I need to start by saying that I LOVED this book. I'm a huge fan of the TV show Nashville and always tend to like stories that go "behind the scenes", in this case, what it's like to be a touring musician. It was actually the cover of this book that caught my attention first, and then when I read the synopsis, I thought it would be a cute story. It ended up completely capturing my attention and now I'm anxiously waiting for Erin Hahn to give us another book!

Real (and Flawed) Characters
I love that these characters actually seemed like real teenagers to me. They fall in love, freak out, drink, and make mistakes, and I thought it was great to see. Annie is the classic "girl next door", but Hahn goes the step further to actually explain why Annie doesn't have casual sex and why she's been so hesitant to sign with a record label. Likewise, Clay as the "bad boy" could have been stereotyped so quickly, but Hahn took him further and showed us what brought him to this point and whether he would ever find redemption. I also loved that Annie doesn't simply fall for Clay or think that she can "save him"; instead, she realizes that he has to do it himself. She's working through her own baggage and recognizes that she can't take on his as well. Hahn did a great job of humanizing these characters and giving them depth, which made for a great story.

Makes Me Want to Listen to Country 
I'm not a big music person, but I do tend to listen to the country stations when we go to the cottage; there's something about the open road that calls for country music! However, reading You'd Be Mine makes me want to make a conscious effort to listen to country more often. I love the songs that Hahn wrote for this book and wish that I could actually listen to them. Clay's song brought tears to my eyes just with the lyrics, so I can only imagine what it would do to me with music behind them! I also loved that Hahn made a point of comparing Clay's "brand" with Annie's and how their are so many styles of country. Either way, their songs are excellent and I think country and non-country music listeners will love the lyrics too.

Just a Really Sweet Love Story
At the end of the day, this was such a lovely love story. I'd love to meet Annie and Clay (as well as Fitz, Kacey, and Jason!) and really hope that Hahn might consider writing them into another story in the future, just so we can see how everyone is doing! I felt like I was on the summer tour with everyone and loved getting to read about their adventures together. Erin Hahn did a great job writing this story so that it's approachable, entertaining, and ultimately, romantic. I also found out that the final version (not the ARC that I read) will have an additional epilogue with more Annie and Clay time!! I definitely need to get the final version as well because more time with them means more happy for me. 

​I thought this book was so lovely and I completely fell in love with the characters, their music, and their story. I can't wait for the final version to be published on April 2nd. So much love for this book and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Erin Hahn will give us more of them in the future!

Book: You’d Be Mine
Author: Erin Hahn
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with this ARC. 

I went into this one completely blind. I mean, the summary sounded good and the cover was pretty. Other than that, I had never heard of this book or author. I was very surprised about how much I ended up liking this one. There are some books that you go in blind and end up getting burned, others make you  think that you have found a new book and new author to watch. This is how I felt with You’d Be Mine. Of course, though, Wednesday Books has been putting out some good reads.  In fact, a lot of my most hyped books are coming from Wednesday Books-cough, cough…Again But Better…cough cough…

So, anyway, I am always nervous about reading books that are set in the music scene and deal with country music. A lot of times, these books come across as clearly being fake and that the author has no connection with anything that they are writing about. Erin seems to have a deep connection not only with the country music scene, but with characters who grow up around it. I was expecting this to feel fake and hard to deal with, but Erin certainly did an amazing job. The writing is real, emotional, and fun when it needs to be. I mean, being on tour during the summer is supposed to be fun, but Erin adds in the darkness that goes along with everyday life. She really puts out there that even though someone is rich and has this dream life, it doesn’t mean that everything is truly okay. 

What I got when reading this was the same vibes that I get from Sarah Dessen, Kasie West, Morgan Matson, and Jenny Han. We have that feel good romance and cute fluff, but we also have characters who deal with real issues. Clay and Annie are our leads: they have musical talent, chemistry, and everything else going on for them. Plus, this book is set during the summer.  Like with the authors, I just got done mentioning, these two characters both have a lot of darkness. Clay has lost his brother, his family, and himself, while Annie lost her parents. Both of these characters really don’t talk much in public about this and let it eat them up in different ways-you will see what I’m talking about once you read the book. Like with the authors above again, this tie into the real world is what makes this book stand out. 

I really am looking forward to seeing more from this author. I think that if Erin keeps writing like this, then she is going to be huge in the young adult world. There was just an element about her writing and storytelling that just sucked me in and kept me hooked throughout the book. It took me a little bit longer to read this one, because I didn’t want to read it on the run and wanted to actually sit down and enjoy it. Hint: This is a sign of a great book. 
You’d Be Mine comes out on April 2. 2019. I really do encourage you to add it to your to read shelf.

