This was such a fun read! This was the first one I read since I received an ARC, but I’d like to go back & read the first two! I enjoyed the dual POV/timeline! The end felt a little rushed but overall I enjoyed the book!

DNF at 28%

I have to start by saying anytime there's an "I'm not like other girls," statement, I put the book down and don't look back. That never translates well for me personally and always gives pick me or cringe. I decided to give this book another chance because it's an ARC.

I wanted to like this book. The premise sounded good, and the characters sounded interesting. I believe all work is valid work, and I was excited to watch Dusty grow into her confidence or perhaps decide for herself that she needed a change in her career and grow skills to do so. Whatever she picked, I wanted to watch her story bloom.

Then I got to the pool flashback, and... ew.

There are a million ways to express how the mmc found the fmc attractive when they were both young without bringing up the "dozen men, some even as old as my father" who are staring at the UNDERAGED fmc like "they've never seen a girl before." Excuse me? She is a literal CHILD.

And would a teenage boy who is obviously entranced by a girl his age even be "glancing around" to see these other ADULT men checking her out? I really don't think so. I felt this was unnecessary and threw off the entire vibe of the chapter. I could barely finish it.

Anything written about humans under the age of 18 is already a bit dodgy for me when a book is outside of the YA genre, especially if it is sexual in nature. This made me feel icky just for reading it.

If you're not bothered by these types of things, then maybe you could enjoy this. I personally cannot finish a book that has elements like these in it, especially about underaged children.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing the arc in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

3.5⭐️

An MFM rockstar romance taking place in the 80’s was so much fun. I did feel like the story and the characters didn’t have much depth to them. There were also some questions that didn’t get answered. But overall I really enjoyed it🫶🏼

I do wish the characters had more time being together, all three of them. We see her relationship with Joel and we see her complicated relationship with Key but we didn’t see as much of her with both in the present.

Overall the plot was entertaining because it was set where music groups like for metal rock were a big thing.

Thank you Netgalley and L.H Blake for the opportunity to read this ARC.🥹

This book was a wild ride! Friendship, lost love, serendipity! Dusty, Joel, and Key all bring different elements to the page, and watching the story unfold was a real treat!

This was my first book by this author, as well as being my first foray into "why choose?", and I have no regrets! The perfect combo of sweet and spicy, with dual timelines and 3 POVs, there's plenty for you to get your teeth into. I read this book in 2 sittings over the course of an afternoon, which should tell you something about how gripped I was by the story. I'll definitely be reading more L.H. Blake in the future!

4.5 stars

I enjoyed all of the characters, except Logan. Fuck Logan… I also enjoyed the romance of this book. I really loved the flashbacks and the different POVs.

Some parts just felt a little rushed, like saying “I love you,” but overall I enjoyed the book.

3.75 starts!
Dusty Connors captured the hearts of both Key and Joel, and honestly? Same. Even after enduring a traumatic childhood, she built a life for herself on her own terms, and that alone makes her easy to root for.

Her instant connection with Joel felt like fate, and their reunion two years later only confirmed it. Watching their relationship develop gave so much insight into Dusty’s internal struggles, her past, her independence and Joel’s patience with all of it made their connection that much more meaningful. Dusty truly deserved a win.

Her history with Key, though, was heartbreaking. My only complaint? I wish we had more happy moments between them, because they deserved those too.

And then there’s the cosmic twist: Joel just so happens to be Key’s best friend and roommate. I loved the dynamic between the three of them. Their friendships, their connections with Dusty are so different, but they all balanced each other out. I’m just glad they all finally got their version of a happy ending.

It’s more of a 3.75 but I’m rounding up.

It’s an intriguing why choose romance told from three points of view: Dusty, the feisty redhead that does not need a hero, Joel, the dreamy bassist who shares EVERYTHING with his best friend, and Key, the tortured singer/songwriter with a somewhat tragic past.

I thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling. We get to know present Dusty and Joel from their POVs, and past Dusty and Key from Key’s past POV. There aren’t a lot of secondary characters so it’s easy to keep up. The steamy scenes were HAWT!!!

