Thursday, August 28, 2014

Blog Tour: Before He Was Gone by Becky Wicks


Before He Was Gone by Becky Wicks 
(Starstruck #2) 
Publication date: Summer 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance



Sometimes, you have to get lost to find yourself…
When her rock star boyfriend breaks things off out of the blue, Alyssa applies to hit reality TV show Deserted and to her shock she gets through. Abandoned on a remote island with a bunch of strangers and none of the luxuries she’s become accustomed to, it’s not long before an undeniable attraction to the mysterious Joshua starts complicating things even further.

Joshua’s different to everyone she’s ever known – a traveller, a man with no plan, a world away from the celebrity life she’s left behind. As a series of challenges test their wits and weaknesses, things start heating up in paradise, but in a game designed to break people down, it soon becomes clear that Joshua is hiding a painful secret – one he won’t risk anyone finding out.

Struggling to know where she belongs, Alyssa will have to choose – a life she once loved that wants her back, or a brand new reality that heartbreakingly may just have its limits.

˃˃˃ “Becky does it again, delivering a searingly hot, emotionally intense and brilliantly written book. I loved it.” – Sarah Alderson (author of Hunting Lila, Fated, The Sound)

***Warning: this book contains graphic language, sex, and mature situations. Not intended for young adult readers.***


4 Star Review by Jen Skewes

This is the second book in the Starstruck series.  At the end of Before He was Famous we saw Alyssa hooking up with Sebastian, one of Noah’s band members. I couldn’t wait for this story to see what happened with them and to find out who Alyssa would get her HEA with.

Alyssa and Sebastian have been together for about a year now but Sebastian decides that things between them just aren’t working out and he dumps her.  Trying to escape her broken heart as well as all of the media attention after her publicized breakup she decides to apply for the show Deserted.  A show were she and 9 other contestants will live on a deserted island and compete for the grand prize of $1 million.  That money can really help Alyssa go to culinary school if she wins.  She was picked as one of the 10 contestants and is on her way to attempt to win the prize money.  She has every intention of winning but what she didn’t plan on happening was falling in love. 

Josh hasn’t lived in one place for too long.  As a mater of fact he doesn’t even have a home.   He spends his time traveling.  He doesn’t have a girlfriend and doesn’t really do the relationship thing for his own reasons.  When he sees an opportunity to win $1million if he gets picked to be on the show Deserted he knows that he has to take it.  He needs the money and will do everything in his power to win.  He is a very strong survivor and knows that he can easily win the money.  But what he didn’t count on was meeting someone like Alyssa while on the show.  He will do anything to win, but Alyssa has quickly become his weakness.  She is the one person who may just ruin his chances at winning, because he cannot stop thinking about her.  She has become a distraction that he cannot afford.  The attraction between Alyssa and Josh is there but how will it affect their game?   Will love become more important that money or will they do everything they need in order to survive?

I really enjoyed Alyssa and Josh’s story.  There was certainly passion and heat between the two of them.  Josh was the leader in many ways and while he needed to do what he had to do to win, when it came to Alyssa he tended to second guess his strategies.  He was falling for her in ways that he had never fallen for anyone. And that part scared him in a way.  He couldn’t afford to lose but at the same time he couldn’t lose Alyssa either.  Josh has a secret that we all wanted to know and I loved that his secret was revealed towards the end without really a hint as to what it was.  I honestly thought one thing only to find out it was something else.  Josh was a really good guy who was sweet and caring and I really loved his character.

Alyssa I loved when we first met her in Before He Was Famous.  She was a strong kick ass heroine which I loved.  She was out to prove that she was more than just Sebatian’s ex girlfriend.  Yes she may have been there to escape her life momentarily, but I think in away she found her true self while on that island.  I loved her and Josh together and loved watching them share themselves with each other. 


I really loved this book and the whole storyline.  Becky Wicks took us into the word of reality TV.  A show we have all seen before but never really read a book about.  It's the world of reality TV and surviving on an island with 9 strangers.  I think that Ms. Wicks did a wonderful job with the story.  We saw the relationships formed, the alliances made, the betrayals, and the back stabbing.  We got to know each member of the island and they each had their own story to tell.  They each had their own personality .  From the famous person, to the recluse, to gay writer to the southern belle.  They all came from different worlds and were all there for different reasons.  They were all a very interesting group of characters who I came to love.  It felt like I was a part of their circle an at the same time trying to figure out who to trust and who I wanted to see win.  I think my fave, aside from Alyssa and Josh was Shan.  I just loved him and the relationship that he and Alyssa had. Loved this book and cannot wait for the next on in the series.




Becky Wicks lives in Bali and scribbles books, and she’s mostly powered by coffee. Her first book in the Starstruck Series, Before He Was Famous recently reached #1 in Amazon’s Coming of Age and New Adult & College categories, and her three travel books, published by HarperCollins are online to make feet nice and itchy. Mostly though, she loves to write love stories. She blogs most days at beckywicks.com and always welcomes distractions on Twitter @bex_wicks. Especially if you have photos of cats.

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2 comments:

  1. Great review, Jen! I love books that have to do with reality TV and stuff like that. Although I've never watched Survivor but I do know what it's about I'm not that out of the loop >.< It also sounds like a it has a great cast of characters, too!

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  2. Thank you. It really did. In a way reminded me of The Breakfast club-each with their own personality and lifestyle. I love reality tv too but never watched Survivor either:)

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