Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.



After the death of her twin brother, nineteen year old guitar prodigy Avery Jones finds herself desperate, alone, and out of options. Hope arrives in the form of a job opening with Brutal Strength, one of the biggest rock bands out there. Only problem is temperamental lead singer Marcus Anthony doesn't want a woman in the group.
So Avery and her manager Trevor come up with a plan involving a Bieber haircut and men's clothing. No one seems to be onto their little con. But what happens when Avery starts falling for Marcus? Will she be able to continue with the farce or will the whole thing come crashing down around her like a house of cards?
Love Evolution is a rock star romance based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. It is the first book in the Brutal Strength series.
Love Evolution is a great start to the Brutal Strength / Black Cat Records series, I loved the characters, the excitement, the reluctant romance and, of course, the music!
My Love Evolution review:
I love it when stories manage to mix romance and music, and Mankin definitely managed that in Love Evolution. Finding herself all alone, Avery was ready to do anything to catch a break and find a position as guitarist in a group. When her manager told her Brutal Strength didn’t want a female guitarist, she dressed as a boy, cut her hair, and went to the audition. Of course, after she got the job, there were some awkward moments between her and the lead-singer of the group, Marcus.
Because Avery was a great guitarist, she didn’t get her job out of pity or anything else, however, Marcus felt weirdly good in Avery’s company, and that didn’t always sit so well with him. Love Evolution has a lot of humorous scenes, because Avery was instantly attracted to Marcus, but had to keep everything under a tight lid, as a male guitarist, she could not be seen fawning over the lead singer of the band.
The character development is very well done in Love Evolution, Marcus has a difficult past, including drug use and a stint in a rehab, but he is working very hard to do without. Avery and her brilliant lyrics help Marcus get his song-writing focus back, and in just a few weeks, they have new songs for a full album. That, coupled with the friendships, the surroundings of a band, and very strong family ties made Love Evolution a very good read.
Written in third person point of view, past tense, and with a lot of direct dialogues, Love Evolution was narrated in a way that helped me get to know the characters very well, and I definitely look forward to seeing more of these characters as the series unfolds.
Some of my favorite Love Evolution quotes:
A crazy idea started to evolve inside his head. What if they disguised Avery as a guy? Hey, it worked for the women in movies like Mulan and Yentl. Well, sort of…
But he knew there was something more. Something he couldn’t quite identify. Something so totally different from any of his previous friendships that it puzzled him.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
New title to me and it sounds good, especially the narration! You definitely got me intrigued, Lexxie, and I’m noting down this interesting romance and music mix 🙂
It was Brandee who got me hooked on Mankin’s stories, Silvia, and the music is very important in this series. I hope you’ll find the time to pick it up 🙂
You commented to me last week that you’re a big influence on my reading, Lexxie. And this week, I see that I have some influence on yours as well! 😉 Ashley and Mankin in one week! Woohoo! *pats self on back* I’m happy you enjoyed your introduction to Brutal Strength. This is one of the very first books I ever reviewed on my blog. And it really started my love of Mankin’s writing…
**BIG HUGS**
OMG, Brandee, I read all the Brutal Strength and Tempest books in one week, then the week after, I read all of the Rock Chick books, so yeah, you’re definitely a big influence on my bookish choices, my dear 🙂
*BIG HUGS*
Twitter: talksupeblog
I didn’t realized the book had a cover make over. For aminute there, I thought this was a new series that I missed!
I do need to read this series, I love Mankin, her style is perfect for me. Plus she’s a cool author to chat with 🙂
Yeah, it does have a new cover, and I like this one better than the original one. This series is good, and I love it when music is an important part of the storyline, Braine 🙂
I have not read a lot of romance and music books together, so this sounds fun.
I love music, so when the stories I read incorporate that, I’m a very happy reader! Add some romance, and I’m in book-heaven 😉
AAHHH I love crossdressing in romance. This reminds me so much of one of my favorite manga series. I need this book in my life! *drools*
Sarah, you should pick it up! it’s a lot of fun, and it’s also filled with romance – which Marcus doesn’t really understand at first *grins*