Tag: country music

REVIEW: A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

REVIEW: A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

A year ago, Colton and Gretchen slept together. And the next morning, Gretchen fled. She’s been avoiding Colton ever since. Sharing a friend group makes it tricky at times, but she makes it work. She loves her job as an immigration lawyer, and she lets her work fill her calendar. But her estranged family throws a wrench in her avoid-Colton plan by dangling the one thing she wants – a seat on the board of the family foundation – in front of her.  All she has to do is get Colton to agree to be the next ambassador for their whiskey company.

Colton’s in the middle of tense negotiations with his record label, but it’s not going to distract him from this opportunity to reconnect with Gretchen and make her see how amazing they could be together. But he has no idea how much he has to overcome.

Review

I have been a fan of this series from the start, and this was a fun holiday-ish addition to the series. Grumpy/Sunshine is not a trope I usually seek out, but I loved Colton, and Gretchen grew on me over time.

There were a few threads to this I thought were looser than in other books in the series. The guys don’t work through a romance book together in this one, but Colton and Gretchen share some conversations about a book. But the set up for this wasn’t as clear as I wanted, and then it sort of just disappeared when the book shifted focus to Gretchen’s family. I also would have liked a bigger, more definitive wrap up to those family things also. At the end of the book I was left feeling like I was holding something 85% finished. I enjoyed the whole, but I would have liked it to feel a little more solid to me.

Series fans will want to pick this up to see the progress through the larger friend group. I think newcomers might enjoy starting with an earlier book (Undercover Bromance is my favorite) in order to get a better sense of the Bromance Book Club than they might get if they start here. (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good+

REVIEW: You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

REVIEW: You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Clay Coolidge is country music’s latest bad boy. He might only be 18, but his drinking and carousing and recklessness is starting to catch up with him. And his record label is NOT happy.

Their solution is to have him convince Annie Mathers to open for him on a summer tour. Annie’s parents were music legends before their deaths (overdose and suicide) when Annie was 13. While Annie doesn’t want to ride their coat tails into a music career, her own talent and their names would be a great asset on a tour.

Clay and Annie are drawn together by undeniable chemistry both on and off the stage. But their personal baggage, grief, and Clay’s self-destructive behavior could destroy both of them, condemning them to a repeat of Annie’s parents’ lives.

Review

This is SO good! The social media buzz for this has been tremendous – and it’s well-deserved. My heart broke for these two teens trying to negotiate adult decisions and the pressures of music careers while weighed down by the grief they each carry. I LOVED both of these characters. I wanted to hug them – and shake Clay several times. The supporting cast – Annie’s best friend and cousin who are her band mates and Clay’s best friend/band mate – are also fantastic. It’s easy to get caught up in the story and forget how young they all are.

The music pieces – recording studios and summer festivals, concerts and song writing – all felt absolutely realistic. I traveled on the fringes of such things once upon a time, and this felt very familiar.

This is a fantastic example of dual-perspective storytelling done well. Each character has a clear and distinct voice. Telling their own parts of the story – their thoughts, their grief, their feelings about one another – was so rich for me as a reader. I also liked that they were fairly honest with each other. This is not one of those “If only they TALKED about their feelings” books. Their feelings were apparent. The roadblock wasn’t secrecy but grief, fear, and Clay’s choices.

If you enjoy a star-crossed love story, or stories from the music scene, be sure to check this one out! It’s fantastic. (Language, alcohol/drug use, hooking up [off page], TRIGGER WARNING for suicide)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