This book was interesting but had too much language and other talk

Tropes: rock star

Content: lots of language and talk of s*x, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, addiction, kissing ( )

This was so immensely disappointing. So disappointing. The copy sold me. I started to get excited. But I didn't want to be disappointed (and I have too many books right now to be reading more SMP...) so I looked at the reviews, and the reviews were good, too, and I let myself be excited. But alas! This took me so long to get through because Reddit was almost always more interesting than this book.

Most importantly, the way it treated suicide and alcoholism was really just not okay. If you're going to use either as a plot point, great, but please do your research. Please realise that alcoholism is more than "oh I am always holding beer" and turn it into an opportuntiy for character growth. Please realise that it's not just about "oh I'm sad so I'm going to take some pills" and please, for goodness's sake, do not cure depression with a romance. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh this infuriates me so much. The whole entire dialogue around each and how quickly it was dismissed really infuriated me.

Now that's off my chest... this had a cute premise and all the elements present to be great. Annie felt like she could have had some soul (no pun intended.) But the voices were exactly the same--I never really got a sense of how cocky Clay was supposed to me. (I'm sorry, should I say Jefferson? Uh... Yeah, that didn't work for me.) But there wasn't really any plot. I knew what was going to happen, and I wasn't interested in reading the nuances of how it was going to happen.

I do not know the author or her experience in the music industry, but there were also just some terminology and treatments of tours that made me question it. I have zero experience in the music industry, but I go to a lot of shows and pay attention on occasion, and the way that the record labels and the managers they sent were talked about felt...off.

It seems I'm in the minority here on this one, but eh.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

3.5 Stars

CW: Drug overdose resulting in death of mother, grief stricken father commits suicide, excessive drug and alcohol use by other characters

Well this book ended up being less cute and fluffy and more damaged and heartbroken than I was expecting. It took me a while to get into the story but overall I enjoyed it. It could have done with a wee edit as I think it felt longer than the story warranted. The romance wasn't super swoon worthy but I really liked Jefferson. His character development was the most enjoyable aspect of the book for me.

On a side note, I hope Mrs Google doesn't judge me when she sees how long I spent googling and watching cowboy line dancing videos. Yes I have seen the videos but I need to know if this is actually a thing. Are there bars where people set their drinks aside and pop up for a line dance or two? And does everyone know the moves? Like are there set songs with set dance moves? How widespread is this phenomenon? I am not joking. I genuinely want to know. ( )

I enjoyed this one! I began on audio, then moved to the hard copy after half-way through. (Annie's narration was solid, Clay's came off to me as a bit older than his character).

There's a lot of depth here, and each character handles their heavy issues in ways that make sense, in such a fantastical setting- on the road for a huge country music tour. I was rooting for Annie the whole way through, after going through such a devastating time, and facing the public knowing these things as she's pursuing her dream career. Clay fights his own demons, and it's Annie's presence, along with her support system that tip the scale for him. The supporting characters are enjoyable and the found family feeling further strengthen both Annie and Clay. I do wish, though, that Clay had taken more time before coming back into Annie's life. But! They're so young, so I do completely get it. And Annie's big song? So perfect and lovely.

This is my second Erin Hahn, and I find that I enjoy her writing style very much. She gives the characters room to breath and grow, without too much angst or heavy plot getting in the way. ( )

I won an ARC edition in a GOODREADS giveaway.