Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Review: Roman Holiday (A Radio Hearts novel) by Ashelyn Poston


Eighteen-year-old Junie Baltimore is glad the band Roman Holiday is dead, done, so last year. But when she meets an estranged yet sexy ex-rock star blamed for killing his band mate, she tumbles into the cover story of the year.

Because he is none other than Roman Montgomery―the lead singer of Roman Holiday―and unbeknownst to either of them, his career rests on her shoulders. 

When a paparazzo offers her the chance to save her late father's bar from foreclosure, it's up to Junie to decide what is more important... a lie to save her dad's beloved bar and damn Roman Montgomery to his rightful place, or the truth that will set Roman free.

Who is she kidding? That's an easy choice... right?

A free e-ARC copy was given to me in return for an honest review.

Well!  What can I saw about Roman Holiday?  It isn’t nearly the same book as it was when I first saw it, slapped up on inkpop and titled Junebug (the sequel to Roman Holiday is titled Junebug now, for one).  That was a long time ago.  And by long I mean three years.

Uh anyway.

Roman Holiday is a self-published new-adult novel.  I’ll say up front that it does suffer from a typical self-published ailment: sprinkled with typos.  It isn’t that bad, but they’re quite obviously there and it makes me sad.  I just don’t like typos is all.  The only other thing I have to complain about is the consistency of the details on the condo.  It was a matter of getting things in line, I think, because the details of it were a little slushy for it being a main plot point of the novel.

Getting past that, though, the actual book is great.  The characters have several layers to them and are witty without being overly-so (believe me, when you get a character who knows just what to say at every single turn, it can get old really fast).  The characters were my favorite part of the book, in fact; it’s been a long time since a single line in a book has been able to make me sit back and laugh for a while before I can start reading again (that line being "... And then a big green penis came out of the sky and K.O.-ed everyone.").  The plot itself is a somewhat of a standard romance plot (girl meets boy after something tragic happens in her life and the boy helps her heal) but the characters and unique situations breathe life into it that I’ve failed to see in other takes.  Although I will admit it’s a little strange how Junie puts it, that Roman is filling in the hole left by her father.  I can see where the book was going with it: Junie feels lost without her father, who shared a love of music with her as Roman is now.  It just feels odd to compare your father to your love interest like that…


As you’ve probably guessed, I would definitely recommend this book!  Look it up, will ya?  I might have to send that giant, green penis after you if you don’t.

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