swoonworthy heroes: musicians

This week, I’m helping Entangled Publishing celebrate the heroes of Embrace & New Adult Romance!

Today the spotlight is on musicians and rockstars. 

I don't know about you, but I love a good rock star romance. I have a whole shelf on my Goodreads account highlighting his particular sub-genre. It's weird because I'm actually not a big music fan. But there's something about the rock star trope that just makes for good romance. Here's why I think I love a good rock star romance: they are like royalty, rich and famous, but they aren't buttoned up or prim and proper, they have demons and baggage and darkness. And actually, I love them because they have that hint of dark, it makes them interesting, it makes the stories about them more emotional, it cuts the sweetness of the fairy tale just enough so that the characters and what they go through to be together sticks with you. This blog has many a review with a rock star/musician hero, and I keep reading books about them because I find them so damn irresistible.

Here’s what Embrace authors have to say about their rockstars.

Are any of your rockstar characters inspired by real life people? If so, who?

A.S. Green (author of Summer Girl): Well... there may have a been a gorgeous guitar-playing camp counselor in my early teen years who left an impression and inspired Bennet from Summer Girl.

Katie Delahanty (author of The Brightside series): Many of the experiences, especially in In Bloom, are inspired by real-life events/run-ins with real-life celebrities (sometimes actors, not exclusively musicians) so my characters are sort of inspired by real people... I'd say they are a mishmash of the many artists, both famous and up and coming, that I've had the privilege of knowing over the years as part of the Los Angeles music scene. When we were dating, my husband (then boyfriend) was in a band that used to open for Kara's Flowers—who went on to become Maroon 5. My husband is good friends with Adam Levine so I was along for the ride (and was often the shy girl hiding in the corner at celebrity parties) as they rose to success. People often ask if Berkeley is based on Adam and the short answer is he's not character-wise, but in some ways Adam taught Berkeley everything he knows experience-wise. Other bands/celebs that have "cameos" in my books include The Killers and Jake Gyllenhaal, and all of the music/lyrics are borrowed from my husband's band, The Remainers.

Lisa Burstein (author of The Possibility of Us): In my YA Mia and The Bad Boy. Ryder Brooks a reluctant member of a boy band is based on River Phoenix.

Tara Kelly (author of Encore): Yes - Sean in Encore - was actually inspired by my husband. They are differences, for sure, but their personalities are similar.

Besides rockstars & musicians, what kind of heroes do you like to read about?

A.S. Green: I love any hero with a troubled past and something to prove, even if he's the only one who needs convincing.

Katie Delahanty: Entrepreneurs--anybody who is chasing a dream and is driven to succeed.

Lisa Burstein: Artists of any kind. I find creativity and angst super sexy.

Tara Kelly: I've got a soft spot for computer/science geeks (particularly of the hacker variety), any type of artist, mechanics, heroes who, underneath their corporate suit/image, are tattooed and have a chaotic, wild side.

How would you describe your own musical talent?

A.S. Green: I can do a mean karaoke version of "I Will Survive."

Katie Delahanty: Ugh. Non-existent!

Lisa Burstein: Not great talent-wise but better story-wise. I took keyboard lessons in middle school from one of them members of Kool and the Gang. He told us he used to be a member, but he also worked at Sears in the keyboard department, so looking back I'm not so sure. He'd bring his bass over and play in my dining room while trying to teach me the keys.

Tara Kelly: I'm a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. I play guitar, bass, piano, and sing.

Playlist inspired by these books, songs chosen by the authors:

Encore by Tara Kelly

Amplified

I lied my way into a band, humiliated them on stage, and got my heart broken by the bassist. Now...we’re on tour together. This is the best opportunity we may ever have –and it’s already a disaster. We’re broke. We can't stop fighting. And being in such close quarters to Sean isn't exactly helping me get over him. Even though we're just friends now, every time our fingers brush or our eyes catch, my heart betrays me. He's the kind of distraction I can't afford to have right now...no matter how much I wish things were different.

Get Encore

In Bloom by Katie Delahanty
The Brightside Series

How does someone like me, an ordinary girl from Pittsburgh, wind up in the arms of the world’s sexiest rock star—surrounded by celebrities, fashion, and music—and not be eaten alive? Berkeley Dalton is everything I've ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, but the paparazzi, the tabloids, the rumors, it's all getting a bit too crazy. My life has become every girl’s dream come true, if only I don’t blink and lose it all…

Get In Bloom

Blushing by Katie Delahanty

The Brightside Series

When Berkeley proposed, I thought we'd live happily ever after. Instead he dropped a bombshell: he's starring in a movie with his gorgeous ex, Christina Carlton. And what's more? I've been erased from the public eye. To be together, Berkeley asked me to work on set as a costume designer—a dream come true—but there's a catch: we have to keep our relationship secret. I'm okay with not being photographed, but the sneaking around, the lies, his love scenes; it's not how I imagined our engagement. Am I ready to drop everything to become Olivia Dalton?

Get Blushing

Believe by Katie Delahanty

The Brightside Series

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to fall for the adorable bass player of my favorite band. I'm a doctor beginning a five-year residency, and there’s no room in my life for fairy tales—only patients and perfection. But I can’t stop thinking about him. Could he be the One? Am I ready to risk everything I’ve worked for? All for a chance at a happily ever after I never believed possible.

Get Believe 

Summer Girl by A.S. Green

A songwriter is nothing without his muse. Sucks that mine turns out to be Katherine D’Arcy—hot as hell, but the very definition of country-club living and everything I came to this quiet little island to escape. I thought I’d find inspiration here, but I’ve been unable to write crap. That is until the uptight summer girl arrived to tend the lighthouse and the music began to flow. If only there wasn’t that one inconvenient truth I’ve been keeping from her…

Get Summer Girl 

The Possibility of Us by Lisa Burstein

Cassie doesn’t want to go to the funeral. She had enough to handle with her own hollow existence. But she knew she should pay her respects to her old camp counselor...as long as her ex, Ben, wouldn’t be there.  Except Ben is there. Still gorgeous, still angry, and still able to penetrate her defenses with one intense stare. All the reasons they left each other in a flurry of heartache start to fall away over one long, snowy weekend. But tough Cassie can’t truly open up to Ben when she knows confessing her secrets will leave her raw, defenseless. And the possibility of forever might not be enough to gamble on all the impossibilities of now.

Get The Possibility of Us 

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