The Rock Bottom Series has been reviewed by Iva Readit!
Keep reading for Iva's thoughts on both Tracks and Trials.
Iva rates this series
Tracks (Rock Bottom #1)
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Synopsis
When Harvard Law student, Dylan Ackhart, moves to Boston with her best friend- the last thing she expects to find is Jeremy Mason. Jeremy is sexy, smart, and passionate- and currently the most famous rock star in the world.
From the first moment Dylan meets Jeremy, she's attracted to him. But she soon finds the fame and press can wear on you. Plus, Jeremy seems to be hiding things from her- including his relationship with the mysterious blue-haired girl.
Tracks takes you on a ride through the not so glamorous side of dating a rock star- sex, drugs, rock and roll.
Excerpt
I finally look directly at Jeremy and everything in my body turns to butter. I tingle with electricity. He looks astonishing. It’s a hot day, and he has a sheen of sweat covering his body. His tight white T-shirt clings to his muscular chest. His dark jeans are again hanging low on his hips, exposing his hip bones. He’s barefoot and sleeveless, so casual yet he makes it look so elegant and beautiful. He has his signature grey guitar on his lap and a cigarette hanging from his gorgeous pink lips. He’s clean shaven today, which kind of disappoints me. I loved the way his face felt when it grazed against mine. I imagine for only a moment the way his stubble would feel against my inner thighs...
Review
Tracks by Sarah Biermann follows the life of 22 year old Dylan Ackhart after she arrives in Boston to attend Harvard Law school and is swept off her feet by Jeremy Mason, the worlds hottest and most talented musician, after he spots her in the front row of one of his rock concerts. A fairytale beginning helps Dylan overlook the difficulties of dating a rockstar and some of Jeremy's questionable friends. However, once revealed, Jeremy's lifestyle leaves Dylan questioning whether he truly loves her and whether her love is strong enough to help him face his problems whilst she deals with her own past demons.
Now if you think this storyline has been done to death you are wrong. Sarah Biermann makes all those girls who follow One Direction or Justin Bieber fantasies a possibility with this well written and believeable love story.
Dylan comes off as a young woman on the cusp of adulthood with her beliefs about the direction her life is going in and how she is going to achieve this. Biermann gives her just the right amount of level headedness and naivity to make a reader interested in following her story. Biermann gives a good understanding of how Dylan deals with complications in her life from the beginning so it is no surprise that Dylan doesn't see Jeremy's issues straight away, add to that the rose coloured glasses we all wore in the first few weeks of young love and the fact that Jeremy is a hot commodity with a life so different from her own and it is somewhat understandable that she overlooks some seemingly obvious signs.
Rockstar Jeremy has the right amount of cockiness, sweet talking exuberance and vulnerability to make him likeable. The description given of him by Dylan when she sees him on TV pre concert had me eager to get to the part where they meet and fall in love. Jeremy comes over as flawed with a desire to be a better person but unable to find the strength and inspiration to do so. Is he hot? Maybe not so much in a physical way rather than in that long held female desire to heal a man and make him better - plus he is a rockstar, so that ups his WOW factor!
The issues dealt with in the book are realistic and Sarah Biermann has done a good job getting it all right without it intruding into the flow of the book. Minor characters are well rounded and add to the story but are not overwhelming, though they are at times hastily dismissed, exiting a scene rather than staying, which may have added more to the main characters.
Tracks is a love story that does include some sex scenes that, although descriptive, won't have you needing an outlet (so it's safe to read on the train.)
Overall the story is good and flows beautifully. The characters are well received and for the most part 3 dimensional. It doesn't pack a punch despite the up heavals the couple face, but it does make you want to follow their story and hope there is a happy conclusion.
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| Read if you liked Savor You by Emily Snow, or The Mighty Storm by Samantha Towle. |
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Trials (Rock Bottom #2)
Synopsis
"They think Jeremy murdered her."
Drugs pushed them away...will murder bring them together?
Since losing the rock star love of her life, Harvard Law student Dylan Ackhart is doing the best she can to move on. Now in her third and final year, she's doing well in school and just landed her dream internship in Boston's District Attorney's office. She keeps away from the news so she doesn't hear about Jeremy Mason- about his frequent parties, new women, and apparent drug use.
