DAZED – Kim Karr
Connections Series, an eNovella
InterMix (Penguin Group)
ISBN: 978-0-698-17294-4
April 2014
New Adult

Los Angeles, California – The Present

Strange coincidence stalks Aerie Daniels. First, a beautiful young man teases her at a bakery as she waits to buy cupcakes. He calls her ‘Alice,' as in Through the Looking Glass, before his number 98 is called. He buys the last of the cupcakes that she wanted. Her number, 97, had been missed or she didn't hear it. She is incensed about the cupcakes and her physical response to the teasing man. Next, she meets the same person, Jagger Kennedy, at the home of her newly married best friend, Dahlia Wilde. It seems Jagger is Dahlia's husband River's newly discovered cousin.

Aerie is a music journalist working for a prominent music magazine. Her life is about her work. While she has had boyfriends, her sexual satisfaction has always been feigned; it doesn't exist. A painful memory of her first encounter and its ties to her uncle's fame haunts her. In his youth, her beloved Uncle Ian had been lead guitarists for the band Dazed. The band never received as much credit as it deserved from the public, but other musicians found the band made groundbreaking, enthralling music. Matter of fact, a movie, No Led Zeppelin , is beginning production about Uncle Ian's life.

Jagger Kennedy is a model transitioning into acting. He wants to audition for the part of Aerie's uncle. While her attraction to Jagger is undeniable, his request to talk about her uncle sends up all sorts of warning flags and insecurities for Aerie.

This novella was a fast read, just two reading sessions. While I felt the description overdone to the point of interrupting my reading, the sheer emotional responses between the characters kept me reading. Aerie is a difficult character to understand until you learn her story, and like Alice in Wonderland , she is in an unfamiliar place. Jagger comes off as an accomplished flirt and perhaps user until his persistent, romantic, and loving nature emerges. Several sex scenes are very explicit, making this certainly not a read for Young Adult. Even the characters seem a little older than New Adult; however, it is an intoxicating read full of interesting situations and hard choices, raging hormones, insecurities, and emotional situations.

Robin Lee