Series Saturday + Reviews: Guitar Face by Sasha Marshall

Highlighting a favorite series from our Gal, Tammy!

Here are the titles and her thoughts on 2 of the 5 books in this contemporary romance series from Sasha Marshall.

 

#1 Guitar Face

Blurb:

My story is not one for the faint of hearts. It’s beautifully gritty, and heartbreakingly tragic. I was born into the world of rock-n-roll, a mere girl who only wanted to have her very own guitar face. Somewhere in between all the amps, cords, and guitars I found my place. I was born to make music and bring the masses to their knees… until, I wasn’t anymore. Until the thought of doing all of this without him made me sick to my stomach. I thought I could escape rock-n-roll, but I can’t. My brother is a rock star and all the friends we have are connected to this business one way or another. I have a feeling I’ll get sucked back in, but I’m scared I won’t survive it. Perhaps I have a better chance at surviving rock-n-roll than I do Jagger Carlyle. Jag is my brother’s best friend, and fellow vocalist and guitarist for their band Broken Access. I’ve loved him since I was a girl, but this industry and my own fear of rejection kept me from acting on it all these years. When the sparks start to ignite and the world attempts to keep us apart, I wonder if love is enough. My story will bring you to tears from both sadness… and Kip. Kip is an idiot, plain and simple, but he’s my best friend. He has a habit of waking me up with trashy Euro porn, and always knows the most inappropriate things to say. He’s a drummer by night, and my partner-in-crime by day. I should’ve fallen in love with him, but he never shuts his f**cking mouth. He’s always my rock, and when Jagger rips me in two, Kip is the one at my side. This is a rock star romance series with a strong female lead, bad boys, and rock romance. This is not your typical rock star romance novel, this book will take you on a different adventure from anything you’ve ever experienced.

If you are looking for a story of redemption with comic relief and a heavy sexual mind, you’ve found it. If you are offended by hot, tattooed rock stars who are vulgar then this is not the book for you. Please be warned, this book is not for anyone below the age of 18. The book contains sex, death, violence, and harsh language.

 

My thoughts:

There’s a look in one’s face when the guitar and the musician become one, a musician’s nirvana.  The strum of the chords, the beat and timing of the music, all felt, instinctual.  Hands and fingers moving almost unconsciously, yet precisely.  The phrase “lost in the music” comes close, but nothing’s lost in this moment.  The “guitar face” is when one has found, truly found themselves.  At age four, little Henley saw it in the face of her Uncle Buddy and she was determined she’d find her guitar face.  That determination, along with the support of her musically talented family, and most especially her Grandfather, transformed this tiny blonde haired, blue-eyed girl into a guitar prodigy by the early age of twelve.  Fast forward and at the age of 22 Henley’s fronting the band Abandoned Shadow, playing gigs and touring with her brother Koi’s band Broken Access.

It’s a cast of many characters considering there are two bands, Henley’s girlfriends, most of whom play business roles in the story, plus family and associates. Primarily the storyline centers around Henley Hendrix, who fronts and plays guitar for her band Abandoned Shadow and her love interest Jagger Carlyle, who plays guitar and writes some of the songs for her brother Koi’s band, Broken Access.  “Jagger is the epitome of a rock star.  Every man wants to be him, and every woman wants to f#@k him.”  This blue-eyed, lean, tatted body has graced the cover of People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive .  “He has a panty-dropping smile.  I mean it.  If you were at a party standing in the corner talking to a friend and minding your own damn business; you could make eye contact with him and as soon as he smiles . . . BOOM!  You’re standing in a room full of people with your drawers around your feet.”

The banter between these characters is riotous, the sex is down and dirty, the heartbreak will take your breath away. I was barely into this book and already feeling a part of the crew, when tragedy struck.  Sasha Marshall already had me ugly crying 7% in!!  She was ripping my heart out.  Well, technically it was Henley’s, but Sasha had me feeling everything as if I’d known these characters all my life and as if I was there, front and center, when it all came crashing to a bone shattering halt.  I felt as if it were me in the fog and chaos of it all.

 

 

#2 There’s No Crying in Rock-N-Roll

Blurb:

Henley Hendrix, Queen of Rock-n-Roll, finds her world shattered again. She attempts to pick up the pieces of her life, but finds it difficult to claim her title in the world of rock when her personal life is turned upside down. Life begins to spin out of control, and so does her behavior. The Guitar Goddess loses her footing on reality when she feels betrayal from everyone she thought loved her. As the turmoil seems to proliferate, so does her attitude and conduct. Will she find herself amid all the chaos, or will the bright lights consume her?

