Jessica TopperReviews

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a lot...richer than I'd been expecting and I really enjoyed it.

Jessica Topper's debut novel, Louder Than Love is an emotional and powerful story of healing. It is also a beautiful romance between two wounded individuals who unexpectedly find love. But before they can reach their happily ever after, Katina "Kat" Lewis and Adrian "Digger" Graves must move on from their heartbreaking pasts.

Needing a musician for a children's show she is heading up at the library, Kat Lewis tracks down the singer who sings the opening song for her four year old daughter Abbey's favorite show. When Adrian shows up for the performance, Kat has no idea who the tattooed artist is but she does know that he is a little older and a whole lot sexier than she anticipated. An instant and mutual attraction between them leads to an unexpected romance but will the ghosts of their pasts stand in the way of their future?

Three years after her husband Pete's tragic death, Kat is still grieving his loss. She is not only mourning Pete's death, she is also mourning the loss of their dreams for themselves and Abbey. A bittersweet portrait of their marriage is revealed through flashbacks and Kat's memories of the love they shared are positively heartrending. She is surrounded by a group of loving and supportive friends and Kat has created an insulated, safe world for herself and Abbey. While she is quick to explore her attraction to the mischievous and fun loving musician, Kat finds it nearly impossible to open up about her past.

What's not to love about Adrian? He is charming, sexy and soo wonderful with Abbey that he pretty much steals your heart right from the start. Of course, he has many hidden depths to explore and once his rock star past is revealed, Adrian is pretty open and honest with Kat. He does not make excuses or sugarcoat his excesses and mistakes. Adrian owns his past and he takes responsibility for his missteps, failures and shortcomings. Kat's inability to confide in him leaves Adrian unsure and vulnerable and it is no surprise when he jumps to a conclusion that derails their relationship.

And speaking of their relationship, wow, it is incredibly sweet, sensual and romantic. The chemistry between them is scorching hot and their lovemaking is full of strong emotion right from their very first encounter. The intimacy they share is so intense that there is an almost voyeuristic feel to their love scenes. Their conversations are so personal it feels like eavesdropping when they finally reveal their deepest, darkest secrets.

Jessica Topper has an uncanny ability to draw the reader into the story so that they experience firsthand the agony and the ecstasy of the characters. The hustle and bustle of New York springs vividly to life whereas the serenity of Kat's hometown Lauder Lake is calming and quite soothing. The end result is an emotional investment in the final outcome of this enthralling story.

Louder Than Love is an amazing journey that is full of raw emotion, deep sorrow and incredible joy. I found impossible it to put down and I hated that it had to end. A truly incredible novel that I highly recommend.

Softer Than Steel is the second installment in Jessica Topper's fabulous rocker series, Love & Steel. This leisurely paced romance between guitarist Rick "Riff Rotten" Rottenberg and yoga instructor Sidra Sullivan is quite captivating and delectably sensual. Although characters from the previous novel in the series make guest appearances, it can be read as a standalone but I HIGHLY recommend the other books in the series as well.

Rick is thrilled to be reunited with his former band mates but now their latest tour is over and they are back in the recording studio, he is having difficulty focusing on their next album. With a bad case of writer's block, mounting anxiety and a raging case of insomnia, he is getting pretty desperate for some relief from his stress. After yet another panic attack, Rick takes a friend's advice to give yoga a chance and he is delighted when he discovers his new instructor is the woman he unsuccessfully tried to charm when they met by chance a few days earlier. Sidra shares his attraction, but she does not mix business with pleasure and after having her heart crushed by her musician ex-boyfriend, she is really not in any hurry to become involved in another relationship.

Now in his mid forties, Rick's life is full of changes. His three sons are now grown and on their own and he is having a little trouble coping with his empty nest. Although it has been fourteen years since her death, he is still deeply mourning the loss of this beloved wife, Simone. He is also still wracked with guilt and regrets from the mistakes he made in the years leading up to her death. Reuniting with his band mates is a dream come true, and while Rick is ecstatic to be back in the business, there is unexpected tension between the band members as they try to strike a balance between work and their personal lives.

