Review: Backstage by Erika Vanzin


Backstage
(Roadies #1)
Erika Vanzin
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Feb. 10, 2021
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Damian Jones never chose to become a rock star. He was forced into music, and the celebrity lifestyle fell into his lap. He is lucky, and he knows it. He never takes money and stardom for granted. And if the perks of fame are women throwing themselves at him, who is he to say no? But sometimes the private life of a rock star is far less glamourous than the one painted in gossip magazines.

Lilly Jenkins dreams of being a rock star. Music saved her life as a teenager, and she will always be thankful for that. But since her band won the contest to go on tour with the most famous rock band in the world, her worst nightmare becomes a reality: paparazzi stalk her everywhere, judging her every move. To make things worse, she is attracted to the only man that draws gossip like a moth to the flame: Damian Jones.

 

My thoughts…

Backstage is the story between the lead singer of a famous band, and the bassist from their opening act. You see, the Jailbirds’ manager decided in order to bring positive light to the band, they would host a contest for bands to submit videos of them playing one of their songs. Whoever they choose as the winner gets to be their opening act for their upcoming tour. Which, is how Lily ends up being the center of Damian’s attention. She went from a bassist for her small time band, to making headlines in the papers as being the love interest of various people on the tour. Let’s just say, there’s a lot of drama in this story.

I liked that we got a lot of behind the scenes of not only the tour, but of the contest as well. The Jailbirds are excited about this contest, and Lily is not excited that her band got chosen. She has always preferred to be in the shadows, and touring with a huge band, puts her smack dab in the spotlight. So, there are a lot of panic attacks on Lily’s part as she navigates this new world. Seeing her band not only blossom, but see Lily gain the confidence in herself throughout the book really made the story interesting for me.

I will say that the romance left a lot to be desired. I know that the author tried to give a backstory on why they behaved the way they did, but it just seemed like a cop out to me. The same ol “my father was an abuser, and I don’t want to be like him, so therefor I push everyone away” excuse. It got old, especially since he pulled that move like three times in the story. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Lily being in love with Damian, and acting like she understood him, but then immediately questioned his morals when a scandal pops up. I just felt like, if they were going to behave that way, then they clearly weren’t ready for a relationship.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of the romance aspect of the story, I still enjoyed it. I do wish that maybe the main characters were either just friends or realized they weren’t compatible or ready for a relationship and developed a friendship instead.

 

 

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