He's with the Band

I was so excited and intrigued by this book; the blurb really had me intrigued, and as a Rockstar Romance fan, it sounded like everything i love to read. Unfortunately, it really just fell flat for me. My main issue was the character of Davis. Upon seeing him again for the first time in years, Campbell describes him as "having had work done to his face" and then later on says that the botox in his forehead doesn't allow him to close his eye properly when he winks at her. YIKES. This was not attractive to me in the slightest and started giving me Mickey Rourke vibes. I loved the premise of the characters being more mature, so why not let them age gracefully? <br />From this moment on i struggled to connect with Davis, and that was a real disappointment.<br /><br />I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

This story was just what I needed to read by the warm and cozy fireplace. <br />That hidden teen in me loved to read about how midlife boring Campbell gets her life back (in a way) after her divorce. She gets a chance of a lifetime to follow the band around the country again as the band’s photographer and biographer. It was such a fun and interesting read, I even had a moments when I was laughing out loud.<br />Characters were likeable and nicely developed. <br />Storyline was great with a few surprises toward the end. But all in all, I really enjoyed reading it, I recommend it<br />Thanks to Entangled and Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Grab your favorite concert t-shirt and go on tour with this fun, second-chance romance! <br /><br />After a later in life divorce, Campbell is struggling to find her way in her new single life. So when her favorite all-time band announces a reunion tour, she and her girlfriend decide to go—after all, those concerts were some of the best memories she ever had. But a simple concert leads her to running into an old friend and, more so, a job as concert photographer. However, getting this second chance with the band leads to more implications than she realized, including a chance at love again.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! A poignant, but funny debut! Kudos to Ms.Stone!

***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***<br /><br />DNF at 22%<br /><br />I'm ok with a heroine who is a little down on her luck, or even a hero for that matter.<br /><br />What I'm not ok is a heroine who makes decisions and then feels trapped and tragic about them.<br /><br />This book, at least what I read of it, felt like watching a life unravel tragically. And it's hard to be excited about someone's new life when they aren't <br /><br />I'm unable to recommend this title.

Thank you @entangled_publoshing for a copy of He’s With the Band. A second chance romance about Campbell, recently divorced with no job and goes to a concert for Golden Tiger, her younger day obsession. This book is a fun take on BTS on a has been rock n roll group and also Campbell figuring out herself. <br /><br />I found Davis’ character a little gross and they way he treated women and didn’t understand how Campbell or Marissa found him attractive. I wished there was more back story to Vince to give us a better idea and his attraction to Campbell. They story was a bit predictable but overall enjoyable.

I enjoyed this book. 3.5 stars, rounded up. In my opinion it's more of a coming of age than it is an actual romance book. Very music forward. It has the vibes of the movies Rockstar and Almost Famous to me. It didn't focus much on romance until close to the end. Campbell is living her dream of being on the road with her favorite band. She's learning a new career, a new life without having a husband. It's definitely cool to read her growing and learning. I love that the characters are not super young too. It's rare to read a book about a 40 year old. It was refreshing. I recommend this book!<br /><br />Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC!

