Ryder felt someone always wanted something from him. All Ryder wanted was to shower and get some uninterrupted sleep. Then the woman said her name was Quinn and there had been an appointment. Ryder had a bad leg and from the beating he received as a child it had been like a war zone. Right now his knee was very swollen and painful. One time when Ryder was ten he got a baseball bat to the knee from the monster who had been his father. Ryder just thought of him as the monster when he was younger. Quinn was a photographer but on agreeing to meet for lunch in his room the next day she left Ryder alone so Ryder could rest and eat and Ryder also promised not to hit on her while she was at his room for lunch. Quinn talked to her dad who was a corporate lawyer who lived life on his own terms. But last year he had chest pains and the Doctor and Cora his third wife made him watch what he ate and drank. Her father felt Quinn’s choice of jobs as a photographer was just a fluff job and that she should not have dropped out of law school. Quinn and her father didn’t speak very often but she did love him. There had been a time when all Quinn cared about was pleasing her dad but then a year before finishing law school Quinn knew she didn’t want to be a lawyer and working at her dad's firm would have ended in in a disaster. Photography was Quinn’s passion Quinn was good and a perfectionist about her work. This assignment would be the next level up for Quinn’s career- a full spread in Rolling Stone magazine covering the final two weeks covering the wildly successful world tour of Ryder’s band was the chance of a lifetime. Ryder and his band were notoriously publicity shy. Ryder had hustled his first paying gig when he was sixteen. Aidan had been the first and only manager the band had ever hadas Aidan had been the first person to believed in Ryder’s talent. Ryder and his bandmates agreed on wanting to put on the best show possible every night. Ryder wanted quinn around whether they went to bed together or not as time went on. It had been a long time since Ryder had got excited over any woman. Ryder only did light and easy in relationships, no expectations and no strings. Ryder wouldn’t give his heart to anyone as he refused to take the chance that he might be like his father the monster. Quinn hadn’t expected Ryder to be such a laid back down to earth man. Quinn was also attracted to Ryder and felt he had been blessed with too many irresistible qualities. The words were Ryder’s speciality and the music was his muse. The words were Ryder’s salvation. They had carried him through some bad times. At the concert Ryder felt that was where they could fly and for two and a half hours a night he soared. Ryder used to tell his sister Zoe that nothing could bring them down as long as they stuck together. The world could be a cold merciless place but on stage it was always perfect. Zoe was Ryder’s sister and she wa part of the band she wrote songs. played the guitar and sang.
I loved this story as well as the plot and the pace. I could not find anything wrong to complain about which is always great. I really liked how the serious issues of child abuse and suicide were handled in this story.But you also felt like you were there with Ryder and Zoe and the band and Quinn. I would have liked to take a baseball bat to that monster of a father and not just his leg. There was times i chuckled when reading this and there were times I choked. I loved how Quinn and ryder’s relationship developed and he kept his word to her. This kept my attention, no problem. loved how Ryder, Zoe Dalton, and Ashe were not only bandmates but were as a family to each other. I also loved Ryder and Quinn together. I also loved Ryder and Zoe’s relationship. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend.

*4 Stars*

Copy kindly received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book. I wasn't too sure at first if things were seemingly moving too fast, time wise, for the story, but then I realised what I thought was the time frame the story was going to focus around, actually wasn't.

I really liked the way that Ryder and Quinn were quite similar in some ways and they just worked. There was little to no angst in this which was refreshing, and story seemed to flow really well. I enjoyed the banter and meaningful conversations between the characters, this was just a really nice and easy read.

I'm quite interested to see where things go for the other characters as well, particularly Ashe.

Would recommend.

I see myself as a bit of a rock star romance afficionado - I've read an awful lot of them, after gettin hooked on Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series, and I'm even writing my own. But it still comes down to personal opinion when reviewing a book, and I'm afraid Flowers on the Wall wasn't quite my type of thing. The writing style was a little impersonal for me, and I didn't really connect with the characters as much as I had hoped to. A found the pacing a bit off too, rushing through some parts and languishing in others. That's just me though - plenty of people have enjoyed it a lot so give it a go and form your own opinion.

