4/5

Nikki Razer is a rock star and Drew McNally is a music teacher that works in her father's music store. When Nikki is need of a new guitar, she meets the beautiful Drew. Drew tries to keep her distance from Nikki at the beginning but she can't help being attracted to the sexy rock star.

The book was well written, the characters were well developed and the story line was good. Although, this book is part of a series, it stands alone and you don't need to read the first book (I didn't).

For some reason I did not connect with any of the two main characters and this affected my interest in the book considerably. The chemistry with the characters was there but I wasn't really invested. I thought the premise of the story was great but unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I wished I could've, given I love books with this kind of premise.

Overall, it was a good book.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

2 Stars. I enjoyed this book, but the last 1./4 of so was not that great. I also did not realize when I picked this ARC from Netgalley, it was part of a series about the band mates, there is another book about her band mates which obviously comes first. This book is about Drew, a music teacher who wants nothing to do with Nikki Glazer, a rock star who comes into her shop where she works and her father owns. Nikki is a celebrity and Drew does not want anything to do with celebrities as her mother abandoned her to become one. Nikki tries again and again to try and get Drew to like her and can't seem to stay away. Drew does not have any ambitions and seems to be happy staying where she is and even ignore her attraction to Nikki.

This book was okay, I thought it dragged a lot. It took me a while to read. as there was a lot of build up that was not interesting. When they finally do get together, it is earlier on and they drag our their relationship. The drama in this book is long and drawn out, as it is of course, related to Nikki's fame. I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I do enjoy music, but this book never let you forget that the main characters are both involved in music. The drama seemed added and fake to add more to the book, as it is blown out of proportion. I am not sure I would recommend this book, as it is not a book I will re-read or enjoyed enough.

Nikki Razer is the Lead singer in the rock band Passion Play. While Nikki is on tour she is known to be the player. After each show a woman is waiting and she has sex with them and moves on to the next stop. What most in her band doesn't know is she does this because she is in love with Jaymi another band member. Jaymi is now involved with Shawn another member of the band and Nikki feels she has missed out on her chance for love. Drew McNally works at her dads music shop. She is a talented musician and sticks around as Manager for a hosts of reasons. The main two being she loves teaching and she doesn't want to abandon her Dad like her Mother did. Drew is pretty much a loner who goes to work and then home to take care of her 3 cats. These two come together after the band has to replace all of their instruments after an accident destroys all of their equipment.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The books starts off really good and progresses nicely for the first half. You see chemistry and the normal growing pains between two characters who have issues. You also see two characters getting to know each other. I didn't think I was going to like Nikki in the beginning but as the book progresses she quickly becomes my favorite character. Drew on the other hand is slightly annoying as the book moves on. So when does it go down? The second half of the book seems drawn out. Another reviewer mentioned that about 50 pages could have been cut out and I agree with that. Nikki and Drew spend lots of time talking and sharing feelings and that should have been incorporated more into the first half. Also, they have alot of sex in the second half and it just seems too much (and I love some good sex in a romance). It just took way to long for them to get together and and have the normal breakup before getting back together..

With all that said, I don't think this one is bad. Overall I liked it. I just think it was long and drawn out for no reason. I will rate this one 3.25 stars.

Absolutely loved this story, the music and fame just all was Very well written, all the characters flowed together perfect. My first from this writer but will read more from her.

3.25 Stars. This was a decent read but it was rough in places. I liked Stratimore’s last book Arrested Hearts quite a bit more than this one. This story does standalone but it features characters from her first two books. If you have not read her other books, I still think you could start right here.

This story follows two women. Nikki Razer, the lead singer of a popular band and Drew who works and teaches in her father’s music store. While both women are attracted to each other, Drew doesn’t trust famous people. Her mother is a Hollywood star who basically abandoned her. Can Drew overcome her prejudices to follow her heart?

I think my biggest issue with this book was the length. It’s a long book and I don’t understand why it is. At least 50 to 100 pages should have been cut out. The story started off well, in the first half, but really bogged down in the second.

