Mary Whaley has her hands full running a successful catering company and overseeing her supper club. She has everything she ever wanted—or so she thought. When she meets ridiculously hot and very dirty rock star Damien Hurley at her friend’s engagement party, the attraction she feels is overpowering—and she isn’t about to deny herself.I've been wanting to read Dane for quite some time. I know so many people who rave about her. Her books sound excellent, her covers are gorgeous but I was pretty underwhelmed with what I found in Lush and honestly pretty surprised by that. It's a great set up. I love rockstars and when cooking is involved so this really should have worked for me. But there was no chemistry, the writing felt chopping and was dialogue heavy to the point of having to back-step to figure out which character was talking and she just didn't pull me in by the half way mark which is when I gave up.
Damien is used to a hard and fast life. He and two of his brothers started a band when they were fresh out of high school—then they hit the big time and stayed there. He’s also a legendary madman on the stage and in the bedroom. But when he meets Mary, something clicks, and the bad boy starts thinking he may have finally found something good.
What begins as a series of fleeting trysts soon gets much more complicated. Damien can’t figure out why Mary doesn’t want more from him. And before long, it’s Damien who wants more from Mary. But it turns out Mary is no stranger to celebrity news, and he’s got a very big job ahead of him: proving that he’s worth more than a one-night stand…
Type: Contemporary Romance/maybe Erotica
Heat: 3 out of 5-- it's there but uninspired
Rating: 1 star- DNF
Even though Lush is part of a series it can be read as a stand alone. I wasn't confused at all and didn't feel like I was missing any important parts so you're good there. I just never felt, well, anything. Part of the problem was that the beginning was filled with way too many characters and she didn't move on quickly enough to the actual couple and their story. For chapters it's a big group of rockers and their friends hanging out, teasing, etc. It bogged down the storyline and really served no purpose that I could find other than adding page length and letting readers see how previous couples were doing. Even at the halfway mark there was more time spent as a group than a couple.
I did find the main characters interesting though. Or at least the idea of them. Damien is a tatted up pierced drummer that's a bit of a bad boy and a dirty talker. Even if he's a bit of a cheesy dirty talker. And Mary's a chef/caterer that's totally got the OCD control freak thing going on. They're people I so should have fallen for right away. But they just didn't do it for me and I felt no connection or real fondness over them. And the sex scenes, while the mechanics were there, lacked passion and any heat inspiring reactions. They came across more as the emotionless one night stand type of feel than anything with real chemistry, connection or potential. We're told how hot they are together but when it comes to actually showing it the chemistry, etc just doesn't come through the pages.
So my first go about with Lauren Dane didn't go so great. I gave this one a good attempt but just couldn't get into it. I do plan on trying one of her other series out though. I've been told by friends and bloggers I really trust that they are amazing. So I'm going to try again. Sometimes a series and the feel of it just isn't for you. And hopefully that's the case with this one and me. Maybe you'll feel different about it and these two will totally rock your socks. If you give them a read I certainly hope that's the case.
Have you read Dane? Do you have a favorite?
What about Lush? Is it one you've read? What did you think?
And it's totally okay to disagree with me. lol
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