Erin Hahn has written a wonderful, WONDERFUL debut novel that is worthy of every compliment I am about to pay it! It was one of my favorite contemporary YA books I have read this year...so sad that I have to wait a year until I push it into everyone's hand ;)
Annie is country music royalty, thanks to her combative, toxic parents; but Annie wants no part of that life...she just wants to write music and connect with her fans, she doesn't want to lose herself to anyone or anything, like her parents.
Clay is an rising country star, coasting on his good looks and easy, fun songs because of a personal tragedy. When Clay's label threatens to pull his contract unless he cleans up his act and they tell him that Annie will be his opening act for the giant summer tour, Clay goes along with it to save himself. As the summer progresses, Clay and Annie become closer and closer until they finally share all their secrets with one another. As the secrets begin to become larger and larger Annie needs to decide if Clay is what she needs, or wants, in her life.
A stunning book with an entirely believable relationship and problems that each person faces. Can't wait to see what else Erin Hahn comes out with!

I really enjoyed this story. It had a great flow and it made me want to stay up and finish it. It was a cute story with a happy ending, but also so much more then that.
The book followed two young country music stars, still teenagers who have broken pasts, but find out they still have the capability to love. It starts out that the tour managers want to play up on the idea of a romance between them, and then it actually turns into one. It's a "love story" yes, but also more, and I just liked it.

DNF at 38%

I know that I didn't give this book a huge chance, but I just felt so bored and cringey reading it. The story is interesting, but it's just not my favorite kind of story. The insta love was silly, and the writing is nothing spectacular.

There is absolutely no reason I should have liked this book but I absolutely did. I am not the biggest fan of country music and a romance set around it was really the last thing I should have wanted but You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn is a wonderful, heartfelt romance that I really enjoyed reading. I think it was the backstories of the two main characters that really drew me in. But before I get too deep into the story, let's get to the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things. 

But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen. 

Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk. 

Clay Coolidge is a mess. He drinks too much. Sleeps around too much. Fights too much And is just a bit out of it. He's been doing the country music thing for a while and is wildly famous. But he's gotten a little sick of the same old he's sung over and over again. They don't mean much to him anymore or at least not as much as the songs he's been currently writing do.

But he has one too many late nights and his record label is fed up. If he wants to keep making music, he needs to get Annie Mathers, a legacy to country music, to agree to be his opening act on tour.

And that's how we meet Annie. Annie is not a mess. Well...we'll get to that in a minute. But compared to Clay, Annie doesn't drink, doesn't sleep around, and has a pretty great life set up for herself. She records videos of herself singing and performs at festivals with her band every now and then. She is also the daughter of one of the most famous country music couples in history. But when Clay comes to her grandma's house in Michigan (I love when Michigan is in any book lol), she does not know what to say. Sure, she loves music and loves to perform, but she doesn't want to end up like her parents.

And that is a perfect lead into Annie and Clay's demons. To say they have a lot of them would be an understatement. Annie is still dealing with her parents' deaths. Her mother died from an overdose and her father, after finding her mother dead, died by suicide, leaving her alone. While she certainly can't escape being associated with them, she wants as little to do with them and their way of life as possible. 

Clay's demons involve his grandfather dying but mainly revolve around his brother dying on the battlefield. He was a soldier and pretty much Clay's biggest role model, and his death is what caused Clay to spiral out of control.

You can see how putting these two together might cause sparks and not necessarily the good kind. 

But, after much cajoling, Annie signs the contract and agrees to go on Clay's tour with her band. And that sets them on a path neither of them thought possible. 

It's clear from the beginning that Clay and Annie are attracted to each other but he finds her to be too good for him and she is not messing with a guy that reminds her of everything that was wrong with her parents.

But, this wouldn't be a romance if they didn't fall in love.

So, as they go from city to city together and get to know one another better, their bond begins to grow. And then THE KISSING HAPPENS! Unfortunately, those demons we talked about get in the way. (Don't they always??)

There is also a little bit of jealousy in the way as well. As they go from festival to festival, it's clear that Annie is a star and everyone almost immediately falls in love with her. Clay has been used to having the crowds screaming just for him, so to have to share that makes an already self-conscious Clay feel worse.

This book was very much a rollercoaster for me. For most of it, Clay was not my favorite character and I was not sure how I was going to be happy with him and Annie getting together. But somehow (authors are tricky people lol), I grew to like him! As I said in the intro, these characters backstories and their demons are what really drew me in, especially to a story I was so unsure about.

It kind of felt like I was one of the side characters in the story in a way because Annie was so easy to like and Clay took some time to really endear himself to me. The stories of Annie's parents and how she has had to deal with it is absolutely heartbreaking and when you read about Clay's family and background, it's hard not to have a soft spot for him as well.

OMG, I haven't mentioned the format yet! It is split into Annie's perspective and Clay's perspective, alternating every other chapter. And...THERE ARE LYRICS!! The songs that Annie and Clay write are all in the book, so you get insight into what they're thinking/feeling and you get to read the songs and imagine what they sound like!

Overall, You'd Be Mine (wait until you get to what the title means OMG) was a lovely break from some of the darker books I've been reading lately, although it did have its dark moments. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars. While this is primarily a romance, have some tissues nearby as well.

You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn comes out April 2, 2019.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A teenage romance with a country twist. While some of the plot seemed overly dramatic, I can also imagine the lifestyle of a young country music superstar isn't too far from this story. I enjoyed the back and forth between Clay and Annie, even when it was a bit ridiculous. The darker side of fame and loss certainly shows itself here, but the story is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. A fun read for anyone who enjoys YA and country music.

DNF at 35%

This book just wasn't for me so maybe I'm the wrong target for this book. I wasn't able to finish it because I just didn't enjoy reading it. When I put it down for a while, I felt no desire to ever pick it up again and finish it even though I don't really like putting books in my 'dnf' pile, this time I had to do it, at least for now. Even if my friends on goodreads ends up loving it, I won't be inclined to give it another go.

So I'm going to be honest here. I didn't find the appeal in this book. The plot (or lack of) wasn't interesting to me and I didn't connect or care about any of the characters enough to keep reading. I didn't feel anything except boredom.

If the author read this review, please don't take it personally or the wrong way. I'm not trying to attack you or your writing. I've received a copy from Netgalley to read and review.

This book kept me engaged the entire time! The main characters are well developed and easy to relate to in today's music scene. It shares raw emotions of two very different personalities coming to realizations about themselves and love. I highly recommend this book, with reservations to some of the language. The writing stands on its own and did not need the language to make this novel a hit with young adults.

You'd Be Mine is about two young adults that are musical geniuses and are on a summer tour. During that tour, they encounter love, grief and a whole slew of other feelings that derail the tour and their lives.

I liked it a lot. It had it’s problems just like with any book, but it was so sweet that you could almost overlook those problems.

The characters have a mild backstory and a horrendous one. They have walls to push through and mountains to climb before they are happy. The "villain" these characters face isn't anyone evil or even something they can fight against. The villain is the past and their inability to let it go so they could have a future. Through the course of the book, Annie and Clay act like the young adults that they are while simultaneously being asked to act like mature adults.

That situation can ring true of so many kids' lives across the world. It particularly struck a tone with me because I've had friends and I, myself, have had to show maturity before our time. And while Annie showed more maturity than Clay, they both reacted as any other child would. They broke down.

Annie's backstory made me cry so much that when she broke down, I had to stop reading for a good long while because I couldn't see the page through my tears. And Clay's backstory is equally tragic in a completely different way. One that, I think, will resonate with so many people.

Their friends made the whole book so much better. It was like when, in the movies, the sidekicks are the favorite characters. Kacey and Fitz were the cutest and most adorblest people ever. Honestly, I would love a book on Kacey and Fitz's love story alone.

The whole book was extremely well written and a joy to read. Obviously, the ways in which [censored for spoilers] was handled could have been slightly better, but again, these were children acting as children do. I haven't seen a book that puts children in these positions and makes them act that way and it was great.

I felt Annie's character was inspiring. She went through a major trauma in her life and experienced a lot of heart break growing up. Despite it all she plans on not ending up like her parents. Jefferson's character is complex and layered. He's fighting his own demons or more like avoiding them. When the pair are forced together for a summer country music tour the two start to realize maybe they can help each other in more ways than one.

I really liked the story. However, there were times that a character took a turn or something happened and I wasn't quite sure how we got there. I felt like the story just jumped into the next plot twist or character development without a reason why. I think at these times it would have been okay to slow down and work more thoroughly into the event or character.

Okay, so I just got done watching A Star is Born and reading this book in parts for the past two days, and I think my emotions were sky high because this book and that movie are like peanut butter and chocolate so this is going to be a FIVE STAR review.


From afar this appears to be a simple story of two teenage rising country stars who go on tour together, laugh, cry, and fall in love. But when you get a little closer, you see that this is really a story of heartache and grief and the coping mechanisms some use to see themselves through it.

Meet Annie. She is the daughter of two country music legends who died tragically. Annie has talent beyond her years, yet is fearful of following in her parent's footsteps. In comes Clay. He's a borderline alcoholic who lost his brother in Iraq and has his own personal demons to contend with. When Clay's label threatens to drop his due to his booze-filled antics, he's forced to recruit Annie for his summer tour. Together, they form a songwriting duo that captures the country's hearts. But the past sneaks on the both of them, threatening to stall them where they stand.

I was all on board with Annie and Clay from the first two chapters. I am not a fan of country music save for Garth Brooks, and maybe some Carrie Underwood (Blown Away is the most epic song ever) but this book had me pulling out the old Johnny Cash albums that my husband and I used to take cross-country road trips to and losing myself in the nostalgia. These two kids are broken yet together they find themselves whole. I read this book and imagined it as a movie, and honestly, it should be.

This is one I would probably buy even though I received an e-arc from the publisher and Netgalley. I cannot wait to see what Erin has in store for us next.

This book is what country music should be. It's swoon-worthy, charming, and all around magical, leaving warm and fuzzy feelings in your stomach by the end of it.

Annie Mathers is daughter to country music royalty (which comes with its own closet of skeletons), who has fled to the countryside of her hometown Michigan to live with her grandparents, playing local fairs and bars with her trio country band made up of her cousin and her best friend. Clay Coolidge is a teenage Luke Byran-esque, "Bro Country" superstar who has trouble constantly nipping at his heels and fraying the patience of his record label. The solution to Clay's problems? Take Annie on tour with him to make the people forget about his transgressions by providing the hottest Country concert of the Summer.

Obviously, sparks fly, and what transpires is a story of love, change, and redemption.

The author does an amazing job of taking what makes Country music great, but airing out its problems without excuses and trying her best to make the culture more modern and progressive than it is stereotyped to be. The book touches on a lot of taboo issues in the culture of Country music: the lack of diversity, the rampant sexism, the lack of female voices, and the superficiality that comes with stardom. She also is sure to squash any potential of cringe-worthy contemporary tropes like catty girl hate or slut shaming. We have a lesbian side character and a Latinx side character, which is more diversity than any broadcast of the CMA awards can do.

The characters are real and layered and never felt over the top or unbelievable. This is a good time to point out some potential trigger warnings of substance abuse and suicide that have major parts in the plot. Annie is also religious, but it is never heavy-handed or preachy, it's just there, like any other character trait—albeit one major scene with a clear baptism metaphor.

The only sort of critique I had was more of just my own personal preference. I'm a slow burn gal when it comes to my relationships in books. And while there's a lot of push and pull between Clay and Annie all the way up until the very end, it's fairly insta-love from the beginning. I also sometimes felt the plot was paced a bit faster than it should. Some of the heavier moments moved quickly and didn't give me enough time to sit and absorb the feelings of the moment. But, none of that really impacted my reading experience.

Overall, this book is beautiful and will be a staple recommendation from me for the rest of my life. I'm amazed at this wonderful debut novel and can't wait to read more from Erin Hahn in the future. If you grew up on Country music like me, or just love stories about plucky girls and broody boys falling in love, this one's for you.

Such a cute YA story, loved it

This is my first read by Erin Hahn, she made me cry, I am not even a fan of country music!!! The storyline and character development with Clay and Annie was beautiful, lots of chemistry. Great read overall, fun free, and light. Definitely, recommend

A love story themed after country music stars, You'd Be Mine tells the story of a drunken playboy super star Clay Coolidge and daughter of two of the most famous country stars ever, Annie Mathers. They both have a past with the industry, both wanting fame but in completely different ways for completely different reasons. She to prove to herself that she is nothing like her dead and broken parents, and him to escape the tragic loss of his beloved brother. Together they try to reach stardom, becoming a team, rivals, friends and even more... Clay needs Annie to fix his image, and she needs him to jump start her career. This means they are stuck on tour together for the foreseeable future, no matter what they think/feel for each other.
Meh, it was okay. I feel quite neutral to this story. It was neither good nor bad. I found the romance uninteresting and rather bland. Annie wasn't bad as a character, she had interesting motives and pains, but she also didn't consistently make sense. She felt inconsistent to how she was described most of the time. She was built up as a paragon of restraint but she didn't seem to show much restraint at any point in the story. It made her hard to visualize. Also, the story just did not resonate with me in any way, but I could see it being fun for country music fans. All in all, You'd Be Mine was fine and I give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

Trigger warnings for alcoholism, drug use, PTSD, suicide (graphic).
'You'd Be Mine' tells the story of two country musicians: Annie Mathers, rising online sensation and daughter of two music legends, and Clay Coolidge, the bad boy of country music. Two teenagers, scarred and hurt by their past, drawn together by their love of music. After one too many drunken arrests, Clay's label strikes a deal with him: get Annie Mathers to sign with them and tour together, or risk being dropped. Despite some early reservations, the two are almost instantly attracted to each other, though Annie doesn't want to meet the same fate as her parents and Clay has his own personal demons to fight.
I can see why 'You'd Be Mine' is getting rave reviews, but it just wasn't for me, unfortunately. From the beginning I felt Annie and Clay's relationship felt very much like insta-love, with little getting in the way between them. If there were so many differences between them surely there should have been a little friction standing in their way?
The characters also felt very flat, and at times did little to distract me from the lightness of the plot, despite this coming off to me as a character driven novel.
One thing I did appreciate about this novel was that there was no tired cliché of Annie's love "saving" Clay from grief and alcoholism, he gets help for himself, which I feel should be depicted more in novel.
Overall, 'You'd Be Mine' is a well written and thoughtful light read. I just wish I cared more for the characters, but will encourage my friends to pick up this novel.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me to review this early copy!

A huge thanks goes out to Erin Hahn, her publishers and NetGalley for providing me with this piece of awesomeness!

Hahn did it, you guys. She actually made me feel like I was on the road with Annie and Clay. She made me cry, more than once and she portrayed everything I love about country music and the little world that comes with it, and -last but not least- pulled me out of what started to feel like a reading slump the size of the moon.

Clay is a troubled young country singer. He drinks, screws around and if it wasn’t for his friend Fitz, he’d be dropped from his label in a second.
Annie is everything good; sweet, loving and considerate. Her parents were huge country stars and Annie inherited that golden voice. Though she’s scared of becoming like her parents, she has to perform and so she goes on tour with her band and Clay...

You’d be mine is a book about growing up, learning how to grief and deal with emotions and .. well.. love. All with the help of words strung together in a song. We follow Annie and Clay and their best friends and learn along with them. I loved that!

This book was pretty cute for what it was. I could have used more showing and less telling, especially concerning the romance. I just wanted more from it after going through all that with the characters. But overall it was a decent YA, borderline NA, contemporary. I know it was loosely based off of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's story, so I knew a little bit of what I was in for when I started it. I liked it. It didn't amaze me or make me swoon, but it was a solid book. I think people will really enjoy it.

“I know the consequences of signing that contract. You’ve got even more to lose. My mom lost her life to country music. How could I lose more than that?”

You’d Be Mine is an astounding young adult contemporary novel by author Erin Hahn.

Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about.

Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things.

Unfortunately for Clay, his bad boy image is turning into bad boy reality, and if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him.

Annie has been avoiding the spotlight since her parent’s tragic deaths, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour, sparking rumours and fans wishes that she and Clay are more than just tour mates.

Annie grew up with a front seat to her parent’s volatile marriage and wants nothing to do with the high profile-relationships that seem to be an intrinsic part of fame. With repeating her parent’s history.

If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk.

When I first read the blurb for this novel, I wasn’t really sure just what to expect from it, but I’m so glad to say that any of my expectations were so far surpassed I was literally speechless and sat in silence for a good long while after I finished the novel.

I loved the easy comradery and teasing between all the characters which helped to balance some of the heavier and more emotionally turbulent moments.

'I hold up a hand. “How about ‘Hey, man. Nice to see you. You look good. How’s it been? I like your new song. Are you growing a beard?’”
Fitz picks at his label. “Hey, man, nice to see you. You look better. I’ve always been a fan of your work, and you made me cry like a baby.” He raises a rusty eyebrow. “Would we call that a beard?” '

It was also so refreshing to read about two protagonists, particularly in a YA novel, take a realistic approach to what could have become a toxic relationship. To say that ‘enough is enough’ and focus on fixing themselves before starting a relationship, instead of clinging to one another and believing that love would be a magical cure-all to both Annie and Clay’s past troubles and trauma.

“All this time, without even meaning to, I’ve seen Annie as my salvation. My light at the end of this fucked-up tunnel. Her name would save my reputation. Her passion would inspire my music.
Her love would fix me.
And all this time, she’s seen me as her downfall. Her inevitable conclusion. I would break her, and she was going to let me.
Or we could have been. But we won’t be because now I know. I’m going to do what Robbie didn’t. I’m cutting her off at the start. She can’t be my sun. We’d never survive that. I crawl to my feet and stand, feeling resolute. Tomorrow is day one of the rest of my life.
And the rest of hers.”

A sensational and soulful novel about adversity, healing, love, redemption and hope. You’d Be Mine is a marvellous YA novel, filled with light-hearted banter, and heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments. Erin Hahn has done an absolutely outstanding job on her debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

"You'd Be Mine" was a super cute young adult read! This book is perfect if you want an easy, relaxing book to take with you to the beach.

The two protagonists, Clay and Annie, are adorable and well-developed. I really enjoyed their banter and chemistry. I also appreciated that Annie was a good girl but not preachy or on a high horse, while Clay was a bad boy but not a total jerk. The friend characters were also really enjoyable.

This was a very very sweet wish-fulfillment type of read - I definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Clay and Annie, country music stars, are paired together by the record label. Clay needs Annie’s image, and Annie is a rising star. As each deals with the damage they have received from their families, Clay and Annie are drawn to each other in a sweet romance.

This is a really uplifting book. I especially enjoyed how they both separated and dealt with their own demons knowing that in their current states, a relationship wouldn’t be advisable. I’m not big into country music, but it made me wish I did.

For me this book ticked so many boxes...I often try and avoid romantic YA novels due to the lack of sex scenes and the innocence of even the most complex love affairs but this book didn't need it.
Annie and Clay are such fun and yet complex characters that complemented and also expanded each other.
It was also extremely refreshing to read a romantic YA novel that focused on a different type of music scene as this year dance music , electronic and rave music have been all the go and it was great to see a different often overlooked music scene entering into YA fiction.
All in all i was beyond impressed with this novel and would highly recommend taking a chance on it.