Annie Mathers is being sought by Country Music's superstar badboy. Annie has her guard up but she decides to jump head first into touring with him. Will this make or break both of them?

First of all, I just love this cover. It matches the tone of the book perfectly. You'd Be Mine is a refreshing young adult novel about country musicians who join together on a tour and inevitably fall for each other. It's sweet and innocent and the perfect romantic YA novel.

Clay Coolidge is a bad boy of country music, drinking, sleeping around, and fighting too much, mostly to mask his feelings of abandonment and grief. He needs to clean up his image before his fledgling career is derailed, so the record label wants him to convince Annie Mathers to join his tour. Annie’s parents were country music royalty, but the dark side of the industry led to their tragic deaths. She’s determined to avoid a volatile relationship like theirs, so she’s very hesitant being Clay’s opening act on the summer fair circuit, even if it will help her career. Although this is billed as a YA romance, it’s a very slow burn with the main emphasis on country music and friendship. For much of the book, it was hard to warm up to Clay because he continued to sleep with his casual hook-up even after being blown away by his first kiss with Annie. He teases her, then pulls away several times, but he has some heavy emotional baggage that masks his goodness. It’s hard to watch this young man spiral. In contrast, Annie is very mature, sweet and focused on her goals. Hahn’s debut novel is extremely well-written and packs an emotional punch with heart and humor, much of it provided by friends of the main protagonists. Even if you’re not a fan of country music, pick this one up.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Wednesday Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Title: You’d Be Mine

Author: Erin Hahn

Pages: 304

Genre: Teen Contemporary

Rating: 4 stars

You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn is sort of a teen Johnny and June story. Annie Mathers is basically country music's sweetheart even though she hasn't sung a note professionally. Both her parents were country singers that ended tragically. Clay Coolidge is basically country music's bad boy. He sings what could be called bro country or pop country because it's what's made a name for himself. But if he was completely honest with himself he wants to sing the type of songs he grew up listening to with his grandpa and his brother. But he's afraid.
Annie loves to sing but she's worried that she will end up like her parents her parents and drag Clay down with her. These two young singers have a lot to learn about music, themselves and each other. The songs that Annie and even Clay write throughout the story are good makes me which they were actual country songs. I have to say You'd be Mine would make an awesome movie. And even though YA books about touring singers have been written before You'd Be Mine is a fresh take on the genre and doesn't shy away from the hard stuff.

Much like both characters in the book I grew up listening to classic country on my grandpa's knee and even my mom listened to classic country. As a Kentucky girl my all-time favorite country singer will always Loretta Lynn. One of the original "bad chicks" of country in the sense she wrote and sang what she wanted. Quite a few of her songs got me in trouble in Elementary school. Whom, Annie mentions in the book before singing one of her songs. If it wasn't for Loretta, Tammy , and Kitty country wouldn't have Miranda, Carrie, and Kacey today. This book is filled with mentions of some of the greats of country music that most teens today have never heard of. Annie, Clay and Annie's parents are fictional, but their stories are ones that are indeed believable.
Since this mains stream teen fictional there are teens doing things that shouldn't. Underage drinking, bar fights, mentions of sex and some language. Not suitable for everyone. But it was still a read I enjoyed. I do look forward to reading any future books from this author.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

I honestly don't really know what to say.... I had so much hope due to the blurb, but I just found the characters annoying and the plot was kinda weird, and it was just not what I expected

While I loved the plot and the set up for this story, the characters and writing just didn’t quite do it for me. However I think Erin Hahn shows a lot of promise as a writer and I will definitely be checking out more from her in the future!

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Annie Mathers is the daughter of two country music legends. She inherited their talent, but she is afraid of becoming like them. Clay Coolidge is on thin ice with his record label after his bad boy behavior gets him in trouble again. The label will let Clay continue his tour this summer only if he can convince Annie to be his opener. Despite her reservations, Annie and her bandmates agree to tour with Clay. The public love the idea of Annie and Clay as a couple, and the two have undeniable chemistry. However, Annie doesn't want to repeat her parents' tumultuous marriage, and Clay doesn't want Annie's reputation pulled down by his bad boy reputation. Their hearts have their own plans, though.

