Review: Music of the Heart by Katie Ashley

Title: Music of the Heart (Runaway Train #1)
Author: Katie Ashley
Publication date: March 24th 2013
Source: Purchased from BooktologyPH
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



For Abby Renard, the plan was supposed to be simple—join her brothers’ band on the last leg of their summer tour and decide if she’s finally ready for the limelight by becoming its fourth member. Of course, she never imagined stumbling onto the wrong tour bus at Rock Nation would accidentally land her in the bed of Jake Slater, the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train. When he mistakes her for one of his groupie’s, Abby quickly lets him know she sure as hell isn't in his bed on purpose.

Jake Slater never imagined the angel who fell into his bed would resist his charms by promptly kneeing him in the balls. Of course, the fact she seems like a prissy choir girl makes her anything but his type. So he is more than surprised when after betting Abby she wouldn’t last a week on their tour bus, she is more than willing to prove him wrong. But as Jake’s personal life begins to implode around him, he finds an unlikely ally in Abby. He’s never met a woman he can talk to, joke with, or most importantly make music with.

As the week starts comes to a close, neither Abby nor Jake is ready to let go. Can a sweetheart Country songstress and a bad boy of Rock N Roll actually have a future together?

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

I am going to confess that even though all I have been hearing about Katie Ashley are praises, this is my first time reading her books... and I am so glad that I saved my self and lost my Katie Ashley V-card to her Runaway Train series. I absolutely loved Abby and Jake's relationship, the constant snipes and quips between each other  and their obvious chemistry really brought their story to life but more than that, Music of the Heart swells with so many different emotions that will definitely guarantee that you will feel and experience all of them.

I have never been one for first impressions when it comes to pretty much everything (haha) but while I was reading the scene wherein Abby and Jake meet for the very first time, I instantly knew that this book caught me hook, line and sinker. It was right then that I fell in love with Abby, that is right, I am totally girl-crushing on her. It was also then that the former non-existent sexual tension between Jake and Abby started to slowly take shape and turn into an awkward but bold elephant in the room.

It is no secret that I have a thing for feisty heroines, and Abby Renard is as feisty and fierce as they come. Though she may come from a religious background (and is also still firmly holding on to her v-card), Abby more than knows how to have fun and she certainly gives as good she gets. And though an underlying sense of innocence does surround her, she knows what the reality is and does not live in a naive wonderland filled with good Christian boy and cute little puppies; she has had to live in different and "exotic" places that most people would not want to imagine and that is what I love about her, she is just so real and her awareness towards her surroundings makes her smarter than most protagonists who choose to have tunnel vision for only their Prince Charming. Abby is also very down to earth and is very accepting of people, she is not judgemental and gives people the benefit of the doubt. That is why she has such a great relationship with the Runaway Train family, the way she interacts with Brayden, AJ and Rhys shows how great of her person she really is and I am so happy to have been given the chance to get to know her through her own mind and Jake's eyes, as well.

About 51% of the book, I just wanted to chokehold Jake and bite his ear off, Mike Tyson-style but that remaining 49%? I adored him. Like most rock stars, underneath all the heavy guy-liner (not that he wears any) and blood circulation-cutting leather pants, there is a guy with a heart of... something, and Jake definitely had that. A heart filled with something. I do not know if it was Jake's love his mother, his love for his second family: his band or his ever-growing affections for Abby that made him more likable but I am definitely not complaining. It was fun reading about his antics with Abby and the way he would rag on his band mates, they were all very good-natured and that made the experience more enjoyable. But amongst all that, Jake does have problems that causes him to drift apart from the people he cares about because of his fear, while that may have been a legit excuse, it only proved to hurt him even more. He was lucky to have people who are deeply for him, you'll understand this when you read the book.

Seriously going to be honest and say that this book broke my heart a little bit. There were moments when what was happening made me smile and feel great but when you get to the parts meant to make you cry, they will break you. Luckily, we have a heroine with a good head on her shoulders, a hero who might be cocky and distant but is also smart enough to know what is good for him, and bandmates who are willing to meddle if it means that everything ends up the way it should. Katie Ashley did really good in the side characters department, they were key actors to the story too and made the whole book work. The amount of detail and work Katie Ashley did is evidently seen in the book and I appreciate everything that she gave in this one.

I have already read Beat of the Heart (AJ's story) and I liked it too! (Will do a review, hopefully, soon.) I am really looking forward to the next Runaway Train books because the story of each book are not just for entertainment, they also have values that readers can learn a well (especially in the second book). I really enjoyed Music of the Heart and even though this is the first book of Katie Ashley that I have read, I know that I am already a fan (plus, my mom loves her too and as we all know, mother's know best). Oh and just a side-note, am I the only one getting RPatz feelz from the male cover model? Hahaha!

Rating:

.5