It was cute, but not believable, not even for a YA novel. I am sure things don't work out so easily for young artists. I know too little about country music, except for what I learned from movies/ TV shows and books, but even I sense there is a bit more to getting into the high ranks of it. The fact that Clay's growl into the mic was pure art makes me raise an eyebrow and narrow my eyes. And question country music.

As for the love story, pure teenagehood. All about physical attraction and too little interest for each other's depth. The two main characters were so out of sync at times but then suddenly so engrossed in each other it was confusing. They acted immature, although that can be overlooked when thinking of 18 year-olds; but then don't act like you are mature and know what life is all about. I felt for their loss of family, but there could have been a bit more meat on the bones of this angel.

The serious angle of drinking and drugs could have been treated more seriously. Clay too easily gets over his one-year long pattern of drinking, just to drop it of his own accord because he's on a farm, listens to the right songs on Annie's old iPod, and Annie's grandad has a talk with him. Highly unlikely. And speaking of the slim substance of the novel, there were episodes when the story read like a bunch of fragments written separately and then put together to make a novel. I didn't see the fluidity of the plot, which is pretty meager, if you think about it. And the constant repetition of "I'm not good for him/ her" or "I will be the destructive force for him/her" grew tiring after a while. Two kids pining after one another, but being kids, they need 250+ pages to end up together.

The mixing of religion into the story was the element that was needed to create a complete Southern image. Coming from a religious/ Christian background, I don't see a world in which God and Clay and Annie's choices could coexist.

For readers into country music, for those looking for an easy read, or a road trip sort of novel, this is a nice choice. I watched A Star is Born not long ago and I am still listening to its soundtrack, so this novel came as a different perspective on the whole music industry.

If you aren’t a country music fan when you pick this book up, you will be by the time you finish it! Clay Coolidge is the bad boy of the country music scene. He’s a hard drinking, hard living teen, who has had his share of losses in his life. 

When his label tells him to recruit up and coming Annie Mathers for his summer tour, he’s reluctant, to say the least. But when Annie and her group join the tour, sparks fly from many different directions. Readers get a feel for the back stage of a country tour in the heat of the summer. 

I’m so excited to have been an early reader for this novel. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.

YOU’D BE MINE

A NOVEL

BY ERIN HAHN

 

ST. MARTIN’S PRESS

WEDNESDAY BOOKS

TEENS & YA

PUB DATE 02 APR 2019

 

 

I am reviewing a copy of You’d Be Mine through St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley:

 

You’d Be Mine is one heck of a debut novel, if You’d Be Mine is any indication, Erin Hahn is going to take the YA market by storm!

 

Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart, the heir to a country music legacy, which includes all the things her Gran had warned her about.    Clay Coolidge is a superstar and definitely one of those things Annie’s Gran had warned her about.

 

 

Clay Unfortunately  is unable to convince Annie to join his summer tour and now his music label is threatening to drop him.  This is what happens when a bad boy image becomes more than an image and becomes a reality.  Annie has doing the best to avoid the spotlight since her parents tragic death (aside from her skyrocketing Youtube channel.  Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and he is determined to make it happen.

 

Finally swayed by Clay’s Charm as well as his good looks Annie and her band finally agree to being a part of the tour.  From the beginning fans want Annie and Clay to be more than tour mates, but neither of them are sure they want such a high profile romance.

 

I give You’d Be Mine five out of five stars!

 

 

Happy Reading!

Wow!! Just simply wow! This book drew me in right off the bat and never let go of it's hold on me. I was drawn back to it to keep reading and follow along with Clay and Annie. Fast pace and I wanted to read it all in one sitting! 

Realistically, Annie was mainly the draw. The focus goes back and forth, in first person, between Clay's and Annie's perspectives, but Annie has so much humor and personality and sweet, down-to-earth, hometown-girl-ness that you can't help but fall in love with her, just like America does as she goes on her first music tour, even as we know right off that she's country music's tragic sweetheart before she even sung a note on YouTube because of the double suicide of her parents, country music legends who Annie does not want to end up like, so she definitely wants to stay far away from bad boy Clay Coolidge when he comes knocking on the door to her grandparent's farmhouse inviting her to be his opening act for his summer tour, because his record label says he's fired if he doesn't convince her and her band, Under the Willows. 