I love this story. The plot kept me intrigued, and the characters were likable and relatable. We all have things we are dealing with below the surface that we try not to let show, and these two had some pretty big issues to deal with. As a country music fan, I also enjoyed the fact that Annie wanted to keep the classics alive and introduce them to a new generation of fans. I wish we could get the songs in the book as actual songs to listen to.

Y'all. Go out and buy this book. Devour it in (basically) one sitting, like I did. Now, I started this book back in March, got a couple of chapters in and life happened. I picked this book back up last night thinking I would read a few chapters before I fell asleep. The next thing I noticed was my alarm going off and the sun coming up.

I think this was marketed as an YA enemy to lovers trope, which I love, so I was excited. This was so much more. Annie and Clay are both dealing (or rather, not dealing) with some heavy family dynamics while also being budding country sensations. Clay's been doing this country superstar for a year or so and dealing with his grief with booze and babes. Until Clay shows up on Annie's doorstep to convince her to take her show on the road as his opening act, she has been avoiding the siren call of the stage so she wouldn't end up like her parents.

This duo takes us out on the road with them. We get to live the highs and lows of the performing life. We see the toll that it takes on each of them along with the way they choose to handle their demons. These characters are so well fleshed out and this story is told so well that I could picture each scene as if it was playing out in front of me. I could feel their magnetism when they were performing the Johnny and June songs on stage. I could feel their love and heartache and confusion and anger and despair. These did not feel like fictional characters. They felt so real that at one point, I started to search for Under the Willows on YouTube so I could hear Annie's voice, before realizing that I was being delusional.

Erin Hahn did not just stop at making her main characters feel so realistic, her side characters were just a real. The only band member that I keep forgetting about is Clay's drummer - Jackson? I think? The other band members, Annie & Clay's families, and even the band managers all were fleshed out and could hold their own as realist characters.

Throughout this book, I laughed out loud. I cried. I was sucked into all the emotions that Annie went through. Her grief and anger over her parents. Her love and protectiveness and heartbreak for Clay. I was right there with her through all of those feels.

It has been a long time since a YA contemporary novel has left this much of an impact on me. I will be shouting my praises and recommendations for this novel to everyone that will listen. I will definitely been picking up more of Erin Hahn's books in the future.

5 Big stars!!

Annie Mathers didn't want the spot light but she was born for it, after loosing her parent Annie left the country music south to live away from it all with her grandparents in Michigan. But she is America's Sweetheart, with the voice of an angel.

Clay Coolidge is already a big name in country music, but with some bad media coming his way his label has told him he has to get Annie Mathers and her band to tour with him or else he is out. Annie can't help be swayed by Clay and his charm and agrees to join the tour.

A whirl wind of a summer and a tour follows. Of course fans want to believe there is more than just a tour mate relationship between Annie and Clay, but after Annie saw the relationship between her parents and their tragic end how can she even consider it?

Erin Hahn did a brilliant job of building not only building her main characters but her side characters. Everyone had such amazing depth to them. I am happy to say that I felt a genuine connection to all of the characters. I understood their motivations a reasons for doing what they were doing. It was a lot of fun to read the different songs the two characters were coming up with.

This was fun summer read that definitely had some deeper topics. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys young adult contemporary with some serious topics put in, as well as cute romances.

Trigger warnings for: loss, grief, substance abuse, and suicide.

http://thoseclassichues.com/2019/07/07/youd-be-mine/

Ladies and Gentleman, I’m here to announce that You’d be mine is coming out today!

I’ve sat on this book for MONTHS trying to get my words together, trying to understand what I actually thought about it and I think I finally am able to do so and just in time!
What took me so long? I had too many emotions about this book, good and bad, but mostly I needed to prove myself with something that only time would tell and I wasn’t wrong.

