With Vengeance by Brooklyn Ann (Hearts of Metal #2)
Contemporary Romance
May 19, 2016

Reviewed by Helyce

From Goodreads: Twenty-three year old Katana James can shred on the guitar. Not that anyone would know, as she’s spent most of her time working on a popular news and gossip website for Heavy Metal fans since her own band broke up. But her dreams are in reach when she gets an audition to play with her favorite band, Bleeding Vengeance. Kat won’t let her gender, her anxiety disorder, or even the pranks of a malicious stalker stand in her way. The only thing to threaten her focus? A growing fascination with the group’s brilliant, mysterious bass player.

Klement Burke has always been the heart, soul and brain of Bleeding Vengeance. He’s the kind of rock star who stays in the shadows, a perfectionist more interested in satisfying his brain than other parts of his body. Until he auditions Katana James. At first it seemed a perfect idea, as he’s been aware of her talent for some time. But meeting her in the flesh ignites thoughts far from professional. Despite the conflict of work, the odds against her falling for a geek like him, and the secret he’s been hiding, his heart, body and soul now belong to Kat.

I enjoyed book one in this series, Kissing Vicious, so I was thrilled to learn that book 2 had been released.  Katana James is a kick ass guitarist who is overlooked simply because she is female. But she’s given the chance of a lifetime when her best friend Kinley arranges an audition for Bleeding Vengeance when their regular guitarist dies of an overdose.

I loved that Katana, while extremely talented, had some flaws.  She’s a bit of a nervous wreck due to a previous relationship gone bad.  But her determination to succeed comes through in every action as we watch her strength shine through even at the most daunting times.  If it wasn’t enough that she had to control her nerves like her life depended on it, the author throws in additional conflict in the form of a stalker.  The reader knows who it is the whole time and watching him worm his way into the band’s good graces was extremely frustrating.

It’s Klement though that surprised me the most.  The bass player for the band, he’s is not anything like you’d expect a rock star to be.  He is gorgeous and talented, and he’s also the man who keeps the band on the right track during the album recording process. He’s also quite an adept mechanic and he has a company that runs web systems.  He’s more than the whole package.

The author throws in a little “case of mistaken identity” where Klement is concerned which gives the story some humorous moments. Kat is unaware of all the “hats” that Klement wears but eventually she figures it out.  I was thrilled that the author did not use this to build conflict between Kat and Klement.  There was enough going on with the stalker storyline and building up an additional scenario for our H/H to fight about lies would have been over the top.  I actually enjoyed that Kat kept the secret even after she found out and the way that Klement reveals himself is really well done and romantic even though it seems to take him out of his comfort zone.

Along that same vein, the stalker scenario is handled really well too.  It’s not drawn out and the end result is very satisfying.

This story can be read in one sitting and will leave you feeling happy for Klement and Kat.  My only complaint is that there is a feeling of deja vu between book 1 and this story. Both girls are talented musicians and get auditions with great band and then fall in love with a band member. The storyline parallels just a bit in that respect.

That said,  the story is light and will keep you entertained!

Grade: B-

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