This was a hot enjoyable taboo read. I read through it very quickly. I liked both characters. The story moved along at a nice pace. I recommend to anyone that likes this genre.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Wow, did I love these characters! Van Birch has a complicated life - juggling a fake boyfriend with a real (but secret) boyfriend. When her real-but-secret boyfriend assaults her on the same night that a tornado sweeps through her hometown, Van heads back to her hometown to get away from him and help the town regroup. That's when it gets really complicated, because it turns out she's also sort of in love with Clay who happens to be her stepbrother. I really loved this story and how warm and relatable the characters are. I was really excited to see that there are two more books in this series, so I could get to know Van and Clay's friends and family more.

The Van Birch Incident, by Marla Holt is a contemporary forbidden romance with awesome characters and a deft handling of the topic of sexual assault. 4/5 stars from me!
After star singer-songwriter Van Birch is raped by a man she knew and trusted, she returns home to come to terms with the assault and to help her tornado-devastated home town. As she works on her next album and works through her feelings about her attacker, her long-suppressed attraction for her step-brother Clay starts to surface. Dealing with the suspicious media and horrible internet trolls, is Van strong enough to rise above the hate and embrace the love growing between her and Clay?
Clay has always been in love with his step-sister Van, and he struggles to put his feelings aside to help her heal when she comes back home after her assault. But as their relationship deepens and they spend time together writing music, he hopes his feelings are reciprocated.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters are really well written and relatable--somehow the feelings between Van and Clay never come across as gross or taboo. Van grows a lot throughout the book, coming to grips with what has happened to her and evaluating her relationship with her ex through this new lens. I found Van to be very strong and it was great to see her maintain her sense of humor as she rose above the horrible accusations thrown at her from the media and internet.. The cast of characters were each very well-rounded and I think the author did a nice job setting up how supportive they all were of Van--I think we could see future books with them as the main characters (I want Bryant's story!).
While the plot was a little predictable, I loved the characters and the book's format of using social media posts, articles, and tweets to show how the average people feel that they know a celebrity and also feel that they can comment terrible things to and about that person, as if that celebrity was not a real human being.

In the last year or so, I moved away from the Rockstar themed stories as I had gotten a bit bored of them. However, what attracted me to this particular book was the #MeToo and the words "scandal". In The Van Birch Incident, we meet Popstar Van Birch who is a popular singer and often in the limelight. She has been dating secretly her manager Bishop and is ready to come out as a public item, even if it means she must come clean about her fake boyfriend Bryant - her best friend and "partner" for the past five years. However, her plans go awry when one night Bishop takes things way too far and ends up raping her and leaving her with bruises. The next morning, it is all over the web and magazines. Needing to escape Van and her assistant Phoenix head to Van's hometown of Wellwood which has just been hit by a nasty tornado and some of the houses have been left as disaster zones. During this time, Van will help her friends rebuild the houses as well as use the time to rediscover herself and find a way to move on and this even means the possibility of a new romance with her step-brother Clay Noble. This relationship reminded me of Emma and George's from Jane Austen's Emma. The story itself was quite a slow-burn but I loved the added bits of website articles sprinkled between chapters and use of social media which kept the "Scandal" viral and alive. After finishing this book, which can be read as a stand-alone - I am looking forward to reading the prequel which shows how Van came to be the popular star she is nowadays.

The Van Birch Incident by “new to me author” Marla Holt was billed as a rock and roll romance but it is more of a celebrity romance type of story. This story may have triggers for you: rape, forbidden romance, stalkers, incels and trolling. Still with me?
The heroine is a young pop singer who trusts the wrong guy and gets hurt for it. We get to watch as she goes through the trauma and comes out the other side stronger and with a chance at real happiness. This book will have you clutching tissues and drinking wine but will leave you with a smile.

