Tuesday, December 28, 2010

One Hit Wonder by Charlie Carillo ~ review

One Hit WonderSynopsis from Goodreads:
From the acclaimed author of Raising Jake comes the hilarious, heartfelt story of a former pop star who goes back to his roots - to answer the age-old question, 'Whatever happened to...?'. Back in the Eighties, Mickey DeFalco was America's teenage heartthrob with spiky gelled hair, slanted sideburns, and a number-one hit single - 'Sweet Days' - a sappy love song he wrote after his high school sweetheart, Lynn Mahoney, broke his heart. Now approaching middle age, Mickey is lucky to land a singing gig at a bar mitzvah. So the one-hit wonder-boy is making a different kind of comeback - returning to his old stomping grounds in Queens, living with his parents, and sleeping in his childhood bed. Just like in high school. And speaking of blasts from the past, Lynn is also back in town - as beautiful, beguiling, and baffling as ever...Sometimes life can feel like a broken record. But even a one-hit wonder deserves a second chance.

My take on this book:

Imagine breaking up with your girlfriend and then writing a song about it that becomes a number one hit, all while your still a teen. That's just what happened with Mickey DeFalco, he was the true one hit wonder, with his number one song "Sweet Days" a love song he wrote after he broke up with his high school sweetheart Lynn. The song became an instant success and he was able to ride on the success from the song for almost 20 years. Now down on his luck, out of money, he decides to go back home to New York, and move back in with his parents. Turns out Lynn is back in the old neighborhood as well. Will he have a chance at second love, with his old high school flame, who he never really forgot?

This was my first time reading anything by Charlie Carillo, and I was pleasantly surprised at the story. While it started out a bit slow for me, once I got into the story I became totally hooked and was anxious to see how the story would play out. Several little sub-plots added depth to the story allowing us to see the flaws of the characters making them seem more realistic. There were some laugh out loud moments for me, but there was also some points that were very emotional as well. A story about second chances at love and the affects of the choices we make. If you like a story that is a love story/ comedy, with some serious moments rolled in the mix then you just might enjoy "One Hit Wonder". I for one am interested in reading some of this authors other work.
rating 4/5

1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a really fun read, but with a little more too it than just fluff...thanks for highlighting it!

    ReplyDelete

Your wonderful comments make my day, thanks for dropping by!