Saturday, July 27, 2013

Review: Touching Melody by RaShelle Workman

 Title: Touching Melody (Forever First #1)
Author: RaShelle Workman
Source: Received through blog tour in exchange for an honest review


Synopsis:

Sometimes life isn't pretty, but you have to close your eyes and let go...

Maddie Martin's first weekend at college is nothing like she's used to. It's wild, like the wilderness on which the University of Bellam Springs sits. Roped into going to a fraternity party, she literally runs into Kyle Hadley. The boy she's loved since she was nine. The boy she promised all of her firsts to. But that was before his father killed her parents.

Determined to stay away from him, she throws herself into her music. Practicing piano eases her heavy heart, calms the sadness, and pushes away images of Kyle's face.

Until it doesn't.

Her music professor asks her to play a duet for their annual Winter Gala. Doing so means she'll be assured another full ride scholarship. It's an opportunity she can't pass up.

But Kyle is the other half of the duet. And that means hours and hours of practicing.

Weeks of seclusion - just the two of them. And it's more than just music. It's passion like Maddie never believed was possible.

The inevitable happens. She falls in love with him all over again.

But, will loving him be enough to erase all the hate in her heart for his father? Can she look at him, and not see the evil in his family tree?

And maybe it's all a set up. Maybe Kyle is only pretending to care so he can finish what his father started, and kill her too.




Review:



 
Touching Melody is the first book in the Forever First series by RaShelle Workman. I really didn't know what to expect first going in. On Goodreads, the book seemed controversial but the synopsis sounded really good. Maddie is starting her first week in college, and runs into Kyle – the boy she has loved since she was a kid. They were separated when his dad murdered her parents. Maddie was sent to live with her aunt and uncle and hasn't talked to Kyle since the incident.

Maddie tries to stay away from Kyle, but they end up being paired for a duet for their piano recital. Kyle acts strange in the beginning by acting like he doesn't remember her. Considering they were best friends, this makes no sense. Maddie doesn't even know if Kyle knows that his father is a murderer. His father was never convicted, she was told not to tell anyone what she saw as a child. Nevertheless, she feels uncomfortable around Kyle. It feels wrong for her to get close to the son of her parent's murderer.

I really liked Maddie. She was very innocent and naïve – for good reason. She was home schooled after her parents died and missed out on a normal teenage life. Kyle was the opposite of innocent when it comes to the bedroom. There were things about Kyle that I didn't really like – like the fact that he pretended not to know Maddie, he was arrogant, he was basically a man slut, etc...

There were a lot of touchy subjects for some people in this book – like certain characters doing drugs, rape, getting wasted, sleeping around, etc... I definitely don't condone any of these, but these are typical things that happen in the college world. I think the author just made college life seem more realistic. It's not all bunnies and rainbows.

My main issue with the book was the fact that Maddie and Kyle promised their virginity to each other when they were 10 or 11 years old. I think it's a bit odd for children of this age to be talking to each other in this way. Kids this age shouldn't even be thinking about sex.

I liked how the story was told in alternating points of view, but I think we needed to see more of what was going on in Kyle's head. It was mostly told from Maddie's perspective. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel the chemistry between these two. Their relationship seemed a little forced. These two characters could have used a lot more communication between each other.


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Purchase at Amazon (the ebook is currently only .99 cents)

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