Review: Take Me Home Tonight by Erika Kelly

TMHTTake Me Home Tonight
(Rock Star Romance, #3)
By: Erika Kelly
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Calix Bourbon might seem like a free spirit, but that’s all a front. In reality he’s just trying to keep his fractured family together while working as a session musician. When Blue Fire hires him to replace their keyboardist, Calix is determined to make the most of the opportunity—but he can’t help being distracted by the band’s sexy personal chef.

Mimi’s temporary gig is great, but she has her heart set on auditioning for a televised cooking show. There’s just one problem: she only has a week to acquire the skills necessary to survive the competition. Luckily, the band’s new keyboard player can teach her exactly what she needs, in the kitchen and in the bedroom…

 

 

1thoughtsIn the previous book, Blue Fire’s keyboardist went into rehab, leaving the band scrambling to find a temporary player to fill his slot. Which is how Calix wound up being their keyboardist for the last eight months. Since he’s not really part of the band, he keeps himself distant from everyone else. He shows up, does his work, and then heads home. Mimi’s been intrigued by the distant keyboardist and when the two of them cross paths and she sees his private life, they form a connection. However, Mimi is an all in kind of girl and Calix is a skim on the surface kind of guy.

When I started Take Me Home Tonight I was so invested in the story. Between Calix’s jam sessions with the band, Mimi’s determination to work for her father’s company, Calix’s somber home-life, and Mimi’s upcoming involvement in a cooking competition, I dove in head first with this novel. I loved reading about these two completely different people coming together and fumbling through the unknown. However, about halfway through things just got ho-hum for me and I found myself mentally lowering my rating of the book with every passing chapter.

I got tired of the back and forth between these two characters. I love some sexual tension in my stories. It’s what makes them good. However, this entire story was about Calix and Mimi hooking up, and either immediately afterwards or the day after, Calix would completely blow her off and dismiss her. Then when she’d stand up for herself and put her foot down on how she wouldn’t be treated that way, he’d come groveling back, pin her to a wall/bed/couch/washing machine, tell her he’s sorry, have his way with her, and then turn around and dismiss her again like it was all a big mistake. I’d be fine if this happened a couple times. The guy’s confused and has a lot of stress in his personal home-life, but this happened literally up until the very last chapter. He would just completely shut down, shut her out, and only let his family and ex-girlfriend in. Ugh. I was so over it. I honestly hoped that in the end, Mimi would stand up for what she wanted, and not allow him to worm his way back into her bed… but that didn’t happen.

One thing I loved about this book was all the food in it. Between Mimi’s practicing for the competition and the snippets we get of her at the competition, I found myself starving for the things I was envisioning on more than one occasion. Plus, I learned somethings about food and cooking as well. I have never heard of a fiddlehead before and honestly thought the author was just making stuff up. So, I looked it up and I have to say, I don’t know who in their right mind looked at a fiddlehead and thought they should put it in their mouth. When Mimi freaks out and refuses to eat one when Calix is teaching her to work with ingredients she’s unfamiliar with, I completely get it now. I wouldn’t eat it either if I was her.

While I loved the crap out of the beginning of the story, I just didn’t care for the back and forth of it all. Mimi came off looking like she didn’t have a backbone and Calix came off as a jerk who would sweet talk Mimi into bed, drop her the second it was over, act like she’s encroaching on his life, and then when he missed her, he’d show up and caveman her into sleeping with him again. I just couldn’t take it. The story would have been perfect without it. If only the book ended when Mimi laid it on him with, “Do I miss you? Oh, yeah. Especially at night when I remember those couple of hours you used to give me.” …”I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and they lived happily ever after.

 

1favequoteThe fiddlehead scene.

“Try one.” His mom grabbed a clean fork out of the dishwasher and stabbed one.
“I’d rather blanch my eyeballs.”
His mom looked between the plate and Mimi. Then between Mimi and Calix. “She serious?”
“Oh, she’s very serious,” Mimi said.
“You’re scared of a fiddlehead?”
“You see how tightly it’s coiled?”
“yeah.” His mom’s tone held a challenge.
“How many bugs do you think are lodged in there?”
Hi mom stared at Mimi. “”Are you fucking with me?”
“I am in no way fucking with you. I’m not eating that. If an alien spacecraft slammed into Earth destroying the ecosystems, leaving us with nothing but fiddleheads to eat, I’d go all-out cannibal. No remorse.”
For one strange moment, his mom seemed to take in all that Mimi had just said. And then she threw her head back and laughed. A deep, throaty laugh.
A sound he hadn’t heard in three long, painful years.”

 

 

Previous reviews from Rock Star Romance
I Want You To Want Me

 

5 Thoughts on “Review: Take Me Home Tonight by Erika Kelly

  1. Eh, I am not the right reader for this book. I can’t stand indecisive characters especially the ones who comes across like they’re toying with the feelings of the other person.

  2. Hmm, glad there were things that you enjoyed in this one, but it does sound tough the back and forth with characters

  3. lol and now I know what a fiddlehead is 😛

  4. I love books that revolve around musicians/bands. Too bad it went downhill, though.

  5. Woohoo, a music book! I’d take him home tonight!!!

Jump in on the discussion: click on the notify button below to follow along

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Post Navigation