Winning Nia was okay - not great, but not awful. A good light read with decent plot line and good pacing. Good for some escapism.

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this volume from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

***Content Disclosure: This is a slow-burn, second chance, lightly spiced 1st person POV novel***

3.5⭐ rounded up to 4⭐

Morgan is a new-to-me author so I decided to go into this novel with no expectations, but I was intrigued by the premise of a band setting. I don't normally read contemporary like this so I wanted to expand on my reading tastes.

I'll start my saying that the reason I didn't give this a full four stars is because it takes place entirely in Nia's perspective, which personally isn't to my taste as I prefer getting both sides of the story. That said, the writing was exceptional and kept me interested the whole time. While Bevan writes in the first person point-of-view, she does so in a way that could easily be switched to third person for those that prefer it. I consider that a particularly professional way of writing that gives the reader a better visual as well as emotional connection to the story.

Now onto the story!

I will admit that James...annoyed me for a long time at first. I related to Nia in a number of ways on how she just wanted to continue living her life but once James popped back up he seemed to pop back up everywhere. But that's part of the angst (and this is an angsty book!). But Bevan did a wonderful job of revealing feelings along that way that made me soften towards him and eventually start to root for him. And Nia had every reason to want to keep her distance. I really enjoyed that she was goal-oriented and seemingly had a plan for every upset. It's a refreshing take on a female lead from the "Uh oh! What do I do now?" that some main female character often bumble through.

I also really enjoyed the minor details about photography as I am not versed in it at all, but many instances of Nia doing her job were so well described that I was able to picture it (it also helped me understand what goes on behind band photography--something I've never considered). There's a lot of pop-culture references that I understand that may not age particularly well, but it was still great to read.

It was an interesting, new quick read for me that actually had me looking forward to Jared (the drummer) and Ella's story, hehe

This is a good book. The two main characters are Nia and James. They have each other all their lives. They were boyfriend and girlfriend when the band that James was in went on tour and they broke up. Well the band is back in town and James is apologizing and trying to win Nia back. They both have issues but together they work them out and fall in love.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters felt relatable and very real. The story of the second chance romance was beautiful. You could truly tell that the two main characters were a great match and complemented each other well. The only thing that felt slightly off was the timing. It seemed to move a little fast, that’s why it’s four stars. Overall, very good book and I would highly recommend to others!

"Winning Nia" was such a thought provoking second chance romance. Nia is a photographer from Cardiff, who's working aspiration it to solely be a band photographer. Nia's been working at a couple of concert venues and having to do a LOT of weddings to help make ends meet.

Enter James, Nia's lost love, who's a member of the band Rhiannon and trying to get her to become the band's photographer. There's so much that James and Nia have to work through because they were together when they were young and haven't seen each other for 10 years.

What I appreciated about this was that neither Nia or James was perfect but once Nia decided she was in a relationship with James, (he spent quite a bit of the book trying to win her back), she was all in. They really did try to work on communicating and helping each other to process past hurts and actions.

Some of the plot dragged a bit for me, but overall this was an enjoyable book and the band and Nias friends were great and I can't wait to read more about them.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t expecting this book to be incredible, but regardless it was very underwhelming. The characters were very one-dimensional.

This romance brought together elements that I absolutely love and they were brought together so well. Second chance, rock star ex, photography loving main character, childhood sweethearts, a job offer the main character can't refuse, and a confession that could change everything.

When the only man that Nia truly loved walks back into her life after breaking her heart and ghosting her for a decade her world is flipped upside down. She can't out run the feelings she thought she was over, and the more he fights to get her back the more she sees just how serious his feelings are. But a second chance at romance very well could end in another heart break. Or it could be the best thing that happens for the both of them.

This story was packed with steamy romance, and amazing friendships that mean the world to both Nia and James. This story was told in single first person point of view through Nia, but there were times I wished James would have had a point of view. But regardless I still really enjoyed this story. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Winning nia by Morgana Bevan.
True platinum book 2.
I don't need a rockstar to be my knight in shining armour. Especially one who already had his chance.
My first love broke my heart when I was sixteen. James Tyler was everything I’d ever wanted, until he up and left. That’s what I get for falling for a musician whose plans for world domination never included me.My second love, photography, would never let me down.Or so I thought until I discovered that making it as a music photographer is a lot harder in reality than in my dreams – and my savings account can only take a beating for so long until I have to swallow my pride and start grovelling to my arrogant, estranged father.And if things couldn’t get any worse, James is back…
Arriving with a job offer I shouldn’t refuse, and a confession big enough to send shockwaves through the past, he throws my entire life upside down. But I don’t care how successful his band is or that he insists I’m the one for him. If he thinks I forgive him tossing me aside ten years ago, he’s got another thing coming.To anyone else, James is a second chance wrapped in muscle and black ink. Too bad for him, I’ve never believed in second chances.
A good read with good characters. Likeable story. 3*.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. For some reason, I never liked James not from the first minute. I thought he never really redeemed himself either and thought him to be selfish. Otherwise I liked the book, but it is difficult when you don't like the partner in a romance. I did enjoy Nia-and her gang. What a great group of friends. We should all be so lucky!! Interesting but for me only 3 stars.