Besides the length I struggled with the character of Drew. Once again she started off likeable enough but became such a whiny complainer that I could not stand her in the end. I wanted to yell to Nikki “run away while you still can.” Nikki’s character grew as the book went on, Drew’s seemed to shrink.

I’m the type of person that has trouble with the romance when I don’t care for the characters as much. The book started off with a sweet slow burn romance that I was enjoying, and then it started to fall apart for me. I even thought there were one or two sex scenes that should have been cut. There were just too many and I started to actually skim them.

Overall this book started really well, but just could not keep up. I can’t personally recommend this but it’s not bad by any means. Hopefully Stratimore’s next book will be more my style.

I really liked this book. It's a typical romance in the best way. I thought it was well written and descriptive. There is some angst between the main characters, from previous relationships or lack there of and childhood issues. This book does a great job at showing the damage that parental interference or neglect can cause that carry through life until those issues are processed. This is a worthwhile read, just like the two previous books by this author.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. Wow. I read the other two books by Stratimore, which I would recommend before reading this book. As the characters Randi and the rest of the band Passion Play and Shawn and Jaymi's story. I will say I did not like the book about Shawn and Jaymi and after reading it, I did not like the character of Nicki. Then I read this book, and oh my gosh. I loved Nicki and Drew. This was a fantastic read, and I couldn't put it down, I devoured it in just a couple of hours, I am craving more now. Maybe Geena's story or the bassist in Passion Play's story!

I'm going to start this review off with a disclaimer - This book centered on themes that had a fair similarity to a past life for me, so read my review with a grain of salt! As a novel, I loved having music as such an in-your-face theme. It's such a part of my soul that I felt like I was back in the life again, and that left me smiling for much of it!

Side note first - I had no idea that this was a part of a series until it was over and I was glancing through other reviewers recaps. This is totally a standalone novel, and you won't have a bit of trouble if you haven't read other books in this series first.

As a book, trying to set aside my personal feelings and memories, this one wasn't bad, but also wasn't great. There were parts that left me cheering, and parts that left me smacking my head. I really enjoyed the MCs Drew and Nikki, but some of their moments of non-communication had me a bit irritated. Side character Melissa was adorable, and I loved the cats also1

I do also need to mention that I really liked the first half of this one quite a bit more than the second. Not sure why, but this one slid downward for me the further along I got. This one was good, it just wasn't GREAT.

All in all, I'm going to hesitantly rate it at 4 stars, mainly because it allowed me to fondly re-live some of my past. Honestly - I think I may have added on a 1/2 star to my review just for that. I hate to say it, but I don't think I can be objective on this one just because of my past being so similar to one of the characters'. I'm going to keep this one short, and mention one more time that I'm biased here. You may want to look at other reviewer's opinions first on this before deciding on a purchase for this one!

**Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.**

The third in this series, although you don't need to read the other two to enjoy this one. If you have read the other two, you'll get enjoyment at having all of the characters show up in this one.

The author is getting better! I liked how Drew really wasn't interested in Nikki and it took a bit for her to let go. I'm not the biggest fan of having one of the main characters in love with someone else, so that kind of annoyed me for a good while, but others might actually like that conflict.

I'm giving it four stars because I enjoyed reading it while I was reading, but I don't feel like I'd go back to read it again.

Strings Attached by Holly Stratimore is a contemporary romance about two women who meet in a music store. Drew McNally is the daughter of the store’s owner. She is an extremely talented musician, but she wants nothing to do with anyone in the entertainment business, especially if they are famous. She tells herself she is happy giving music lessons and helping run the store. Nikki Razor is the lead singer in the famous rock group Passion Play. She has found her fame and fortune, but now realizes that it isn’t enough without someone to love and share it with her. The attraction between the two is immediate, but there are many hurdles they must overcome before they can be together as a couple.