The tragedies in both Clay's and Annie's pasts connect them, as well as their love for and being in the business of country music. We learn about their individual tragedies a little bit at a time, but it didn't drag out. The book focuses so much on who they are now and their developing romance, but when we do learn about their pasts it feels like a natural reveal. The development of everything in this book (characters, setting, background, etc.) was so well done. I did struggle with the language and this being billed as a teen/YA book with the tragedies, drinking, drugs, sex (not descriptive, just the young age) , and more that is in this book. However, as an adult, I could look past all that and just read and enjoy the book, but I wouldn't let my teens read this. There is a lot of strong language from the beginning and all the way through, along with the drinking/drugs/etc. However, those subjects are all dealt with, I felt, very well. Instead of them being so heavy in the story, while the characters do have to learn to get past them and move forward, they didn't feel like they made the book so dark and heavy. There is a lot of humor and a good light dose of Jesus/religion in the book as well. 

Also, the book is extremely heavy on classic country music, even though the young country artists are supposed to be current, the main references are not on today's country artists but, instead, on the classic country artists, their songs, and their influence on both the characters and today's country music in general. So much Johnny and June (Cash for the ignorant... ha ha), plus my favorite of their songs (even if it is originally Bob Dylan...) -- "It Ain't Me, Babe." These references and how the author made them current as a part of these young artists' lives was a huge bonus and connection factor for me. That said, while my teens would appreciate and understand the references, most teens/YAs that this book is supposed to be geared towards, would probably not get them and how important they are to the book. But I appreciated how both Clay and Annie tried to take the classics and incorporate them into their shows. As such, along with other reasons, the book has a slight feel of the movie "Walk The Line," though it definitely stands on its own.

I loved the full-length lyrics included in the book for Annie's and Clay's two songs. I loved the banter, the humor, the realness of Annie, her relationships with her bandmates Jason and Kacey, as well as her Gran and Pops, their farm, what it comes to mean for the characters, as well as Clay's hometown and how he tries to build a relationship with his niece and sister-in-law. I love the roles Fitz and Kacey play for each Clay and Annie respectively, as characters who've known them for a long time, before and now. I love the settings as the tour moves around the country to the culmination in the CMA awards in Vegas at the end of the book. Again, I wish the characters had been just a tad older and the focus had been less towards teens/YAs with some of the (yes, I'm back to it again...) drinking/drugs/sex/swearing/death, but this book was amazing and, honestly, even with all of that, I wouldn't change a thing and I already want to read it again.

I absolutely look forward to more from this author and am still a little bit stunned that this was a debut.

Annie Mathers is the daughter of two country music stars who had a tragic ending. Living outside the stage lights of Nashville, Annie tried to ignore her calling but she was born to write and sing. After she releases a couple of songs on YouTube her star starts rising. Clay Coolidge is one of the country’s hottest young stars, but he’s going down the path her parents took. After another drunk bar fight he’s told that he has to go to Michigan to talk Annie into opening for his summer concert tour. With his record deal on the line, Clay convinces Annie and her band to join them. Even though they are complete opposites, she the good girl and he the bad boy, they strike sparks both on stage and off.

You’d be Mine had a lot of the things I look for in a YA contemporary novel, great character growth, a simmering love story, and a great hook. What I wasn’t expecting was the magical poetry this author wrote for their music lyrics and the gritty feel to the story. Annie was an easy character to like. I’ll admit that she walked a fine line between being a “good girl” and kind of a prude, but it fit her back story and gave her the heart and soul she’d need to sell the reader on her chemistry for leading man Clay.

Clay also had a great back story. A brother who is a fallen war hero and a line of people who want to ride his coattails, making his bad choices pretty realistic. If there was one fault with his part of the story I’d say his demon battling went on just a touch too long. I wanted the story to speed up and it lagged just a tad in the middle. The supporting characters were loyal, funny, and charming and I adored all of their antics and support. Even though this was a story about music and love, at it’s heart it was about family and these characters gave the reader a solid base line on what family should look like.

I mentioned above my love for the poetry in the music lyrics. You could tell this author has a feel for writing lyrically and if she hasn’t done so already, she should think about her own songwriting career! They were pretty special and the story itself? Good, very, very good. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I was given a free ARC of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

The first time I saw this book on NetGalley, I didn't expect too much, I might be disappointed but then as  I continue reading, I slowly got hooked. Then, I saw a friend's comment via Twitter that he enjoyed reading this book a lot. I was like, "Hey! Me too!" This book put me in a good mood because of all the music mentioned. There were times that I do search the song on my Spotify just to add more feelings on what I am reading. One more thing that adds up to why I liked this book is that, they're all talking about Country songs! I do love this genre!!! This one is on my top three genres. There's something in Country songs that is relaxing and fun to listen to. 