That said, the story is a bit slow for my taste. It takes too long to make their point. Once the story starts it captures you, so I’m happy I kept reading.

Please see my Goodreads profile link for full review. I will also be posting my review and rating on my Instagram once it is closer to release day.

Even though I haven’t read the other books in the series, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn’t matter—I was able to dive right in and fully enjoy the story without feeling lost. The writing is engaging and accessible, making it perfect for new readers to the series.

As someone with a background as a sex worker, I felt a deep personal connection to Dusty. The portrayal of her character was authentic and nuanced, which made her journey resonate on a whole new level for me. Joel and Key are also incredibly compelling characters—exactly the kind of people I’d be drawn to in real life—which made the dynamics between them all the more exciting.

One of the standout elements of the book is its use of multiple points of view. The author does an exceptional job differentiating each voice, allowing the reader to truly understand and feel the unique perspectives of every character. It never felt confusing—just incredibly well executed.

And let’s talk about the spice: finally, a book with proper spicy scenes that doesn’t rely on awkward euphemisms! The intimate moments felt natural, intense, and beautifully written. I genuinely appreciated the mature and respectful way these scenes were handled.

Overall:
A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty is an emotionally rich, beautifully written novel that blends heartfelt storytelling with sensual romance. With deeply relatable characters, well-executed POVs, and scenes that are both spicy and sincere, this book hits all the right notes. Whether you’re new to the series or a longtime fan, this story stands strong on its own and leaves a lasting impact.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book

I have waited over a year to read this book as I have loved this entire series! This one was so good but I unfortunately didn’t love it as much as the others.

I absolutely adored Key and Dusty’s story and how their love grew from childhood through to adulthood and how heartbreaking their childhoods were. I found that to be my favourite part of the book.

I also really enjoyed Joel and Dusty’s story but I didn’t find as strong of a connection between the two as I did for Dusty and Key until the last 20% of the book.

I think my biggest complaint is that I wish it was longer. The story felt rushed near the end and I wanted to much more story and depth into the three of them together.

Although I do wish it was longer, I still absolutely loved this story and all the deeper meanings behind it and all the character depth we got to see and experience with the characters. I think Blake absolutely knocked it out of the park with this entire series and ended it perfectly. I always did see Key and Joel being together in some way.

As soon as I saw the cover of this book I had my suspicions that this would be exactly my vibe. However, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy quite as much as did. This story hooked me in from the beginning, I was immediately invested in Joel and Dusty’s story from the jump. As the story continued I got increasingly more invested in Key and Dusty’s story, and the mystery you slowly get to uncover about them. I’m always going to have a good time reading a reverse harem romance and this one was not the exception. I found the love story between these three was really fantastic. The rich backstories of all them made them very endearing and had me rooting for them to find the things they yearned for most, love and acceptance. Plus, the vibes of this book were just really great, it being set in the eighties was a great surprise. As a lover of eighties rock music this made me wish more book decided to write romance books set in a different time that isn’t necessarily historical. But the tone was unexpectedly deep and meaningful, I was expecting a light hearted romance but I received a book that gave me so much more than that. Overall, I loved the characters, and the story and I’ll be keeping my eye out for future releases from L.H. Blake.

The plot of the book had some real potential! I love the different POVs and learning all the backstory but the second half of the book felt very rushed and was evident in the writing. You felt like you were missing the romantic connection between the characters. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the book, but not as much as I anticipated based on the preview.

If you’re looking for a book with a traumatic past, best friends, humor, and an 80s feel, this is for you. It’s a HEA, MFM second chance romance that will pull you in and keep you engaged from start to finish! 4/5


https://www.instagram.com/p/DIlg_ceOMXI/?igsh=Mmt2NDBsZmtidXE=

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8j9cEEj/

From the moment I saw the song title chapter names, I instantly knew this was right up my alley. It’s a story of two of my favourite things; a romance novel and a metal band. The fact that there isn’t a huge collection of popular novels of this kind is baffling to me because this was perfect - I will be going back to read the others in this series for sure!