 

 

 

#3 Walking Back to Georgia

Blurb:

I died. I fu*&ing died, and when I woke up in a Los Angeles hospital my best friend walked away from me. It wasn’t quite the welcoming back to the world of the living I thought I’d receive, but it rattled me. My dead best friend led me back to Georgia to get my life together, and while I’m working on it trouble follows me. I try to keep my distance from Jagger and company while I chase after sobriety, but a friend pops back into my life and a private moment is leaked to the world. One of the people I never thought would walk away from me did exactly that. I deal with rejection the best way I can, but before I can clear my head Cory and I are looking down the wrong end of a barrel and I’m forced to fight for my life. We complete our new studio album which means Broken Access and Abandoned Shadow will travel on a promotional tour to tell everyone we’re playing a world tour. While on the promotional tour, I run into jungle peepers, a riot of fans chasing me, a 1% motorcycle club and a one-eyed teddy bear, and two men fighting over me. I keep my head high through the drama, but then I’m asked to be in a steamy video for Broken Access which can only mean more trouble for me. Just when I figured out how to be the best version of me I can be and how to stay healthy, my eyes are open to something I never thought was possible. I must understand the difference between love and lust, and accept that I need a healthy relationship where I’m free to be me.
 

#4 River of Deceit 

Blurb:

Kip Paxton may be the perfect man. He’s a sexy, tattooed, foul-mouthed, drummer god for Broken Access, and if that wasn’t enough he snagged the Guitar Goddess herself. Where one door opens in life, another closes, and sometimes other doors burst wide f@$king open. Finding out he was lied to his entire life, and that all his noble deeds were done in vain sends him spiraling out-of-control. It sucks the life right back out of him, but luckily he has an entire crew of family to put him back together, and his family may have just gotten a little bigger.

 

 

#5 Make It Rain

Blurb:

Kip When you rip the Guitar Goddess’s world apart, and your own, how in the f@*k are you supposed to find redemption? She’s my world, and I’ve shattered her. What began as an absence for us to both heal, ends in the dissolution of our relationship, and my breaking heart. I committed the most unforgivable transgression, but maybe not everything is as it seems.

One more tragedy, one more f@*king tragedy may be the only way back into her heart. I have one more chance to explain what really happened, and hope she believes me. I’ll embrace this time to show her I’m still the man she fell in love with, and to win her back, but how in the hell am I supposed to do that when she’s holding me at arm’s length?

Our pain, all of our pain, began with Caleb’s death. Maybe I’m still paying the price for him leaving her, because for a short time, I left her too. All I can do is pray to him and whatever is out there, that we’ll be brought back together. I can only hope that she’ll sleep beside me once again, smile for only me, and love me the way she used to. I can only long for her to make me whole again, and stop this ache in my chest. Henley

He was the only one who had never betrayed me, until he did. He never lied to me, until he did. He was always by my side, until he wasn’t. The one person who has always been my constant, best friend, and then lover left me. They all leave me, though. They all lie to me. They all betray me at some point. Then, he showed up with his gorgeous green eyes, tattoos, and undercut, and I have a hard time staying away, but I also can’t seem to look him in the eye anymore. I can’t give him any more of my heart, because that precious little organ barely survived him the first time.

Maybe we should’ve never crossed the line from friends to lovers. If we hadn’t, I’d still have him by my side. If we’d never danced the way we did, he’d still be my best friend. I don’t know how he’s supposed to fit into my life anymore. He’s always made my life brighter, happier, and carefree. How do you learn to live without that? I thought I knew everything about him, but now I question everything.

 

Thoughts:

I blasted through all the books of this series like there wasn’t anything else more important in my life to do . . . than read the Guitar Face series.  Then I waited and waited for Make It Rain.  It went live and suddenly I wasn’t ready.  I’d found a new favorite rock star romance author in Sasha Marshall, but I wasn’t ready for this world she’d brought me into to end, nor was I ready to face the pain and numbness I’d experienced at the end of book 4 River of Deceit.  I know crazy right?  But I’ll bet you’ve ran across series’ like I just described that were so incredibly great that you just didn’t want to cross over to that after life and read ‘The End’ either.

Still, you don’t want to miss what Sasha Marshall has in store for us in this series and in the conclusion in book 5 Make It Rain. There were times when I clenched my jaws to keep from breaking down, another time I whimpered out loud, breathed in and my chest shook, fighting off the sob I knew was coming.  Other times I lost that battle.  That just speaks to what a great writer Sasha is and what an extraordinary series Guitar Face is.

Pick up the book, turn the pages.  Enter the Rock Star Goddesses world.  MAKE IT RAIN!!!
Rating: A+++++