I also love the concept of the book. Concert tours? I always wanted to watch a concert that would feature a country icon (one day hopefully). Anyway, I loved how things evolved here. You'll know more things about Clay and Annie. I loved their up and down relationship and self discovery. It reflects the real things that is happening during concert tours and the young fame.I liked Clay, in my head he's like Luke Bryan, handsome and all. Annie is like Taylor Swift because of how her hair was described here. These two characters have a very deep background that I don't want to spoil in this review. Both characters have issues and they showed how they handled it in their own ways. Both of them wants to escape from the past. Both characters grew as two different people but what I'm sure of they became more interesting at the end of this book.

I listed some of the songs and I listened to it while on my way to work or home while reading the book on my Kindle App. What I would like to do some other time is that, I'll review the book again and make a playlist to share with you all. I could say that I enjoyed reading this book a lot. Took me a long time to finish due to work stuff (apologies!!!) imagine... they even get to CMA! I was like.. wow.. just wow.. I loved every part of it. And it makes me fall in love to Country more. 

I hope other readers will enjoy the book as much as I do. Also, I am looking forward to read other books from Erin Hahn. I liked how she writes, no dull time though. I just continue reading and I found myself that the book is almost over. It was simple and fun to read. 

PS. While writing this review, I am listening to country songs. It feels appropriate.

I found this YA to be very sweet and endearing. I did feel as though the romance of the story came secondary to the touring and management of the two stars and their tour mates. I was rooting for them the whole way through and I’m glad they got there but it tended to be a lot slower than I typically like.

Thank you to Wednesday Books + Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.  

I’m not a big country music fan, but I found myself sucked into this story so quickly. Annie Mathers is heir to a country music legacy who loves singing, but will do anything to avoid following in her parents tragic footsteps. Clay Coolidge is a country music star known for his bad boy image, his label is about to drop him after a series of PR nightmares unless he can get Annie to join his summer tour. ⁣
⁣
For being YA, I was not expecting how many heavier topics this story would contain. Love, heartbreak, death, suicide, grief, addiction, there’s so much more depth to this story than I had expected from the cute cover. These characters are flawed, and both fighting their own demons due to trauma they’ve experienced. This book reads like you’re watching a really good episode of Nashville, and I was 100% here for it! I loved the ending, but I also wanted MORE. I gladly would have read another couple hundred pages to follow Annie and Clay’s journey. ⁣
⁣
You’d Be Mine was a 5 star read for me. Highly recommend trying it if you love Nashville or contemporary YA!

I simply couldn't finish this book. Although the "country music" setting of the story was interesting (even though I've never been a country music fan), I just get into the story. I also felt frustrated by the protagonist's personality. She considers herself a Christian, but some of her ideas simply didn't make any sense at all, it was like she didn't have any idea of what she actually believed. I guess that's common in many teens, but the way she expressed herself simply made no sense to me at times. I couldn't finish the book, so for all I know she actually figured out what she actually believed and either rejected her religion or came to a better understanding of it, I simply didn't care enough to find out.

The male protagonist was also kind of frustrating, I guess because I simply didn't like him much. I normally like these type of characters, but I simply didn't care enough about his struggles.

In short, I couldn't connect to the story or with the chararacters.

The first half of this book was incredibly slow and to me completely unnecessary. The backstory and build-up was far too long. Thankfully, once we got further into the tour, things started to pick up. I really enjoyed the story between Annie and Clay (Jefferson). I really enjoyed the serious topics of addiction, suicide, and alcoholism that were touched upon in a YA book. It's something that isn't addressed enough for this age group. The ending was lacking a "big finale" as I had hoped for, since it seemed to just cut out and end at the CMAs. I figured there'd be this grand gesture that solidified that Jefferson and Annie were 100% together and making it work from Nashville to Indiana, but I didn't get that. Otherwise though, very cute book and a fun spring/summer read.

This book is a perfect summer read.  It made me want to crank the radio and sing along to my favorite songs with the windows down. Annie comes from country music royalty but is hesitant to join the industry due to the deaths of both her parents, which she partially blames on the fame and pressure of being a star.  Clay is the hot, new country music star with a bad boy reputation.  He needs Annie in order to save his career after another disastrous night of underage drinking. The two go on tour together and create music and chemistry that takes over the country music scene by storm!

This was, in a nutshell, disappointing. I rarely enjoy contemporary novels and I was really looking forward to a fun, country centric, fluffy romance novel. I did not get that ...

