Review: Mayhem by Jamie Shaw (Mayhem #1)


He pulls away only far enough to say against my mouth, “Tell me you want me.” 
“I want you,” I moan. I’ve never wanted anything so badly in my entire life. 
“Tell me why.”
 
I’m breathless when I begin, “Because I—”
 
My eyes fly open when I realize I was about to tell Adam I love him.
 
His finger stops moving, and he cautiously leans back to search my eyes. “What were you just going to say?”
 
“I don’t know,” I stammer.

The one thing Rowan Michaels expects to find at Mayhem, the club her best friend has dragged her off to, is her longtime boyfriend kissing another girl. The last thing she ever expected was to have the lead singer of The Last Ones to Know to make her smile after her heart just got broken...or that they'd be kissing in the band's tour bus before their show. He invites her to return to the bus after the show, but she soon leaves while he's onstage. She can't stop thinking about the kiss they shared but also realizes she'll probably never see him again...until Adam Everest unexpectedly shows up at her French class as a student.

The one thing Adam Everest always expects to find at Mayhem, the club his band is playing at, is a steady supply of groupies. The last thing he ever expected was to have a girl he nicknames Peach on the tour bus and sharing a kiss he'll never forget. He asks her to head on over to the bus after the band's show, but she's nowhere to be found once it's over. He can't stop thinking about the kiss and he hopes he'll see her again at one of the shows. But real life takes over and he has to pass his French class, a class he's now in danger of failing, in order to finally get his music degree. Hope comes in the form of a classmate willing to tutor him.

She looks familiar but Rowan Michaels seems resistant to his charms...and reminds him that they're friends. And friends don't flirt...or kiss...or do anything Adam's tempted to do with Rowan. They spend a few days together while The Last Ones to Know performs at some out-of-town shows and she tutors him. Adam can't deny that there's something special about Rowan. But will Adam realize that the girl underneath the sexy outfit, make-up, and styled hair nicknamed Peach is the same girl he wants to spend all his time with now? Can Rowan reconcile the sweet and caring guy offstage with the rock star onstage?

Ah, don't you just love books that leave you with the goofiest smile once you're done reading them? That's exactly what happened with Mayhem, the first book in the new adult (NA) rock romance series by the same name and author Jamie Shaw's debut novel. This book was nothing like I expected because it was a heck of a lot more. The story was told at a pace that I wouldn't characterize as slow but more of a steady build-up, allowing the reader to feel more like they were part of the evolution of the relationship between the lead characters, college freshman Rowan Michaels (aka Peach) and The Last Ones to Know lead singer Adam Everest. I loved the refreshing take Jamie Shaw had with the story and the characters, providing them with moments of levity and lightheartedness when countless books in the same category tend to be darker and drama-based. I found myself smiling, sighing, and squeeing all throughout--yep, total fangirl.

I couldn't help but fall in love with Rowan and Adam because these two just felt so perfect together. They were sweet and funny but could also turn about the heat level whenever they stopped pretending they were nothing more than friends. And then there were the three other guys who were part of The Last Ones to Know--Shawn Scarlett, Joel Gibbon, and Mike Madden--each one different to a certain degree but all equally irresistible in their own ways. At this point, I'll have already read all three of the currently available books in the Mayhem series and I'm a hundred percent hooked. I'm actually kind of embarrassed that it took me this long to actually read the two earlier releases (but at least I finally read them!). I'm highly recommending all three books, but since this review is about the first book, I am seriously encouraging you to get your hands on Mayhem right now! This is a 2015 favorite and gets five-plus stars. ♥

Date Read: 20 July 2015

Learn more about Jamie Shaw here.

Purchase Mayhem on Amazon | B&N | Kobo.

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