Mirage by Tia Fielding

MirageLGTITLE: Mirage
AUTHOR: Tia Fielding
GENRE: Contemporary
LENGTH: Novel (200 Pages)
ISBN: 3978-1-62798-664-9
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press (March 17th, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4Hearts
REVIEWER: Cat
Blurb: When forty-six-year-old washed-up country musician Jasper “Red” Blue looks at the past, all he sees is a series of failures. His one treasured success is six years battling alcoholism without the help of AA. To secure his children’s future, Jasper desperately wants to produce a new album, but he can’t write alone. And he won’t work with just anyone.

Jasper’s record company manages to secure the writer of one of the biggest country music songs in recent history to help write the album. Cade Wallace is a longhaired former soul surfer, devastatingly handsome, talented, and willing to take a chance on the rugged musician. Jasper, on the other hand, is deep in the closet.

With Jasper’s career hanging in the balance, he can’t promise Cade anything, and Cade eventually heads back to his full-time job as a truck driver, taking Jasper’s hopes of a relationship with him. If Jasper’s dream of a life together is ever to come true, he will have to take some big risks, putting both his career and his children’s security on the line.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product info.php?products id=4796
Review: Mirage is a story about an older country star that had drinking issues that caused him to wash out. Years later, he is making a comeback. His producer hires a songwriter truck driver to help finish his album.
The story is written in first person, but instead of chapters, we have each man’s view. I really liked this style, since it’s similar to first person, where it’s like the character is the story Instead of the author or storyteller. I feel I get. To know the character better. It’s also a very character driven story, which I love. I liked both Jasper and Cade. Jasper is dealing with being closeted and feeling he can never be himself in the industry he is in and a recovering alcoholic. Cade is out but doesn’t flaunt it and is more comfortable in his skin, yet he has commitment issues. Mia deserves her own story. The dogs are so much fun. Since there were horses, I’d have liked a bit more here.

I have a thing about titles. I like the title to be reflected in the story and was not disappointed. The title shows up about two-thirds in and is carried throughout. I loved that.

I had a small issue with the relationships. At first, it looked like instalove and Jasper and Cade fell into bed the day after they met. But it wasn’t so simple and love wasn’t professed until a ways in. Also Cade’s relationships were strange to me in the fact that he Had sex with Reina, (this was interesting and I’d loved more on Pete, Reina, and Cade they deserved their own story as did Cade and Jet.) It felt as if this was a sequel to Cade to me. But I still followed well. Having said that… I loved that the ex’s were still friends, especially Jasper and his ex-wife. I felt this gave this story a very fresh feel.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves country-western singers, songwriters, truck drivers, horses, dogs, complicated relationships, coming out, hot yet tasteful sex-scenes, and an overall great romance filled with lots of interesting characters.