Rock my World: A Novel of Thongs, Spandex and Love in G Minor, by Liza Conrad
Conrad, Liza (2005). Rock my World: A Novel of Thongs, Spandex, and Love in G Minor. NY: NAL JAM. 216 pages.
This paperback romance from what seemed to be an erstwhile rock-and-romance imprint from (I think) Penguin, is actually kind of good. No “Simon Romantic Comedy” or standard publisher romance here, this book didn’t seem to be written so painfully to formula. Sure, Rock My World is at heart a romance, which means that it is going to adhere to some of the standard romantic tropes. And, yeah, it is a romance set in the (differently) romantic fantasy world of Rock And Roll, so that’s going to add to your romantic expectations. That said, this novel seemed to be a little more “real” to me in terms of narrative voice and the willingness of the author to allow for some character complexities to remain in place even at the novel’s conclusion.
The story: Seventeen-year-old Livy James is the daughter of one of the world’s most notorious rockers and has lived with this man and his various addictions for as long as she can remember. When her father’s band goes on tour to jump-start a career recently revived by a well-placed song on a popular movie soundtrack, Livy goes along as a special correspondent for Rock On, a music magazine. During the course of the tour, Livy meets the lead singer of her father’s supporting band, the Wolves, and submits to the temptation of romance (this in spite of her vow never to date a musician).
Life “with the band,” sexy musical numbers, a drugs-and-alcohol backstory: this book has it all. It would almost seem like too much, wouldn’t it? Oddly enough, it’s totally not. Sure, there are some dramatic moments; but, for the most part, I found the romance satisfactorily titillating (but not explicit at all) and the family secret backstory engaging. My primary concern has to do with the title. Maybe I’m misreading (or not reading carefully enough), but I don’t remember any strong role played by spandex or thongs, nor did the key of G-minor ever come into play. As one of the opinion that you don’t include a list in your subtitle unless the listed items are significant to the plot, I don’t see the point to this one.