Second Chance Rock Romance

Nia had her first love at sixteen but that first love left her heartbroken when he left to become a rock star leaving her behind. Now ten years later Michael has surprisingly showed back up in Nia’s life when she goes to try to nail down a much-needed job as a music photographer. Little does she know that the band just so happens to be Michael’s band.

Nia’s not up to being left behind again no matter what her true feelings are but Michael sees it another way. He will do anything to try to win Nia back.

This is my first book by this author and she made me fall in love with Nia and James. Now I have to go back and read the first book in this series and I can’t wait for the next book to be released.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Winning Nia. I thought the writing was quite good and I enjoyed Nia's character a lot. This is one of my favorite troupes to read, so I was really looking forward to it. Nia's friends are also awesome and I like a lot of the male characters as well. The one person I really did NOT like, James. I wanted to SCREAM at Nia to not take him back. In my opinion, even through two epilogues, he never redeemed himself. He was a selfish child, that is all I though when I read about him through the whole book. So unfortunately, only 3 stars. Three because it was well written, but not a true romance to me.

This book surprised me. I went into this thinking it was gonna be another plain second chance romance but I was really surprised. The author wrote this story exceedingly well, the story line is well thought of and very interesting. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work!

2.5 ⭐️

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚-𝙖𝙧𝙘｡


𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭:

Delving into this book, I did had a quite expectations because of the trope or should I say the theme/ plot route this book had.

Did it live on my expectations? Sadly, no.

Probably because of the writing, execution and the pace the story did go for. I just think that the potential of the plot and theme were wasted because of the half baked execution.



𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:

What I’m disappointed the most were the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read and have a strong female character but this book, I think, didn’t do justice to Nia? I really didn’t felt her at all and thought her character was way too dry.

Same goes for James, which I really didn’t like as a character, like throughout the book. I don’t know, Nia deserves better tbh.

I’m much more interested in the characters tbh so ill be watching out for them in the future.

I also would have love to see the band out and not just focus on these two because to be honest, they were very painful to read.

Another thing is, I hate Nia’s father and brother !! They made my blood boil when I read those scenes.



𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞:

Second chance romance or childhood sweetheart wasn’t really my thing but I took a risk and decided to try something new this year so I requested this.

The romance really felt force and dry. I just didn’t feel their chemistry at all and hated it. This is one of the thing that I think could have been better if this trope was executed much more better. BUT, it was executed pretty fast like?? 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧???

Unfortunately, this book doesn’t have it.


𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥:

I think this is a miss. There’s a potential but was really wasted.

This was a super sweet story. I did think it could have come a bit further in terms of character development as well as the stakes of the drama that unfolded. Overall, an easy to relate to read and a cute couple. Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, Netgalley, and Morgana Bevan for allowing me this read in exchange for my honest review. This review will be posted on my book review Twitter account @RaeReadss.

Nine years ago, Nia’s childhood sweetheart, James, ghosted her after setting off to pursue his dreams of becoming a rockstar. Now he’s made a success of himself and is back, with his band offering Nia a contract to be their official photographer. He’s made it clear that he wants a second chance to repair his relationship with Nia, but is she ready to trust him again?

I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It is <i>very</i> readable and engaging - I found it hard to stop reading it, I just wanted to plough on and eventually did just that. It was also lovely to see a novel set in Wales! I could really visualise it in the story and the Welshness really shone through for all of the characters and it made <i>such</i> a refreshing change.

I really liked Nia’s voice: it was really distinct and I found her a very sympathetic character. The angst in this story worked very well for me; it was gentle, for the most part, but there were some parts I found really gut-wrenching and I liked how fiercely Nia stuck to her guns and made it clear how James’ past actions had affected her. The love scenes were also very well-written.

However, I have to say that I really struggled with James’ character. I sort of warmed to him by the time the novel had finished, but I would have liked a bigger grovel on his part and it would have been nice if he had been more understanding of Nia’s perspective. Sometimes he came across almost wilfully obtuse about the pain he had caused. As a result I struggled to root for their relationship for parts of this book, but I’m genuinely really impressed with how much the author made me care despite this, and that I ended up really loving the book overall. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a second-chance, rockstar romance set in Wales / the UK.

