Cute rom com. Bad boy, forced proximity! You know the drill 😂 3 stars!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

This was such a cute and short summer read. I love how the story started out with a rich and luxurious ML and transitioned to an animal shelter volunteer vibe. Having the MC start out so unrelatable and transition to such a wholesome and relatable character created such a feel-good story. The chemistry was so strong, and it was so clear that they were meant to be together. This story gave small town, second chance, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, workplace romance, and rockstar tropes all in one short book. At times the plot/dialogue felt a little rushed, but seeing how short the book was, it made sense and all came together in the end. Such a fun read!

This was a really cute book. I'm a sucker for any trope that involves musicians or bands so I knew I had to try this one out. There was definitely less rockstar in it than I thought there would be, but that kind of made it better. 

Most of this takes place on a small island that the two main characters grew up on. Something happened in high school that led them to dislike each other for the last 15 years but when he has to come back for 6 months to do community service they're thrown back into each other's lives and discover unresolved tension and reasons to mend them over this time. 

I feel like a couple things could have been done differently with the plot to make it a little more immersive. But overall, if you're looking for a quick, cute read, you'll get that with this book.

Cute, easy read that made me smile. Bev was such a fun character to follow and I loved all of her interactions with Nate. I am excited to see what McCoy does next.

Just didn't like this book. Couldn't get into it and not fond of the characters. Loved the animals especially Moose.
Not a favourite book. Thought it would be much better when I requested it, I like a musical or rock romance the author did mention panic attacks and handled this well which is why I gave an extra star.
Thanks Netgallery

This was a very 'meh' book for me, I liked the overall story and the characters, but some of the scenes didn't make a ton of sense. It didn't draw me in as much as I hoped it would.

This story had so much potential but the writing style wasn't for me. I had a hard time reading this book, I had to drag myself through it. I love all the tropes but again this book wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-Op for this arc.

I love reading rock star romance.

I did really enjoy this the dynamic between to the two characters is amazing.

Highly would recommend if you enjoy small town, one bed, forced proximity, second chance and workplace romance.

Sadly I only managed to get 50% of the way through, I had to DNF - I think the author really needs to have a chat with her editor and beta readers as it honestly felt as if the content editing had been skipped and they'd gone straight to a proofreader, the grammar and spelling was great but the rest just didn't hit.

It was such a good idea for a story, I absolutely love a second chance romance and I loved the idea of a bad boy Rockstar. But like I said above I honestly couldn't get past the writing.

There was small amounts of it that you could see the potential for really good writing but some of the phrasing felt strange and immature. They switched from hating each other to kissing after 40% and it just came out of left field, there was barely any build up.

The beginning was very strange, I almost didn't continue after the first chapter. The whole obsession with the dust sparkling felt like a scene was trying to be set and then her bf starts chatting about frat boy summers?!
Then there was the whole telling us about forgetting to close tabs a bit further in, why was that in there?
If I never hear the term beach roses again I'll be thankful, I don't know how many times it was said but it was ALOT.
Then, the scene that I decided to put the book down at included a rushed self realization of some type where Nate spouted on about new years resolutions and self help books, which was strange enough. But then the author decided to use the terms "brush, brushhh, bruuush" to describe a touch, said he was "buzzy" with need and then proceeded to tell her "i want to edge you". The whole encounter felt icky, like a teenager writing a sex scene.

Also, I hated how the author kept asking the reader questions or talking directly to the reader
I didn't understand the need for that either.

Like I say, I could see a lot of potential if the author had a more thorough editor, and some more beta readers.
I'd be interested to see what they could do with that help!

This book was so amazing! The story was so addictive and I really loved the plot of this book! The story was very well written!

Thank you to the publisher, and author for allowing me to have an ARC in place of a honest review.

This book was so cute! Right from the start I felt sucked in and could not put the story down. I felt as if it was a shorter book, but it was probably in part due to me reading through it so fast. This book would have been the perfect beach read for me a few weeks ago. The characters are loveable, enticing, and easy to connect with. The small coastal town they live in sounds positively idyllic, and the lightness of the town blends perfectly with some of the small darker aspects of the story.

Bev is quite quirky and loveable, and all of the men in her life have been compared to her first kiss from high school- the first boy she ever truly cared about, Nate. It just so happens that he's now a famous rockstar who has long forgotten about her, until she walks into her job at a local pet shelter and finds out that he's her new intern.

Nate: He's a big name now, and even though he loves his fans dearly, he also loves his privacy. Now his name is all over the news for a charge that was warranted, and he's being sent home with his tail between his legs on a court ordered community service. He doesn't want to be here, but as soon as he sees Bev Walk through the door his mind changes completely. She's his great white buffalo, and he's willing to make every second he has with her count.

