Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning
published by Sourcebooks in October 2010
Five stunning guys, one hot woman, and a feverish romance...
For him, life is all music and no play...
When Brian Sinclair, lead songwriter and guitarist of the hottest metal band on the scene, loses his creative spark, it will take nights of downright sinful passion to release his pent-up genius...
She's the one to call the tune...
When sexy psychologist Myrna Evans goes on tour with the Sinners, every boy in the band tries to seduce her. But Brian is the only one she wants to get her hands on...
Then the two lovers' wildly shocking behavior sparks the whole band to new heights of glory...and sin...
Genre: Erotica romance
Series: Sinners on Tour series, Book #1
The Story: Myrna Evans is a professor at Kansas City University with a PhD in psychology and her expertise in human sexuality. She is in Chicago to attend a conference when she meets Brian Sinclair, the lead guitarist of the very popular and successful rock band Sinners - one of her favorites. Unable to resist, Myrna embarks into two days of sex and sin.
Brian was nursing a broken heart when he met Myrna, but she quickly made him forget everything. Not only is the sex hot, but Myrna also inspires Brian. Quickly, Brian realizes that the few days they had together is not enough and he wants more. Unfortunately, Myrna has been burned in the past by a bad marriage and all she wants is having a good time with Brian. Can he change her mind?
My Opinion: Backstage Pass is not a book I would normally pick up - not only because I read very few erotica romance, but also because I'm not much into music and even less into rock music ^_^; However, Sourcebooks was promoting Ms Cunning by offering Backstage Pass as a free e-book and so far, her Sinners on Tour series has received quite a buzz on blogland. So I thought why not? :)
I have to say, I'm really surprised at how much I enjoyed Backstage Pass, because I really didn't think I would. What won me over was Brian and his bandmates :) Their boyish attitudes, their love for music and their enjoyment of life. I really enjoyed the friendship between Brian and the guys, how they teased each other but also how they looked out for each other. The dynamic between them was very interesting and made the book for me. I liked how the guys all welcomed Myrna once they realized she made Brian happy :) Really, their lives are over the top with women (and men) throwing themselves at them and obviously, they indulged themselves. They come across as a bit crude, rough and crazy... and yet at the core of it, they know what's important and values the right things in my opinion.
I also thought Brian was very cute. He was a mix of bad boy, but also cute and naive at the same time, the romantic his friends called him :) The sulking when Myrna had to go away just made me go awwww. Also, he was right when he said he's been the one compromising in this relationship. Very often, he walked a fine line between his attitude being cute or being annoying, but in the end, I really liked him :)
In contrast, Myrna didn't impact me as much as the heroine. She wasn't as cute as Brian as she was the mature one in this relationship and that's okay. The problem for me was just the character herself. Like she is a trained psychologist and specializes in human sexuality and yet, she is still haunted by her ex-husband calling her a whore and such. She enjoys sex a lot, but at the same time, there was a naïveté that didn't seem to match her knowledge. I just felt her character was very contradictory. If she had been anything else than a PhD in psychology with her expertise in human sexuality, then yes, her character would have worked very well... but because of what she is? Then, yeah, to me it didn't make much sense.
Another issue I had with Backstage Pass was that Ms Cunning introduced a lot of conflicts, but they were all half-developed or too easily resolved. For example, Brian has been playing music since he was in his teens and had always wanted recognition from his legend of a father and never gotten it... and then, just a few words from Myrna and voila, papa is very proud. Trey actually being in love with Brian, Myrna's ex-husband, etc. In my opinion, it would have been better if she'd introduce only a few and really focused on them. In this case, it just feels like Ms Cunning is throwing conflicts in just for the kicks of it ^_^;
All in all though, I enjoyed this book much more than I expected :) As I said, I loved the boys - they're the ones that made the book for me :) I also liked the behind-the-scenes feel, what it's like for a rock band on their tour - the bus, the fast food, the number of people involved. LOL at the Sinners being slobs - why doesn't that surprise me? Them "reserving" the bedrooms in the buses was cute. It was simply a fun book, one that you read without thinking about it too much... and the sex was definitively HOT :)
My Grade: B-. I'm debating whether to read Rock Hard or not. I really want to see more of Sed and the boys, but I'm not sure about the heroine ^_^; Whenever Trey, Evan and Jace have their books out though, I'm picking them!
