When a past you want to keep hidden, returns…

Synopsis

Nicole Wilde’s life has not panned out how she expected.

Ten years ago when she was living the rock star lifestyle as a music journalist – touring the country, going to gigs and hanging out with celebrities – she never thought she would end up living an uneventful life in suburbia, in a relationship that is well past its sell-by date.

Nicole knows that her days of wild parties and tour buses are over, but yet there is something that keeps drawing her back to her old life. So when rock star Dylan King turns up on her doorstep needing her help to restore his public image, she can’t resist one last trip down memory lane.

But Nicole and Dylan’s history is complicated. And when her old life and new life collide, she will soon realise that you can’t run away from your past forever, and sometimes you just have to follow your heart…

My review

Nicole Wilde is not the young woman she was then years ago. Back then, she would live like a real rock star, touring around the world, going to gigs, all because of her job as a music journalist.
But now Nicole is not living the glitter and glam anymore, but she is living in suburbia, in a relationship that honestly has had its best time…
Nicole back then and Nicole now couldn’t be more different, and it makes Nicole sometimes miss the good old times.
And then suddenly rock star Dylan King needs her help to restore his reputation… While things have been complicated between the two of them, the allure of her old life is too big to ignore. But Nicole also knows that restoring Dylan’s reputation is easier said than done, as in the past his name was always linked with trouble. Is Dylan truly a changed man? And is the past truly in the past for Nicole?

I was intrigued by this story’s blurb. Of course knowing this author and having read several of her books already, I didn’t question one moment if I would read it or not.
But with story had that little bit extra, as our main character had a past that was the total opposite compared to her present.
A past that she tries to keep hidden, especially how wild that past has been.

Nicole Wilde for sure seems to have it all together, now that the wild bit is apparently out of her system and she has settled down.
But her life for sure shows us how off perception can be, as yes, Nicole cannot complain about her life, but for sure it isn’t all that glam as her partner Rowan makes it appear on his social media.

And isn’t it when we are at our lowest, that we start to think about our past, where we seemed to be happier? A past that stands in contrast to the life Nicole is living now?
Now, Nicole for sure had seen and heard everything ten years ago, but don’t think she was all into the wild things linked to the rockstar – life. Because no matter what she was seeing, she has never been tempted into the complete wicked world her friends and bands lived in.

Specifically, how Dylan King used to live… because he for sure had ‘bad boy’ written all over him. And it saddened me to see so much potential going to waste in a way. He is the perfect example of having it all, yet living too hard and too fast, and see it all flush away in making the wrong choices over and over again…

When he reappears, he is also the typical case of wondering, is it truly possible that he has completely changed? And that he won’t fall back into the same traps he fell into in the past? Because it’s easy to say you won’t, but what when you’re back in it?

This story was in a way a sad one. because Nicole is being torn between her old life and her new life. Both lives have hurt her, but what is the right thing to do? Because it’s not only about Dylan or Rowan, but she also has to think about Rowan’s kids, as she is the main caretaker of these lovely boys.
But it is the right thing to do, to give up your own happiness for the kids’ sake? And not only that, there is also the uncertainty, because what happened in the past can easily happen again…

it was only after I finished reading this book, that I realized that in fact, this was a sequel. But if you, just like me, haven’t read the previous books, do not worry, because you can easily catch up with everything. Things that need further explanation, are explained, and even without the detailed bits, you wan easily understand what Nicole went through, and understand how her life has changed, but also why her heart is in turmoil now.

In this book, we see clearly that the rock star life isn’t an easy one, as it throws you several and severe and dangerous temptations on your path. But we also see that people can change, for the better, and they deserve a second chance.
And we also see that no matter how ‘easy’ a life can look like, it doesn’t mean perse that it’s a happy life. It take courage to not only understand the unhappiness in your life, but it also takes courage to take matter in your own hands again.
And perhaps, the only way forward, is to go back to your past…