Backcover Description: As the vocally gifted lead singer of his band, Conquest, Jesse Alexander refuses to let anything hold him back from achieving his dream of becoming one of the greatest performers to ever hit a stage. Evan Arden was thought of as a musical genius when at the height of his career, he vanished from the spotlight. Together, their relationship is just as intense as their music careers, but with the pressures of success and fame pushing down on them, Jesse must decide what's more important to him, his life of music, or his life with Evan.
Title: Conquest Author: S. J. Frost Author’s website: www.sjfrost.com/ Publisher: MLR Press Release Date: October 2009 ISBN: 978-1-60820-088-7 Length: Novel Format: Electronic Genre: Contemporary Romance GLBT Source: P Sensuality Level: 3.5 Rating: 4
Reviewed by: BD Whitney
Jesse Alexander has one dream in his life: to make it big in the music scene with his band Conquest. He is a talented vocalist and songwriter and can play many different musical instruments, but he is also cocky and quick-tempered and tends to speak before he thinks. With the band playing in bars and small venues, his talent has yet to be discovered by the record labels. That is about to change.
Jesse's inspiration and idol has always been Evan Arden, a star who disappeared from the public eye at the pinnacle of his popularity. When Evan returns to Chicago after a three-year hiatus from music, he stumbles across Conquest playing in a bar, and not only does he find Jesse attractive, he also recognizes the magnitude of the young man’s talent. Soon, Jesse and his band have a recording contract, and the fame that he craves is almost within his reach. And even beyond that, he has Evan in his life, and Evan seems to be just as in love with Jesse as Jesse is with him. The future looks sweet.
The price of fame can be painfully high, however. While Jesse has never made any excuses for himself or his sexuality, he finds that the music-loving public is perhaps not quite as accepting as he would like. He and Evan must hide their relationship if they value their careers, because all it would take is one unguarded statement or tabloid photograph to bring their worlds tumbling down. While Jesse would rather ignore that reality, Evan knows that they may one day have to make a difficult choice between their love and their music.
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S.J. Frost’s novel Conquest takes its readers on a trip into the world of recording artists and rock music and the conflict that can exist between the personal and public lives of the musicians. This is a story of love, heartbreak, and reaching for dreams that is both entertaining and touching. Along with a dream-come-true story for the main character, it includes a thread of tension that runs throughout which promises that all isn’t going to be sweetness and light forever.
The music world that exists in this novel feels very realistic, although I don’t have any personal experience to measure it by. Along with the characters, we experience the dry business end of music, the drudgery of recording, the thrill of a performance, and the interpersonal dynamics of the band members. Ms. Frost includes songs throughout the narrative whose well-written and poignant lyrics made me want to hear the music that they supposedly accompany.
Conquest incorporates a blend of many emotions and conflicts which seems very fitting for the high-stress and highly visible nature of the setting. While I enjoyed the sweetness of the heroes' initial relationship, it was the conflict stemming from jealousy, suspicion, anger and heartbreak that tugged me straight in to the story and kept me hooked.
Along with a plot rife with conflict and emotion, Conquest gives readers characters who will spur both sympathy and exasperation. Neither Jesse nor Evan is perfect, but it is their very imperfection that makes them more human and therefore more attractive heroes. Evan can be a self-important jerk, and he is very slow to share any personal part of himself, but we can clearly see how enamored he is with his lover. Jesse bounces between being sweet and egotistical with the energy of the young; he is very aware of how attractive he is, and he makes sure that everybody knows it. While this is cute and cocky, we see how this can also be a bit wearing. But even with the tantrums and drama, we know that underneath the diva personality is a sensitive individual, even if he can be mouthy and somewhat pushy at times. Between them, Jesse and Evan make an extremely sweet and probably very high maintenance couple.
The story ends with a little bit of a cliffhanger, because we don’t truly know how Jesse and Evan’s decision will affect their careers. If the tantalizing little blurb at the end of the book is anything to go by, Ms. Frost will be giving us a sequel to Conquest soon. Who knows what life will throw at these two and whether or not their mutual devotion can survive the demands of the tour and the constant scrutiny of the press? They have their happy-for-now; we can only hope that it evolves into a happily-ever-after.
--Bobby
Email to share: s.j.frost3@gmail.com
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