Promo Blitz: Crash Into Me: Tracy Wolff
Crash Into Me
Tracy Wolff
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She’s totally
off limits, but this rocker wants a taste…
Jamison Matthews has lusted after Ryder Montgomery
since she was a preteen. But now that Ryder and her brother’s band, Shaken
Dirty, has made it huge, she’s just one of many pining for the brooding lead
singer. Too bad Ryder still sees her as a little sister. Not that it matters.
Her brother would never allow it, and the last thing Jamison wants is to be
another notch on a rock star’s bed post. Even if it’s Ryder’s.
Ryder doesn’t deserve happiness. After his
fame destroyed his last girlfriend, he swore he’d never fall in love again. So
when Jamison, the girl he’s been in danger of loving for years, joins the band
on the road, he’ll do anything to deny the sparks between them—even after one
hot night together. But Jamison is determined to show Ryder that he’s worthy of
love—her love—and
that she’s all grown up…and ready to play.
Excerpt
Onstage, the band launched into “Awake,” one of the power ballads that had made them famous. The crowd screamed their approval and so did she. Totally not her typical modus operandi, but she couldn’t help it. Something about listening to Ryder croon the darkly haunting lyrics had her knees trembling and her heart beating much too quickly. If she closed her eyes, she could do what all the other women in the audience were doing and pretend that he was singing straight to her.
So much better than remembering he’d written these heartfelt words for another woman. For Carrie, who had killed herself and broken his heart so many years before. Her own heart ached at the thought. For him. Always for him. At twenty-nine, Ryder had already been through more darkness and despair than any one person should have to handle.
“Awake” finally came to a close, the last note hanging in the air for long, tension-fueled seconds. Then the band fell silent and the audience did the same, as if they were all holding their breaths. Ryder lowered his guitar, shuffled, and stamped his feet once, twice. It was a familiar gesture, one years of experience had taught her was his way of shaking off excess emotion. Again her heart twisted. It devastated her that more than ten years after the fact he was still eaten up by what had happened. Still determined to bury it under a bunch of layers that not only insulated him from his pain but also hid the real Ryder so deep inside the public Ryder that she wondered sometimes if he even existed anymore. Or if the boy who had held her while she cried, who had let her whisper her pre-adolescent fears without ever making fun of her, had disappeared forever.
She searched for him in that one endless moment.
Looked for him in the obsidian eyes that arrowed to the heart of the crowd even as they barricaded his own emotions.
Combed through her own memories and expectations in an effort to see Ryder as he really was instead of how he portrayed himself.
And when his eyes—his crazy, beautiful eyes—met hers, she found him. Seconds passed, long, intense seconds where she lost the ability to hear or breathe or even think. All she could do was look into Ryder’s eyes, at the feral heat boiling up and out of them, and want.
She smiled at him, waved. He snarled back. But it wasn’t a leave-me-alone snarl. No, definitely not. It was his I-want-to-fuck-you-up-against-a-wall snarl—she knew it well, had seen it directed at a lot of women through the years—and her knees gave way when she realized that this time, finally, it was directed at her. It didn’t matter that there was no sign of recognition in his eyes, no knowledge that the woman he was looking at like that was actually her. Jamison. For one moment, he wanted her the way she’d always wanted him.
It was more than enough.
So much better than remembering he’d written these heartfelt words for another woman. For Carrie, who had killed herself and broken his heart so many years before. Her own heart ached at the thought. For him. Always for him. At twenty-nine, Ryder had already been through more darkness and despair than any one person should have to handle.
“Awake” finally came to a close, the last note hanging in the air for long, tension-fueled seconds. Then the band fell silent and the audience did the same, as if they were all holding their breaths. Ryder lowered his guitar, shuffled, and stamped his feet once, twice. It was a familiar gesture, one years of experience had taught her was his way of shaking off excess emotion. Again her heart twisted. It devastated her that more than ten years after the fact he was still eaten up by what had happened. Still determined to bury it under a bunch of layers that not only insulated him from his pain but also hid the real Ryder so deep inside the public Ryder that she wondered sometimes if he even existed anymore. Or if the boy who had held her while she cried, who had let her whisper her pre-adolescent fears without ever making fun of her, had disappeared forever.
She searched for him in that one endless moment.
Looked for him in the obsidian eyes that arrowed to the heart of the crowd even as they barricaded his own emotions.
Combed through her own memories and expectations in an effort to see Ryder as he really was instead of how he portrayed himself.
And when his eyes—his crazy, beautiful eyes—met hers, she found him. Seconds passed, long, intense seconds where she lost the ability to hear or breathe or even think. All she could do was look into Ryder’s eyes, at the feral heat boiling up and out of them, and want.
She smiled at him, waved. He snarled back. But it wasn’t a leave-me-alone snarl. No, definitely not. It was his I-want-to-fuck-you-up-against-a-wall snarl—she knew it well, had seen it directed at a lot of women through the years—and her knees gave way when she realized that this time, finally, it was directed at her. It didn’t matter that there was no sign of recognition in his eyes, no knowledge that the woman he was looking at like that was actually her. Jamison. For one moment, he wanted her the way she’d always wanted him.
It was more than enough.
Watching Ryder was like watching sex in motion. It totally revved her engine, even as she knew nothing would come of it.Jamison Mathews and Ryder Montgomery have history. Jamison has had a crush on her brother's best friend since she was thirteen years old. Now a decade later, their band, Shaken Dirty is hot, popular, and on tour. While Jamison's life is going downhill fast.
