Today I’m back with a stop on the blog tour for Just Another Love Song. Berkley reached out and asked if I wanted to participate and I couldn’t say no. I’m very thankful to participate and tell you about this book and what I thought today! Keep on reading to find out more.
A big thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc to read and review.
Two high school sweethearts get a second chance at their perfect ending in this charming new romance by Kerry Winfrey, author of Very Sincerely Yours.
Once upon a time, Sandy Macintosh thought she would have her happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank Tillman. Sandy wanted to be an artist, Hank was the only boy in town who seemed destined for bigger things, and they both had dreams to escape town together. But when Sandy’s plans fell through, she stayed in their small town in Ohio while Hank went off to Boston to follow his dreams to be a musician, with the promise to stay together. Only that plan fell through, too.
Fifteen years later, Sandy runs a successful greenhouse while helping her parents with their bed and breakfast. Everything is perfect…until Hank rolls back into town, now a famous alt-country singer with a son in tow. She’s happy with the life she’s built by herself, but seeing Hank makes her think about what might have been. There aren’t enough cliché love songs in the world to convince Sandy to give Hank another chance, but when the two of them get thrown together to help organize the town’s annual street fair, she wonders if there could be a new beginning for them or if what they had is just a tired old song of the past.
Review
Just Another Love Song was the first book I read by Kerry Winfrey, but it definitely had me asking why I waited to read something written by her. The writing and setting pulled me in right from the start and only my need for sleep stopped me from finishing this book in one go.
The town of Baileyville is what I see as a perfect small town I would love to live in. The author made me feel like I was living there and I loved how everything was described. Add in some fun, sweet, and quirky characters and it had me wanting to pack up my bags and move. I also really appreciated Sandy’s relationship with her best friend, Honey, and the moments we read about them being together.
Sandy is a character that had a lot of dreams growing up, but when a scholarship falls through her life took a turn she wasn’t expecting. Fast foward fifteen years and she’s in the same town she said she was going to leave. I liked Sandy and disliked her at the same time. I loved her sense of humor, what she built for herself, and how loving she was with her friends. But Sandy was also her worst enemy. She constantly talks about being happy where she is, but it’s clear to just about everyone it’s not the dream she had in mind. I definitely think she worked against herself on multiple occasions.
I love the second chance romance trope and was definitely curious about Hank and how they fit together. The flashbacks in the beginning throughout different chapters were something I really enjoyed and felt we got to know the kind of relationship these two had. That’s where it kind of got difficult for me, because I don’t feel like we every really got to know the Hank we got now. It really stayed on the surface for me and I would’ve loved just a bit more depth. Something we probably would’ve gotten if we had his POV ( dual POV is something I think every romance should have).
That being said Just Another Love Song was still a heartwarming romance that I really enjoyed. It left me with a big smile on my face and I enjoyed some of the song lyrics we got a few times in the book. I definitely wouldn’t mind the author taking us back to this small town a few more times.
Just Another Love Song was my first book written by Kerry Winfrey, but definitely won’t be my last. I loved that Hank was a singer and his “Just Another Love Song”. Do you have a favorite love song? Let me know what it is in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
