Adder by Ally Blue

Blurb:

Music. Sex. Fame. What’s missing? Surely not the “L” word…

Adder has a plan for his life: play his music for millions of adoring fans, who will reward him with money, fame and as much sex as he can handle. It’s a goal he’s been working toward since his teens and is on the cusp of achieving. The idea of a relationship never entered his mind—until a new drummer joins his band. One taste of Kalil, and all he wants is more.

For Kalil, playing drums for Adder is a dream come true, the creative connection he’s always wanted. What he never reckoned on is the deeper connection he finds with Adder. Kalil would rather avoid sexual involvement with a bandmate, but Adder seems just as determined to break through his resistance.

Attraction aside, music and sex are about the only things the hedonistic Adder and the increasingly jealous Kalil can agree on. Still, before they know it they’re on the brink of something deeper, something lasting.

And it scares the hell out of both of them.

 

Review:

Elisa Rolle called this the best Ally Blue book she’s read and coming from such a voracious reader, that’s quite the compliment. After finishing Adder, I have to say I think Elisa may be right. Despite a few qualms, which I’ll get to, this story was dynamic and enthralling from beginning to end. The characters were engaging and surprisingly charming, even in the face of almost too many flaws to count. Deft handling of personalities and fast moving plot with tight writing and colorful humor kept this story sailing even through angst and heartache. The unusual combination of drama and humor from an author that tends to stick to one or the other has created a solid, entertaining story that’s quick to read and sure to please most readers.

The plot is surprisingly simple for all its effectiveness. Adder is the leader of a band, whose name ironically is never explicitly stated, that includes Vi and Harpo as band mates and they need a new drummer – namely Kalil. Once Kalil joins the band, he becomes involved with Adder and the story follows the progression of both their relationship and the band’s rise to fame. The strength of the story comes from the great characterizations and the realistic conflict that plays out repeatedly amongst several personalities. The band members work together great and the music they produce is getting them noticed, however, the antics offstage create problems, as can only be expected in a rock band.

Adder is aptly described as amoral when Kalil first meets him. Adder happily screws anything that moves and his bisexual nature seems to create numerous opportunities to indulge his overactive sexual appetite. Adder maintains a relationship with Vi and occasionally manages to talk her into sex while constantly propositioning Harpo for the same. Flirting with Kalil seems to be par for the course but Kalil’s resistance initially intrigues Adder. However, once Kalil succumbs to Adder’s wiles, it’s clear their relationship is different. For a self-proclaimed slut, Adder surprisingly has few problems with the monogamous relationship. While neither man really meant for that to happen, Adder is more comfortable with the twist and his confidence carries him through any potential qualms. Adder’s ability to soothe and understand Kalil and his mercurial moods is essential to keeping what could have been a rocky relationship, strong. Adder is not without his own hints of selfishness, which lend to the uneven footing between the two men.

Unfortunately Kalil lacks the same confidence and maturity that Adder, for all his openly flirtatious and outgoing manner, exudes. Kalil instead fights almost constantly with irrational jealousy and overprotective concerns. While not completely unfounded, his fears tend to be mostly baseless and no amount of consideration and reassuring seems to help. He’s very slow to take risks, even in the face of potential success, and prefers to brood rather than communicate, creating unnecessary friction and tension before he’s able to express himself. Kalil’s emotional nature and tendency to think the worst often create misunderstandings and ultimately lead him to create problems with both the band and Adder. Kalil’s overprotective and possessive nature clashes with Adder’s easygoing, gregarious personality and sparks fly, in both hot and cold ways. Without question, the chemistry and connection between Adder and Kalil is explosive and hot, easily riding over any uncomfortable problems that might arise, although the impression is that Kalil will need a lot of reassurance and attention at all times from Adder.

Even with this, both characters are quickly dynamic and engaging. Surrounded by a solid group of secondary characters including the band’s manager and other band mates, the tightly written plot moves along at a face pace with elements of humor and angst handled well. Brightly colored condoms and emergency lube aside though, the final resolution was a problem. While the conflict and drama up to that point was understandable and kept very much in character, the resolution Adder decides on and then enacts is simply unbelievable. It certainly made little sense given Adder and Kalil’s relationship and past problems, furthermore that it actually worked was forced and stiff. Kalil’s reaction had no connection to his thought process and reasoning up until then, not to mention that the actual way Adder went about it shouldn’t have worked either when taking into account previous arguments. This was certainly almost a story destroying moment. As I want a HEA ending for two great characters, I simply prefer it make sense for their personalities and relationship and not forced simply to satisfy the ride off into the sunset. Yet for the majority of the book, the writing was descriptive and interesting, the characters engaging and a swift moving plot do carry it over the bad resolution.

Overall, this is a fun story with equal parts drama and humor set within a compelling and interesting backdrop of a rock band with its flamboyant lead singer. Fun elements of detail involving vivid colors ranging from hairstyle to condom choices to strategically placed tattoos, help offset the intensity and keep the pace quick. Well written characters keep you guessing and engaged in the story and even with the fumble at the ending, I can easily recommend this book.

 Get it HERE!

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