Destroyed and Consumed: Lost in Oblivion #3 and #3.5 by Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliot

Destroyed

Lost in Oblivion #3

by Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliot

Only one woman has ever refused him…and she’s the only one he wants.

Now that he’s successful beyond his wildest dreams with his band Oblivion, Simon Kagan is happy to enjoy his all-access pass to the groupie train. After getting more fists in the ribs than hugs growing up, he discovers having a warm female in his bed is an easy way to escape the loneliness.

Until Margo.

From the moment the classy, buttoned up violinist entered his sphere, he knew she was different. After one amazing night in the studio, he feels like he’s finally connected with someone on a deeper level—only to have her walk away without a backward glance.

As a member of the Boston Symphony orchestra, Margo Reece’s life revolves around the regimented structure of a second chair violinist. But Simon’s uncanny ability to crawl into a song and create a smoky, sin-filled experience translated into the hottest night of her life. She walked away afterward because that’s what she was supposed to do.

And Margo always does what she’s supposed to.

Until Simon.

When she’s called on again to blend her sound with Oblivion’s, she has to make the decision to play it safe or let her wild side free. Especially when her first meeting with Simon shows that sometimes rigidly contained passions create the most dangerous sparks…

Is it better to burn out or fade away… 

Consumed

Lost in Oblivion #3.5

by Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliot

Oblivion lead singer Simon Kagan is used to being in the spotlight for his model good looks and his voice, not because of the epic ending to Oblivion’s last show on their home turf in California. That unforgettable night rocked Oblivion in more ways than one, and now the journey back seems almost impossible. 

The only bright spot is Margo. Margo, the one woman he’d been sure would never be more than a hot ride in the dark. Margo, who would never be his. 

Except she is…for now. But taking one dream and trading it for another isn’t supposed to hurt this much. 

As long as Margo never realizes the man she fell for no longer exists, maybe he won’t lose everything that matters due to just one all-consuming night.




WARNING: Oblivion is a band of highs and lows. The individual members find a special kind of magic when they're together...take that away and things can go very bad. CONSUMED will give Simon & Margo their happily ever after, but maybe not exactly in the way you think.



The next few books are going to have a lot of happiness and a lot of heartache. We hope you come along for the ride. We love this band and will give them their happily ever after. It just might take until FUSED to get there.

Overall Rating: ☕☕☕☕ 1/2 (4.5 steaming cups, we need ice after reading these books!)

Review:

Destroyed is the fifth book in the Lost in Oblivion series by the writing team of Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliot.  As such, it really can't be read as a stand alone despite the fact that each two books are usually devoted to two main romantic leads.  As I've stated in my previous reviews of this series, these books although considered as romance is more than the romance between a couple.  Its actually the romantic adventures of a rock band, their mainly unobtrusive start to their meteoric rise and the journey thats rife with personal obstacles and a rock bands growing pains.  Each centers around the H/h' s romantic adventures, their falling in love and finding happiness and a band whose  getting to find their rhythm and their soul to ultimately become a legend.

In Destroyed, we finally get to our lead singer's own story and his own tumultuous start with his own Violin Girl.  Simon Kagan is the voice of Oblivion, its face and maybe its own brand.  His playful albeit almost slutty ways (Jaz's words) and his hypnotic and sultry voice are as unique as can be.  Oblivion is on the rise and their band is becoming more than just a front act, they're coming into the big leagues.  But Simon's own achilles heel is back for more of that IT factor in their latest album and he doesn't know how to deal with it.  Margo Reece had one episode of letting it all out and she had it with the most wanted man in music, Simon Kagan.  Now she's back in his world while her own career aspirations seems to be dying.  How can she stay in the fringes when all she wants since that night was to be in his arms again.

Destroyed seems an apt and fitting title for this book.  Simon and Margo's journey seems to be centering around destruction of their perceptions and what can happen when what they deemed to be who they are is taken away.  A lot of readers will probably feel they've been shortchanged because of the cliffhanger ending but as a reader whose followed this series since the start, I find that this book  has a great story, adding depth to characters and a storyline which would have otherwise remained flat and two dimensional if the writers just concentrated on giving out pat happy endings and no conflict in Oblivion's journey.  Simon is the main star here but Margo gives a multilayered depth to both her and Simon's characters.  And the cliffhanger ending isn't so much for the romance part as it is for what the future holds for the band from that point.  I still think its a great ending and the next instalment which is Consumed concentrates more on the couple's romantic development (looking forward to that) but overall Destroyed is fantastic.

 Consumed is the sixth book in the Lost in Oblivion series and it is a book and not a novella.  And like its 0.5 predecessors it concentrates on the romantic developments between our main H/h.  As stated before, the love stories in the series can probably stand alone but its best that the previous book be read before especially with Consumed to get the whole picture.

Consumed starts off where Destroyed ended (and that was a big cliffhanger).  Here Margo and Simon are spending time alone, away from all the chaos and the fallout from their last concert.  Simon is feeling helpless and powerless, guilty and vulnerable.  His showed his hand to Margo but he failed to consider what would happen when he's very identity is threatened.  Margo has her own choices to make, her own vulnerabilities to show.  She knows Simon is The One, but can she hold on to a star so bright when she's feeling her own insecurities so close to surface?

I like how the title reflects whats going on between Simon and Morgan, consumed is definitely what they're feeling.  What some readers will feel is lacking in Destroyed in terms of romantic developments is probably going to be satisfied with Consumed.  The heat level will combust the pages or the e reader not just for how adventurous they get but how their intimacy is of another level. The external problems are a great plot device on how they compromise and deal with their own personal obstacles and we might not get a straight HEA  but we definitely get a great and satisfying HFN.  Consumed ends in another cliffhanger not as dramatic as the one in Destroyed and its mostly dealing what might be in store for the band in the future.  Overall, Consumed is erotic, intimate, funny and shows that love is being vulnerable but that whats make it so special.