This is my first book by Missy Bloom, and I truly enjoyed it. I found Sammy extremely relatable and crushed on Gabe just as much as she did. I found that Missy really was able to pull me into the story, making it hard for me to put the book down. I wish the book were a little longer, but only because I really was obsessed with reading this book. The plot is great, and I loved the twists. I highly recommend this amazing story. I have to say the little mystery/stalker was a great addition to the story. I wish more books had that. I am excited to read more of Missy Bloom

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I ended up finishing the book in just a few sittings and really enjoyed the story and characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book.

I DNF'd at 30% because the story was difficult to follow, and I just couldn't get invested in either the plot or the characters. I kept trying to care and focus, but it wasn't working for me. I really wanted to like it because the synopsis was so appealing!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the premise of this book but unfortunately it just didn't work all that well for me.

I did enjoy the mystery aspect in regards to the stalker and the business. I thought it was interesting to have chapters in "The Others" POV in order to gain a little more insight into the people behind those mysteries.

What I feel made this difficult for me to really like came down to the writing style, which felt reminiscent of Wattpad stories, and the interactions between some of the characters. I had a hard time remembering that Tina and Sammy were supposed to be in their forties when they were fangirling on their way to the concert or even some of the dialogue between them when the beans were spilled to Tina about Sammy and Gabe. Even Gabe on occassion was slightly cringy for me with his overuse of "Boy" to start a sentence and the occassional awkward dialogue surrounding their spicy scenes.

Overall, I don't think this was bad for a debut novel, but it wasn't one hundred percent for me.

Thanks so much for this ARC! It started off strong with the Rockstar meet cute, but I couldn't get into the alternating chapters called the Others and it just confusing for me. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. Always appreciate the early reads!

The romance part of it was great 🤌🥰 and so was most of the book. It gets a little wild towards the end. You get a little mystery and action with the romance. Overall I really enjoyed the book.

Love the mature characters, the gorgeous settings, and the blend of spice and suspense! Also loved that the female lead was a strong, financially independent woman.

This was a interesting book. Sammy is a brewer that has a super fun meet cute with her favorite musician, Gabe. They hit it off and he invites her to NC to visit his new farm-to-table restaurant. She's also trying to find out why her breweries are failing and raising her daughter. She has issues being away from her family and doesn't drive much, she rides bikes a lot. This is part romance and part mystery. There are chapters entitled "The Others" which are the mystery part - but like who's viewpoint was it? It was a bit confusing.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Sammy is a single mom and business woman making it own her own and raising a strong daughter. Gabe is a sexy rock star touring the world and going incognito when he can. A meet-cute turns into some steamy chemistry that pulls these two characters together for quite a fun ride of a book! Throw in some security guards, a really fun mom/grandma, lifelong friends, and a stalker, and you have yourself a little romantic suspense that you can read over the weekend.

I loved that this was a "mature" romance. Now that I've gotten older, the romance novels I read usually have main characters in their late 20s or early 30s. Our two mains here have children that are practically grown, so we're talking characters whose shoulders or knees MAY pop when they get up in the mornings, but then again they are both in really good shape, so they may not sound like a box of Rice Krispies just yet.

I enjoyed this book as a fun beach-type read. It's cute. It has a nice solid plot and great character development. It's enjoyable. It's a solid 4 from me.

Thanks in advance to NetGalley and Heuchera Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story of Sammy and Gabe. When she meet him she does not recognise him at first, but he is famous so in the public eye. Someone's out to get them, so will they work out blank in time? A fun and fast paced read.

📚Intoxicating Pursuit📚
Arc review
Rating 4 🌟
Release date: 31st July 2025
I was so happy to be accepted to read this book before it came out
I like how Sammy & Gabe were both single parents. They were older as well
Was a bit confused at times when the chapter was labelled "the others." i never really understood who's point of view it was.

What happens when a normal, every day owner of a business meets a musician and his stalker decides to stalk her?

This romance book full of music, lies, family, grief and love!

I really enjoyed this story of Gabe and Sammy and trying to figure out who was blackmailing them!

This is my first book by this author and i really enjoyed it!
The plot was structured well, and the pace was great. No lagging or slow burn.
This was a quick read, well written, and had characters I loved.
A perfect book for your summer TBR.

3.5 stars that I’m rounding up to a 4

This one was a lot of fun! I was going into it thinking it was a romance with suspense as a backdrop but it’s really the other way around. There are several turns where you think it’s going one way and then it goes in a totally different direction, which I really appreciate in a mystery.

It’s a fresh take on the “rockstar falls for one of his fans” trope- Sammy doesn’t recognize who Gabe is at first when she takes him to her bar to clean him up after a misunderstanding in the woods leads to him getting hurt. Sparks fly immediately, and when his real identity comes to light, she gets caught up in the whirlwind of his life. Mixed in is a stalker, a mystery, and some really steamy chemistry!

I liked Sammy a lot as a main character, but there were several times there were red flags about things staring her right in the face that she completely missed. I get why -for the purpose of the story that needed to be told, it had to be that way - but it was still a bit frustrating to read at times.

I really liked Gabe too with one major exception that really rubbed me the wrong way, because Sammy's safety should have been put first above all else at that point.

I’m not a huge fan of how the overall story was wrapped up, but the rest of the book was enjoyable enough that it was definitely still worth reading!

This book is very engaging and fast-paced. I was fully engrossed from start to finish. I appreciated the twists and turns, and fully did not see the end coming. However, it is more mystery and suspense that takes place after a meet-cute than it is a romance. As a mystery, it is well done and it will keep you guessing till the very end. As a romance, I feel that the book was okay. The romance and the relationship didn't feel fully developed because there was so much else going on. If you want a quick and sexy mystery, I recommend it.

I expected this to be a cute little romance and in part it was but in the backdrop of mystery, subterfuge, blackmail and music.
Meeting on a rough stretch of biking trail , brewery owner Sammy meets musician Gabe when they crash. They limp back to Sammy's brewery, where all the chaos starts. There's a bit of everything in this book-- super cheesy love story but the rest is told in a compelling way that drives the rest.

I didnt get pulled into the story like I wanted to. I didnt really connect to the characters but I did like the premise. Maybe it just wasn't for me.

stories like this is just what we all need. the lightness is there. the characters are there and most importantly the story is one you can immerse yourself in alongside the moments of romance. this is helped in this particular book by the subplot of mystery to it. which is harder than you think to pull off and often feels like a meaningless addition. but Missy did it so it slips in perfectly with the rest of the story and actually adds to it.
Sammy is the owner of her breweries and restaurants business. Gabe is a well know music star. two very different folk and lives right. well, what happens when they merge. literally because they bump into each other! thats when Sammy finds out who this is...her fave music man and crush.eeeek!!
Sammy has been feeling weighted be life recently. and so when Gabe offers her a chance of something new and exciting to get her teeth stuck into she thinks this might just be what she needs. but following him might mean something or someone much darker follows. can she overcome it all? does she want something new? can she brave her fears to be with someone shes found makes her heart alight and seemingly the feeling is mutual?isnt it?she knows she needs to be there for her daughter in all this too. shes her number one(and i loved this side of her) but also she has to be here for herself sometimes too.
and just when i thought i had it figured out i was surprised and swerved my head in shock at what happened next! haha this doesn't happen often and maybe i wasn't on my "thriller guard" enough, lol.
an enjoyable read with bits of everything i love in it. it was new for me this kind of genre mashup and i cant say it didn't bring a fresh feeling to my read. i was reading more and more not only for the romance but also for the mystery too.

Synopsis:
When Sammy McCallum comes to the aid of her musical crush—megastar front man Gabe Walker—she never imagines he might rescue her back. But as sparks fly and their professional interests converge, Gabe invites Sammy to visit his farm-to-table homestead in North Carolina. . . and the tantalizing offer couldn’t come at a better time. Because lately, Sammy’s been feeling stuck. Her teenage daughter is battling for freedom, her craft breweries are mysteriously bleeding cash, and she can’t step out of her comfort zone long enough to solve either problem. A trip to the Smoky Mountains with a gorgeous rockstar might be just the temptation she needs to expand her boundaries and reclaim her confidence.
Or the trip could turn into something else entirely. Because when Sammy breaks down the barriers of her safe and cozy life, she accidentally lets danger in. The bizarre pitfalls of a celebrity entanglement descend, threatening everyone she holds dear. Sammy’s connection with Gabe is irresistible, but will pursuing this romance come at the most terrible price imaginable?

💭Thoughts:
~ I liked how Sammy and Gabe were both single parents to teenagers and understood the importance of being a parent
~ Always enjoy a book with different points of view, except at times for this book I was extremely confused. When it was the chapters marked “The Others” for point of view, I was never sure whose point of view it was.
~ The beginning chapters of the book were quite intriguing, but as the book went further on I was losing some interest. About half way in, I had figured out who the stalker was, or had a pretty good idea who the stalker was. So this took out some of the mystery and intrigue for me.

Thank you NetGalley and HeucheraPublishing for the ARC

Started strong, but I lost interest and slowly made my way through this one. I liked that the characters were older/more mature than typical romance stories, and they had more life experience.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.