Sonya Clark - Good Time Bad Boy

Wade Sheppard was the king of country for nearly ten years. Now he can’t get Nashville on the phone, much less another record deal. When yet another drunken night onstage gets him fired from a casino gig, Wade is pulled off the road by his manager and sent home. Being back in the small town where he was born and raised, his every screw-up fodder for gossip, isn’t helping any. His family knows him too well, and the pretty, sharp-tongued waitress who catches his eye doesn’t want to know him at all.
Daisy McNeil has more baggage than most her age but she’s finally pulling her life together. College classes will be her ticket out of poverty and instability. She doesn’t mind waiting tables for the time being, but she could do without the rowdy rednecks who sometimes get handsy. When one of them crosses the line, she snaps and gives him and his stupid ten gallon hat the telling off he deserves, but causing a scene gets her fired.
Wade didn’t mean to cost Daisy her job. Chastened, he decides he doesn’t want his train wreck of a life to crash into anybody else. He offers the bar owner a summer of free shows if Daisy can have her job back. Now they’re spending nights together trading barbs and fighting a growing attraction. With a sexy smile and a powerful voice that can make any song his, Wade’s determined to show Daisy that he’s more than just a good time bad boy. 

Comment: I added this book to my TBR in 2015 because at the time the prospect of reading a story about a country singer and a waitress felt like a great idea, especially because both of them weren't in their best moment of life and I was curious how the author would bring them together in a believable way.

The problem of often adding things to one's TBR because of (usually) only one main element as we see it can mean that the story might not really revolve around it alone and that can mean the story isn't exactly what one imagines, as ended up being the case here.

In this story we meet Wade Sheppard, a 41 year old who has not dealt well with a terrible loss and that ha reflected in his life, both professional and personal. He goes back to his small town after another failure and hopes to at least have time to breathe and think about what is next for him. He isn't, therefore, in his best frame of mind when he harasses waitress Daisy at the bar where he actually started his career. Apologizing isn't enough and somehow he agrees to perform again with just a few conditions in order for the waitress to be readmitted after a mix up due to his behavior.

Daisy wants to finish her degree without debts but that means it will take her much longer and waitressing does pay the bills. She doesn't allow for guys to harass her, tough, even at the cost of this much needed job. Since the guy is coming back to play at the bar for the summer season she knows they can't ignore each other. What she didn't count on was how much she ends up caring for him, even if their pasts might be too much of a conflict...

I think it must fairly rare to go into a book with no expectations. By reading a blurb alone can be enough to help the reader create an idea on what the story is going to be about, otherwise why would there be blurbs or why would people choose this or tat to read?

This means for me that having a blurb is almost a third of a way to appreciate a book or not. I've mentioned this in several of my comments but a blurb can be quite misleading and create certain expectations. I also had those with this book and nothing in the blurb implies this would touch serious issues which were a positive surprise since I like seriousness in my books. But for me this also meant the romance felt rather secondary and lacking.

I think this was an interesting story. Both protagonists have something in their past that could work as a deterrent for them to be together but thankfully these two can talk and that didn't end up being the main point of contention in the story. There's also the age gap, he's 41 and she's 26 but what happened to them, between their lives and backgrounds shaped them into who they are now. I was surprised at the level of maturity they both have, from different reasons and it has nothing to do with age.

I do think the author convinced me of these characters' feelings and the why they can be a good complement to one another.

I also think the overall story was indeed enriched by the challenges they both faced and why they are so aware of who they are now, as individuals, even if wade sometimes acts like someone still looking for answers. I would say these things are well explained withing the story and in the end each protagonist makes sense in how they behave and feel.

The blurb doesn't let out that both protagonists faced serious issues apart from where they are at the beginning of the novel. Readers sort of assume that there will be a romance between them... I liked how much in they had and what made them feel comfortable with one another. I do think the relationship progressed in a good pace.

However, having such baggage and having such a great connection doesn't immediately mean their relationship covers all the bases for them to be so suitable. They are but they could have been just as great as only friends. I accept they are a couple but I don't think their romantic connection was as well depicted as the strength they both give to one another just as friends. Meaning, why do they need to be a couple? Even the way the story ends, with things more or less oriented for them, I didn't finish the story imagining their future, what could happen for them... I don't think there was any romantic tension between them to ensure me they couldn't be anything else but a couple.

Thinking about this book as a whole, there are plenty scenes where we can see how good a couple they can be but I was not convinced with possibilities, I wanted to be certain but I think the story lost some impact as it was getting closer to the end. There isn't an epilogue either and I think that was a miss because things end up positively but not as conclusive as I'd have wished.

Nevertheless, it was a good enough story to read...

Grade: 6/10