Silverblade

This book takes on some pretty heavy themes (addiction, life in the music industry after rehab, death of loved ones due to addiction, parenting after an accidental teen pregnancy, financial hardship, and more) and handles them with vivid and gritty realism. I can't decide whether I was more drawn to the maturity of Shane's story or the forbidden passion of Zack's story, but I'm hoping we get to see both of them play out in the rest of the series. This is a multi-layered and engaging start to the Silverblade series, and I'm absolutely looking forward to the next book. Fair warning: the sex-and-groupies side of rockstar life isn't sugarcoated, so it may not be for the more squeamish reader on that front. 4.5 stars