Love It: Bring Me Back by Karen Booth

Series: TBA
Format: Digital
Release Date: June 20, 2013
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
Tour Organizer: Author's Angels
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Music critic Claire Abby is a single mom dreading her daughter’s departure for college and worried that turning forty will leave her career running on fumes. She’s floored when she lands a Rolling Stone cover story on 80s British rock legend Christopher Penman. She spent her teenage years fantasizing he was her boyfriend.

In person, Christopher is everything Claire feared he’d be—charming, witty and unwilling to address the rumors he’s dodged for a decade. Still, she contains her adolescent fantasies and manages to earn his trust, unearthing the truth and the devastating secret behind it. His blockbuster story is her first priority when she returns home, a nearly impossible task when Christopher starts calling and flirting. She knows she should maintain a professional distance. She knows she should focus on the story. She knows it would be best to simply walk away. But how can she say “no” to the man she could never forget?

Oh. My. Fudging. God. 

I am so in love with BRING ME BACK by Karen Booth! I mean from the blurb I know it's going to be one of those feel-good stories but I never expected that I would feel THIS frickin' good over Claire and Chris' story! I mean the synopsis says it all, it's a very straightforward plot, very simple and maybe a tad predictable but goodness! KBooth jacked it up with all these swirling emotions going on between Chris and Claire from their intense flirting, slow burning courtship until it led to their very passionate and all-consuming relationship. I can't look away! All throughout the story I have a warm fuzz going on in my belly because of how cute Chris is!

I'd tried and failed at love so many times that I'd often wondered if I was too picky, but my boyfriend wish-list was only designed to weed out the really bad ones -- Maybe I would never find a man who could send flowers and be monogamous, but I had to keep trying.

Christopher Penman is very adorable. Very British. Very rockstar. Very sexy. Everything about the guy is just oozing with the good stuff. He had my knickers in a bunch and I can't help but envy Claire, I want to hijack the story and have Chris all to myself! But he's not as perfect as I portray him to be. He's a philanderer, did drugs and just recently went through a nasty divorce. Being a rockstar and good looking to boot didn't make things easier for him, in fact it magnified everything from the good to the bad. Containing the rumor mill alone is stressful enough, add the paparazzi and other negative publicity that came his way makes one question if the perks of dating with a celebrity is worth it all. 

Despite the downside, BRING ME BACK is totally Chris' redemption story. This is where he turned his life around, focused on the essentials and Claire was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. He was so sweet to Claire and to her daughter, Sam, very generous, caring and unassuming. It's so hard NOT to like him and see how perfectly he fits Claire and Sam's little family. What I like even better is he let Claire set the pace and really took great care of her. He was never a douchebag and even during the emotional conflict in the story, he was still there taking care of Claire. He's my new book boyfriend! (DIBS!)

Please don't put me on a pedestal. Someday I'll show you hot deeply flawed I am as a human being. - Chris

Claire Abby is the perfect mate for Chris. I mean hers is the ultimate fangirl's dream, hooking up and falling in love with your teenage crush/idol/fantasy and him returning your feelings. Yeah she wasn't immune to Chris' charm but she still managed to keep her head together, set her priorities straight and made their relationship as pedestrian as she can. 

Aside from Claire and Chris' love story I find Claire's relationship with her daughter, Sam, very intriguing. I mean I like how she's a cool mom and how Sam is very comfortable in opening up to her. But their little sex talks had my head spinning. As a mom I had these debates going on in my head about the delicate parent-friend balance. Though I like how close Claire and Sam are, I wish at times she was more of a mom to Sam than a friend. Nonetheless Sam is a great kid and was very instrumental in Claire and Chris' relationship. Maybe Sam's story could be a New Adult sequel or something.

Claire's relationship with her Dad also added some tension in the story. I didn't really like the guy,  though he's coming from a good place, his good intentions got lost in translation. He's gruff and tough on Claire and even after their little heart-to-heart I still haven't totally softened up to him. This dude is like a matronly housewife, snooping around Claire's house, meddling with her love life.

You know, you don't realize that you're just as capable of breaking my heart as I am of breaking yours. - Chris

To summarize, all I can do is gush over BRING ME BACK. The character development was wonderfully written, very emotional and will get any reader invested in the story. The way KBooth wrote how Claire and Chris' love story bloomed, progressed, and unravel felt really sincere and organic. The story didn't put emphasis on the traps of dating a celebrity rather she humanized Chris through Claire and IMO, that's what made BRING ME BACK a very, very good read. Treat yourself to a copy!

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I'm republishing my review because I love this so much and I want to reintroduce BRING ME BACK to everyone who haven't had the pleasure of being acquainted w/it.