From the authors note at the end, I could tell that the multiple POVs alongside the flipping back and forth from past to present was a concern of the author’s. I would just like to say: you can certainly trust your strength as a writer in the future, this was perfectly executed and ridiculously easy to follow. Thinking of others, maybe dates or even “Key - 13 years old” on the titles as opposed to “thirteen years earlier” might be helpful, as you do have so do some mental Math to figure out how old Key and Dusty were in each flashback, but it definitely works well without it.

All three of the main characters in this story were truly lovable throughout, and I could not fault any of the characters or how they were written. As an atheist Brit, it’s almost unthinkable to imagine how difficult what growing up in a strict religious household must be like for the kids, let alone kids also experiencing abuse from their parents, and it was heartbreaking to read. Their shared experiences brought them together in such a touching way, I couldn’t bear thinking about them not ending up together.

However, in the present, Joel was also a lovely character and I loved him immediately. He was clearly besotted with Dusty from the moment they met and treated her with such respect and admiration from the get go. I couldn’t imagine him not ending up with her either, so I’m very glad this was a MFM romance, as no other option would have sufficed for me. I’m not usually a multiple partner kind of girl, but this was that one time I was rooting for it to happen.

And finally, a complete commendation to the author on her exploration of more rare themes you don’t see in contemporary literature all that often. I was worried some of these themes would be overwritten when they first appeared, similarly to how some authors go completely overboard with plus sized girls or learning difficulties to the point where it’s mentioned every other line, but I soon realised I was worrying for no reason. These were seamlessly included in the story in such an authentic way to really bring these characters to life. A beautiful, funny, heart wrenching tale I’m really grateful to have read.

After meeting in a Vegas "dance" club, the connection between Dusty and Joel goes much deeper than just a night of Sin City fun. But they part ways and two years later, chance brings them together once again, in a new city. She's no longer a dancer but is now using her skill set to fulfill fantasies over the phone. Once again, she starts connecting with a client on a level much deeper than you'd expect to over the phone lines.

Past and present storylines between multiple characters are interwoven in this book to create a high stakes, high stress but highly worthwhile book. Despite all that's going on, the characters are pretty funny, though trauma tends to do that and there's no shortage of trauma in this book either.

*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is a series is about a band called Carnal Sin (set in the 80s).
Book 3.
The story of Lost love, Found Love and Rekindled love.

The story followers 3 main characters,
MMC - Key
MMC - Joel
MFC - Dusty.
Dusty finding new love in Joel while not realizing his best friend and band mate Key is her childhood love, The boy
she hasn't be able to get over. (and either has he.)

In this book the band is growing and finally getting some hype from MTV when an "old friend"
comes back to try and take everything they have worked so hard for,

This was actually the first book in the series that I have read and I will be 100% reading the other 2 books,
I LOVED this book. The different POVs and different timelines kept me coming back for more.
The Writing was wonderful and I cant wait to read more from L.H. Blake.
This is a Why Choose Book, and let's face it... Why would you choose between these two men,

A Must READ

the story was very entertaining and had a lot of good emotional aspects but i wish we had seen the three of them together more. the ending felt quite rushed and i think the book could’ve been paced a little better or had another few pages. overall an entertaining read with great characters!

Romance book where FMC is a sex worker and the two MMC are in a metal band? Love.

I haven’t read either of the other books in this series, but it didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything by not having read them. The writing was good, and the plot explained well enough that it didn’t matter that I didn’t know the characters back stories.

I loved how well written FMC was in her role as a SWer - if felt respectful. I’m not gonna lie, when I read at the start that she was a stripper my heart sank a bit - I thought she’d end up being the butt of every joke (as is generally the case), but it was the exact opposite.

The poly relationship felt natural, and not like it was being shoe horned in. Seeing poly representation in one of these ‘easy readers’ was a real nice change.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I fucking loooooved this book!!! i didn't realize it was part of a series, but after I read this one, I went back and read the author's other two books in a feverish haze. I'm absolutely obsessed