Reading the Paranormal: The Vinyl Frontier by Lola West [Review]

The Vinyl Frontier (Lessons Learned #4) by Lola West
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: April 16, 2023

Lessons Learned
1. Under Pressure
2. Not Fooling Anyone
3. Can't Fight It
4. The Vinyl Frontier - Paperback | Kindle

Lola West
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

What happens when an uptight preppy frat boy sets his sights on a punk rock princess? #superherolevelchaos

Zack Worthington's life is a carefully curated performance. Controlled by his politician father, he stands on his mark and recites his lines. There’s no room for deviation, no time for comic books and no patience for obscure Trekkie facts. He's all business, polished to a shine--the sparkling jewel in his father's crown.

Then one night, Zack lays eyes on a girl he can't unsee...

Open minded, self-sufficient, Deaf drummer, Molly Mills is working hard to find her rhythm in a competitive college music program. She's driven to prove herself to nearly everyone, even while living off of packaged noodles and thrift-store clothing.

Watching her alone on the dance floor, punky, free and wild, Zack told himself that opposites attract was totally not a real thing. But a couple days later when he realizes he's the teaching assistant in her research methodologies class, he can't ignore his instincts. He has to know her.

Only Molly isn't interested in his platitudes and superficial chit-chat.

Suddenly, all bets are off because this buttoned up, rule-following rich guy actually wants to be more than meets the eye...

Thoughts on The Vinyl Frontier: The Senator's son and the Deaf drummer who captures his interest and heart. YES.

Zack is...hmm, how to put this? His father's idea about what a perfect son should look like have pushed down all of Zack's likes and wants and made him into a bit of a bland frat boy. Zack's so used to toeing the line and seeing the things he loves taken from him if they don't fit his father's vision that he's completely unprepared for Molly and his attraction to her. Her punk personality and drive call to him from the first time he lays eyes on her and the boy is SMITTEN.

On Molly's end, being a Deaf student at a non-Deaf university means she has to fight for a lot of things most people take for granted. She doesn't want to like Zack, but she slowly comes around to seeing his kindness and the hurt he tries to keep hidden. And despite knowing it will probably end badly between them, she lets herself fall.

The problem? The specter of Zack's father hangs like a blade over everything Zack does and he's trying to find a way to have a relationship with Molly without his father destroying it because it's not part of the vision he has for his son.

In other words, Zack has some hard decisions to make about how and where he wants his future to go. And Molly need to decide if her bruised heart can handle the hurts that come with Zack's growing pains.

MAN, I liked these two. They were a little nerdy, a little punk, and a whole lot into one another. Even when Zack was making terrible accidental word swaps while interpreting/talking to her. *thumbs up*

Excerpt

Leaning against the wall, I nursed my soda and watched the growing crowd. The event seemed to be somewhat of a success. And it was sort of magical to watch people dance in utter silence. Even though they heard music, the fact that you couldn’t hear it completely reframed their movements. Strangely, dancers without music were akin to astronauts without gravity—floating in a way that felt impossible to understand.

I glanced at my watch, noticing we were closing in on the hour I’d promised, and I was considering rounding up my crew when she walked in and took my breath away. She was a little pixie of a thing, five feet at most. Her hair was dark, and there was tons of it, long and silky, and in an enticing disarray. She also had huge eyes, giant slightly buggy saucers she outlined in thick, dark liner. She wasn’t curvy or busty. She wasn’t classically pretty in any way, but something about her was utterly magnetic. She reminded me of Arwen from Lord of the Rings, downright ethereal.

She strolled with purpose to the headphone guy, pointed to a pair, silently questioning if she was free to just take them. He nodded, smiling at her in a way that made me uniquely unhappy. I didn’t often find myself concerned with the way strange men flirted with a woman I’d never met, and, honestly, I was sort of shocked by my reaction. I even cleared my throat like I had something to say. To whom, I am not exactly sure, but watching him talk to her made me want to rant at someone.

The only thing keeping my irrational response in check was her total indifference. At first, she seemed to listen with great intensity as he pointed to the parts and explained the headphones, watching his mouth as he spoke, but when he handed them to her, she gave him a tight smile, tipped her head in thanks, and immediately walked away without having said anything.

I watched her back as she approached the dance floor. She was wearing jeans, a black band T-shirt and black Converse. Her overall look was plain but also punky. Once she picked her spot, she half-faced me again, and then grasped the headphones between her thighs as she twisted her hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Hair fixed, she fussed with the headphones for a bit before putting them on, instantly becoming a punky Princess Leia.

I was into her, drawn to her in a way that didn’t make sense. She wasn’t part of the plan. I was one hundred percent sure my father, senior senator in the U.S. Congress, would not approve. This was not the kind of girl who stood next to you on the podium as you swore to uphold the law. This was the kind of girl who went with you to the county fair, screamed something profane from the top of the Ferris wheel, and licked the cotton candy off her fingers.

She looked like normal and wild all rolled into one. I bet she hung out in her dorm room with friends eating junk food and wearing pajamas. Her life was regular, the kind of life where you borrowed your parents’ car to run to the store and decorated your childhood bedroom with posters of your favorite bands. I was not this kind of person, not at all.

Tranced out watching her, I didn’t hear Ashton next to me until he said, “Huh, I never would have thought punky was your type.”

“She’s not,” I said, my voice calm and completely even. Luckily, I was not easy to fluster.

“Say what you will, but I’ve known you three years, Zack, and I’ve never seen you watch a woman the way you were just watching that one.”

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About Lola West

Lola West writes short, sweet, smart, silly, sexy romance. With a PhD in women’s studies and a flair for the dramatic, Lola likes to keep it real. Her loves are cotton candy, astronomy, kitten heels and small-town hunks. Lola’s heroes make you swoon and her heroines talk back. Also, she believes that consent is always sexy, even in books.

You can learn more about Lola by visiting lolawestromance.com and find a FREE READ or you can find her hanging out all over the internet.

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