Review: Dex by Stephanie Witter (Kinky Shine #1)

Dex Bowers (@TheDexMystery)

What should you do when someone special enters your life and they're not supposed to stay? #stayplease

With a standoffish, grumpy rock star who shuns publicity and an enterprising music blogger brought in to teach him a thing or two about having a social media presence, Dex brought together two people who now make up one of my favorite couples in the romance genre. This starter to author Stephanie Witter's Kinky Shine rock romance series was so unexpectedly unique and stands out among a host of other rock romance books, thanks to a story that is different from anything I've come across in a good long while, and I've been reading romance novels since I was twelve, so with three decades under my belt, so many a book has passed through my bookaholic hands. I loved this book's steady pace, sharp wit, well-developed main characters, and fantastic story, that by the time I finished reading, my highly satisfied smile and sigh of reader contentment would have clued anyone in on how I felt. I'm going to get into what the book is basically about and what I got out of it, but this early on, I'm already encouraging you to meet Dex, Harley, and the rest of Kinky Shine for yourselves. I wasn't the least bit disappointed and I have a feeling you won't be either. This now sits pretty at the top of my list of favorite rock romances and is a top 2016 read.

As much of a Kinky Shine fan as she is, twenty-three-year-old music blogger Harley Floyd can't excuse the dickish behavior of the band's twenty-five-year-old frontman, Dex Bowers. He may be a tatted up, gorgeous rock god who backs up the outer image with a wicked talent for songwriting and singing, but accusing your band's manager's daughter that she must have slept her way to score an interview with him before you realize who she was goes in the history books as dumbest move ever. But embarrassment isn't the only thing that Dex finds himself feeling in Harley's presence. For the first time in what feels like forever, he's drawn to a woman and it doesn't look like the feeling is going away any time soon. On Harley's end, her irritation and anger are soon replaced by attraction towards Dex. Yes, he's still moody and seems to be have a difficult time trusting anyone outside of his three other band mates and his manager, but there's something more to him, something that makes Harley want to be there to listen and understand what he has been and is going through. While Harley may get Dex's writer's block when it comes to composing new material for the album, he doubts she'll get his self-inflicted cock-blocking issue.

This book is about 235 or so pages long--which I consider good for a full-length novel--allowing it to be long enough to to give readers a complete and well-told story without ever making it feel overwhelming or overdone. I wasn't merely entertained by Dex and Harley's love story; I was all in with these two and then found myself becoming invested in the three other members of Kinky Shine: Maxen Walton (the band's drummer and Dex's best friend since high school) and Otis Patel and Beckett Kline (the band's bassist and guitarist, respectively, and Dex and Maxen's closest friend whom they met in college). Just like Dex, there's more the the rest of Kinky Shine than meets the eye, and I, for one, will not be missing out on the opportunity to getting to know them better and discovering what secrets they may be keeping from us (and maybe even each other). I also hope that Delaney (Harley's best friend and roommate in New York) does decide to move to Los Angeles and that she gets her own story as well. Suffice it to say that I anticipate loving each of the books to come and that I'm already a confirmed Kinky Shine fangirl. This may have been my first Stephanie Witter read but you can bet it won't be the last. I'm giving Dex five-plus stars. ♥

Release Date: 03 May 2016

Date Read: 03 May 2016

Learn more about Stephanie Witter. 

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