REVIEW: Dirty Like Me by Jaine Diamond

Sammy’s review of Dirty Like Me (Dirty Series, Book 1)  by Jaine Diamond
New Adult Contemporary Romance published by DreamWarp Books 02 Nov 16

Regular girl meets Rock Star, I mean how could you go wrong? I’m pretty sure we have all at one time or another fantasized about being backstage on tour with the hottest lead singer or lead guitarist or maybe even the drummer. For that reason alone I wanted to give this book a chance. And, to be honest, be a fly on the wall and be part of the bright lights, hard-pounding music, throw back some booze at an after party, and just take it all in. Maybe for one moment walk in that regular girl’s shoes.

Katie Bloom has been hiding for the past two years. She has her dog, she works for her sister at Nudge, a coffee shop, and she has a wonderful best friend Devi. Katie is multi-layered. Her fiance left her at the alter and she’s pretty much devastated as well as embarrassed. She gave him five years of her life, and now she’s questioning her worth and her place in this world. She’s an artist and a skateboarder, and she loves her oldie-but-goody vinyls. She just might be ready to start dating, after giving herself a self-imposed time out for the last two years.

She grabs her dog, some mini cherry pies, hops on her skateboard in the rain and makes her way over to Devi’s office. Devi is a talent agent and in the middle of a meeting with some very important clients. Katie, or I should say Max, her dog, makes quite an entrance – all wet Lab, with the added bonus of a wet Katie and a white t-shirt. This is where she has the pleasure of meeting Jesse Mayes, rock star on a break with his band, Dirty. He’s doing a solo project while his band is on downtime. Sparks are flying and his manager decides to use Katie in Jesse’s video. Devi talks Katie into doing it. It’s time for Katie to live a little after her two years in hiding.

Sparks continue to fly during the making of the video. Katie isn’t really acting, and Jesse is kinda gobsmacked by her as well. The video comes out and it’s watched seven gazillion times. Jesse has a proposition for Katie. Come on tour with him and play his girlfriend. All the tabloids and the fans are really into the Katie and Jesse hookup, but for Katie the prospect of turning down $200,000 is difficult. She can pay off her college loans and start to paint again, without the financial obligation hanging over her head. She also doesn’t want to be bought either, so she sets some rules. But the truth is their attraction to one another is too hot and they are definitely combustible.

This book is fun. Katie is an amazing character. Jesse is too perfect. Here lies my problem. There are chapters of Jesse’s POV, I honestly feel if they were taken out, the story could stand on its own. I was always waiting for his chapters to see what he was feeling about Katie. I know how Katie was feeling and thinking. Jesse did some surface thinking. Never too deep. I also had an issue with the first love scene. This book rocked my world with the buildup to this moment. Then it happens on a tour bus and all it really came down to was fucking. Don’t get me wrong, fucking has its place, but for me, the reader, I was kinda hoping for a little intimacy. The sex scenes need to move the emotional arc in the story forward. I just didn’t feel the love. This happens throughout the book as a whole. If the sex scenes are not moving the story forward, then it becomes gratuitous and I am skimming. I also had issue with Jesse in a few scenes with sex in public places. If they were regular people, it wouldn’t have bothered me at all. But this is a rock star and his girlfriend, and with so many people with smartphones at the ready and paparazzi, I found it disrespectful at best.

I know it sounds like I hated this book. I didn’t. It is fun and sexy, and the things that bothered me may not bother you. I am looking forward to seeing what’s next with these rock stars.

Grade:C+

Summary:

A gorgeous rock star.
An indecent proposal.
How can a girl resist?

Struggling barista Katie Bloom doesn’t even know who Jesse Mayes is until she inadvertently wins the coveted role of sex kitten in his hot new music video. But by the time she’s in bed with him, she knows his reputation.

Love maker. Heartbreaker.

Making out with a stranger in front of a camera crew isn’t how Katie imagined herself getting over a broken heart, but when Jesse touches her, sparks fly. The sex is fake but the chemistry is real, and soon the steamy video is blazing up the charts.

Then Jesse makes Katie an irresistible offer: act as his girlfriend for six weeks while he promotes his new album. The only catch? Their sizzling make-out sessions will be for the cameras only.

Which is fine with Katie, since she’s not about to trust her heart to rock’s most legendary lover. Her body? Maybe…

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series:

Available through the author’s Diamond Club.