Review: Playing Dirty (Stargazer #2) – Jennifer Echols

Playing Dirty by Jennifer Echols
Series: Stargazer #2
Published by Pocket Books on 29 October 2013
Genres: Adult, Chick-lit, Romance
Pages: 448
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

A public relations expert tries to prevent the breakup of a raucous country band and corral their wild—and very sexy—lead singer in book 2 of the Stargazer Series.

As an expert in public relations crisis management—that is, babysitter to the stars—Sarah Seville just spent nine months in Rio trying to keep rock singer Nine Lives out of jail long enough to record his new album…and barely succeeded. Now she needs a triumphant success so she can keep the Manhattan-based job she loves. Trouble is, her new assignment is to travel to Alabama to prevent the breakup of the raucous country band The Cheatin’ Hearts, headed by sexy Quentin Cox. As she edges closer to Quentin, she discovers layers of secrets. It seems Quentin is taking the spin doctor for a spin.

The Cheatin’ Hearts have stayed on top of the charts two years following three rules. Rule One, no drugs. Rule Two, no sex with other band members. Rule Three, no sex with record company spies. Quentin figures he’d better follow the rules, because he made them. And because if you break a rule, you’re out of the band. But he can’t resist the record company’s beautiful PR agent, and inevitably he breaks Rule Three with hot Sarah Seville. As he falls for her, he finds out that she has plenty of secrets of her own, and one of them comes knocking on her door: what really happened to her in Rio

*I received a free ARC of Playing Dirty from Pocket Books via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review*

Playing Dirty is a truly fun book to read! I couldn’t put it down and stayed up until 3 am so I could learn everything about Sarah, Quintin and the others. Intricate relationships, country stars who aren’t exactly the way the portray themselves to the public. The characters are fun and realistic, the storyline is captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself all the way.

I thought the band members were very clever in Playing Dirty, because that’s exactly what they are doing! And Sarah is playing dirty as well. Everybody wants to look out for themselves in the beginning, and it was hilarious how Quentin, Owen, Martin and Erin are all very smart as well as being good musicians and friends for a long time. However, their audience and the newspapers as well as their record company think they’re a bunch of stupid hicks who get into fights too frequently, and that they’re on the verge of breaking up. Sarah’s job is to make sure they stay together, and she’s so set on her goal she might be willing to let every last principle she thought she had slide in order to get there.

Playing Dirty is fast-paced, and the readers get to know the five main characters pretty well ins a short time. Even Wendy, Sarah’s supervisor and best friend, is a character I felt I got to know, mostly through her hilarious e-mail exchanges with Sarah. The tension building is well done, too, because Sarah is hiding something that happened in Rio, and she’s really afraid of the star she took care of during the time she had to stay there. She’s so afraid she wants to learn how to shoot a gun, which makes for more hilarity because she’s so far from a good shot she almost shot Quentin who was standing beside her at the range.

All of the characters in Playing Dirty has a big secret, and little by little, both the readers and the characters themselves are able to see things for what they are. And the humor is almost always present – even in the steamy scenes that are shared with us. I am going to get my hands on the first Stargazer book as soon as possible, because I need more of this! Sexy rock-stars, secrets, humor and lots of hotness is just what I needed, and I got it all with Playing Dirty!

Sarah could not involve Wendy in the trouble she’d found for herself in Rio. She had a band to rescue and her job to save, all by herself.

Erin told Quentin, “This is your fault” Quentin reached ot the wall and turned off the sound in to the control room before he challenged her. “Why is it my fault? The record company checks on us once in a while.” This is not a regular record company check-in,” Martin said ominously. “She honestly thinks the band is breaking up because you tow are doing it” – he gestured between Erin and Owen – “and you’re jealous.” He pointed at Quentin. “You took it too far this time, Q.”

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