Just Another Love Song Review

Summary (from the publisher): 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.

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Thoughts:

There are few things better than floating around the pool with a good romance book, which is exactly what I did reading Kerry Winfrey’s latest release, Just Another Love Song.

Just Another Love Song follows Sandy, the owner of her small-town’s green house, as her high school sweetheart and country singer, Hank, comes home for the summer. Sandy and Hank were destined for one another, until Hank goes off to college and Sandy decides to break things off for a certain reason. But fifteen years later, Sandy is still hung up on Hank, but is still trying to convince herself that she is 110% happy with her life in Baileyville AND that she has no feelings for Hank, especially as the two work together to put on the town’s annual fair.

Just Another Love Song is a solid contemporary romance read. The novel plays with a few tropes, including second chance romance, small town romance, and the famous person trope. I really loved the small town setting, set in a small Ohio town – it was reminiscent of one of my recent favorite reads, The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston – & seeing Sandy and her friends come together to put on the town’s annual fair (now here’s where you picture Stars Hollow). The book is so heart-warming, between Sandy’s relationships with her friends, Hank, her best friend, Honey, and Honey’s kids, and her parents, who own the town’s only B&B. If you want a book that puts a smile on your face, then Just Another Love Song is the book for you.

My biggest critique of the book does have to do with the tropes. I did not necessarily understand how famous Hank actually was?! On the way hand, I liked how Sandy and Hank didn’t have to compete with paparazzi and super fans (there was at one point a scene where I thought would’ve led to photos of the two published online or something), but it was hard to tell how affected Hank was by the fame and his career and how big both were overall. I also wish there was some more development surrounding his marriage. In addition, I kind’ve wish there was more to Sandy’s breakup with Hank when they were first out of high school and the whole Natasha (one of Sandy’s high school friends) element. I think some more development would’ve made it even sweeter given the book’s ending.

Overall, Just Another Love Song It’s a great starter read for people just getting into (contemporary) romance since it’s closed doors and uses the much-loved second chance at love trope, as well as a solid read for any book fans who love a small town romance. Just Another Love Song was my first Kerry Winfrey book & I look forward to reading more of her work!

This review is based on an advance review copy provided by the publisher. By no means did receiving this ARC affect my thoughts and opinions.