**Release Day Review ~ Hiding in the Spotlight ~ Karen Booth**

Hiding in the Spotlight by Karen Booth
Release Date: May 29, 2014
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms

Synopsis
Alex Halford's rock-star husband, Glenn, steals away in the middle of the night, leaving her with their two boys, a mountain of debt, and one person to turn to -- his lifelong friend and band mate, David Callahan. David helps Alex pick up the pieces of her shattered life, happy to have any time wtih the woman he's loved for seventeen years. Every moment with her is ripe with opportunity, and every last idea running through his mind would destroy his brotherly bond with Glenn.

Out from under Glenn's thumb, Alex can see the person she was before marriage, finding feelings for David she thought she'd left behind in high school. A single kiss and the floodgates open, giving her new hopes of happiness. But when David and Glenn's band has a chance to be back on top, David must convince Glenn to return. With every passing day, success comes closer, Glenn's ego inflates, and David and Alex find it more difficult to hide. One misstep and the secret comes out, forcing David to choose between his life's work and the woman he doesn't want to leave behind.

There's just something about Karen Booth's storytelling that makes her books so inherently readable. There's little to no angst, no nail-biting tension - just comfortable characters and an engaging story. Hiding in the Spotlight is another worthy read added to her repertoire.

Alex Halford awakens one morning to find that her husband, Glenn, the man she's been married to for the last 17 years, the only man she ever been with, has up and left her and their sons. She and Glenn have had a troubled marriage for years - he is a rock star, after all - but she wasn't expecting him to disappear. And he left her with no way to pay the bills. So Alex turns to David Callahan, Glenn's best friend and the guitarist for their band. David, being the man he is, immediately steps up to help. And Alex and the boys end up living with him.

David has been in love with Alex since they were seventeen. He was too slow in making his move and Glenn beat him to it. So he's suffered in silence for almost two decades as he watched his best friend treat the woman he loves terribly. Now that Glenn is out of the way, he feels like he may finally have a shot at love and happiness.

Alex and David together? Oh, this is the good stuff. David stepped right in, helping with the boys and being supportive of Alex without hesitation. I loved seeing this as all the interaction between Glenn and Alex was calculated, on Glenn's part, due to Glenn's sizable ego. I also adored seeing Alex really blossom under the love and care David showed her. She made some startling revelations about herself, her relationship with Glenn and the feelings she'd always harbored for David. The way in which the relationship developed and progressed felt very organic and real. It's all in the details and Ms. Booth did an excellent job making sure her characters took into consideration all the various elements that their relationship would affect. Of course, all is fair in love and war and divorce can be war - especially when an egomaniacal rock star  find out his best friend and wife have been intimate. But all the characters behaved in ways befitting their personalities. ;)

One of the things I always enjoy about Ms. Booth's stories is that she includes children and they are in no way one-dimensional or gratuitous additions. Page and Tyler are well developed and add texture and realism to the story. Another thing I adore is the story revolving around the music industry - in this case, a band who's had it's hay day but is seeing a revival. Ms. Booth also incorporates some of the elements surrounding a band, such as managers, touring, groupies, egos, and the media.

I thoroughly enjoyed Hiding in the Spotlight - I just realized that if you take the first letters of each word in the title, it spells HitS. And yes, Ms. Booth HitS the top of the charts with this one. The story includes all the HitS from David's band. And the love story between Alex and David HitS all the right notes. Okay, enough of that silliness. :) Ms. Booth, keep 'em coming...I'll read 'em!

Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on music, Judy Blume, and the films of John Hughes. An early preoccupation with rock 'n' roll led her to spend her twenties working her way from intern to executive in the music industry. Much of her writing revolves around the world of backstage passes and band dynamics. 

When she isn't creating fictional musicians, she's listening to music with her kids, honing her Southern cooking skills or sweet-talking her astoundingly supportive husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails.

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