This book had a lot of my favorite tropes in it
*Rockstar Romance
*2nd Chance
*Enemies to Lovers
*Forced Proximity
*Workplace Romance

Nate and Bev are a cute couple. He is a Rockstar that suffers from panic attacks and she works in an animal shelter and looks after her ailing dad. These two share a past that still holds a grudge and so you can imagine their surprise when Nate is court ordered to perform community service in the animal shelter that Bev works at. Neither is happy with the situation.

I liked Nate and Bev well enough and thought the two of them were fun. I enjoyed their banter, but I didn't really feel their "love connection" if you will. I would have liked to have had a little more backstory into their animosity a bit earlier in the book and then watch them resolve it a bit earlier and get more of that connection, as the end seemed a bit rushed.

I feel like I enjoyed Nate a lot more than Bev in this one. He totally felt like a fish out of water to me and watching him try to find his way around the animals was quite enjoyable, especially his relationship with Moose :)

This is the first time that I have a book by this author and overall I liked this book.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

I was looking forward to this book as it had two of my favorite things: animals and rock stars. Sadly, this rock star was not enough of a bad boy for my liking. The book was a fun read, but I realize now that maybe my 40 year old idea of a rock star and the modern day idea are different. Mostly the book made me feel old.

Please see below for my review. I also included a Book Synopsis and a List of Book Tropes on my post as well (IG only) This has been posted on Instagram and Goodreads today 8/8/24.

"Thank you so much NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Release day to this adorable gem of a book! I am a huge sucker for a Rock Star romance and this book did not disappoint. Nate, a rock star who suffers from panic attacks, must return home for court order community service. Unfortunately for him, his manager is Bev, a former classmate who he has a complicated history with.

Swipe for full book synopsis and book tropes.

The interactions between Nate and Bev at the animal shelter made me laugh out loud, especially the rescue of a certain rabbit resident. Highly recommend you read this book if you like the following tropes; Small Town, One Bed, Force Proximity, Second Chance and Workplace Romance. I also really enjoyed Nate’s mental health journey. The book goes into detail about his struggles with panic attacks and loneliness. As a psychology nerd, I always love to see books with Mental Health representation. I thought this was done really well. This book is a solid four stars for me but I bumped it up to 4.5 because I really loved all of the different interactions with our main couple and the animal residents at the rescue. It was a quick fun read that I enjoyed! "

Rating: 4.5 Stars"

I Hate Rock Stars by Mia McCoy was a cute romance story!
The story's pacing keeps readers engaged, and Kaswell's writing style is both evocative and relatable. The characters are well-developed and realistic.

Cute romance story with a strong female lead, additional animals make for a lovely story. Not sure about the rock star lead male, a little annoying and weak at times.

I love this book it was such a cute, easy read. The author does such a great job of character development and instantly drawing you in to these relatable stories. The addition of animals just made it all the much better.
I honestly felt like these could have been the kids who grew up next door and I was catching up on what had happened in their lives. Don't forget there's bunnies! Such a warming heart-felt read, I really enjoyed it,

This book is so sweet and features an animal shelter which is close to my heart.

Bev and Nate are both likable characters and I was rooting for them the whole way. I was a LITTLE upset with Nate when he said he didn’t like pets……..but luckily that doesn’t stick for long.

The spice seemed a little rushed in the first scene and it is mild throughout the rest of the book.

The only piece that didn’t fit or get resolved is the part about Scooter harassing Bev —I was kind of hoping for a little more drama or at least for Nate to acknowledge that.

And then It ends with a nice epilogue! I would definitely read another book by this author and I’d recommend this to you if you like a mild spice enemies to lovers romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing publishers for this ARC!

The setting here was cute and the story worked overall but the spicy scenes were just not for me. Felt more cringe than sexy. But I enjoyed reading about the shelter animals and the peripheral characters. Nice ending.

Mein Leseerlebnis

In dieser second chance romance, die zudem eine Kleinstadtatmosphäre mit sich bringt, hat für mich leider nicht alles gepasst.

Meine Probleme beim Lesen fingen damit an, dass ich mir die beiden Hauptcharaktere leider nicht als richtige Personen vorstellen konnte. Beide wirkten auf mich nicht gut genug ausgearbeitet und ihre Liebesgeschichte hat mich darauf aufbauend wenig interessiert.

Die Geschichte spielt teils in einem Tierheim und Tiere nehmen dementsprechend eine große Rolle ein. Beides hat mir gut gefallen.

Weniger überzeugend und sympathisch fand ich hingegen das Verhalten des Helden in den ersten Kapiteln der Liebesgeschichte. So hörte er bei wichtigen Infos im Tierheim nicht zu, was zu einer unschönen Situation für ein Tier führte.

Nimmt man das alles zusammen, dann hat mir der Liebesroman zu wenig gegeben, um ihn zu Ende zu lesen.

Keine Bewertung, da abgebrochen.

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mit Tieren und zweiten Chancen interessant findet, für den könnte sich das Lesen von “I hate Rock Stars” lohnen.