Sidra is a warm, caring and compassionate woman who is very devoted to her family. She is slowly building her yoga business and she also helps out in her cousin's second hand record shop. Her relationship with her ex-boyfriend ended when she found out he was cheating on her and she has no intention of dating another musician. Sidra does not trust easily and this becomes a major problem when she jumps to conclusions about Rick throughout the course of their romance.

The relationship between Rick and Sidra is fairly slow growing and Rick displays a surprising amount of patience as he tries to win Sidra over. They each carry significant baggage from their respective pasts and these unresolved issues lead to many of the problems between them. Both of them find it difficult to open up and communication is one of the couple's biggest issues. Sidra's mistrust leads her to jump to conclusions when she misconstrues Rick's involvement in a situation concerning her family and she is not easily persuaded to give him a second chance.

Softer Than Steel is a wonderful addition to Jessica Topper's Love & Steel series. The characters are vibrantly developed with realistic flaws and issues to overcome. The romance between Rick and Sidra builds at a unhurried pace and it is quite enjoyable watching Rick patiently work his way through Sidra's somewhat formidable defenses. Although the conflict between them is rather easy to predict, their separation provides both characters with an unexpected opportunity to make some much needed changes in their lives. All in all, it is another highly entertaining novel that old and new fans are going to love.

Loved, loved this book. I was sucked into the world and carried on the roller coaster ride. Entire afternoons gone in a blink! It's my favorite kind of book - both characters have big flaws and heavy baggage, and a long road to go to their HEA.

A wonderful debut.

Anyone know where I can find a guy like Adrian? Wow.

Well this was sort of a first for me. I usually read romantic thrillers or mysteries but almost never just a straight romance. But this one had yoga and rock musicians so it was hard to resist. I really enjoyed the yoga descriptions and the female lead, Sidra, was a really good character. I wish she was real so I could take her classes. She has had a somewhat hard life having lost her mother at an early age.

Enter Rick (Riff Rotten) aging heavy metal guitarist. He has a lot of baggage and as they try to resurrect their old band, he is struggling with anxiety attacks. When Rick tries yoga for relaxation, he meets Sidra and sparks fly. Rick is a nice guy. There really isn't any other description. But he has some rough edges and does not always communicate well.

I really enjoyed following their courtship and their business and personal issues. I would really like to read more about them. Particularly the yoga side.

My Take-Away From It All:

Loved, loved, loved it! 5/5 Stars on this one Jessica Topper — Great first book. She hit the romance and the feelings “spot on” as Adrienne might say in his brittish accent. You could feel the loss and grief and then in the end, the utter happpiness and contentment. It had a little bit of everything – tossed in with the most adorable 4 and a 1/2 year old I have EVER read about – Abbey. It also had those HOT, and very adult moments that I really enjoy without being cheesy or staged or… too adultish, and I really liked that too. Their entire romance felt real, not scripted, and not unrealistic. He wasn’t a prince charming, and she wasn’t a princess. They were both normal people with baggage, and yet they still found each other – but you will have to read to see how it all ends up – that’s my task to you!

When it comes down to it, I just really love a good LOVE story, and this my friends, is a great one. So, September 17th will be here before you know it – go out and check this one out! I’m going to put the link for Kindle to pre-order below and I hope you will at least check it out. It’s worth the cash and I would even verge to say worth a re-read and you know that is a big reccommendation in my book! I’m also going to give you a quote below – I think it sums up the whole book actually and yet doesn’t give anything away – so check it out and then check out the book!

