Release Blitz and Christie's review: The Duet by R.S. Grey

Title: The Duet
Author: R.S. Grey
Release Date: Nov 8, 2014
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When 27-year-old pop sensation Brooklyn Heart steps in front of a microphone, her love songs enchant audiences worldwide. But when it comes to her own love life, the only spell she’s under is a dry one.

So when her label slots her for a Grammy performance with the sexy and soulful Jason Monroe, she can’t help but entertain certain fantasies... those in which her G-string gets more play than her guitars'.

Only one problem. Jason is a lyrical lone wolf that isn’t happy about sharing the stage—nor his ranch — with the sassy singer. But while it may seem like a song entitled ‘Jason Monroe Is an Arrogant Ho’ basically writes itself, their label and their millions of fans are expecting recording gold…

They’re expecting The Duet.

The Duet will be priced at $2.99 for two days post-release, then the price will bump to $3.99!

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The M Lounge was the hippest and most discreet club in LA. If there was any hope of me locking down a one-night stand, M Lounge was the place to go.

“I can’t drink much tonight because I have that meeting with my record label in the morning,” I warned as we passed through the back entrance to the club and headed up a set of stairs that were used exclusively for the VIP level. Fun fact: one time I was going up those stairs when P. Diddy was coming down, and he totally touched my ass. Allegedly.

“Just to clarify: if you’re begging me for tequila shots at midnight, threatening to kill my first born if I don’t give them to you, I should still tell you no?” Cammie asked, just to ensure the boundaries were set. Better safe than sorry.

“That was one time and it was in Cabo,” I protested. “What else are you supposed to do in Cabo other than challenge a mariachi band to a tequila shot contest until the lead singer passes out beside a donkey?”

Cammie held up her hands and started listing off items. “I dunno— enjoy the beach, check out the museums and the culture—”

“That was a rhetorical question,” I interrupted as we made it to the top of the stairs.

As if by magic, the black curtain in front of us swept to the side, opening up an entire room of drunken debauchery before us. In one corner, a celebrity who shall remain nameless (we’ll call her Nennifer Janiston) was sucking face with a sexy man, and across the room two of the funniest women in comedy were doing body shots off of a waiter from the club.

“Welcome to the behind the scenes of Hollywood,” I whispered to Cammie.

 

I am a lover of books, chocolate, reality TV, black labs, and cold weather. Seriously, if I had it my way, I would be curled up on the couch with all of those things... everyday.

I live in Texas where I spend my free time writing and reading. My favorite authors include Mindy Kaling & Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm a comedy geek and love all things "funny". Women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling are definitely the biggest inspirations for my writing, though I think my work tends to skew a bit smuttier than theirs.

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I was so excited to check out this latest from R.S. Grey. Everything I've read from her has been 4-5 stars in the past. Going in, I think I had anticipated a more serious tone based on my past reads. However, Scoring Wilder did have more humor than the previous books. This one right here I would definitely classify as romantic comedy-minus the romance for me. Unfortunately, this couple didn't do it for me on a personal level. They hit a lot of buttons that turned me off and frankly, I was not feeling emotionally invested in the outcome of their HEA. There was a disconnect there and when I think about it, it was due to several factors.

First of all, the humor was funny. Laugh out loud funny at times even. I'm giving the author full credit for injecting so much witty banter and chuckle worthy material. It was the one thing that I enjoyed between the hero and heroine that I really wish I could have seen more of.

"Does your cockiness have a dimmer switch or is it always set to 'high'?"
"Guess you've figured me out, huh?"

Mostly, the humor was all the heroine's inner dialogue and while it was funny, I think I could have used less of that and more work spent on fleshing out these two characters more and actual time they could have spent getting to know each other past their feelings of lust. I didn't see any genuine foundation for their feelings for each other. I needed more. The sum total of their getting to know each other was one horseback ride where they asked each other 5 questions. And let's just say he withheld one huge piece of information about himself from her.



We'd only known each other for three weeks; he wasn't ready for a relationship;there were more things we didn't know about each other than we did know.

She was even mentally cracking jokes while they were having sexy time, and I didn't want that, I wanted intensity and passion. The whole dynamic they had going with going at it like bunnies at night, and him just acting civil with her during the day wasn't doing it for me. It cheapened things, left it feeling disrespectful and eventually it started to break down the heroine's feeling of self worth.



Basically, you get the general idea of the plot from the synopsis: two completely different types of singers are forced together to collaborate on a song and perform it at the Grammy's. They make a bad first impression on each other and when they head to his ranch in Montana to write their song together, sparks fly in more than one way.



This had one of the classic elements of romantic comedy: secrets and lies. Jason tells her from the start that he can't do serious with her, that things are complicated. They are, and when that "complication" is revealed, it leaves Brooklyn running to lick her wounds.



I think by far, the best part of the book for me was the ending. It was a sweet and swoon worthy moment from Jason and it brought my rating up some based on me finally seeing some emotion pass between the hero and heroine in a genuine feeling way. I loved the song that came from their collaboration and how it gradually grew throughout the story based on their inner turmoil that they couldn't express in other ways.



I have to say, I am actually dying to get my hands on the next book in the series. It's Brooklyn's best friend Cammie and their friend, a successful architect who has this broody, dominating persona. I was sufficiently teased with their story and I am putting that one on auto-buy. Spring 2015?! I'm not a fan of waiting.



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