Review: Backstage Pass

Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Let me be straight with you. I am not really a rock and roll fan. The closest I have been to a rock concert is the Pogues on St. Patrick's day (or David Byrne at the Warner Theater). I also think 10 inches is wayyyy too long as a penis size, and would rather jump off a bridge rather than allow any kind of candy in any bodily orifice that is not my mouth. That said, I really liked this erotic romance. It's about a human sexuality professor, Myrna Evans, who is a rock fan, and who meets the big-time group The Sinners in a hotel lounge. She immediately hits it off best with the lead guitarist, Brian "Master" Sinclair, and turns out to be his muse. Myrna manages to get a plot device academic grant to study the mating habits of groupies, so she can tour with the band. However, Myrna has some baggage from her psychostalker ex-husband that keep her from committing to her rock and roll lover. I found this book really interesting and well-done. The sex scenes are hot, and there are many of them, yet on another level the book had a solid plot and is often raunchily realistic (the bathroom sex scene! I won't spoil it for you!). I found the portrait Cunning drew of bad-boy rockers on the road to be interesting--they are, mostly, guys. You know: slobs. Eating at McDonalds every day. Crude with each other. That sort of thing. But they have to deal with the effects of their fame, their itinerant life, and their musical talents as well. One of the defining characteristics of the hero of this book is that he's looking for a meaningful relationship (so sweet) in a world where most of the women he meets are either only in love with his stage persona or are so unbelievably promiscuous he can't trust them.



NB: As of the time I post this review, this book is still free as an e-book at B&N and Amazon.



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