But when the body of a young girl is found in his home, suddenly Dylan and Jeremy are thrust together in the most difficult and awkward of circumstances. Dylan is forced to choose between the only man she ever loved and the only dream she ever wanted. Will she leave everything behind and be with Jeremy? Or will Jeremy find himself in more trouble than she can help him out of?
Excerpt
I go through the rest of the day in a haze, purposely shutting my brain off to the point where I’m just barely able to function normally. I don’t want to even begin to process what happened in that questioning room. I’m kept busy by meeting all of my colleagues, learning the new paperwork and policies that need to be done in Homicide, as well as other things interns typically take care of. By the time I’m finally walking out of my building and towards my car, I’m so emotionally and mentally exhausted I feel like going home and falling into bed.
I take the back door again just in case but I’m relieved to see that the press has cleared from the front of the building. I see my little car far off in the distance and take my time walking towards it.
“Dylan,” I hear suddenly.
Oh, God…
I freeze in my tracks and swing myself around. I see his silver Honda stopped in the middle of my street. Jeremy’s staring out the window, his blonde hair shining in the sun and sunglasses reflecting my shocked face.
“Huh?” I mumble out.
“Get in,” he says. I stare at him like he’s crazy before I turn to continue walking towards my car.
“Dylan, get in the car,” I hear him say as his car inches to match my stride. His voice is low and demanding. It makes my heart lurch in my chest.
“Are you nuts?” I whisper out of the side of my mouth. “I can’t be seen with you.”
“You won’t be if you get in the fucking car.”
I sigh, my resolve wavering, but keep moving forward.
“Dylan, I swear to God I will get out and throw you in this car.”
Goddamnit.
I turn and run around the front of his car, opening the passenger door and flopping onto the seat. I barely get my door shut before he drives away.
Review
In Trials, Sarah Biermann's second book of the Rock Bottom series, Dylan Ackhart is in her third year at Harvard Law School and hoping to secure an internship at Boston's DA office, a very high possibility now that she has regained her 4.0 average after taking a break from her tumultuous relationship with rockstar Jeremy Mason. Jeremy has broken off all contact with Dylan without a word and she has been left to inwardly struggle whilst pretending to move forward with her life. That pretence shatters when, after being appointed her internship with the DA, one of her first tasks is to help on the case of a young girl allegedly murdered by the rockstar who haunts Dylan's heart.
If you haven't read Tracks, the first book in the Rock Bottom Series by Sarah Biermann then you need to do so before reading this one as it is a direct follow on. Trials finishes the story that Sarah Briemann started in Tracks. It is again well written with an interesting plot that demonstrates the progression of the issues identified in the first book.
The beginning of Trials shows that Dylan's life has stagnated and that although everything appears to be moving forward she emotionally has not. Her naivety is still very much in evidence throughout the book and she is easily swayed by those around her.
Jeremy is more emotional in Trials than he was in Tracks. His heart and career are in tatters after losing Dylan and becoming a murder suspect. His appearances in Trials are too short for a reader to fall in love with and he is missing most of the elements that made him stand out in Tracks; his cockiness, vitality and rockstar lifestyle. He does however, manage to pull your heart strings with his vulnerability and his strength in overcoming his past and current situation.
I felt the plot was a little too ambitious for the characters portrayed in this story. Dylan's inability to evolve until very late in the second book makes her a little hard to love and that a lot key elements in the book were conveniently solved rather than actually solved. In saying that, Sarah Biermann has told a very sweet story that shows passion is a necessary part of true happiness but sometimes you need to hit rock bottom to get there.
I would recommend that you read the series back to back so that the characters and background are still fresh in your mind. Trials is a fine ending to the Rock Bottom Series by Sarah Biermann and certainly worth reading if you enjoyed the start of Dylan and Jeremy's love story.
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About The Author
Sarah Biermann, RN, BSN was born Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in Claymont. She attended Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington for high school, majoring in creative writing. She went on to Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA for her Associates Degree in Nursing. She recently graduated Drexel University with her BSN in nursing and is currently in their Masters program for nursing education. Sarah's nursing specialty is in drugs and alcohol detox and rehab.
Sarah has been married to her husband, Jon, for 8 years. She has two beautiful daughters: Anna, age 7, and Quinn, age 2. They live in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
She enjoys reading, singing, art, music, television, going to the movies, Hershey Park, and writing.
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