Sandy M’s review of As Dust Dances by Samantha Young
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 7 Aug 18
Once I started reading Samantha Young’s Hart’s Boardwalk series, she had me totally hooked. Then I began to tackle her On Dublin Street collection and she became an auto-read for me. With this book? All I can say is, “Wow!” I love it when an author gets better and better with each subsequent release, and Ms. Young is definitely now one of the best out there.
Skylar Finch is homeless, voluntarily so. She was on top of the world eighteen months ago, lead singer for a rock band that fans went crazy for. Then her supposed love affair with the lead male of the group, along with her mother’s death and the fact Skylar found she just doesn’t like fame all that much, drove her to drop off the face of the earth to those in the industry. She ends up busking in Scotland, sleeping in a tent, barely eating, but loving the music and writing she’s finally begun to work on again.
Then her world comes crashing down again when two men follow her to steal her beloved guitar, leaving Sklyar newly frightened of her self-imposed independence that she so desperately needs. That’s when she realizes she’ll have to turn to Killian O’Dea, a man on his way to bigwig in the recording industry at Skyscraper Records. She’d turned him down when he approached her on the street, wanting to take her back to the world she despises. Now she literally has no choice but Killian.
And at first Killian lives up to his hard exterior, basically blackmailing Skylar into signing a record deal in order to keep her safe. Her desperation forces her to sign, and suddenly she has a place to live, plenty to eat, and a new friend in Killian’s sister, Autumn – a beautiful and kind woman who knows how to handle her brother. I really enjoyed seeing those two sides of Killian. He’s cutthroat when needed, especially when exacting revenge for Skylar, but his tender side with both women melts your heart. Little by little we see how much he really is at first taken with Skylar and then falls very hard for her.
Even after experiencing his tender hands, Skylar holds her own with Killian. She has her own conditions when it comes to her re-entry into music, and she sticks to her guns, especially with Killian’s uncle, the owner of the company. And, boy, is he a piece of work. His decline and eventual fall come late in the book, but Killian and Skylar turn the knife quite nicely, though Killian’s part in it all isn’t known to Skylar until she thinks all is lost.
Her reconciliation with her former bandmates is well done. Though I have a hard time with Micah, Skylar’s “love interest” during her touring days. Talk about double standard and someone not listening. This guy just rubs me the wrong way, even after he kinda sorta realizes his mistakes and all that. Still don’t like him much. This reunion also gives Killian and Skylar other things to work through, something neither of them ever expected. But I so love that they work through those issues at that point – especially Skylar since she’s one to run.
The ending is beautifully done, giving Skylar an extra spotlight for her songwriting, which is really what she’s wanted to do all along. I love a story that makes everything come together when you feel throughout there’s no way anything can work out for characters you’ve come to love. Samantha Young is becoming a master of that, and I couldn’t be happier.
Grade: A+
Summary:
Once upon a time Skylar Finch was the lead singer of a hugely successful American pop-rock band. But fame made her miserable. When years of living a lie suddenly ended in tragedy, Skylar fell off the map.
Eighteen months later she’s sleeping in a tent in a cemetery in Glasgow, making just enough money to eat by busking on the streets. She manages to avoid recognition, but not the attention of one of Glasgow’s ambitious A&R executives.Killian O’Dea works at Skyscraper Records, Scotland’s most successful record label. Raised by his uncle and owner of the label, Killian’s upbringing would have been devoid of affection entirely if it wasn’t for his loving sister. Killian is unflinchingly determined to bring the label more success than ever, and the young homeless woman who busks on Buchanan Street is going to help him do that. Her music speaks to him in a way he refuses to over-analyze. All he knows is that if it can touch his dark soul, it’ll set everyone else’s alight.
Skylar makes it clear that she doesn’t want to sign with him. But when she experiences the dangerous reality of a woman sleeping rough, Skylar has no one else but Killian to turn to. An undeniable connection forms between them. But Skylar doesn’t want the career Killian is trying to forge for her, and when her past comes back to haunt her Killian will be faced with a decision that could ruin him. He must either free Skylar from his selfish machinations and destroy everything he’s ever worked for, or lose a woman who has come to mean more to him than he ever thought possible.
No excerpt available.
