I loved this short story though I felt like sometimes the troubles between Blake & Alex, though very real possibilities, were a little forced to create enough drama in the book. HOWEVER, that being said, this story is totally happily ever after for me. Blake is the best husband and step-father to Alex's three daughters and their love is really just beginning even if he's loved her their whole lives! ( )

What makes the most money for this business? Dead rock stars. - Courtney Love

Adolescents are attracted to tragic heroes. That's why rock stars dress like homeless people. Adolescence is a fall. It's when every child becomes an orphan. - Heather O'Neill

This is the first book by Sarah Dosher I have read, and it will not be my last. Which is sort of odd, as this isn’t usually a book I would have picked up on my own. The whole “angsty rock star” thing has just never done it for me. However, to say that Ms. Dosher pleasantly surprised me with her handling of the storyline is a vast understatement. It grabbed me from the first and didn’t let go until the last page.

This is very much a ‘different’ sort of rock-n-roll story. Eli Blue Savage grew up in a modern day fairy tale. The daughter of a rock superstar, Eli lived backstage at rock concerts, mostly bored out of her brain, but thrilled to be with her father, a famous “Rock God” guitarist. With a mother who rocks the “evil, psychotic” stereotype, Eli finds herself immersed in the backstage lifestyle with a father who adores her beyond all reason. That is, until her beloved father succumbs to a drug overdose leaving Eli to find his body. One wonders, of course, how a loving father could put his daughter into a position where this could happen – but that whole “rock god lifestyle” was apparently too much for Savage to resist, and Eli found herself alone.

Eli still manages to hold her life together, even after her devastating loss. She grows up solid and drug free, goes to college, and now she is taking over her father’s music management company, Savage Man. The problem is, her mother. Her drug and alcohol addicted, vicious, psychotic mother who will do anything to bring Eli down and take back the company. A company she nearly ran into the ground under her custodianship until Eli came of age.

Now in control of a floundering Savage Man, Eli books her first band, The Elle’s, led by her best friend Willow. Willow, who leads Eli to a new possibility – Unforgiven. And while the lead, Duke, isn’t someone who grabbed my attention, Deacon certainly did. Sitting back in the shadows, immersed in the music for the sake of the music, Deacon is a different sort of rock star. And Eli is a different sort of female lead for a romance novel. Strong, determined, and immensely likable, Eli is a charming character. Deacon is charming at times, though with a somewhat dark and edgy feel that keeps him from being either a bland or an archetypical “romance hero.”

I had a few issues with the book, things I would have handled differently – especially Shaw. But that is the point, isn’t it? We read for a glance into another world, a chance to flow into another reality, another time, another possibility. With a strong undercurrent of suspense, thriller, and mystery as well as a strong and well-written romance, Ms. Dosher pulls her story off in spades, introducing characters to love, as well as characters which you will love to hate.

If you like a romance with an actual story line, this is definitely one to read. I don’t believe you will be disappointed.
A Blue Tale was provided to So, I Read This Book Today by Heather Davenport at Book Plug Promotions in return for a realistic review. All commentary is my own, and in no way based upon the receipt of the book in return for a review.
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