Scan barcode
msjessc's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This entire book was simply one poignantly breath taking poem. Hands down one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Sometimes I reread paragraphs simply to listen to the delicately way they were woven together.
I cried - more than I care to admit. It's probably because my heart had completely melted and was spilling out my eyes. Which sounds gross compared to how pure it felt.
Nor will I ever forget Sage. When my heart finally got itself back together, he was firmly entrenched. His soul.. I have no words for what a gorgeous being this man is.
I cried - more than I care to admit. It's probably because my heart had completely melted and was spilling out my eyes. Which sounds gross compared to how pure it felt.
Nor will I ever forget Sage. When my heart finally got itself back together, he was firmly entrenched. His soul.. I have no words for what a gorgeous being this man is.
xanthe87's review
4.0
A beautifully told story by this new to me author. I'll definitely be looking at her other work and look forward to book 2 in the Sugarhouse Blues series.
This book focuses on Sage, a musician attacked and left scarred by a stalker, and Antonio, the brother of the bodyguard who died protecting Sage.
My heart went out to Sage as we read his story and how well he's adapted with his new disabilities, especially his voice changes. He's very determined to stand and fight for himself and for his best friend Shiloh as they take a step towards the limelight. Antonio is a true family guy and has stood up to the plate for his brother's widow and sons as they move on in life after such a tragedy. Sage and Antonio together create such wonderful music and it's so easy to fall into their love story. There's a lot of emotion for both characters to feel regarding their pasts, present and the future that each hoped to have but might start to look a little different.
Along with our MC's, there's a great cast of characters that help with support, love, friendship and guidance. Shiloh is such an out there character and the perfect balance to Sage in Second Song. Sage's family are fun, loving and clearly protective of him whilst wanting him to live his best life. Antonio's family are kind of the same which shows how far people can come after such a life event.
Edie has written a visually appealing story as a lot of time that Sage and Antonio spend together when in Vermont is outdoors and it's so easy to imagine where they are and be right there with them as they go on their journey together.
The story starts from the point of Sage asking Antonio to come with them on the mini tour so we don't encounter any of the attack. There's just an occasional memory that is relevant to the story at the time. I really enjoyed the layout of the story with three separate time periods that the book takes place in, only with a few months between 1st and 2nd, and then a few weeks between 2nd and 3rd. It helped to move the book along at pace without feeling stagnant or rushed.
Highly recommend this book. I love the characters, setting and the story. I'd say it's more of a slow burn romance and so worth the time. Excited for Shiloh's story in book 2.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
This book focuses on Sage, a musician attacked and left scarred by a stalker, and Antonio, the brother of the bodyguard who died protecting Sage.
My heart went out to Sage as we read his story and how well he's adapted with his new disabilities, especially his voice changes. He's very determined to stand and fight for himself and for his best friend Shiloh as they take a step towards the limelight. Antonio is a true family guy and has stood up to the plate for his brother's widow and sons as they move on in life after such a tragedy. Sage and Antonio together create such wonderful music and it's so easy to fall into their love story. There's a lot of emotion for both characters to feel regarding their pasts, present and the future that each hoped to have but might start to look a little different.
Along with our MC's, there's a great cast of characters that help with support, love, friendship and guidance. Shiloh is such an out there character and the perfect balance to Sage in Second Song. Sage's family are fun, loving and clearly protective of him whilst wanting him to live his best life. Antonio's family are kind of the same which shows how far people can come after such a life event.
Edie has written a visually appealing story as a lot of time that Sage and Antonio spend together when in Vermont is outdoors and it's so easy to imagine where they are and be right there with them as they go on their journey together.
The story starts from the point of Sage asking Antonio to come with them on the mini tour so we don't encounter any of the attack. There's just an occasional memory that is relevant to the story at the time. I really enjoyed the layout of the story with three separate time periods that the book takes place in, only with a few months between 1st and 2nd, and then a few weeks between 2nd and 3rd. It helped to move the book along at pace without feeling stagnant or rushed.
Highly recommend this book. I love the characters, setting and the story. I'd say it's more of a slow burn romance and so worth the time. Excited for Shiloh's story in book 2.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
stornierung's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
amyaislin's review
slow-paced
4.0
This was such a lovely romance between a scarred musician and his former bodyguard's brother. It does deal with some heavy topics, grief being the biggest, but overall, this was a beautiful story of hope and healing and love.
beeziereadsromance's review
4.0
Lovely
I most enjoyed the little details in this book, the little moments that grounded the story in reality and made me smile.
I most enjoyed the little details in this book, the little moments that grounded the story in reality and made me smile.
bfdbookblog's review
4.0
Going in, I expected this to be fairly angsty. Thankfully, while emotional, there was very little angst as both men are recovering from personal grave loss and in Sage’s case, physical damage as well. I did find myself tearing up a couple of times but overall the story is sweet. The writing is very poetic; the author waxing lyrically about life’s similarities to song.
Sage and Antonio are both entering the ‘second phase’ of their lives, trying to make life altering decisions about their futures, when they meet. They have instant attraction and a common emotional bond which helps them grow close quickly. Once they open the sexual door, they have sex often (some of those scenes I skimmed past). There aren’t too many surprises between these two but theirs is a sweet love story worth reading. My biggest complaint is the story is a bit long and drags at times; I skimmed several times.
