Bennett (Expecting to Fly) delivers a resonant 1970s-era romance following studio musician Cassandra Taylor and Jeff Kingston, member of the famous rock band Expedition. In 1976 Los Angeles, Cass is working as a guitarist when she meets Jeff. After their first dinner together leads to a one-night stand, Cass is pleasantly surprised when Jeff breaks up with a model to pursue a relationship with her. While she learns the ropes of being a rock and roller’s girlfriend—including acting as Jeff’s assistant to pick up his dry-cleaning and going to wild parties overflowing with drugs and adoring groupies—Jeff’s drug abuse and anger issues threaten their relationship, putting their future at risk.

Bennett quickly lures readers into the story with the first meeting between Jeff and Cass, whose attraction is palpable from the start, and brings the intensity of rock and roll culture to life through vivid depictions of the personality clashes between musicians, the stress that accompanies recording an album, and the toll that touring takes on band members and their significant others. When Jeff’s drug abuse spirals out of control, Cass ends their relationship, but seven years later bumps into a sober Jeff in a Los Angeles studio—where she must decide whether to walk away or to risk her heart on the one man she could never forget.

Bennett keeps the rock and roll scene front and center, alongside Cass and Jeff’s heated romance, but, ultimately, Cass steals the show with her complexity as a strong female lead, determined to succeed in a male-dominated industry while searching for lasting love with Jeff. Her resolve to achieve success in the music scene and refusal to accept an abusive relationship are admirable, as is Jeff’s pluck when it comes to staying sober in the gritty backstage world of rock and roll. Music lovers will be thrilled.

Takeaway: Magnetic, one-of-a kind romance between a rock and roller and an up-and-coming guitarist.

Comparable Titles: Jade C. Jamison’s Tangled Web, Xio Axelrod’s The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: NA
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A