I like the story. The idea of the story is good for these characters, both of whom are well-developed. The conflict that both characters endure is believable as well. Both characters had to overcome past prejudices and mature before they could become a couple. My only real problem with the story is that it took so long for them to get past the angst. The push/pull between the two characters lasted way too long in the story. I was actually getting angry at Drew after a while. It was beginning to affect my enjoyment of the story. Other than that, I really did like this story and recommend it to anyone who loves a romance with a lot of emotional conflict.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Nikki Razer is tired of one night stands and women who are only interested in her for her fame. Finally the band's tour has ended and they return to their small hometown. Nikki wishes she had taken the chance to tell band-mate Jaymi how she felt about her but it's too late now and Jaymi is in love with Shawn.
Drew McNally is taken by surprise when famous band members turn up in her small music shop to replace their instruments. Unfortunately she is immediately drawn to Nikki who is everything she doesn't want to be involved with. She's smooth, flirtatious, famous and rich. Drew feels she'll never be enough.

This is a good romance but it could have been a hundred pages shorter. The same issues - Drew's insecurity around being with someone wealthy and famous and Nikki's sense that nobody sees her for herself - became a little repetitive for me and was belabored to the point that I became a bit irritated.

My irritation also colored how I saw the main characters. I quite liked both characters initially. Drew is a brilliant musician who can play a number of instruments and teaches a them too. Nikki is not only an accomplished musician, she's also a trained opera singer who is wasting her talent and education according to her parents. When they first start getting to know each other I really enjoyed the narrative but the push/pull which could have been solved with a little openness wore on my nerves.

There's some great dialogue and they make a good couple so it's probably a better read than I'm making it out to be.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been on a pretty good streak with books lately, but hit a bump with this one. Haven’t read anything else by this author, and this is part of a series, so that may have affected my enjoyment, though I doubt it, since I found Nikki’s pining for Jaymi a bit skeevy so I doubt that would have been improved by knowing more about her and Shawn. The two of them also didn’t seem to be a great couple (lots of insecurities) for characters already established in their own book.

Drew and Nikki also did nothing for me, individually and together. Nikki’s your typical ‘player just longing for a good woman’ and Drew has this thing about famous people due to her mommy issues and these two things just go round and round and make up most of the book. It also features a stupid event at the requisite 3/4 mark that I want to believe someone that famous wouldn’t be stupid enough to have let happen (I thought that at the start of the book when the precipitating event occured, just take the phone and delete the photo, or you know, don’t be in a situation that allows the photo to be taken, it’s not rocket science).

I was bored well before the halfway mark but made myself finish, so by the time I got to the HEA I didn’t care if they got together or not. 2 stars.

This book was pretty much fun to read... I loved both characters from the start, and even though it had seemed at the beginning that I was going to be bigger fan of Drew, I ended up loving Nikki more. I know Drew's insistence on emotional distance had been caused by early abandonment issues, but the whole back and forth and hot and cold game kinda grew tiring with time throughout the book, and that was the biggest reason why I "crossed" to the team Nikki in the other half of the book.
Apart from that, the book is very well written, fun, and it practically reads itself.
3.5 stars from me.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

WOW! What a fantastic read from beginning to end. I enjoyed it that much I have read it twice so far. The story line is excellent, pace is good, and the main characters of Nikki & Drew are excellent. When they first meet, the sparks started to fly even though Drew was trying hard to hate Nikki. The chemistry was of the charts with this pair. I thought I was going to need a new kindle.

This is the first book by this author that I have read but I will be looking for her previous work and looking forward to her future work. Highly Recommended!

I ARC received via NetGalley and in exchange for an honest review.

Nikki Razer lead singer of a rock band and longed to be loved as a person, not for her celebrity status.

Drew McNally is the manager and teacher at the local music store owned by her father.

Nikki and Drew meet as they get to know each other they struggled with their emotions and life choices.

This book is a good read with likeable characters even though at times I wanted to slap Drew I mean I get it your mom choose fame over you but to constantly compare Nikki to her was unfair especially when she didn't give you a reason to. I did like that Nikki and Drew did show growth at the end.

Nikki Razer was a famous rock singer who longed to be loved as a person, not for her celebrity status. She wanted to be accepted by her politician father for the career she chose and succeeded at. Drew McNally was the manager and teacher at the local music store owned by her father. Even though Drew could have taken her talents elsewhere, she never wanted to abandon her father like her fame-seeking mother did so many years prior. That lifestyle destroyed her family and was not for her…but then she met Nikki.. and the emotional rollercoaster began.