This novel was a well written, nicely paced novel, told through first person present. Overall the read was enjoyable, but I found that I was reading a different book than I expected which make my overall enjoyment just mediocre. I think Julie Stone's writing is very well executed and that her heroine was compelling and interesting to read about, but the overall expectation of a romance was really lacking for me.<br /><br />This novels focus is on Campbell, and her journey to rediscovering herself after her divorce. We spend the novel in her head while she rediscovers who she was before she was married and who she now wants to be now that she is not feeling stifled by her ex-husband. Campbell, through the help of her best friend, decides to take matters into her own hands and becomes a photographer (and commemorative book author) on a Band reunion tour. This is the same band that she has loved since she was in her late teens and early twenties and spent a year as a third tier groupie. During this new tour with the band, Campbell learns who the band and the people close to the band truly are, while learning that maybe childhood crushes and who she should really be considering might not be the same person.<br /><br />Overall, this was a really lovely journey of discovery for Campbell. I found her to learn to be strong and independent. She learned to rediscover her love of photography, she learned to examine and understand how this band's music effected her and still does, and she learns to stand up for what she deserves. But, because this is not exactly what I was expecting I found myself a bit disappointed and left with a lack luster feeling. I was hoping to read a romance novel with a strong hero and heroine both at the center. While there is a romance, the main focus of the story is not on this romance. So, I really felt like I was missing out on many of the romantic elements I was hoping to get out of this story.<br /><br />If you are looking for a novel about a women's rediscovery of herself, this is a great option. It has the fun background of a band on tour and it has a bit of liveliness because of the rock'n'roll life style while having a nice level of maturity. If you are looking for a story that has a slight romantic element but that is not the main focus, this is also a great option for you. Julie Stone's writing is definitely worth reading and her characters and charming and compelling. <br /><br />OUT January 17, 2022<br /><br />Thank you to Entangled: August and NetGalley for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

HE’S WITH THE BAND by Julie Stone is a contemporary,adult, rock romance story line focusing on one-time groupie turned amateur photographer Campbell Cavett and the rock band Golden Tiger.<br /><br />Told from first person perspective (Campbell Cavett) HE’S WITH THE BAND follows one-time groupie turned amateur photographer Cambell Cavett, now forty two, as she finds herself the band-photographer for the reunion tour of Golden Tiger. Golden Tiger disbanded over twenty years earlier, just months after our heroine spent a glorious summer as a rock band groupie but Campbell Cavett, for all her wants and desires, never had the full groupie experience, thanks in part by the actions of the band’s manager Vince Caparelli, the man who controlled everyone in and out of Golden Tiger’s life. Fast forward more than twenty years, and the first night of the tour, Campbell comes face to face with the same tour manager, who hasn’t forgotten our story line heroine. Hired to take pictures, and write about the band, Campbell slowly discovers that all is not as it appears to be, including the manager’s conection to the band. As Campbell begins to disect the individual members of the band, our heroine finds herself on the outside looking in, as secrets reveal the truth about what happened years before.<br /><br />HE’S WITH THE BAND is a back-stage pass, so to speak, about the lives of a band that imploded years before. Within months of Campbell’s journey with Golden Tiger, the band fell apart, following the release of a disastrous album but as Campbell begins to unravel the truth about the members of the band, a secret once kept is about to reveal the heart break and pain of unrequited love.<br /><br />HE’S WITH THE BAND is a journey of discovery for not only the band but for our story line heroine. Campbell Cavett’s marriage had imploded, and a mid-life crisis, of a sorts, finds Campbell trying to relive the summer that was but no longer is. The premise is entertaining and captivating; the romance is subtle; the characters are interesting and engaging-the slow build up to the twist is revealed a little at a time.<br /><br />Copy supplied by Netgalley<br /><br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.thereadingcafe.com">www.thereadingcafe.com</a>

He's With the Band by J. Stone, published by Entangled Publishing LLC, is a book that had me torn a bit. I was intrigued from the start because it got full speed - yay.<br />Campbell Cavett is a year old , freshly divorced photographer that gets somehow the job to photograph the reunion tour of her favorite rock band. A band she was a groupie of years ago. And here it starts. The heroine transforms into a whiny, drinking like a fish groupie again, hormone riddled, can't stay away from the lead singer, but rather should. She has no professional distance at all, wich she should have in my opinion when wanting to do a decent job. So as youz can see, the heroine has me a bit in a bind. I really really wanted to like her, but...<br />So and now the hero. I liked Vince, but I had to take not only a second, but a third look, he was just that bland and just not there. He was more like a vanishing wallflower and I just don't know.<br />So all in all. The story started out great, had some length further on, but turned out a decent read, stars.