Rachel Hauck's NashVegas books

Rachel Hauck has written two of, in my opinion, the best Christian chick lit books out there: Sweet Caroline and Love Starts With Elle. Any book of hers automatically gets a blip on my reading radar, and I'd been wanting to read her 2006 and 2007 releases for quite a while now. Thanks to PaperBackSwap (which has come through with some great reads recently!) I was able to at last sit down and read "Lost in NashVegas" and "Diva NashVegas" earlier this month.

"Lost in NashVegas" tells the story of Robin, the girl with music living inside of her. She's a born songwriter but her terrible stage fright has kept her singing at home rather than on the big stage. Now at age 25 with a boyfriend who is ready to settle down, Robin figures that the time to give Nashville a try is either now or never and jets off to the land of musical opportunity.

Just because she's decided to face her fear it doesn't mean it has gone away. Robin has a struggle each and every chance she has to sing in front of a crowd... and not every struggle results in a success. New friends are found, a temporary job scrubbing toilets becomes available, and time goes by as Robin tries to perfect her art. As her connections with the music industry begin coming together, so do long-held family secrets that are about to change her life forever.

This book really is like a long journey. A little too long for my preference; it just seemed to take quite a while to get anywhere. And no heroine should go through three boyfriends in one novel. It was a fun, quirky story but not much more to me.

Robin barely even makes a cameo appearance in "Diva NashVegas". Its heroine is Aubrey James, the somewhat reclusive megastar performer who has been topping the charts since she was 18. The daughter of deceased gospel legend parents, Aubrey has been in the spotlight her whole life and even now has trouble seeing who are her true friends and those who are only around her for her fame and fortune. When a former member of Aubrey's band begins spouting her story to all who will listen, Aubrey decides it is time to finally open herself up for media interviews... but only to the local outlets.

Rachel Hauck tried something different in this book and I loved it: splitting her trademark first person accounts between Aubrey and reporter Scott Vaughn. I thoroughly enjoyed Scott's perspective and he seemed like the kind of guy whom I would like to know in my real life. Aubrey was a lovely mix of headstrong diva, insecure woman, and likeable fighter through all life throws at her. I enjoyed this book quite a lot and found it much more captivating than "Lost in NashVegas". I had a hard time putting it down and couldn't wait to see how it finished up. I hurt for Aubrey as she dealt with betrayal and manipulation and cheered with her when she found true friends and made good decisions. She's the kind of star that I would be happy to support in the music industry... if only we could turn on our radio and hear her! :-)