Poison Roses: Boys of Bellerose, Book 1

On the surface, Tate and Jaymin deliver a widely sexy and intriguing rockstar crashes with mafia love story full of their characteristic romantic tension and emotional turbulence. But underneath the flashy bravado, sexual tension, and heart-pounding action and danger, what we really have is an intimate…albeit still enigmatic….character exploration of the impact of emotional trauma. Billie and the Bellerose band all share one common trait- and it’s more than their musical connection or their shared lust for one another. Oh no, what is buried beneath the surface is the REAL beating heart of this story- how each of these hiddenly broken characters carries the weight of their past pain, the snowballing cascade of how trauma can consume you from the inside out. We don’t even know the full depths of anyone’s past- but we know it’s there, bubbling under the surface, starting to breathe out like steam from a newly active volcano. The clues are there, the cracks are showing. So even if we don’t know just WHAT shaped each of these characters, we know that something hard and painful HAS warped them. They are all survivors in their own right- coping in their own unique ways. One by trying to protect and save others to alleviate their own traumatic guilt, one by lashing out with heartbreak heavily veiled in vitriolic animosity, one by retreating into a carefully curated armor of detachment and indifference. Perhaps even one in violence and power- though jury’s still out on if he really IS part of this romance. Or like Billie, hiding in plain site, burying her pain and loss, her lifeline has become the fact that she’s barely surviving- it keeps her from having to confront all her baggage. UNTIL NOW. Because while each has learned to COPE with their pain in their own varyingly destructive ways, none has truly confronted it. Until they all crash together, until the rose finds her way amongst the thorns, only she has her OWN thorns to carry. They’ve each swallowed their own poison, and now they’re being challenged little by little, some faster than others, to face the real darkness, to let go of the deceptive facade they all hide behind.I love how Tate and Jaymin have them all working on their own pace, connecting in their own ways. Some are more ready to explore what’s right in front of them than others, and some have more to risk, more at stake. The guys have their own journeys to take, and right now we know far less about them. Because Poison Roses is really Billie’s beginning- a heroine who has lacked physical and emotional safety for so long that she finally finds it in the last place she expected, but it comes with a steep emotional price. Book 1 helps us unravel her, and I love how vulnerable she is. She’s not a completely soft or hapless damsel in distress, but she does have her own fragility amidst her survivalist strength. She’s open, has a gentle heart, and most of all, she’s lost. She’s been lost for a while, since a fateful moment, one we still don’t fully understand, caused her to make a sacrifice greater than her first love- it also meant sacrificing all that she is, or was, or could be. And now we see her start to grapple with the lost aspects of herself- she can no longer just rest on “getting by,” she now has to deal with her “ish”- in part because her “ish” is right in front of her face. But it’s more than just Angelo and Jace, and that’s what so BRILLIANT about this harem. Each of these men represent something fundamental in Billie- both something she needs to heal but also a part of herself that she’s lost or trying to nurture. We get the foil of Jace and Angelo preying upon her pain and past trauma in their own ways juxtaposed to the flowering NEW relationships she finds in Rhett and Grayson.I love how Billie-focused this beginning is- because before we can truly deepen the connections she has (or rebuilt the broken ones she’s lost), Billie has to really take a hard look at herself, her needs, but most important, to feel WORTHY and deserving of any form of tenderness or love. She’s put in the most complicated of character arcs- facing everything that hurts about her past, running from a terrifying criminal, while also suddenly finding camaraderie and kindness in a veritable emotional hornets’ nest of a hideout situation. She’s surrounded by connections she never anticipated all while avoiding emotional landmines all around her- including her own. But my do I love her- she’s tenacious but patient, strong but vulnerable, a little reckless and brave, but also so captivatingly broken yet hopeful. She’s a big bleeding heart, wrapped in invisible thorns.Of course, outside of this giant existential confrontation of past trauma and what I see to be a steady journey towards healing and redemption, we have just SO much entertainment. The chemistry is scorching between Billie and the boys, and even more so, the chemistry between the band is so entertaining. The funny moments, the tensions, the drama, but most of all the brotherhood. It will be necessary to survive what seems to be coming, and I love the relational matrix we have going here. And all the “on the run” and in hiding in a freaking ROCKBAND (what a fun take on the trope) plus the slow burning steam, and I AM DESPERATE for more. The pages just kept turning. Of course, the cliffhanger knocked me down- my mind is desperate to know just what this means, and thank the sweet Bellerose gods that we don’t have to wait long for book 2!

