Reviewed by: Sue Eaton

TITLE: Drake

SERIES: Twilight Falls #5

AUTHOR: A.M. Salinger

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 248 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2021

BLURB:

Roman Campbell. Wild Child. Rebel. Rockstar. Broken.

At the age of twenty-eight, Roman Campbell has the world at his feet. Young, successful, and brutally beautiful, his facade of an uber-cool rockstar hides deep scars that have tormented him for years. After finally putting the pieces of his broken life back together, Roman attends the wedding of his famous movie star friend Carter Wilson in Twilight Falls, where he meets Drake Jackson. Their attraction is instantaneous and Roman hooks up with the sexy builder for one intoxicating night.

Drake Jackson. Wickedly Hot. Serial Heartbreaker. Reformed (mostly) Bad Boy.

Having put behind his difficult childhood, Drake Jackson is content with his life. His one regret remains his lost chance at a relationship with his childhood friend Alex. After a torrid encounter with Roman at Carter’s wedding leaves Drake hungry for more, the builder believes he will never set eyes on the famous rockstar again. But when Roman buys the property Drake has long coveted in Twilight Falls right from under his nose and hires Drake as his contractor, Drake realizes trouble has come to find him with a capital T.

Sparks fly and the two men soon commit to a temporary arrangement that sees them satisfying their carnal desire for one another. But when Roman’s past comes crashing back into his life and his secrets are revealed, Drake finds himself experiencing a lot more than just desire for Roman. Will Drake finally accept the feelings growing inside his heart? Or will he reject Roman’s love and repeat the mistakes of his past?

REVIEW:

I really enjoyed this book in the series, I’m a sucker for a bad boy and two bad boys what could be better.  I remembered Drake from Alex’s book and frankly I didn’t really like him, I thought he had behaved badly to Alex and didn’t see like he wanted to change his ways.  I was intrigued to see if he would redeem himself in this book.

Roman a successful pop star with his own tormented past, which he tried to drown in booze and drugs.  After a stint in rehab he is determined to beat his demons but the past has a way of sneaking up on him and unsuspecting things trigger his anxiety and fears.

Drake is resigned that another one of his friends is happily married and settling down, he is sure that he will never get tied down, especially after blowing his chance with Alex years ago.  A torrid one-night stand with a beautiful man who belongs in LA, that he is sure he will never see again.  Fate had another idea.  After losing the property Drake had been saving for years to acquire, salt is rubbed into the wound when he is asked to quote for the new owners to renovate his dream property.  He is surprised to see that Roman is the new owner.

The chemistry between them is off the charts but with both battling their pasts, is there hope for them to move beyond a friend with benefits type of arrangement into something much more.

Both characters show a tough exterior to the world, with their “I don’t care” attitude which hides their vulnerabilities.  I really liked seeing inside both and understanding their history and why they hide their emotions.   It really showed the trauma they had both suffered and tried to move past, unsuccessfully.

I loved the interaction between Roman and his band members and manager, how close they are and how much they mean to each other.  It really rang true and was like how close Drake is with his group of friends.  All of whom popped up and gave advice, whether it was asked for or not.

Surprisingly, it’s Roman who is prepared to put everything on the line for Drake and it’s Drake who struggles with what to do.  I really warmed up to Drake and liked the way he developed over the book from shallow and self-centered to committed and thoughtful.

Another great book with complex characters and an interesting storyline.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon