Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book! I LOVED it! In the end, one theme stood out to me most. Friendship. In all its seasons. Lia Louis also poignantly portrays grief. There’s a lovely element of music, too. And, of course, a love story. Many elements were mysterious aspects that kept me intrigued, curious, and guessing from beginning to end. Gosh, it was so good! A heartwarming, good read for any reader at any point of life. There is sure to be something that will speak to their heart.

I’ve loved every Lia Louis book she has written. I enjoy G rated love stories the most! This is a sweet story and read it in one day.

The Key to My Heart by Lia Louise is one of the most thoughtful books I have read this year.
Natalie Fincher lost her husband Russ over 2.5 years ago. She is struggling in so many ways with her new life. Her friends are not sure what to do with her, her family worries about her, and she finds solace playing the piano at a London Train station.

Natalie’s friends are trying so hard to help and do not really know what to do. But, as the story progresses you see all the characters grow and change and your heart believes in the promise of life. The characters are so well crafted. This is a wonderful mix of women’s fiction with a beautiful touch of romance. I enjoyed meeting Joe and Tom all the while wondering who would win Natalie’s heart. We also have a little mystery, we meet others who are struggling with grief, and the arts play a role in helping our characters to heal.

As someone who has grieved deeply I loved this story. The author has written a well crafted story that shares the deepest sadness of grief while still giving the reader hope. The ending is so well done and I was glad I invested in reading this superbly written story. I highly recommend it.

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a review.

It’s Christmas and I wanted to cozy up with a sweet story and this is a good one. Lovable characters, fun banter and a feel good story about finding the one after you have lost the one. It is a precious love story. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review!

THE KEY TO MY HEART - LIA LOUIS

4.5⭐

PLOT - Natalie Fincher looses her husband and all her hopes and dreams instantly die. It's 2.5 yrs but still Natalie feels lost. She works, sleeps, meets her friends but her life feels empty exp when she plays music at London's train stations public piano. So when someone leaves sheet music for her husband's favourite song..she feels hope and excitement for the 1st time taking Natalie on an unexpected journey to find the love for herself and may be for someone else.
MY THOUGHTS -
This is not an easy book to read ..it's heavily laced with Grief but with that as it's central focus I liked the fact that there was some mystery which I felt was well done, alongside self discovery, amazing friendship, heartfelt conversations and ofcourse a bit of closed door romance .
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A truly lovely story about Natalie, a thirty two year old widow trying to move forward, Natalie’s friends frustrate her, always trying to “fix her”, but she has been unable to function after grieving the sudden death of her husband. A musician, writing songs and playing piano, she has been unable to do so until she begins to play on a piano in a train station anonymously. Someone begins leaving music for her, reminiscent of times with her husband. Can Natalie find her way out of her grief and begin to live fully again? Highly recommended. The other characters, particularly Shauna and Tom add to the story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was different than I thought it would be. It was not as light and fluffy and I expected. I really enjoyed the friendships and relationships. The complexity of rebuilding after the life you planned is lost was a deeper theme than I anticipated but I was rooting for her. Not a rom-com, but definitely romantic. Closed door.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It was sweet and I enjoyed the characters.

Yes, more Lia Louis! I was so excited when I saw this book come across my way on the portal. I really enjoy her writing style and her characters. These characters it was more of a slow burn and a slow romance which I enjoyed.

I received a duplication of this book - therefore this review is the same as I already submitted with the other one...

4 1/2 stars

I have fallen in love with this author's words. I love each book she writes and The Key to My Heart was simply wonderful. The main character, Natalie had everything she wanted until her husband died leaving her adrift in a world that she couldn't navigate on her own. Looking for a way to move forward isn't as easy for Natalie as her friends seem to think it should be.

Little things happen that both help her move on and yet hold her back at the same time. She has a chance a new love - - but is it the right fit? She finds new friendships along the way and rediscovers a piece of herself. It's a beautiful and heartfelt story that pulled me in and didn't let go until the last page.

This book confirms my belief that Lia Louis is an author whose books I will always find time for. They are truly special.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I am a huge fan of Lia Louis, but this book took me a little longer than usual to get into. Nevertheless, I became very invested in what would happen to the main character. I absolutely loved the ending!

A little low-stakes mystery, a little love story, but largely a story of finding yourself and putting yourself first after a loss - an issue I’ve had a lot of experience with! It was hard to get in to this book, I think because of the subject matter more than anything, but at about 40% I could t put it down. The writing is great and the emotion is genuine. This isn’t a laugh out loud read, but it will make your smile while you enjoy.

Very cute romance, really got me in the christmas spirit. Was awesome to read by the fireplace all cozy. Love the characters and their development!!! 5/5 stars!

I am a big fan of Lia Louis's books and have loved the other two I've read by her, so was really looking forward to THE KEY TO MY HEART.
I'm so happy to say, I really enjoyed this one! It was such a sweet and heartfelt story. I thought Natalie's journey working through her grief after her husband's premature and unexpected death was authentically portrayed. Everyone works through things in their own timing, and this was an important reminder of that, and to try to extend grace not only to others but to yourself too.
The love story in this is definitely slow-burn, and I wasn't expecting the tiny love triangle that popped up part of the way through. But I will say I loved how everything worked out.

I cannot wait to read what Lia Louis writes next!

I do not think this author is for me. This is the second book I have read by her and I really did not like it.

Oh, how I loved this book about loss, grief and healing. Yes, there's a romance, but to me, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗬 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧 is about the power of friendship and human connection. Despite the cheerful cover, this isn't a light read, but it will charm you and leave you with hope. I laughed, teared up, and savored every page of Lia Louis's beautiful and heartwarming story.

I will read anything by Lia Louis. Her stories just capture my heart every single time and this one was no exception. I mean right from the get go my heart was in pieces, but Lia has such a knack for delicately stitching them back together in just the right way. Natalie's character underwent so much growth, and I was so genuinely proud of her by the end. Bravo.

This book centers around a widow dealing with her grief, but it’s incredibly uplifting and heartfelt! Lia Louis does an incredible job taking a tough topic and guiding readers through her journey with care and hope. I adored this!

Two years ago, Natalie’s husband died tragically leaving her adrift and lost in a world she can’t imagine without him. Her only solace is playing a piano in a London train station, where she can be completely anonymous and get away from everything in her head. Until someone starts leaving sheet music that is directly tied to her former life.

As she attempts to uncover the mystery, she begins befriending new people and even attempting to date again, but still struggles to understand whether her late husband is somehow guiding her back to him.

I ABSOLUTELY loved this! I'm going to review this in bullet points.

• Amazing character growth
• Absolute sweetest romance
• Dealt with grief in a very REAL way
• Managed to be relatively light despite the grief storyline
• Includes a love triangle
• Includes amazing friend groups
• Funny and witty banter
• I actually shed a tear
• Laugh-out-loud moments

A sweet story about how to move on ... Natalie has been widowed for two years following her husband's unexpected passing. The things that used to give her joy, don't in the same way - and her friends are trying to get her back out there.

A couple different new encounters and a mystery at a piano bench give Natalie a push to try different things and learn more about herself.

This was a holiday story with a little more depth on how to move on.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the ARC.

I thought that this book was heartfelt and did an excellent job of showing the grief that Natalie was dealing with. I will say that to me this book felt slow-paced and like nothing was really happening for a while the reveal of who was leaving her piano music was not really exciting and seemed kind of obvious. In terms of her friends, I felt that they were a bit rude at times when talking about the grief Natalie has had and is dealing with like they assumed that she would be over the death of her husband in the span of a couple of years. I will also say that this was not a book that I found super entertaining or interesting while reading but I think it did a good job of talking about grief. Although I did wish she had better friends and that it was not as slow. Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.