L.J. Evans is a new to me author, well, I have heard of her books, but never got around to picking one up. As most readers now, so many books, so little time, haha. When she opened her author group, I participated in a giveaway and one the four books in her My Life is an Album series.
The first book, My Life is a Country Album, took me by surprise. It was so good! So today I wanted to share my thoughts on this amazing book.
“Loving you was a race I was determined to win.”
I belonged to you before I was born.
I belonged to you when you first called me Cam and when I said my first word, your name, Jake.
I belonged to you as we grew up sharing a treehouse, a yard, and the lake. I even belonged to you when our three-year age difference tried to pull us apart rather than put us together.
But, I was most especially yours when you kissed me and told me you weren’t letting me go.
Except you did.
In the most painful way possible.
And now I’m wondering how to turn my life from a country love song without a happy ending into one that does…
Inspired by Taylor Swift songs, this is a story of aching love and loss and learning to live through life in all its pain and glory.
Review
My Life as a Country Album uses a playlist to tell the story. Each chapter has a title of a song and part of the lyrics. I loved how the author based her story on songs! This made reading Cami and Jake’s story so unique! It’s clear music can bring back many emotions and memories. Having tears in my eyes reading the first few pages, I knew this wouldn’t be the typical love story we are used to.
Cami basically tells us her story, because a therapist tells her it may help to write it all down. My favorite part of this story is that we get the whole story. Cami and Jake have always lived next door to each other. Jake is a few years older, but they’ve always been inseperable. She knows from the start the she loves him.
Even though there is an age difference, they’re always close. She thinks it’s annoying at times that Jake only seems to see her as a little sister and when he starts dating, Cami gets jealous! Eventually the age difference isn’t that big of a deal anymore and feelings become very real!
“All I ever needed was you. You at my side. Even when you drove me crazy, like you were prone to do, I never wanted to be without you. It always felt like I wasn’t quite myself until somehow our day brought us right next to each other again.”
Unfortunately, there is more going on and it’s not the typical they live happily ever after. Cami still feels so much, but is trying to give everything a place. I can’t imagine feeling the way she does, but she’s so strong! I think the only thing that would’ve made this book even more amazing than it already is, is if we had a few chapters from Jake’s POV. I would’ve loved to have read how he felt about her and what he thought when he looked at her! It was clear there were a lot of feelings, but it would’ve given me just a little bit more!
L.J. Evans takes us on an emotional ride with this epic love story! I started this book with tears in my eyes, but ended it with a smile on my face. Cami got the ending she deserved, even if it was totally different than she had planned! I felt every emotion Cami felt and I think that’s a great compliment to this author’s writing!
If you’re looking for a book that gives you all the feels, gives us a story of a character learning to deal with love and loss and an amazing love story, My Life as a Country Album is the book for you! I would definitely recommend listening to the playlist while reading!
I can’t wait to dive into the next book in this series! I love when music is a big part of a book! Have you read this book yet? What did you think?