Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Play it by Ear

SERIES: Replay #2

AUTHOR: K.M. Neuhold

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 290 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2018

BLURB:

Lando

My muse is gone and I haven’t written a word of music in over a year. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is Dawson. Nine years ago, just before Downward Spiral’s first major tour, I met my soulmate and then I walked away. Now that I’ve finally tracked him down again, things have changed. I’ll have to make him fall for me all over again. But is it possible I put our single weekend together on a pedestal or could Dawson really be The One?
Dawson
A traumatic brain injury nine years ago left me deaf and with spotty memory of the first twenty years of my life. When one of the biggest rock stars in the world shows up and seems to know me, I’m not sure what to believe. Is it possible he’s telling the truth when he says he’s been in love with me for nine years, even if I can’t remember ever meeting him?

***Play it by Ear is the second book in the Replay series, featuring a deaf main character, a rock star who’s lost his music, and a HEA. Each book in the series will focus on a different band member getting a second chance at love. Each book can be read as a stand-alone.

REVIEW:

Oh my goodness, this was even more than I had hoped for!

When the band “Downward Spiral” has to take a sudden hiatus and cancel their tour, because their lead singer Lincoln was hospitalized once again and the band needs to regroup, Lando knows exactly where he is headed…back to that beach in Miami where he last saw the love of his life who vanished without a trace after that special weekend. When he spots Dawson at the end of the bar he knows his luck is changing. But he soon discovers Dawson isn’t the same man he lost nine years ago. When Dawson’s fan boy object of lust, Lando, the bass guitarist for the world famous Rock Band “Downward Spiral”, taps him on his shoulder and starts talking to him like they know each other, he is really confused. After a horrific accident left him clinging to life with a traumatic brain injury that has not only robbed him of many memories of his life before the accident but took away his hearing as well. Dawson soon discovers that Lando was part of the missing weekend right before the wreck. Can Lando convince the now skeptical and shy Dawson that he still desires him not just the man that has disappeared nine years ago?

This book was extremely personal to me. Five years ago I was stopped at a traffic light when my world as I knew it shattered in one brief moment. Several cars crashed into me leaving me partially disabled and a diagnosis of a Traumatic Brain Injury. I completely understand the blank spots in memories. I also can totally relate to the calendar journaling that Dawson has learned is a tool to help him cope. It took therapy for me to start to be able to drive again when my brain kept shutting down due to severe anxiety. I was thrilled when Lando suggested this to Dawson. It was something I didn’t want to admit I needed but has provided a path to partial recovery. Unfortunately TBI’s are permanent but therapy can help you with coping skills to move forward. K.M. did a great job in helping to share the struggles that Dawson faces each and every day of his changed and complicated life.

I loved how each of these men moved forward and grew to be the one that the other needed. Watching Lando adjust to the fact that the man of his dreams for the last nine years was never going to completely be that man again was wonderful. The fact that he jumped right in to learn sign language so that he could better communicate on a more personal level was inspiring. To see his love shine through that he had not only found Dawson but was willing to do anything to keep him was lovely. To watch Dawson slowly learn to take some risk, not because Lando was this famous rock star, but because he was learning to trust and love him.

I know that each of the books in this series is based on the different members of the band but I don’t think that we have heard the last about these two. There is still so much up in the air that I am excited to see come through. I am eager to hear Benji’s story but I can’t wait for Jude’s! There were just enough “hints” that I believe I might be lucky enough to get one of K.M.’s sexy m/m/m stories that I love so much!

I can’t sing the praises of this wonderful book enough. If you would like to see a glimpse into the life of a person whose life is altered by the carelessness of a fellow driver with such severe consequences then this is the book for you! I love this series and can’t wait for more!
RATING:  

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