Hard Rock Tease: A Rock Star Romance

Darkest Days, Book 1

By: Athena Wright

Narrated by: Stephanie Wyles

Rock god Noah Hart needs inspiration. And he's choosing me as his muse.

In my darkest days, I found solace in the words of rock star god Noah Hart. He saw into my heart. And I saw into his. Even though we'd never met, I felt as if I knew the man behind the music.

Then I met him.

Noah isn't a wounded poet. He's a jerk.

He's abrasive, cutting, and guarded as hell. He says people are selfish. He says we're only out for ourselves. He refuses to trust. He refuses to let anyone in.

I'm supposed to be helping him write a song. I'm supposed to be his confidant.

But the only time we connect is when we take to his bed. Noah plays my body as skillfully as he plays the piano. He makes me feel things I've never dreamed of.

And that includes heartache.

The man behind the music is nothing like I imagined. Who exactly is this Noah Hart I've met, and what the hell happened to my soulful, romantic poet?

Contains mature themes.

©2017 Athena Wright (P)2018 Tantor

Sex and the whining

Sex, not too interesting. Whining, way too much! I was hard to believe anything about this book! Intimate scenes were poorly written. I plan to continue with this series. But if it doesn’t get better...

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.

Rockstar

This is a great opener to this series. Both Noah and Jesse have their own issues, which will take you on an emotional roller coaster, but it’s so worth the ride in the end.

I adore Noah & Jen, so I loved this!!

I've read this book a few times so this was a 'reread' for me. Moody Noah is a favorite of mine.

I think this was my original introduction to Athena actually, so revisiting the story in audio was like going home.

Jen becomes Noah's muse. She's there to help him write a song that is him vs one that sounds like Darkest Days. They start with antagonism (because Noah doesn't trust anyone) but their attraction to each other fuels his creativity and breaks down his walls. He tends to stick his foot in it but boy, does he make up for it in the end.

I'm not that fond of women doing men's voices but Stephanie wasn't awful. I didn't find myself cringing or turning off the book because it irritated me, so that is a sign I'm enjoying the audio performance.

The book is from the female MC's POV, so that it was a female narrator made sense.

I listened to it in one sitting, so for me that means it was a good audiobook.

Dont get the hype

Couldn't wait for it to be over. Oh my gosh the same conversation was repeated at least 6 times between the main characters and they would say they were going home to sleep every time and then have sex. Like what was the point in even having the conversation ? I would of preferred Noah actually stick to what he said so that at least we would know that he card about more than sex. not impressed, and confused about the 4.5 rating from basically everyone else.

Narration is awful!

I can’t decide if the narrator is what spoiled this book for me or if it was a combination of the whiny female character and a male voice that sounded like a pre-pubescent teen. Definitely not worth the credit!

Narrator Is Fantastic

This is my first listen from this narrator & I loved her performance! She does such a good job distinguishing the characters.
The book itself was good but not fantastic. While the character development for the main characters was good, it was hard to see the Hero's redeeming qualities. I did like that she finally stood up for herself at the end. I'll definitely listen to the next in the series.

Rockstar romance

I was excited to read this because i really enjoyed the rockstar trope a lot. It was a ok story i didn’t hate it at all but it was just ok. Like if you watched a B listed moved instead of an A list movie. Fun to watch just not as good.

The narrator was more of a bother to me. The lady made the girl sound too young and childlike. The guy sounds like when you’re trying to make your voice sound like a guy but it ends up bad. That always disappoints so much when the voice isn’t good or doesn’t fit well.

I will read the rest of the series but i do hope the narrator gets better.

NOT FOR ME

Sounded good but I couldn’t get past chapter 3.

Both main characters were jerks. The male main character was a rude diva, and the female character sounded like a nitwit in heat.

The narrator did not help. She sounded whiny.

As it has a fair share of good reviews, don’t let my negative feedback stop you from listening as your opinion might be different from mine.

Not for Me 🫠

This book? Not for me. 🫠 I nearly DNF’d in chapter one. Starting with sexual harassment during a job interview? Bold choice. Even bolder was the FMC’s response: absolutely nothing.

Then came the concert fiasco. Instead of cheering on her man, she spirals into an existential crisis about how she’ll never be a good artist and storms off. Like, ma’am, it’s his night—not the “Me, Myself, and My Insecurities” show.

And the MMC? Emotional stonewalling champion. His response to conflict was to shut her out like she’s a spam call. Honestly, this relationship felt less “romantic” and more “red flag parade.” 🚩

The only reason I finished this was because it’s short (though it could’ve been much shorter) and because it’s part of my StoryGraph Onboarding goals for 2025. But wow, I really earned that little checkmark.