Samantha Towle just handed me EVERYTHING. This book was exactly what I hoped it would be, and so much more. Tom Carter is the untamable.... the wild, womanizing bass player of The Mighty Storm. Lyla Summers is the front person for the up and coming band, Vintage, who just got their big break by signing with Jake Wethers' label, and ends up with last minute Tom Carter stepping in as their acting tour manager. Living on their your bus. For six weeks. You see where I'm going with this...

Let ...

Samantha Towle just handed me EVERYTHING. This book was exactly what I hoped it would be, and so much more. Tom Carter is the untamable.... the wild, womanizing bass player of The Mighty Storm. Lyla Summers is the front person for the up and coming band, Vintage, who just got their big break by signing with Jake Wethers' label, and ends up with last minute Tom Carter stepping in as their acting tour manager. Living on their your bus. For six weeks. You see where I'm going with this...

Let me back up, though.
The prologue.
The prologue!!!!
That prologue is what every prologue should be. The kind that drops a bomb on you so heavy, you are instantly invested in the story from the very first page. That prologue had my chin on the floor, and it instantly connected me to Lyla and her story...her pain, her determination, her stubborn stance on men.

This story overflows with everything I love in a great book. Angst. Sexual tension. A slow build. Hot steamy sex. Tom is the perfect male personality in this book... the hot as hell musician who sleeps with anything that moves, but doesn't have the inner strength to dig deep and battle his own demons, pushing away the only thing he might actually want. Lyla is the perfect counterpart, as the girl who knows what she wants but she isn't weak enough to allow herself to get her heart broken again. These two are explosive magnets, both pushing and pulling and creating the most perfect storm of emotions and angst. This story is the classic case of two people never saying what they should have said forever ago, never admitting their true feelings, and letting what they really want slip through their fingers.... but it remains fresh and original, never cliche.

I felt so much in these pages. I'm a reader that loves to hurt when I read. I love the cruelty that sometimes works it's way into a romance story when the characters are fighting the inevitable. I love a character who puts me back together after shredding my heart. I live for a book that keeps knots in my stomach and my heart in my throat the whole time. This book is humor and witty dialogue, but it's angst ridden. It keeps everything you hope for within arm's reach, and then snatches it away in the blink of an eye. It's painful. Lyla revisiting old wounds with Dex, Tom's painful back story, the hurtful words exchanged between these characters at the most pivotal moments... it's a story that grabs hold of your heart and your stomach and squeezes in that perfect way.

I loved Jake and Tru. But it's not often that subsequent stories about secondary characters ever really live up to their predecessor when an author comes out of the gate as strongly as Samantha Towle did with The Mighty Storm. Taming the Storm lives up to the book that paved the way for Tom and Lyla's story. She did it AGAIN! This book was perfection.

First of all I want to say that I could never imagine Tom Carter ever coming close to our hotter than hell rocker book boyfriend Jake Wethers but OH MY GOSH was I wrong. We’ve witnessed the extent of his womanizing ways in the previous books and my lasting impression was he would always be superficial, arrogant and conceited. I was then entirely convinced that I would never be able to think of him as anything but as a man slut rockstar (or should I say mut?).

My opinion of him however did ...

First of all I want to say that I could never imagine Tom Carter ever coming close to our hotter than hell rocker book boyfriend Jake Wethers but OH MY GOSH was I wrong. We’ve witnessed the extent of his womanizing ways in the previous books and my lasting impression was he would always be superficial, arrogant and conceited. I was then entirely convinced that I would never be able to think of him as anything but as a man slut rockstar (or should I say mut?).

My opinion of him however did slightly change at the end of “Wethering The Storm” when he demonstrated his heartfelt support for Jake and Tru. If you remember, he ends up making this desperate pact to the powers above that if Tru pulls through that delicate situation that she was put in in the second book that Tom would strive to become a better man. Knowing the extend of his ways – that was one desperate promise that I doubted he could ever pull off.

It did seem that destiny was taking advantage of his promise when he lands the tour manager position for one of Jake’s acts – Vintage. What better way to keep Tom out of woman’s panties and keep him busy, right? This is where he gets reacquainted with Lyla Summers – the lead singer of Vintage. Tom tried to get into Lyla’s panties in the past but as charming as Tom was he was rejected not once, but twice. As a man used to getting his way you would think that Lyla would be just a chase to him but as he gets to know her throughout the course of the tour he sees something beyond the physical beauty that she possesses.

Lyla starts to feel that way too but because of her horrendous breakup and also knowing Tom’s history she can’t simply let him in. When the chemistry gets too much though she can’t resist his persistence any longer and she finally decides to give in to Tom’s “proposal”. When they get to that point best be prepared for some hot and steamy scenes. His reputation definitely precedes him. He isn’t what I expected where he’s just a taker either. He made damn well sure that Lyla was left just as (or even more) satisfied as he was.

“I would give up everything, including myself, for you… because I would rather have a moment of everything with you than a lifetime of nothing.”

As the tour winds down it seems that they start to as well. Lyla thought things could be different given how much time that they spend together in and out of bed but something is holding Tom back. Not wanting to spoil it for you but those things…or should I say the secrets (plural) that he has is beyond inconceivable. I was very much taken aback and now knowing about his past I felt regret for judging his character so harshly. He was totally what I never expected him to be.

Just for that reason I thought that Taming The Storm was a good book. The way Samantha Towle was able to creatively change my entire opinion about Tom was pretty damn impressive. The story itself was enrapturing. It’s one of those stories that once you start you can never put down. I also thought that Tom and Lyla’s pairing was perfection. After all the secrets came to light you realize that they have so much in common than you could ever imagine. I very much enjoyed this one and think that if you were looking for a smoldering hot and angsty romance than this would be a good choice for you.