Vanessa "Van" Birch has always been in love with Clay Noble, but ever since their parents got hitched, Clay became The One She'd Never Have, and she's been trying to find someone to fill the void he left behind. Lured in by her manager, she finally thinks things are looking up, until they don't. Reviled and taunted by the same Hollywood & fans that initially claimed to love her, she escapes home to Wellville. Wellville, where her father and Clay live.

Clay, meanwhile, is trying not to get too close to Van. He's so in love with her, it hurts. Yet, he can't help but want to comfort her, and soak up the little pieces of her that he gets. When it seems as though they may get the chance to be together, like he always dreamed, will his insecurities cause the demise of their new relationship, or will other outside forces close in for the kill?

This book had non-stop action, Hollywood style. Events happened at a record pace, and paparazzi were EVERYWHERE! The author did a pretty decent job handling/portraying post-#metoo attitudes and sexual assault in Hollywood amidst it all.

For a long read, it didn't wax on and on with inconsequentials. It was an emotional read, with the author hitting heavy topics on the head, that kept me pretty well entertained.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an ARC of this book.

The Van Birch Incident had me hooked on page one. This Marla Holt book is the first in The Incident series and it starts off with a whole lot of action. Hollywood, rape, the Me Too Movement, and a tornado start this one off in a riveting manner.

What follows is a stepsibling romance that's messy and complicated. Van and Clay have been attracted to each other since their early teens, before they became stepsiblings. With a tornado bringing Van back to town, they have a chance to finally clear the air and come clean with one another.

Their story is full of complications, pretenses, and some messy relationships between others. In fact, be prepared for a lot of side characters. Each of them has their own things taking place and you need to really pay attention to who is who.

The writing style is okay. It's not my favorite but it's nothing to turn me off either. But it's the plot that kept me intrigued and turning those pages quickly. This is definitely not a story for everyone. But for me, I just needed to know what was going to happen for this couple.

There are a few things I don't like. Some things are glossed over, and I would have preferred some more background at times. My biggest issue though is that Van is used as a girls name. I found it distracting, constantly thinking it was two guys together. Then again, I read mostly gay romance, so that shouldn't be a surprise.

And again, be warned about the rape scene. It happens off page, but the aftermath is heavily felt throughout. In addition, the lack of believing the female rape victim is a constant in this story, which will definitely turn some people off.

The Van Birch Incident is an emotional romance that is full of some serious topics. It's a long read, so make sure you set some time aside for this one. Now I am just waiting for the next in the series!

When Things Become Real

Van Birch was a pop star along with being a reality star as well. The “Incident” was in the very first part of the book and grabbed me bringing some hard hitting issues into the forefront. It was how Van dealt with this that drew me in. Her lifestyle was in front of cameras and the “un-reality” of her show was filled with many secrets. This author also touch on a seemingly taboo subject as well since her step brother was a big part of the future that Van really had dreamt of. Van had crushed on Clay long before their parents married so they never really considered themselves and brother/sister. Clay had never figured that Van would ever think of him as he did her.

Clay was the veteran who stayed in the shadows until Van came back to Kansas a broken woman. A tornado had just hit her small town but she knew this is where she needed to be after everything that happened to her.

As this book played out I was drawn in by the cast of characters and how true family and friends stuck by you even though social media was crushing you. This book brought a lot of issues to the forefront from the “incident” to the me-too movement to online stalking.

This book ended up being about much deeper topics than I anticipated. I felt like there was a lot of buildup though and then the end was pretty quick. I am looking forward to reading Bryant and Minnie's story.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Van Birch Incident, is a dark and gloomy romance novel. Van is played in a very poor light. The people who love her stand next to her. Clay has a harder time being heard it seems. By Van and everyone else. In the end it's Clay to the rescue.

I didn’t like this book very much. I found it confusing and there seemed to be a lot of characters. I also found the name Van kind of annoying for a woman. Every time it said Van and Clay I thought two men. This book had mystery, a crime and a love story but I didn’t find it very romantic at all. I didn’t like Van and I never warmed up to her.