Diamond Star by Catherine Asaro

Del-Kurj is one of the many sons of Roca and Eldrinson Althor Valdoria, the third, and born with a twin named Chaniece. As a child, he was nearly raped by boys from his planet who were angry at him for not letting them near his sister and twin. Later, he got into drugs and died, but was kept barely alive in coldsleep stasis. Finally, nearly 50 years later, he was released, able to live on his own, but 50 years younger physically than most of his siblings.

Now on earth after having been put in protective custody by the Allied Space Command, he has a man to look over him named Mac Tyler. But when Mac reveals he has another life as an agent for musicians, he offers to take Del along with him to an audition with a musician he is representing. However, when they get to the company the musician is hoping to get a contract with, the musician hasn't yet arrived, so Mac goes to look for him and leaves Del to look over the studio.

When Ricki, the music producer arrives, she assumes that Del is the act that Mac is promoting, and is completely entranced with the innocence and sexuality that Del projects when he sings. She offers him a music contract, and Mac, arriving on the heels of that decision, is completely flummoxed by the idea that one of the heirs to the Ruby Dynasty should be singing on Earth.

But Del, who has recieved little support from his own family, definitely wants to bring his music to a wider audience, so Mac accepts a contract on his behalf. Now they have a week to put together a backing band before Del opens for Mind-Mix, the top Holo-Band in the world. This they are able to do, but when they actually open, Del realizes that he is going to be singing in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and his empathic mind nearly shuts down. This happens twice, inducing scorn in the fans, but eventually, he is able to find a way to overcome his mind's overload in front of all those people, and he is able to connect with the people who have come to see him.

As his star rises, Del finds himself singing for larger and larger crowds, and once again using drugs, mainly electronic ones called a bliss node, to calm down his body and brain after live tours. Even his love for and relationship with Ricki his producer can't stop him from doing stupid-ass shit that nearly gets him killed on more than one occasion.

But when his family gets involved, and Del starts helping a man of his own people whose job is to free providers from the Eubian Aristos, he might get dead all over again. The question is, will he be dragging his new friends, and bodyguards down with him?

Quite different from many of the other Catherine Asaro Ruby Dynasty books, this one isn't based around the military or military solutions, this is more about one man and his fight to live his life the way he wants to- making his own mistakes and learning his own way without his (very rich, very powerful) family's interference. Del might be 71 in real years, but due to his time in cold-sleep stasis, he only looks 25 or so. And he still is, in many ways, very innocent.

That's part of his problem, innocence mixed with bull-headedness. On the one hand, you sympathize with Del for wanting to live free of his well meaning family's interference, on the other hand, you look at the things he does to himself, and wonder how he's going to get out of his latest mess- and also sympathize with his family at the same time. Even the woman he falls in love with has her problems with men- her mother was abused by a man who she eventually ran off with, leaving Ricki, who had also been abused, and made her feel all men were shits.

It's a fascinating look at a future music industry, and how one man fought his way to the top while at the same time fighting to become a real adult, able to take care of himself and survive on his own. Different from the usual Ruby Dynasty books, but ultimately very readable and great. Recommended.