I don't typically like diving into a series that hasn't been completed yet, but I decided to give this one a go because I was in a reading slump. The synopsis frankly didn't even sound like it was something I'd enjoy, but something was telling me to try it and I'm so glad that I listened to my instincts and gave this one a go. I enjoy Jaymin Eve and Tate James separately, but together, they write incredible pieces that I honestly think surpass their individual works (again, I still love those, but their collabs just have something extra). I was also a bit concerned when I read the prologue that it would be a series that has past chapters and present chapters and I don't typically care for those, so I was over-the-moon that this was entirely in the present.This review will contain spoilers, so read at your own peril.I love that they wasted no time in setting everything up. We get our first glimpse of Angelo, which sets Billie on the run due to witnessing something she shouldn’t have. It’s that chain of events that leads readers to their first introduction of Rhett, who may be my favorite. I love that he’s a pretty open character. It’s refreshing to see a leading male character in this type of story with his personality. It doesn’t happen very often. There’s a good combination of mystery and laid-backness with him.Jace is pretty much the typical jerk. As soon as he recognizes Billie, he immediately begins lashing out. It seems a bit odd that he’s used the material of his story with Billie to write songs for Bellerose, yet in all the time he was writing the lyrics, he never once stopped to think there may have been something off with the story as he saw it. Pretty much what we get of Jace in book one is an angry ball of a mess. He was a bit much to take sometimes, but not so bad that it takes away any stars from the overall experience.Grayson … we don’t get much from him yet. It’s enough to lure you in, though, and want to know more about him, which, thankfully, if you stick around long enough for book two, you get to know more about him. If you’re expecting a lot of info for him in this book, you won’t get it.If cliffhangers aren’t your bag, I would wait until the books are finished being written. This does have a cliffhanger, but it is a good one.I really struggle with writing five-star reviews, in all truthfulness. I want to leave something decent that still has feedback and not just gushing about how much I loved the story. It applies here, though. I really haven’t been enjoying reading that much lately and this breathed life back into my love for reading. Looking forward to the last two installments of this and they’re already pre-ordered.

This book was always going to be epic - this duo are individually awesome so when you put them together it was never going to be anything less than incredible. Billie may be running scared but she is no damsel in distress. And who can blame her for falling into Rhett, hi book boyfriend 5,929 welcome to the list.This is the first in the series and I’m already desperate to find out where these guys are going to take me. All I do know is that it will be one hell of a ride. I already have thoughts and theories and that ending…..Grayson and Rhett both seem so different but they both have histories I’m dying to know more about. I’m crossing everything that we get to see what happened 8 years ago with Jace, Billie and Angelo.Rockstar romance with a slice of mafia topped with why choose goodness. Yum.

Unlucky Billie Bellerose, down and out, gets offered a lifeline of a job in a restaurant, only to find that, once again she is in the wrong place at the wrong time. After fleeing he runs into a man outside a nightclub, who offers her protection. She discovers that he is a member of the group Bellerose, named after her! This begins her grief inducing adventure.

I flew through this book in a matter of hours. The characters, the storyline and the writing is just absolutely amazing and I'm dying to know what happens next. Think it's safe to say that when the next book comes out, I'll be dropping whatever book I'm reading at the time to read the next installment.Jaymin and Tate have both definitely created a fantastical new series!

Well this jump straight in no holding back, which I love from these authors. This was gripping from the beginning and evolved in to this dramatic world of mafia and rock star. This is a fantastic read with epic characters. Which I can not wait for more from this fascinating world. Highly recommended.

Omg I need more!! I normally wait until a series is finished before starting reading, but I've loved everything else by Tate so couldn't resist this one. I love it. There are soooo many questions about the past that we need to know! I can't wait for more. Is it 7th Feb yet??