Heavy Metal Heart by Nico Rosso

A tale of two star crossed lovers who both want a break from their normal lives. One a woman who has a fairly normal, yet monotonous life. The other is a rock star who just happens to be a satyr. Heavy Metal Heart by Nico Rosso (the first in his Demon Rock series) gives us another magical creature to fall in love with. Our hero is sick of performing for the energy he needs to survive and the endless parade of women through his very long life. He wants to find his Muse, the one woman who can sustain him forever. The problem?  He isn’t sure she actually exists. Heavy Metal Heart was a very entertaining but did not have much substance. Which isn’t a bad thing; sometimes you just get a hankering for an effortless read.

Rock Star. Front man. Demon. A descendant of satyrs and the lead singer in a band that feeds on the energy of its audience, Trevor Sand is growing weary of the constant need to perform. He needs the legend of the Muse—a woman destined to be a demon’s eternal companion and only source of sustenance—to be true.

Misty Grant has never been bold, but when Trevor singles her out among hundreds at a concert, she takes him up on his explicit offer. During an erotic night in his hotel room, she learns that his touch is as electric as his lyrics. But when Trevor’s demon is aroused, her desire turns to horror and she runs.

Knowing that he’ll die if he loses her, Trevor must find Misty before his enemies do. But even if he can save her, he knows that regaining the trust of his fated Muse will be his greatest challenge.

Trevor is a satyr. That was honestly what made me pick up Heavy Metal Heart. I’ve read about fire demons, incubi, succubi, and normal demons but I’ve never read about a satyr. I really enjoyed the world building around Trevor and his band. Because they are satyrs they get their energy from performing in front of an audience (must the same way an incubus gets energy from sex). And as long as they get this energy they are practically immortal. Satyrs are a nice addition to the ranks of demons.

I enjoyed Trevor. I mean, he’s a rock star and a satyr. What’s not to like?  Luckily for me, he’s got a bit more depth to him than that.  He’s sarcastic and practical which I personally find very appealing. And yes, he’s sick of performing but he’s not going to stop just because of a silly reason like that. He wants to survive and he’s determined to find a way to do so, even if it means finding his mystical Muse. So he’ll perform just for a chance at a better future. Being so determined really just made him that much more attractive to me. When he finally finally finds his Muse (and after the sexy-times) he shows his protective side. While I do get somewhat sick of a heroine needing a knight in shining armor, I’m never going to argue with a man who is willing to be a knight in shining armor.

Now we turn to Misty, the heroine of our story. Misty is tired of her dull life and wants something more. There really isn’t a whole lot I can say about Misty. I found her to be two dimensional and very cliche. I felt the only reason she was in the book was so she could be Trevor’s Muse. She didn’t have enough character to really stand by herself. It was annoying but at this point I was so into the world building I wouldn’t put the book down just because a character wasn’t compelling.

The only thing that made Misty stand out was when she smuggled herself backstage and accepted a very illicit proposal by Trevor. Which is where the story really picks up. After a night of some very sexy happenings, Misty realized that Trevor is a demon while Trevor realizes that Misty is his Muse. And then the rest of the storyline is really predictable. They get their HEA of course but there were not plot twists . It was very straight forward and made me think there was an equation on how to get a happy ending: (Trevor + Misty + Sex) – enemies = HEA.

There were no big surprises in Heavy Metal Heart but it was fairly pleasing. I enjoyed the world building and the smexy bits were hot but I imagine in a couple of years I’ll have trouble remembering anything except for the satyrs. I wish I could promise I’m going to read the rest of the series but I just can’t. I’ll probably pick up Slam Dance with the Devil but if the heroine is as two dimensional as Misty I will not be finishing it. I’m really hoping Nico Rosso can manage to create a heroine I identify with because I really love his world and I really want to see more of his hardcore, rock star satyrs.

Reading Order:
Heavy Metal Heart
Slam Dance with the Devil
Ménage with the Muse