Whew, what a rockstar ride! Ryder Hart had a tormented childhood but he's made himself into a rock god. He, his sister and the rest of his band are The Ryder Hart band, but they're all special in their own way. Quinn Abernathy, on the surface, seemed to have the opposite childhood, pampered little girl of a rich dad, but one with whom she doesn't see eye to eye. When she and Ryder meet, her as a photographer for Rolling Stone, their meeting is a little antagonistic, but sets the tone for their coming relationship.

I love Ryder and Quinn together. He's sexy, poetic, damaged in his way, but ultimately loving. She's feisty, independent, and determined to prove to her father that her choice of photography over law is the best for her. Together the two have chemistry that's really beautiful. The rockstar and the photographer make for a great combination!

Must read for me. Gave me the feels for this. Recieved this book and was happy I got to read it.

Ryder Hart was a rocker that had brought him and is sister up through a childhood of hell and turned it into future full of fame, fortune and family. The fame and fortune came from creating one of the hottest rock bands around and the family was the other two guys in the band. Who could need or want for anything else? Ryder was every girls dream but he was giving his heart to no one. He couldn’t take the chance that he possibly could be like his own father. Quinn grew up quite the opposite in some aspects. She came from a rich family with her father being a lawyer and had no ears for Quinn becoming anything else other than a lawyer but her childhood was of a broken home and a father who couldn’t help himself with other women. The big difference between Ryder and Quinn’s upbringing was that Quinn knew that aside from all the pressures of her father, she knew she was loved.

Quinn had the opportunity like no others; she was going to get to photograph the notoriously private Ryder Hart Band for a spread in Rolling Stones Magazine. Even though Ryder was sex on a stick there was no way she would do anything to jeopardize her job and that meant no messing around with Ryder no matter how inviting he was at times. Oh, but after that two week job was up she planned on jumping Ryder as quick as she could with the idea that this would be a one and done thing because everyone knew that Ryder never had anyone he stuck with for long. Quinn wasn’t up to getting her heart hurt so she came to terms that she could do this. It would be worth it, right? This book dealt with some pretty heavy issues from child abuse to suicide and was done in a way that you felt the pain that everyone was going through. Would Quinn be ok with walking away from Ryder? Would Ryder be able to get past the childhood that haunted him to this day? No matter how much fame and fortune he accrued, Flowers On The Wall would always be a trigger.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given honest review.

Flowers On The Wall
Hart Of Rock And Roll - Book 1,  Mary J. Williams

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance,

Hmnn...this has all five star reviews currently – and though I enjoyed it, a lot, its not a  five star for me. Maybe I’m just hypercritical? I hate when I’m out of step with others but – it happens.

So, Ryder and Quinn, both great characters, self confident, strong willed and when they meet there’s a real pull between them.

I like self confident female leads, but at times I felt Quinn was a little too assertive, a bit too confident. In males that comes over as cocky but appealing – so it ought to be the same with her, and yet I found she was almost brash and irritating at times.

Ryder, he’s been through a lot and come out on top, but not without some mental demons. That’s understandable and what makes him the man he is.
He sees Quinn – loved that first meeting BTW – and is attracted, and she feels the same but isn’t going to just jump because he says so. There’s a real sexual attraction here which grew stronger, but somehow I wasn’t convinced that it was more, that it was love rather than lust.

I would have liked to see more of the other band members, they stayed pretty much in the background except for Zoe.
I thought the suggestion of more from the manager would have developed, would have been an interesting storyline, but it seemed to be put in and then left. That could have made for some intriguing subplots, but as it never developed it made me wonder why it was started?

Its a good read, felt very real at times, with characters I liked. I really needed someone/something unpleasant though, some drama that was very down, to take from all the good/sweet/happy parts in this read.
For me a bit of unpleasantness, jealousy, a tinge of malice in action, makes the happy parts so much brighter. Without that contrast they just feel Good but not Great, and that’s kind of how I feel here. It was a good novel, but lacked the contrast, the dark side, the emotional context for me that would have made it a great one.
Others love it as it is though, so its not all of us who enjoy more in stories, need the dramas, the angst, the sorrow, ones like this are perfect for many readers, you’ll have to assess which side you fall ;-)  

Stars: Four, a good read but I wanted more drama for a five.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers