similar in the other books in this series) is that the romantic relationship isn’t all perfect hearts and flowers and rainbow farts.  It gets a little gritty and ugly, but even with that, Noah and Kit are all about working through the ugly to get to keep the beautiful.  You may have those moments that are difficult trials and end up in the characters needing a bit of space, but they aren’t blown out into ridiculous proportions.  They are just real moments that need to be worked through.  Just really loved this all the way around.