Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

 

Summary (from the publisher): A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they’ll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from Ashley Poston.

Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.

When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.

How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?

Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.

Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.

But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:

They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.

Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.

Review: This had such a cute premise. Ashley Poston does such an excellent job of weaving in magical realism in a way that doesn't feel too heavy handed or outlandish but instead lends itself to a sweet love story. Things I liked: 

• I loved the way Joni and Sebastian meet. She is burnt out and done with celebrities. He is full of himself. And a kiss came brings them together. It really worked for me!
• The way Joni is a songwriter. She is very talented and works in the same circles as famous singers but I really liked that she didn't want the fame of performing her own music. 
• The way the guy's voice in her head opens up her mind to a man she had previously written off. 
• The way each chapter is titled after a famous song! So cute. 
• I love that Joni's hometown is in North Carolina and her family owns a music venue. 
• I thought the way this handled her mother's memory loss in a realistic and beautiful way. The author's note where she touches on her own personal experience with dementia really moved me and made me appreciate this depiction in the novel even more. 
• This was well done on audio, and I liked the narration a lot. 

This had a unique premise that made it stand out among other love stories I have read recently. But beyond the magical realism, there wasn't that much super unique about the love story or the characters, and I worry it won't stick with me for long. But I did enjoy it and was the uplifting story I needed to hear right now!

Stars: 4

Related Title: 

• The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston