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Synopsis (From Goodreads):

"When I met Oliver Perry, I had no clue he was the lead singer for The Heartbreakers. And he had no idea that I was the only girl in the world who hated his music."
Stella will do anything for her sick sister, Cara—even stand in line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD...for four hours. She's totally winning best birthday gift this year. At least she met a cute boy with soft brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes while getting her caffeine fix. Too bad she'll never see him again.
Except, Stella's life has suddenly turned into a cheesy love song. Because Starbucks Boy is Oliver Perry – lead singer for the Heartbreakers. And even after she calls his music crap, Oliver still gives Stella his phone number. And whispers quotes from her favorite Disney movie in her ear. OMG, what is her life?
But how can Stella even think about being with Oliver — dating and laughing and pulling pranks with the band — when her sister could be dying of cancer?

Review:
I started out reading this series out of order.  First, I read Paper Hearts, which focuses on Alec's life.  Once I read and really enjoy a book, I like to learn more about the author and the series (if there is one).  That is how I learned about The Heartbreakers and that is was a sensation on the Wattpad platform.  I really enjoyed both books for the love stories and looks into the lives of a popular fictional boy band.  Can someone famous have a relationship with a regular person?  How will that person handle the weirdness that is celebrity?  I loved how Ali Novak explored all these situations.

Characters:
I love Stella.  She comes off, at first, as a tough girl with a Punk vibe.  With a nose piercing, and a blue streak in her hair, she is a far cry from the usual teeny-boppers who worship The Heartbreakers.  And she kind of hates their music!  She's not exactly winning points with Oliver, the lead singer of the band, who she meets at Starbucks.  She doesn't know who he is, so their meeting is without the awkward expectations a fan might have.

Stella's passion is her photography yet she is very insecure about the quality of her work.  When the band's publicist hires her to work full time photographing the band, she must face her fears or risk passing the opportunity of a lifetime.

Oliver is also a fun character.  While he is living his dream of making it as a singer, he compromises significantly to make it to the top.  He can't play the kind of music he wants, and he must behave himself at all times.  I like that he has some insecurities that motivate him to submit to this manipulation.  He is not all about fame, but is very concerned that he will lose his band "family" if things don't go well.

The boys in the band are a little too good to be true.  I find it hard to believe that four young male rock stars aren't hooking up with groupies or doing other wild things on tour.  The most they do is drink a lot of alcohol.  There is a reference to a crazy party, but it all seems like innocent fun.  A lovely fantasy for fans, but I think the reality would be far different.  Most highly successful musicians are under intense pressure, and often, they need to escape.  Many do this with alcohol, others do drugs.  It is a dark side of the music business and I wish the author had delved more into this aspect of being superstars.

Cliches:
At times, the book was like a fun, but predictable, romantic comedy. Girl gets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets him back.  Some of the misunderstandings that lead to heartache are things that would not have been an issue if they had talked it out.  

And I really didn't like that Stella's twin sister has Cancer.  Here come the scenes with Stella feeling guilty that she is healthy and Cara is not.  Then Stella doesn't want to leave home because she is worried that Cara will die.  Have we heard of Skype? Telephones?  Airplanes?  I just felt that this was a bit melodramatic.  I was surprised Stella's parents weren't doing more to ensure that Stella and her brother Drew didn't wallow in misery because Cara was ill.  It's what most parents would do.


                                                           


Rating: 




Release Date:  August 4th, 2015

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Fire

Page Length:  336 Pages

Source:  Public Library

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation: 
Despite the overused tropes, this book was light,  fun and entertaining like a catchy pop tune.