This is the third book in the secrets of a Rock Star series. The books are full of kinky sex and all the characters enjoy BDSM. Each book features a different band member and this story features Chino, the drummer for the rock group, The Rough. Chino is charming and fun, although he does have some secrets he is uncomfortable sharing with anyone. He had a tough home life and he still worries about the family he left behind.

Madison is still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life and at the moment, she holds a few different jobs. Chino and Madison enjoy spending time together and always have fun and a lot of hot sex. Unfortunately, at first, Madison doesn't trust Chino but as she gets to know him better she starts to let down her guard. Chino seems to intuitively understand Madison needs and he is good for her in many different ways.

Chino and Madison help each other work through their issues. When they meet everything just seems to click between them. Chino is loving and patient with Madison and he is only interested in Madison. He is a sensitive, caring guy who needs to be in charge. Chino and Madison have a DOM/ sub relationship, which makes Madison nervous, she doesn't like to give up control. At first, Madison is afraid to be a sub but with Chino she is able to let down her guard. I liked both Chino and Madison and thought they make a great couple. This story is sexy, passionate, fun and emotional and there are interesting secondary characters which add to the story.

While I normally enjoy Cecilia Tan's writing, I found myself DNFing this story. The story line is crammed full of subplots and random situations. The chemistry and erotic scenes felt forced and overly done, and I literally cringed every time the MC's engaged in dialogue.

This book begins with Maddie, going through the motions at just another night in the BDSM club she is a hostess in...that is until she gets a challenge from a man she can't refuse.

Chino has been around the club awhile and has been looking for a way to approach Maddie and now that he has found it, he is never going to let her slip away from him again.

My review:

So...I will start this review by saying I didn't realize this book was part of a series when I requested it to review and I feel like had I read the other books in the series, I may have enjoyed this one more.

It felt to me like this book starts in the middle of the story and I didn't know really much of anything about the characters or why they are the way they are.

The sex in this book is plentiful and fans of BDSM will love it but for me there wasn't much else to the story.

I did like the additional story line of Chinos mother and sister and how that develops throughout but again it left me wanting more.


My thoughts:

<b>POV:</b> Switches between Maddie and Chino
<b>Quick hook or slow starter?</b> 3(I was hooked on and off in this one)
<b>Character development:</b> 2
<b>Level of Romance between characters:</b> 3
<b>Passion/Heat level:</b> 4 (hot and off the charts steamy throughout)
<b>Angst/Heartbreak:</b> 2 (not really much of this in this one.)
<b>Cliffhanger?: </b> Not really a cliffhanger,but I feel like their story is not over and they will probably show up in future books.

Overall, it was ok for me but fans/followers of this series will probably love it.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

My Thoughts

First off i should thank the folks at NetGalley for providing me with access to the ARC since i'm always a huge fan of getting my hands on a book a little early and this series is definitely one that i've found myself really intrigued by. I may not have had perfect reviews all the time, but the story is solid and you all should realize by now that i'm a fan of Ms Tan.

So in this third installment, we get to focus on Maddie, one of the hostesses at TGC. We don't know much about her going into this story and while we learn more, there are still a bunch of things that are shrouded in mystery. We do know that she's been in the lifestyle for a while and was chosen by the girls grandfather years ago to work at the club. She's bounced from job to job, all in the less than savory genre along with bouncing from relationship to relationship since the men she's chosen haven't been right for her.

Enter in Chino - one of the members of The Rough, the band that we know Axel and Mal from. We don't know hardly anything about him either except that he seems to keep to himself a lot. He's a little older than the other guys and that means of course tons more life experience.

Where this story takes us in on a journey of letting go, letting someone in, and coming to terms with your past. We learn through scenes that Maddie has her limitations in the BDSM lifestyle and that she's never considered herself to have been in a true D/s relationship which causes her to wonder if she truly can. Chino on the other hand is into a lot of stuff and that comes through more and more as we see trust develop. Maddie is able to open up more to Chino than ever and that gives us a chance to see what's inside her mind and heart.

Then there's the complexity known as Chino's past. We quickly learn that he left home when he was sixteen because it wasn't a good place for him, and he left behind his mother, sister brother and awful stepfather. They were raised so religiously that everything that Chino is now is something that they consider to be the work of the devil and a sin. That's where the story takes us though, on a journey of trying to get his family back together and into a safe place.

The nice thing about this installment is that it's really playful while pulling at your heartstrings. Each one of the bandmates stories gives us something else and it's good timing to get this type of plot line. I think that there's something sweet about two people who want to save each other but who want to save themselves as well.

We get a few interesting surprises with folks popping up when no one expected and then we get the added bonus of angst and anxiety when someone threatens to out the club without the girls being able to control it. It's a big question now of when the truth of the club will come out and what it will mean, but everyone's always known it would happen so we'll see who gets to make the announcement.

Anyhow - a great third book to the series and i can't wait to read more.

Totally enjoyable, really, really hot and with characters that readers can relate to, Hard Rhythm is an engaging page turner!

Set revolving the band and the kink club we've come to know in the previous two books, Hard Rhythm follows hostess Madison and drummer Chino.

Unfortunately, this is probably my least favorite of the series, little details just bothered me and I don't generally expect my favorite parts of an erotic romance to be the ones that have nothing to do with the relationship or sexy times. That being said, it's a pretty good series overall.

Ironically perhaps, I felt the public D/S scenes were just too showy for me to even enjoy reading about. Yeah, I get where that's sort of the point of a public show, but they felt like just show and no substance. I also felt we were a bit teased by a chance of a relationship with Madison as the dominant, or some element of switch. The story opens with her thinking about Chino submitting to her, then turns into her regularly going almost instantly into subspace with him. Other things that stood out the wrong way include a weird mix of expressing concerns over limits then going into scenes blindly without regard for any possible issues, as well as holy crap that's a short period of time to get someone's name inked on yourself (and making decisions like that mid scene... o.O).

As for the positives, among other things I totally didn't see the villain angle of the story coming, which is great because I thought I had it pegged as a overdone cliche. I was so happy to be wrong. I think the story really handled the issue of domestic abuse well, and I loved the idea of using a safeword for more than a stop, but as a check-in for acknowledging an issue that is difficult to confront.