Check out my full review @ http://bookgirlfromsouthcarolina.wordpress.com

As a librarian, I have to say I loved the plotline of Louder Than Love! When Katrina (Tree) Lewis tracks down Adrian Graves to perform at her library she had no idea she was putting onto motion the event that would change her entire life. Tree is still suffering from the loss of her husband in a train accident over two years prior and is still unable to fully move on with her life. She lives in her childhood home with her daughter Abbey and her only nights out are with her friends, Marissa, Leanna and Liz. Abbey is enamored of a children’s show about a mystery solving cat and Tree discovers that Adrian Graves wrote the theme song so she books him to do a performance at the library.
Adrian is not what Tree expected as a children’s performer especially since he arrives late and slightly inebriated. He’s a lot older than she expected and a bit scruffy but he ends up wowing the children by performing a mix of children’s songs and rock classics. They go out to dinner, kiss in the car, she almost kills him because she had shrimp and he is deathly allergic and Adrian ends up in the hospital. Great first date!
This is the beginning of a relationship that neither party expected. When Tree discovers information about Adrian’s past life as a rocker and his failures as a husband and parent, she has to think hard about what she is getting into. I really enjoyed the interplay between the two characters and how the relationship develops. Both Tree and Adrian have hurt and loss in their pasts but have dealt with those issues in different ways. Actually, I thought that for all of the drama and glamor that Adrian had as part of his life, he was the one more grounded in reality than Tree. Her inability to let go of her husband Pete becomes a major problem in the romance but she doesn’t see that at all.
I really liked this book and thought that Ms. Topper did an excellent job of portraying two people who are damaged but trying their best to keep going on with life. Adrian is a sexy and complicated man and Tree is quirky and interesting. The romance is sweet at the beginning and so intense later that when they have problems it’s upsetting because they are perfect for each other. I thought the secondary characters all added a lot to the story and I loved Adrian’s interaction with Abbey. I also enjoyed the ages of the main characters and that they had some life experience. I think I am going to have to add Jessica Topper to my must buy authors list.

When this book start out you meet a woman named Katrina Lewis, a heartbroken widow still learning how to go on with her life. Determined to move on with it the help of her friends and family she moves back to her hometown. She was left to take care of her daughter Abbey a sweet, smart and quick witted little girl with an affection for a TV show named Maxwell MacGillikitty, Feline Private Eye. And that leads her to the singer of the song Adrian Graves. He agrees to perform at the library where she volunteers her time. And that’s where the meat of the story begins. As they both begin to push the ghosts out of there life, and see if they can make a go at a life together. I have to say that I think this book started out a little slow but once it got going, it was a very good book. I love that Kat was a strong person, even though she had a past she didn’t think she could face. I loved all the characters, including her girlfriends that rallied around each other in their time of need. And Adrian comes in and automatically fits the puzzle, though he has a story all his own and somehow learns how to let go of it so much better than she does, Kat & Abbey give him the power to do that. I would love to hear more about the other characters in the book perhaps a spin-off of Kev to see what happens next in his story, perhaps with a certain someone.
✯Jammie

I received a copy of Louder than Love from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This Review along with others can be found at http://www.2bookaholics.com

Unsurprisingly, I was drawn to the cover of Louder Than Love the first time I saw it. I willingly admit to judging books by their covers. Unfortunately, the story didn't hold my attention as well as the front cover did.

When I finally got around to cracking open the digital book, I realized that even though the characters are well developed, most of the characters were rather dull. My favorite character is Abbey, and she's at most four years old.

Adrian: The mystery around Adrian's past was what saved this book for me. I wanted to know what happened to his career and why he continued to hide it from Kat. I've told you guys I'm nosy when it cones to characters in a book. And to be honest, the fact that he's this handsome, older British man kind of sold him to me. Also, he has a thing for cats. A man who loves kitties? SCORE!

One thing about turned me off of the guy and pissed me off all at once. In the beginning of the story, he is invited to perform for a group of preschoolers at the library where Kat volunteers. The man shows up drunk! If I were Katrina, I wouldn't let him near my kids in the state he was in. If Adrian was somebody Kat knew personally, than okay, I might probably be less shocked about a professional allowing a drunk man (or woman, honestly) near a group of kids. But, no, all she knew about Adrian was his name and the fact that he once wrote a popular kiddie jingle for a GPS tv show.

Kat: I wasn't very impressed with Katrina. She was a drab character. In fact, her toddler was more entertaining to me.

The love scenes in this story were sensual rather than slutty, and I winded up enjoying them to read the entire book. This book is recommended for those of you that enjoy a sweet romance, with a little bit of sadness and a whole lot of mystery man. You may need a couple tissues nearby to read this book!

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