I’m not sure if I’ll read Shiloh’s story…I’m interested but will have to be in the right mood for that emotional mess.
Sage and Antonio are both entering the ‘second phase’ of their lives, trying to make life altering decisions about their futures, when they meet. They have instant attraction and a common emotional bond which helps them grow close quickly. Once they open the sexual door, they have sex often (some of those scenes I skimmed past). There aren’t too many surprises between these two but theirs is a sweet love story worth reading. My biggest complaint is the story is a bit long and drags at times; I skimmed several times.
I’m not sure if I’ll read Shiloh’s story…I’m interested but will have to be in the right mood for that emotional mess.
henrygravesprince's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I was surprised to, for the most part, really enjoy this book. It’s sweet. Some assorted thoughts:
- I really enjoy the writing style for about 75% of this book, which, in my opinion, is a win. First-person romances usually don’t work well for me, especially with alternating points of view, because a lot of authors struggle to incorporate a natural-sounding character voice to prose (let alone two of them). There are still parts where it does feel awkward and stumbly to me — particularly in sex scenes, but that may just be a hang-up I have on first person that won’t change.
- I’m glad that Sage’s acquired disabilities aren’t framed as inherently negative or life-ruining. The author did a decent job at showing how many people will assume it is without sending the message to disabled people that our lives are ruined or less than. I don’t know if the author has personal experience with acquired disability or disability in general, but the writing generally doesn’t have glaring moments of feeling voyeuristic towards disabled experiences, which makes me happy.
- I did raise my eyebrows at the choice to have Sage use a Note app in his phone for text-to-speech services rather than an AAC device or AAC app made for that purpose, but this may be a blindspot of my own as someone who is more experienced with lifelong disabilities than acquired ones — I can definitely see the line of thinking that someone who isn’t ingrained in disabled communities who becomes disabled might instead resort to that and not be aware that there are apps made for AAC, so I wonder if this actually is common with people who have to use text to speech due to acquired disability, or if that was an assumption on the author’s part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Ableism and Homophobia
goldenpei's review
2.0
Sorry if I'm being a bit harsh with my rating here but... why were you so boring?
I am not a big fan of music/singer stories in general for some reason and I'm yet to find one I truly enjoy.
It started off pretty well but it rapidly got to a point where I felt like the story was just going on and on and on for no particular reason. It was really hard for me to connect with the characters and I just felt like everything was slow and pointless.
Reading other people's reviews, I was maybe in a bad mood for this book, who knows.
I am not a big fan of music/singer stories in general for some reason and I'm yet to find one I truly enjoy.
It started off pretty well but it rapidly got to a point where I felt like the story was just going on and on and on for no particular reason. It was really hard for me to connect with the characters and I just felt like everything was slow and pointless.
Reading other people's reviews, I was maybe in a bad mood for this book, who knows.
cabc's review
5.0
A romantic journey
This might be the most romantic love story I have ever read. The words are poetry, weaving a tale of healing pain and deep, unconditional love. Feeling and being in love can be easy. It's the journey of bringing two people together, in finding each other's happiness, that can be hard. Sage and Antonio have to endure some bumps along the way, but they face it boldly. Both men also have very loving and supportive families and they only add to the emotions and love on each page.
The epilogue is perfect.
Treat yourself to this beautiful love story. It's good for the soul.
This might be the most romantic love story I have ever read. The words are poetry, weaving a tale of healing pain and deep, unconditional love. Feeling and being in love can be easy. It's the journey of bringing two people together, in finding each other's happiness, that can be hard. Sage and Antonio have to endure some bumps along the way, but they face it boldly. Both men also have very loving and supportive families and they only add to the emotions and love on each page.
The epilogue is perfect.
Treat yourself to this beautiful love story. It's good for the soul.
cadiva's review
4.0
That had one of the most gorgeous Epilogues I think I've ever read.
I'm pretty sure this was my first book by Edie and I have to say that it was a complete pleasure.
Her writing style flows and ebbs through beautifully constructed visual imagery and dialogue which connects the reader to the characters perfectly.
There's a lot of talent needed to do that with a character who has to use a phone's reading app to articulate his words because of a damaged throat but I totally got into Sage's head in this book.
Antonio was a harder nut to crack but he also worked his way into my affections and I utterly adored the uniquely drawn and gifted bunch of family and friends which surround them.
There's some angst but overall this really was just a gorgeous romance between two people connected through a life sacrificed.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
I'm pretty sure this was my first book by Edie and I have to say that it was a complete pleasure.
Her writing style flows and ebbs through beautifully constructed visual imagery and dialogue which connects the reader to the characters perfectly.
There's a lot of talent needed to do that with a character who has to use a phone's reading app to articulate his words because of a damaged throat but I totally got into Sage's head in this book.
Antonio was a harder nut to crack but he also worked his way into my affections and I utterly adored the uniquely drawn and gifted bunch of family and friends which surround them.
There's some angst but overall this really was just a gorgeous romance between two people connected through a life sacrificed.
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.