Rock Hard: Sinners on Tour by Olivia Cunning & Contest

Life on the road with an up and coming hard rock band can't be easy, especially when you are engaged to the chick magnet, lead singer.  Since she was a young girl, Jessica Chase has planned to become a lawyer.  Naturally she expects that her fiancee, Sedric Lionheart, will be as excited for her she is.  She certainly did not expect his refusal of her continuing her education.  They both have big dreams for their futures, too bad they never discussed it with each other.

Skip forward two years, Jessica and Sed at once again thrust at each other.   Fireworks ensue.

This is an erotic romance novel, so I don't need to tell you that there is lots of physical activity.  At first, some of it made me uncomfortable, but when I thought about why, I realized it wasn't what they were doing, but where.  In one scene I found myself calling out to Jessica and Sed, telling them to hurry so that they wouldn't be caught.  In true erotic novel style, there is ample titillation, but it secondary to the plot lines and the character development.

When we first meet Jessica, she is a strong female character.  She knows what she wants in life and is following a path that could lead to success in her chosen field.  Two years later, when she is thrown in contact with Sed, she liquefies and loses all her strength. It isn't until another woman, who she thought was a very strong person, is totally dominated by a male in authority, that she regrows her backbone, even firmer than it was before.  She was only able to do this after she and Sed figured out them selves and each other, and what they wanted and needed in their relationship and they were able to grow beyond their physical attraction.

Much of this book is set in Las Vegas, where the band was touring at that time.  By coincidence, I also was visiting that city while I was reading Rock Hard.  Jessica and Sed antics certainly will leave me with a different impression of Vegas and puts a new spin on the moniker 'Sin City'. 

Rock Hard is the second book in the series, though can be read as a stand alone novel.  I didn't even realize it was part of a series until I was writing my review.

The Sinners on Tour  Series:

1 Backstage Pass
2 Rock Hard
3 Double Time
4 Hot Ticket due out February 5, 2013

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the use of the cover image.
Visit Olivia Cunning`s website to learn more about her books.