Honestly, this was dark. Surprisingly so, and it was not what I needed to read. Told through their alternating points of view, Clay and Annie are two teenage country singers who go on tour together, Annie opening for Clay. Both main characters are battling a lot of demons, and frankly it turned me off. In particular Clay. Self-destructive is the term that comes to mind. I personally did not enjoy reading about an 18-year-old alcoholic, pill popping, man-whore. It's really hard to sympathize with, and both characters went back and forth with every chapter. 

The country music angle felt too ... I don't know ... easy? I am in shape or form an expert in that industry, but something tells me it just doesn't work the way it's portrayed here. It didn't sit well with me as the reader. There were a few original songs written, but I skimmed over them because I was losing interest. There was also a lot of growling with the singing?

I think this book was just not for me, plain and simple. I know one of my best friends will love it, if only for the country music angle so I'll definitely recommend it to her, but I'm taking a pass.

I absolutely loved this story! All of the characters are well rounded and enjoyable to read. This book gave me great summer vides even though I read it in the middle of winter. Annie and Clay both have things they work through in this book and I think Hahn handled their stories beautifully. 

A new favorite for sure.

It does not lie when they say if you loved A Star is Born you will also love You'd Be Mine. This book did not disappoint! I adored it. 

You’d Be Mine is Erin Hahn’s debut novel. It follows two main characters, Annie Mathers, a sweet girl with the most incredible singing voice, who is heir to her parents legacy to two huge country stars, and Clay Coolidge, who is everything that her grandma warned her about. A troubled bad boy, heart-breaker, and a glorified country star. Clay is so much of a bad boy that his record label threatens to drop him unless he can convince Annie Mathers to jump on board as the opening act of his big Summer U.S tour. Annie on the other hand, has been avoiding the spotlight all her life after the tragic death of both her parents, despite the fact that all she wants to do is get on stage and sing, you can say that performing is in her blood. Clay takes a trip to Annie’s house to try and get her on board and manages to succeed with the help of his southern charm and incredible good looks, she just couldn’t resist so Annie goes on the tour along with her band. From the get go, the fans see something special in Clay and Annie so much so that they want them to be an item, over time they both see that maybe the fans could be right, but Annie struggles to find peace with dating a super star heart-breaker and doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of her parents’ destructive marriage. She somehow has to convince her heart that Clay may be worth the risk, and Clay hopes that his self destructive behavior won’t bring her down.

It's a wonderful and charming romance that truly warms your insides. You’d Be Mine is a great YA (Young Adult) book. It is sweet, tender, has lots of drama, is uplifting, and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy after reading it. It was simply a great romance novel. It made me really want to visit the southern states so much! Erin Hahn’s writing was spot on, she made it very easy to believe that you were right there with these characters and that you could feel what each of them was going through. I could very vividly see them all come to life in front of me. Especially the scenes with the live music! I literally felt like I was right there on stage performing in front of thousands. Loved it.

If your a fan of classic romance novels then this is the book for you. It's got heart, soul and most importantly, music. A book for all music lovers for sure.

Feel free to check out my full review on my blog by clicking this link- https://www.chrissysbooks.com/post/you-d-be-mine-by-erin-hahn

DNF at 21% - I had a hard time connecting to the story and finding my interest in it. That does not mean that it isn't good per se, just that it wasn't for me! Thus my 3/5 star rating, I want to make it average :)

A cute love story with the fun background of touring, country music, and celebrities. Solid YA fiction, and the end left me with a few good chills.

In You'd Be Mine  country music star Clay Coolidge won best new artist at the CMA's, but his bad boy behavior has him in trouble with his label. They insist that he include Annie Mather's band on his summer tour, or they will drop him.  Annie comes from country music royalty, but after her mother's overdose and her dad's suicide, she is understandably wary of the lifestyle.  Her passion for music wins out and she joins him on the tour, quickly eclipsing him with her standout performances.  From the start of the tour fans are rooting for them to become a couple, but Annie has seen the pitfalls of celebrity romances. The story alternates between their views about the tour and each other, highlighting the difficulties in celebrities having normal lives. Annie and Clay bring out the best in each other musically and personally and can't fight their mutual attraction. The story is set in the world of country music, but one doesn't have to be a fan to love this bad boy/good girl romance, which comes out April 2nd.

I was super looking forward to this book. I’m a sucker for cute romances and when you mix in music (albeit country) with serious themes as well, then you’ve got me hooked. This was a really enjoyable read and you should give it a try!