Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
Publication Date: June 17, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
Joni Lark has a secret. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA, and yet she can’t 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 inspiration. But when Joni gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is hiding something, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.
How can Joni write when her world is leaving her behind?
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 an emptiness of his own.
Surely, he’s a figment of Joni’s overworked imagination.
Then a very real man shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s arrogant and guarded—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan for breaking their inconvenient telepathic connection: finish the song haunting them both and hope they don’t risk their hearts—or their secrets—in the process.
Because that melody, the one drawing them together . . . what if it’s there for a reason?
ARC provided by Berkley publishing Group via Netgalley for an honest review.
Confession:
I really enjoyed this very sweet romance between two lonely people who just want to be seen for who they are. I loved the small town setting and the musical themes that ran through the whole book, especially the song title chapter headings.
The story is told only through Joni’s point of view, but I really enjoyed being inside her head. Joni is struggling as a songwriter and feels that her creative well has run dry. She has returned to her hometown to visit her parents and come to terms with her mother’s health issues. Her feelings about losing her mother felt very real and raw. I loved how close Joni was to her parents, yet felt unable to confront them about the issue of her mom dying. But Joni is resilient and even when she is dealing with lots of stuff in her own head, she was able to stay strong for her family.
Sebastian is the musician that Joni meets at the start of the book. He was famous for being the bad boy in a boy band in his teens and twenties. But now he just wants someone to see the real him, not the superstar that he was. I would have loved to see some of the story told from his point of view. He had a lot of issues that could have been explored a bit more if we could have some of the story from his thoughts and feelings. But otherwise I found him to be kind and funny, and also afraid of letting people in.
I really did enjoy seeing these two get over their first impressions of each other and eventually find their way to falling in love. It was a very sweet romance, and I really loved how they could hear each other’s thoughts. It made for some fun times and hilarious commentary on what was happening around them. Of course they had their ups and downs, but they do eventually figure it all out.
I really enjoyed the small town feeling of the setting. It felt authentic and I loved how everyone knew Joni and supported her. I really liked the musical references and the song title chapter headings were the best. There was a little bit of a drag in the narrative in the middle, when things seemed to get a bit repetitive, but the ending made up for that. The author’s exploration of grief was also well done. There was even a little cameo from the characters in The Seven Year Slip which I just adored. The ending was great and I loved the connection they found to why they were in each other’s thoughts.
Overall this was another sweet romance that had a touch of magical realism. If you enjoyed the other books from this author, than I have no doubt you will enjoy this one as well. If you have not yet read any books by this author, than I recommend this one to you as well. Especially if you like sweet romances with a touch of the magical.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 The middle of the story is so often challenging, I’m glad the ending was good. I think a good ending is really important. 🙂
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