Title: Moonlight Drive
Author: A.R. Hadley
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
The magazines didn’t do him justice.
Not long after running away from home, Dani Isabella joins Moonlight Drive’s 1985 Live and Wired tour, hoping her long-lost friend, Nick, will remember her.
He’s finally made it — just like he promised. He’s the bassist for one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
Only, he’s reinvented himself and doesn’t recognize his childhood sweetheart. Nicki Quick has been seduced by the decadent lifestyle of the music scene of the eighties, lost in a haze of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. And to Nicki, Daniela is just another chick in a long line of groupies.
He soon finds she isn’t like the other girls, though. Music runs through her veins — it’s part of her soul. She’s a songwriter. A dreamer. A girl determined to make it in a boys’ world.
This is the story of two musicians. A boy and a girl. A man and a woman.
Two people who learn that being lost is sometimes the same as being found.
The story behind Moonlight Drive is also noteworthy, melding perfectly with themes of recovery, self-discovery, and redemption found throughout the pages. “It's not unusual for writers to have a muse, someone who helps spark a character to life,” Hadley beams, over the moon to tell people how this novel came to fruition, “and my muse for this book is Nikki Sixx. In 2019,” she continues, “after watching the Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt — before I was even a Crüe fan — a seed was planted. And it grew and grew, blossoming into something that ended up blowing my heart wide open.”
Hadley hopes readers’ hearts combust as well. She wants people to be inspired. To seek help for substance abuse or depression. To follow dreams no matter age, sex, or circumstance. To connect through words and art and music.
My Review:
Nick and Dani were childhood sweethearts, but everything changed when Nick moved away suddenly. Shortly after Dani runs away from home, she joins Moonlight Drive's 1985 tour as a groupie of sorts. She's got music in her soul and with Nick now a mega rockstar bassist with Moonlight Drive, she's in. Only Nick doesn't recognize her… and she can't believe what he's turned into. He's now Nicki Quick and he's out for his next high, whether it's sex, drugs, alcohol, or notoriety. When he discovers who she really is, it's the end of the tour. Over the next decade or so, they dance and weave in and out of each other's lives. Their connection, their love, their music bind them together. Can Nick kick the addictions and be the man Dani needs him to be or will he crash and burn, breaking Dani's heart forever?
Get ready, readers, for Moonlight Drive is your next addiction. I hadn't read more than a few pages and was hooked, like a junkie craving her next fix. Moonlight Drive is a heartbreaking story of first loves, making it in the music industry, the lure of addiction, betrayal, pain, jealousy, groupies, following your dreams, and so much more. A.R. Hadley takes us backstage to see what really happens behind the scenes of a mega rock band. Every detail is intricately described so that the reader really feels like they are experiencing what Dani and Nick are going through. On so many levels, Moonlight Drive is a tragic love story. A.R. Hadley's writing will leave you an emotional wreck. It's brilliant and very addictive to read. If you're a fan of hard rock/metal music, you'll love Moonlight Drive. If you're a fan of 80s music and idolize certain long-haired rock stars, pick up Moonlight Drive. It's certainly one of the best books I've read this year. I can't wait to read more from A.R. Hadley. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 5++ stars
Buy it Now:
During the month of May, A.R. Hadley will be donating $1 from every sale of Moonlight Drive to Global Recovery Initiatives — an organization aiding people in recovery from substance abuse disorder.
TO DONATE TO GRI, VISIT:https://globalrecoveryinitiatives.org/donate-2/
Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/bQJXOe
Author Biography:
A.R. Hadley writes imperfectly perfect sentences by the light of her iPhone.
She loves the ocean.
Chocolate.
Her children.
And Cary Grant.
She annoys those darling little children by quoting lines from Back to the Future, but despite her knowledge of eighties and nineties pop culture, she was actually meant to live alongside the Lost Generation after the Great War and write a mediocre novel while drinking absinthe with Hemingway. Instead, find her sipping unsweet tea near a beautiful garden as she weaves fictional tales of love and connection amid reality.
Social Media Links:
Reviewed by: Mrs. N