Welcome to Jenuine Cupcakes
This is my stop on the Dirty Little Secret Blog Tour
Author: Jennifer EcholsPublication: July 16, 2013
By: MTV Books
4.5 Stars!
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…
My Thoughts
Is there anything Jennifer Echols CAN'T write?!
What had me shoutin' Yeehaw!: Dirty Little Secret reads like a country song - you've got love, loss, heartbreak and redemption and as usual, Jennifer Echols gives us flawed characters who are funny, endearing and completely relateable. Bailey is the kind of girl who desires to do the right thing but goes about it the wrong way occasionally.I can't say I blame her though, especially after what happened with her familybut despite the pain they've caused her, Bailey still worries about her sister Julie just as much as ever.
And then there's Sam. *sighs* I felt myself drawn in by that quirky heartbreaker whose almost too cute for his own good as easily as Bailey but I was torn between wanting to hug him and kick him in the shins. Sam has big dreams and he'll do just about anything to make them come true even if it means using his friends or leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. However, he meets his match when he plays Johnny Cash's son to Bailey's, Studio B musician, and Sam will have to decide if having one without the other (Bailey or a music career) is really worth it.
I LOVED that Bailey and Sam had SO much in common and I got choked up quite a few times for them. I'm not a violent person (says the woman who threatened to kick Sam) but I wanted to smack Bailey's mother into next year...I.can't.even with that woman.
What left me cryin' in my whiskey*: I am not a huge country music fan nor am I musically inclined so there were times I was a little lost when Bailey was talking about notes and scales, but I also felt like I was getting an education which was cool! *For the record (pun completely intended), I have never had whiskey to know if it would even be worth crying into. ;)
Final Verdict: Read it. Love it. You'll never listen to Lady Antebellum or Justin Timberlake the same way again. ;)
Favorite Verse: "Because of the fifty-two girlfriends? Poor baby."
About the Author
Jennifer Echols was born
in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a
setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine
romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH,
which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO
FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice
Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American
Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon &
Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more
teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham
with her husband and her son.
GIVEAWAY
Great review. Thanks for participating :)
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