After another particularly bad night, some alcohol, and drama, her brother Jared convinces her to come on the road with the band as their cook. The only problem is that puts her in close proximity to Ryder. And the sexual tension is already crackling. The guilt and hurt feelings are already surfacing since she is in the "Off Limits Zone" as his best friend and band mate's sister.
Ryder has his demons and nightmares he is fighting. His childhood and other traumatic events have scarred him. He feels damaged and not good enough. He feels a pull towards Jamison that excites him and upsets him because she is his friend and sisters are off limits. I felt so bad for him as he had such a low opinion of himself. He really took on the weight of the world and blamed himself for so much.
At twenty-nine, Ryder had already been though more darkness and despair than any one person should have to handle.
But Jamison is a big girl and wants what she wants. She is smart, determined, but also insecure and fearful. She has self esteem and body issues and does not realize how beautiful she really is. But usually she keops things in control. Eventually it all just comes to a point that they cannot deny their attraction anymore. She thinks she can handle a fling in order to get the chance to finally be with Ryder since he seems incapable of more. And they also have her big brother breathing down their necks.
"I'm sick of being the good girl and want to have fun for a change."
So it is a roller coaster of denial, guilt, coming together, and busting apart. There is a lot of sexual tension and foreplay. Their chemistry is smoking hot and the sex scenes are intense. But Ryder is so confused about what is really right and wrong in this situation. He struggles so hard. Their feelings are strong, but hard to handle. And communication and all of the other background noise make it more complicated.
"Because you see me. You see all the way inside of me to places nobody else even knows exist. And I can't understand, can't imagine, what someone like you could possibly see in someone like me."
"That's because you always see yourself all wrong....I wish, for one minute, you could see yourself the way that I see you. You"re like a shooting star, brilliant and dazzling and completely unattainable. You streak across the sky, traveling faster than the speed of light and then..."
"And then I burn myself out."
There is drama, angst, and heartbreak both in their relationship and with the band. All of the characters were broken or flawed in some way. They had traumatic or complicated pasts, difficult situations in the present, and interpersonal issues causing stress. There were a few moments that had me gripping my kindle a little tighter.
This was a good start to this rocker series. It was an easy read, flowed well in both points of view, and the characters had depth. I will admit that at times I got frustrated with the pace of the story since it was a slow build and I wanted to move things along a little. And then towards the end it started to seem a bit rushed. At times, I struggled with just how negative Ryder was and how much trouble he had moving on from his past since it really caused a barrier between him and Jamison. But he won me over, and at times could be swoon worthy. The epilogue gave us a little insight, but also left a lot of room for the rest of their stories.
Thanks to Tracy Wolff, Entangled/Brazen for providing an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.
Crash Into Me is a fun, rock star adventure filled with
great charismatic characters and a solid plot. The beginning was a bit of a
slow start; however, it picked up pretty fast and kept me enthralled enough to
read the book in one sitting.
Ryder and I had a love/hate relationship. I simply adored
that man, found him hotter than hell (lead singer with a tortured past, tatted,
pierced, mysterious, and damaged...what's not to love). I loved that Ryder is
your typical rock star on the surface, but underneath he is riddled with layers
of vulnerability he only shared with those in his inner circle. However, he
frustrated me to no end when he exhibited the classic fight and flight syndrome
on more than one occasion. Ugh, I’ll admit to wanting to shake the crap out of
him a few times. There was a point in the story when I was actually screaming
inside my head for him to wake the f*** up before he lost the best person that
ever happened to him. I hated that he could be so wish washy, I mean I got why
he was (his girl was not only his best friend's sister, she was also the girl
he grew up with since she was a young
girl), just wished he had gotten the memo to get over it sooner rather
than later. And then there was the Ryder,
who shed his rock star persona and showered Jamison with the sensitive and compassionate
man underneath; gone was the man who kept his demons at bay with sex and
meaningless encounters. This rocker is so damn sweet and romantic, these
moments only made his character even more delicious.
Jamison is the perfect heroine for a rock star (hell for any
man). Usually the guy makes the book for me and the female lead is somewhat just
there, but not in Crash. I freaking idolized Jamison; completely loved where
the author took the development of this character. No obnoxious chick here,
nope Jamison is sassy, independent, strong, and beautiful in a real woman sort
of way. A chick I would befriend in a heartbeat. I loved that she often pulled up her big girl
panties and just dealt with whatever life threw at her. There was no whining,
no huge teary outbursts, and certainly no little girl coy games. She knew when to
push and when to back off; while she loved Ryder and wanted to help him heal,
she also knew that too much too soon would only stand to destroy them. Jamison
is absolutely refreshing, it's not often I enjoy a leading lady to this extreme
(usually they annoy the living day lights out of me). Tracy Wolff you passed my
wicked tough heroine test with flying colors, that in itself is a feat. Jamison
has made it to my small list of kick ass chicks!
This is my first read from this author, and I am really
looking forward to reading more in this series. Ryder Montgomery and Jamison
Matthews are the right amount of drama, angst, heat, and chemistry. Each of the
characters (main and secondary) are well written with engaging personality and
depth, their little group intrigued and captivated me. Crash Into Me has
definitely made it to my reread list.
Tracy Wolff collects books, English degrees and lipsticks and has been known to forget where—and sometimes who—she is when immersed in a great novel. At six she wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow and a prince—and at seven she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she’d read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she’d found her life-long love. Now an English professor at her local community college, she writes romances that run the gamut from contemporary to paranormal to erotic suspense.
Tracy Wolff also writes as Tessa Adams.
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