Pop Star On The Run
Three female musicians go into hiding, and end up finding love
Another micro-trope round up, inspired by these three similar but very different stories of female musicians fleeing from fame into the arms of an allegedly less complicated man. But nothing good comes easy, you know.
Famous by Jenny Holiday. Seven years ago, Emerson Quinn and Evan Winslow met at a wedding at a crossroads in both of their lives. Emerson was on the brink of musical stardom, and Evan was literally days away from moving away from his hometown and his legacy after his grifter father tanked his dreams and his reputation. They share some tantalizing chemistry but they instinctively know it can’t go anywhere, though Evan promises to always be a safe harbor for her, assuming it will never come to pass. Today, Evan is on the brink of tenure at a quite Iowa college and studiously refusing his personal artistic endeavors (he is, or was, a talented painter) in service of a quiet life teaching in relative obscurity. So it’s maybe not great that Emmy, now a pop star and fresh out of another high-profile celebrity dating scandal (not her fault), shows up on his doorstep to hide out from Hollywood for a while herself.
This is a book explicitly about the destructive nature of fame, the importance of remembering why you wanted to be an artist in the first place, and acting in your best interests, not the interests of those who will never behave in good faith on your behalf.
Rating: 4.25/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth O'Roark. This time, our musician on the run, Drew Wilson, is technically still in her scandalous, beneath-her celebrity relationship and in desperate need of One Real Dude. Drew’s on-again-off-again boyfriend “Six” (aka Joel) invites her on his family’s vacation to Hawaii and it’s perfect timing to give this thing another try because she’s burnt out and on the brink of losing it all so why not get back together with her awful ex? Then Six gets detained because of his own idiocy and Drew ends up alone with his parents and his older brother, the stern doctor Joshua who’s always hated her. As it turns out, of course, Joshua had it all wrong, and Drew maybe picked the wrong brother.
The family trip goes from tense to deeply personal on several levels very quickly, and it only gets more complicated when Six finally shows up and his mom reveals a surprising secret. All this plus some fairly hardcore tropical adventuring goes a long way to free Drew of the worst parts of her chosen career, but will it go far enough before she’s thrust back into “real life,” and can Joshua get his head out of his ass fast enough to rescue both of them?
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Good Girl by Lauren Layne. Once more with feeling, this book’s musician in hiding from a recent celebrity dating scandal (though in this case it was all speculation, no reality) is Jenny Dawson, who hightails it to a remote manor in Louisiana where she first fell in love with music to write her new album in peace. Upon arrival she meets Noah and assumes he’s the caretaker and he goes ahead and lets her, because his actual identity is still grating to him. That actual identity being a recent millionaire and, in fact, owner of the entire estate Jenny’s hiding from the world in, as a result of his long-estranged (and recently passed) father.
Both Jenny and Noah feel like they’re straddling two worlds badly, unsure of which to inhabit for good, and while they initially have nothing good to say to one another (a mix of projecting insecurities and unreal sexual tension), they soon realize there may be a different, better choice available after all: the world they make and inhabit together.
Of these three books this week, this is the most concretely enemies-to-lovers, and as a result sometimes they’re so mean to each other, which I unironically love. It makes the inevitable love all the sweeter in my opinion. This book tortured me in all the best ways. If only Lauren Layne was writing again!
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending three YA romances to change things up a bit, since the last month’s worth of roundups have been pretty heavy. One recent, two classics, join me here next week for a good time!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
This is a pretty major trope, I agree. Would add “Sweet Possession” by Maya Banks, “Superfan” by Sarina Bowen, (also kind of her book “Moonlighter”), “Hillbilly Rockstar” by Lorelei James (genders reversed!). I feel like I’ve read many more beyond that but those popped up in my mind first.