Nikki and Drew were both likable characters who struggled with their emotions and life choices throughout the story. Nikki seemed to have demonstrated personal growth and a sense of self worth. Drew’s struggle with Nikki’s celebrity status was a constant problem. She often compared Drew to her mother, leaving Drew to constantly defend her actions. This back and forth became tiring at times, but at the same time Drew had a lifetime worth of abandonment issues that she needed to overcome.

There was a good mix of secondary characters each with their own interesting personalities. They added a welcome distraction to Drew’s emotional seesawing.
Overall, I believe, the author succeeded in making Nikki and Drew a “better version of themselves” by the story’s completion, and that, in itself, was worth the read.

Quirky,fun,engaging, and roller coaster.
Those are just a few words off my head that popped up right after I closed the book. I was for one a f/f Romance which those always hold a soft spot in my heart. But that wasn’t the star of the show for me, I much rather loved the development of them trying to bloom and show themselves that they can be these great people and flourish.

Rich girl-poor girl combined with the celebrity-commoner storyline, Strings Attached, is an unabashed romance. The author has written one of the most believable celebrity-commoner attractions without belabouring too much on just why and how the celebrity can be attracted to a nearly-broke commoner.

Nikki Razer, lead singer of a rock band, is the quintessential bad girl. Tattooed, not shy of one-night stands with fans and groupies and flamboyant. Drew McNally owns and manages a musical instruments’ store with her father and is also a music teacher.

Nikki has been carrying a torch for her bandmate Jaymi for many years and doesn’t seem to be able to move on from there. She fills time with fans but doesn’t particularly feel seen by them. At the same time she longs to find someone who would love her for herself. She is drawn to Drew on first sight, and the attraction is mutual. However, with a mother who chose fame over her only child, Drew is leery of getting involved with anyone famous.

The book is an easy read and both the MCs are very likeable. It is nice to see them talking and sharing themselves with each other while their attraction grows. There are times (okay, many times) in the book when Drew comes across as unreasonable and the onus of making the relationship work by making all sorts of compromises and sacrifices seems to rest entirely on Nikki. Similarly, Drew refusing to take opportunities coming her way is not quite understandable. But childhood scars can make a person weird about thing, plus the fact Drew is really likeable makes it work.

This is not a deep or deeply moving book. But it is a good romance, especially the huge romantic gestures from Nikki.

'ARC provided by NetGally and The Publisher in exchange for an unbiased review'

**'If you as a writer do not breathe through your writing,if you do not cry out in writing or sing in writing, then don't write because our culture has no use for it...Fine or fair writing isn't enough..'

Okay read!
There is something to be said for my honesty when explaining the creative structure or overall insight to this above average story because from the first page to the last sentence i was bored to the nth degree: lacks the kind of built-up sordid chemistry one expected when it pertains to the storyline starring couple (a lovesick band member & a music teacher) plus the many different side stories inserted for every chapter one read.
'STRINGS ATTACHED' might be brim with lots of behind-the-scenes anecdotes like what being in a band and they being on tour involved --- the sex,the insanity,the jealousy,the tabloid scandals and the feeling of togetherness etc --- but it still pretty much centered on the finding of true LOVE between all the important characters. While theory,harmony,the many mechanical & logistical skills of song or music creation,friendships and doubts about diving into any 'real' relationship while touring were very essential to the storyline which was something Ms.Stratimore affirms over and over again -- the lines were still pretty blurry with all the back & forth P.O.V.s and the second guessing that took place between both leads (Nikki & Drew) plus those hidden feelings and her (Nikki) constant drooling whenever she was around one of her bandmates.
In other words,i do believe that Ms.Stratimore might have being trying to challenge us her avid readers in pinpointing or directing us away from the vast musical portion of this book and only for us to be absorbed in her vivid developing romantic love stories that was filtering on these pages. Lastly,what to some readers might appear as well researched lyrical work of art that was from a miraculous confluence of a talented writer might also end up being just an okay story that was filled with incessant details on finding that special LOVE!