Backdraft by H.M. Ward

Blurb:
When Mari realizes that Trystan is the internet megastar, Day Jones, she can’t speak. Every time she listens to his song, it leaves her feeling so much. That song is bewitching. Everyone she knows heard it. As soon as it appeared on YouTube, it went viral, and then the guy who wrote it disappeared. Despite agents and record labels trying to lure Day5705 out, he remains anonymous. No one knows who Day Jones really is—except Mari.

To Trystan’s relief, Mari agrees to keep his secret. Part of him regrets uploading the song, but when he sings to Mari the song that once brought him solace, it fills him joy. In a life like his, joy is fleeting and Trystan plans on grabbing hold whenever a shot at happiness appears. To his surprise, Mari doesn’t realize the song is about her. When Trystan tries to push her to see, he jeopardizes losing her entirely.

One misplaced kiss topples the fragile relationship, leaving Trystan reeling, trying to assemble the pieces and convincing Mari that she’s not just another conquest, even though everything he did—everything he said—makes it seem like she is. It isn’t until Mari decides that being the good girl isn’t working that things steam up. Trystan knows she wants to hook up with someone, and he doesn’t know if he should stop her. Every attempt he makes to win her over goes bad and pushes her further away.

As the world gets one day closer to tracking down Day Jones, Trystan is one day closer to graduation and leaving this life forever. If Mari doesn’t realize he loves her by then, she never will.

    

My Review:
ORIGINAL REVIEW: 3.5 stars — Phew….I was worried it was going to be full soap opera — you know, sucks you in but never goes anywhere in the end…but at least it did move forward.  Not as much as I would have liked, but still we weren’t in the exact same place as the end of the previous book.  And we learned a bit more about both Trystan and Mari’s home life….  There was a lot of me wanting to yell at the book, but hopefully it ends with some good stuff in the next one.

ON REREAD: 4 stars — I don’t have much to add.  I really enjoyed seeing glimpses into both Trystan and Mari’s lives, and I know how much people like to drag things out, so I was really happy with the way this one ended.  I thought the miscommunication and secrets would be drawn out too long, and it was almost there, but thankfully this one ended on a high point.  Can’t wait to remember what happens next (b/c apparently 3.5 years is enough time for me to forget where the story headed from here).