If I enjoyed this book so much with the reservations I had about a central character and the romance, I can’t wait to dive into the other book this author has written. I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes and going back to the first book in the series, too. I want to thank the author and Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content Notes: Controlling behaviour from a parent / spouse (heroine’s father), on-page sex, divorce (parents, in past).

Another ARC from NetGalley and courtesy of C Bevan Publishing! I really loved this book!! Who doesn’t love a rockstar romance, especially when the rockstar goes above and beyond to win back his girl? This book is the second in the True Platinum series but the first I read from this author. It does great as a standalone book, and a good introduction to the author and the series if you read them out of order like I did. I thought this book was charming, funny, and an easy read. It was easy to get lost in the words and forget that I was reading.

This book contains the following tropes: rockstar romance, my best friend’s brother, second chances.

Nia is a very talented music photographer that auditions for her dream job, only to find it is photographing her ex’s band. Not only did he shatter her heart and ghost her 10 years prior, but he’s the only man she’s ever truly loved. She thought she was over her feelings until she sees him again. James Tyler does all he can to demonstrate how serious his feelings are for Nia and how he wants her back. Will she allow herself to trust James again?

I really liked this book but I wish we could have had a dual POV to know what James was thinking and his motivations for how he acted in certain scenes. I love Nia’s truly wholesome friendships with Mel and Sophie. I wish Nia had communicated better with James when he returned instead of ignoring and avoiding him, but I get that she was trying to maintain her distance from him. Overall, a great read and I look forward to more from this author!

This is a first for me by this author and a very angsty one!

This story is told through first person point of view and just through Nia’s. I would’ve loved to see James point of view on things but overall it was a great story!

Nia and James haven’t seen each other in 10 years. Their reunion isn’t a warm one and James is going to do everything he can to make up for those years because he wants Nia back!

I loved the dynamics of the girls and their friendship and I am interested to see what happens with Mel and Danny! It’s a great group I just wish I got to see more from the hero’s perspective.

This book is cute but I feel as though it is missing something. If it was in dual pov I think that would help it a lot. Knowing what James is feeling and his motivations would help move the book along better.

I received a copy through netgalley.

Winning Nia, A Rock Star Romance, True Platinum Series book 2, Morgana Bevan

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction, Romance

Well, I have a real weakness for fame/romance trope, and this one set in the UK, and being a second chance one seemed a great fit for me.

The settings were very real, I felt there with the characters, enjoyed the behind the scenes look at their lives. I wanted to know a bit more about Nia's father and brother, they were a major force in the story but we didn't really know much about them.
I loved Nia's friends, was intrigued by the Mel/Dan slant and expect that's a story to come that will be interesting. The writing was good, not one of those with Alpha male, grunting MMCs and simpering FMCs thankfully, with a story told in works of three syllables or less. – there's so many of those. Clearly some folk love them - but not me. I want characters that can think for themselves, make their own decisions, show independence.

James, I found it hard to accept his excuses for the long silence. I accept he was young, and we all make mistakes, but to let it go on so long? If he really felt that way about Nia why didn't he contact before? Ten years is a long time to drop someone and then try to walk back into their life. I found his determination to be with her a little odd given he hadn't seen her for so long. But then I do like a determined lover, so......I think I just wish he'd tried to date her a bit, tried to explain his absence better. He really was a first class jerk leaving her the way he did.
Nia was a talented photographer and I'm glad she went with her heart instead of allowing her father and brother to bully her into the family firm. We only get one life, so we need to try to do what makes us happy. Its not always possible, but if it is, as with Nia, then that chance needs snapping up.
Given how heart broken she was, I thought she let James get away with too much, she should have made him explain more, show he can be different before she trusted him again. I needed to see that he had changed, he was a nice guy, I liked him but what we saw didn't convince me he'd pout Nia first, or at least include her in decisions.

I didn't feel there was enough drama for me here though, not until the last 15-20% or so, when it ratcheted up terrifically. Again though I think she lets James off with what was once again inexcusable behaviour. He hasn't even youth as an excuse this time. Perhaps if this happened much earlier in the story, say at 60-70-% there would have been time to show James was truly remorseful, that he had changed. Nia took a huge risk I felt, even though she stood back for a while. Oddly I felt her reaction to the photography job and its origins was overdone, I could see things like that happening all the while, we do make use of contacts for our careers. I found myself siding with James there.

Stars: Four, a well written story, with believable characters but not enough drama for a five from me.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers