Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols
Genre: NA Romance
Publication: July 16th, 2013
Publisher: MTV Books
Page Count: 288
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From the author of the “real page-turner” (Seventeen) Such a Rush comes an unforgettable new drama that follows friends-turned-lovers as they navigate the passions, heartbreaks, and intrigue of country music fame.

Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.

Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…

So every now and then, I like to have myself a nice indulgent read where I sit myself down with a romance.  If you've been following me long enough, you'd know that my patience for romance is not a skill of mine.  I'm usually one more inclined to read a book with action and adventure in it.  But then, I find these rare girl moments of mine where I actually want to read a romance.  And after reading Hopeless by Colleen Hoover, my interest in the NA genre has been significantly piqued.  Sadly, I wasn't that taken away with this one.

The first ever Jennifer Echols book I ever read was The Boys Next Door, and it was the perfect summer read I could have ever wished for.  There was romance, and the main character was spunky and stubborn.  Of course I'm practically willing to read anything by Jennifer after that.  And when I discovered Dirty Little Secret, I was really excited to read it.  For those of you who may not know, I am a huge music junkie (I sing and play instruments).  But here was where my major problems in the book fell into:

The Romance:

Could it have gotten any hot and colder?  I'm all for a passionate romance, but this one was just unbelievable!  They barely even know each other but they want to be in this serious relationship and then in the next moment they're ready to rip each others' heads off.  It was annoying and the hot and cold thing going on between the two of them was giving me a mental whiplash.  Sam was a complete jerk and if I were Baily, I would have dropped him like a hotcake.

However there were moments I did like where they both were on the same page when it came to music.  Their passion for it palpable when reading through the book and I could tell that their hearts and souls were invested in performing.  There were moments when he would help her improve her performing and Sam was always honest about music with her.  To some people, his critiquing might have seemed a bit harsh, but I thought that it was a nice thing that he did because it proved that he did care about Baily on some level and didn't want to coddle her and tell her she did amazing when she could improve in some areas.

The Characters:

I hate to say it, but they were all kinda flat!  Nobody stood out to me and I can barely remember everyone's names.  I'm usually good with this kind of things in books where I can remember names and such, but everyone was pretty unremarkable to me.  I wasn't fully invested in their issues and was a bit bored with them all.

Other than the romance and the characters, I actually enjoyed this book!  When they had a gig, I almost felt like I was there on stage with them performing.  I know it's dorky, but I was getting a rush by just reading about their performances.  Dirty Little Secret was real and it showed how life isn't fair, but that doesn't mean that you can just give up and let life carry on without you.  You've gotta push and keep your head up and try again when you fail. 

In all, Dirty Little Secret is a great quick read for the summer.  And if you especially know and love music, this book is a recommended read. 

3 Splashes