Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: A Summer Soundtrack for Falling In Love
AUTHOR: Arden Powell
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 318 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 29, 2018
BLURB:
When Kris Golding leaves his dusty Kansas hometown for a fresh start in New York, he thinks an apartment and a job are waiting for him. But when he finds neither, rather than admit defeat, he takes his chances busking—and meets Rayne Bakshi of international rock band The Chokecherries. Rayne needs a new guitarist, and gives Kris his first break since leaving home.
Rayne wears makeup and glitter and thinks nothing of kissing Kris in front of twenty thousand screaming fans for the attention. Instantly infatuated, Kris begins to question whether he might have a crush on Rayne—could he be bisexual? But since Kris originally claimed to be straight, Rayne’s wary of getting involved offstage.
As their tour gains momentum, Kris’s sexuality becomes the least of his troubles. Between his conservative brother hell-bent on “rescuing” him from his life of debauchery, a peacock that may or may not be the avatar of a cult god, and a publicity stunt that threatens to upend the band, Kris is definitely not in Kansas anymore.
REVIEW:
Arden Powell’s short story, “The Botanist’s Apprentice,” is one of my favorite anthology works of the year so far. I eagerly awaited their first full-length release with Riptide. But while Powell’s charm as a writer flows off the page, the story itself is sadly lacking. There are just too many threads to follow for what should be a fairly straightforward romance.
Our main character, Kris, is a midwestern boy making it big with the glam-rock gods The Chokecherries after a fateful run-in with their leading man, Rayne Bakshi. Kris is new to the scene, but he’s confident with a guitar, and he soon falls into the fun lifestyle of being a rock musician on the road. He’s also loving a new, androgynous look and some seemingly-fake flirting with Rayne onstage. But as their steamy onstage make-outs progress, Rayne gets a publicity stunt offer from another band member, making Kris realize he’s totally fallen in love.
Rayne and Kris have such a playful, silly chemistry right off the bat that it’s impossible not to adore them together. I think Rayne has better on-page charisma than Kris, despite Kris being the main character. Beyond being small and openminded, I feel like Kris doesn’t have much more of a personality, and he doesn’t really develop that much. He’s more of a blank slate for Rayne to work with. He and Rayne are good together, but if Kris just had a bit more of a fiery personality, they’d be fantastic.
I can certainly see some fanfic roots in this book. I’m a lifelong fic reader and writer, so spotting the influences comes pretty easily. Bandom definitely plays a part, and maybe some American Idol works creep in once in a while. The on-the-road musician setting is one that many M/M readers are familiar with and will gravitate towards. But the story screeches to halt when a side plot about a desert cult that worships a peacock is introduced as the halfway mark. Yes, you read that correctly—and no, it does not seamlessly blend into the story of Kris, Rayne, and The Chokecherries. It’s weird, silly, and though often humorous, totally different from the rest of the book. It feels like Powell hit a spot in the book where the plot slowed down so they took it in a whole new direction, which doesn’t work at all.
But there’s still some great stuff going on around a bad plot. I like how characters all across the queer spectrum are represented. The main character is bisexual, and his coming out as such is treated with respect. His bisexuality isn’t seen as a new awakening or some kind of gay-for-Rayne phase. Another main character is transgender, and a minor character is agender. These aspects are important, but not integral to the plot, making it a comfortable read for all LGBT readers.
I’ve read one of Powell’s shorter works before and was very impressed by it, so my high expectations for this book just weren’t met. The entire story feels incredibly rushed. It could easily fit into the first two books of a series—one with Kris joining the bed and pining for Rayne during the fake relationship plot, and another with a funny mini-mystery involving the peacock cult. There’s so much stuff happening and it’s just so crammed together. With another (slower) edit, this book could’ve been much better—and more representative of a great new author.
RATING: 
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