Title: Rock Redemption
Series: Rock Kiss #3
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness…until the night Noah deliberately shattered her heart.
Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music. It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night. Chasing oblivion through endless one-night-stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and his bad boy reputation.
When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.
This story…ah, this story. I have been waiting for Kit and Noah’s story since Rock Addiction and yet, despite my strong, overwhelming desire to read it, I let Rock Redemption sit on my Kindle for days before I dared open it. I knew going in that it would be harder, more angst-filled than the other Rock Kiss books—than Nalini Singh’s other books, so many of which I have read and loved—and I was a little bit terrified that my heart wouldn’t survive it. It did…but it was a close call at times.
Noah St. John may be a world famous rock star, but that doesn’t make him any less broken. He’ll never be the type of man that deserves a woman like Kit Devigny, his beautiful, talented and kind best friend—the woman he intentionally destroyed.
Kit’s heart knows that Noah could have been the one, until his selfish act ruined everything before it truly began. But now Noah is back in her life, and Kit—and her heart—aren’t sure they can handle it. Especially not when the tabloids turn their fledgling new friendship into so much more.
With Kit’s career on the line, will a fake relationship give Noah the chance to redeem himself to the only woman he’s ever cared about, or simply destroy Kit’s already fragile heart?
This book is most easily described as a roller coaster. Of epic proportions. I was high and low, I was happy and sad, I felt a deep, physical ache in my chest as Noah and Kit attempted to navigate this minefield of a relationship, I practically swooned as Noah attempted to prove himself worth the fight. I don’t particularly love angst but I do love Ms. Singh, and her words, her gentle but strong way of making Noah’s prickly, sometimes selfish behavior acceptable, made this book an off-the-charts success for me.
Noah is a bastard. Selfish, blind and sometimes, it could be argued, just plain cruel. He makes no bones about how he needs Kit, seemingly never considering how that need affects and damages her. And still, I couldn’t blame him, I couldn’t hate him. I could feel his desperation, his anguish, his shame in and at himself. It hurt my heart.
Kit, however, is the opposite. She’s kind, wide-open and loving. Some may say she’s allowing Noah to victimize her, but I prefer to see it as a strong, bright soul caring for someone she loves, deeply. I adored this woman—as I do so many of Ms. Singh’s female characters. Even in danger of having her heart and soul crushed (and, potentially, more), Kit still never gives up. She’s a fighter. How can you not love that?
Rock Redemption felt different from the start. From the makes-your-stomach-drop prologue—which, for those of us that have read book one in this series, is no surprise—to the soaring ending, it had all the hallmarks of this author’s work, but with a darker mood; a shattering undertone that made you want to wreak havoc on whomever it was that broke Noah almost beyond repair. It wasn’t difficult to see the direction that this book was headed in—there are only so many life-changing events that can tear apart a young boy—and yet, Rock Redemption never once felt stale or played-out. It was heart-breaking, cringe-worthy, and filled to the brim with borderline deplorable behavior, but still so addictive, that putting it down was never an option.
I can’t wait for the continuation of this series. Abe's story gets more of a set-up here, after having been hinted at in previous Rock Kiss books; it’s shaping up to be another angst-ridden, potentially heart-breaking must read for me. And now I have successfully—and lovingly—survived Kit and Noah, I may just have the heart to read it the moment it hits my Kindle…
~ Review by Beth
When love heals…
Kit Devigny and Noah St. John could have been the darlings of the media world. Too bad it was a lie. Betrayed, Kit is still reeling from the deliberate pain Noah inflicted but also realizes that not having him in her life is even more painful. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t, she has to find a way to make things right between them, even if friendship is the most they will ever have.
They both have demons but Noah’s are never far from the surface and ride him to the brink. Pulling back from that edge, and realizing what he needs to do to repair the friendship he had destroyed, he is willing to put everything on the line...
This author, whether writing paranormal or rock star romance, knows people. How they think, how they feel, and what motivates them, bad or good, to be whom they are. This group of rock stars and their loves are no exception with this third installment focusing on a damaged man and his need to do better, to be better, for the woman who has touched him like no other.
Opening himself up to Kit is so painful to Noah you can almost feel the reluctance and despair in the telling. He is so lost—in the past, in the pain and in the shame he feels every minute of existence. His music being his solace, and his band his family, Kit is truly the one who makes his world. Kit feels that pain and knows how truly low Noah has been. She fears what could happen if she’s not somehow a part of his life and her compassion to give him another chance truly shows the true meaning of love. Of sacrifice for another.
Famous people who are not famous in their hearts, I love the down-to-earth-ness of all the Boys and the women in their life. An emotional story from start to finish, with twists and revelations galore, Noah and Kit have permanently etched their way into my heart and I can’t wait to make room for Abe and Sarah!
~ Review by Diane
Nalini Singh is
the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series. She lives in New Zealand
but travels as much as possible (the travel bug bit hard from when she escaped
working as a lawyer to run away and teach English in Japan). Nalini loves to
write, loves to read, and thinks chocolate is a food group.
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