Title :              Blow 

Author :           Heidi McLaughlin

Series :            Virtuous Paradox #1

Release date :   November 08 2016

Rating :           4 Stars

Blurb : Meet the complicated men behind the sexiest boy band in America! In Blow, the start of an emotionally charged series from bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin, an insatiable heartthrob gets blinded by the spotlight—and learns to fight for love.

Bodhi McKnight has always had everything handed to him on a silver platter: fame, success, money, girls. The raven-haired, blue-eyed hottie is the son of Hollywood A-listers, and when he’s asked to join the boy band Virtuous Paradox, his star shoots even higher. But so do expectations, leading Bodhi down a destructive path of addiction—until a drop-dead gorgeous guardian angel shows him her sizzling brand of tough love.

When Bodhi ends up in rehab, he doesn’t expect to meet someone as cool and down-to-earth as Kimberly Gordon. Although he’s enjoyed the company of beautiful, charming women before, none of them have tried to get to know the “real” Bodhi. But Kimberly isn’t fazed by his stardom. She’d rather go horseback riding, teach Bodhi to play guitar, or ask him about his feelings. Soon Bodhi realizes he’s fallen head over heels for her. He just hopes that he’s strong enough to protect what they have from all the pressures and temptations of the outside world.

Review : Heidi McLaughlin is not a new author name for me, but I had yet to read any of her books. She has been on my radar for some time but always due to a typical blogger lack of time I did not have the chance to read something.

Especially as I do not like to start in the middle of a series with a new author. So when I now stumbled on a new series by her and had the chance to grab an advanced reading copy I went for it.

“Blow” is the first book in the new “Virtuous Paradox” series. And I have to say reading this book left me impressed and even more with the feeling that I need to read some of the previous books by this author.

A lot of things felt unusual about this plot but in a good way, as they were missing out on the expected clichés. Like for example Bodhi’s parents – they were difficult, strange yet somehow loving when needed.

And a lot of stuff was handled in a raw way leaving out all of the sugarcoating ways that are used. So I really felt good about reading this book. While the plot itself might not have been new, the author used a refreshing way to approach the stardom and addiction.

Bodhi was not a “sweet” guy, the way he was written felt raw at most times – he sometimes felt that he was pathetic even, I can not agree with that. I thought he was honest which is a rare treat in that given environment. I did not quite get WHY he was actually in that boy band because really he did not need any of this.

When meeting Kimberley the reader gets to experience first hand the building friendship between her and him. And I was able to relate to their growing attraction and all the problems that come with it.

Amongst all of this banter in their growing relationship there is also some suspense hidden at a moment when you least expect it which was an nice treat in a romance when done right. And here it sure happened the right way.

I can honestly say that I look forward to the next book of this series and I will surely no go back and take a closer look at the older books by this author.

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