So where to start? I think need to write a disclaimer first.
I love music, I enjoy it deeply, and Country is one of my favourite genres. I’m not, however, one of those people that can’t live without music, religiously carrying headphones with them or always blasting something in their ears. I’m the type of listener that get fixated with songs or albums and start listening to them in a loop until I know them so deeply that they become white noise.
That said I have enjoyed this book, It shines a light in the ugly and shiny parts of the life on the other side, the backstage and onstage life.
There is some crude aspects in the entertainment industry where you play a persona and nothing else matter to a lot of people, and you only need to remember who you are because no one else will.
I found this book way heavier than the romantic fresh frame it was planned to have. I feel like it should come with some trigger warnings, some pretty big ones if I am to be honest.

But let’s shine a light on it and let’s start with what I loved before getting into more details, shall we?.

PUTS COUNTRY ROAD ON PLAY
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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.

So, what do I love about this book? I love that the author gifted us with a double point of view, it allowed me to sympathise with characters I otherwise wouldn’t have, why? Because the characters in this story are onions! They have layers and public personas and more layers, they have traumas and charm and charisma and chips and crepe and it’s ok, they are human, they are young but way older than they should be, they are deep thrown into this wide-scale industry full of big names where everyone is tempting them with one or the other vice and not everyone can be strong, hell knows if I don’t know something about it! Clay is running from himself, he’s lost and clueless; Annie is done, a bundle of phobias and fears a set line of self-imposed don’ts that prevent her to ever step out of line. He’s using the damned way to run from his demons she’s using the merry way to stay away from hers, they are the Ying to their Yang and together they’ll find a balance that it’s actually quite perfect.

I Loved how in this book Love takes the centre stage and then bows and take a step aside for self-growth and self-love. I love how they need to be a better person for themselves in order to be so for each other, I just really liked it. It lightened up my Sunday and It trapped me from the very beginning.
I loved the alternate chapters, I think it was the best choice ever, It helped us have an insight on a character that, otherwise, would’ve been simply judged and not truly understood. As well as open our eyes to grief, sorrow and loss.

This book made me cry, swoon and feel so much, so… why only 3.5 stars?

[SPOILER- ISH]

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I blame it on the ending.

After months I have Just realised I don’t miss it, I don’t have a clear image in my mind of it, it wasn’t epic, it wasn’t THAT BOOK that I will remember when I think about my books of 2019, that ending felt bland, almost anticlimactic, It was nice as a thought and I applaud the virtue behind it, but didn’t feel like in par with the rollercoaster that was the rest of the book! And that, for me, is the difference between a memorable book and… well, a not so memorable one.

4 /5 ☆
WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?
Yes, why not? It’s cute, it’s pretty and It’s well thought, I think a lot of people would love it, especially if they read it while listening to country music!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. This was a light cute read. I think many will enjoy it. The cover is really pretty. I would re read works by Erin Hahn

Look, it pains me to write this because I love music books (and as much as I hate country music, I LOVED Nashville). Here's what didn't work for me:

1. No chemistry between the love interests. They're all into each other (but not, because you know we gotta have some angst) but they don't really interact?
2. The male narrator in the audiobook is flat. The spoken lyrics by both parties don't work. This is a rare case where I wouldn't recommend the audiobook.
3. Even though the main character tries to be sex positive, her comments don't feel that way. We already know the pressure she's under to be a "good girl" unlike her mother.
4. The alluded "tortured artist" with a double suicide (FYI no warning in the book).

A charming summer romance that reminded me of Open Road Summer by Emery Lord and Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker. Great for fans of Johnny and June or anyone who enjoys love stories with a touch of twang.

A lot of other readers compared this book to the movie A Star is Born, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. The beginning was kind of intriguing, and gave the readers a peak at each of their lives. But for some reason, I just couldn't get into it. I usually really love romances that involve the characters in the entertainment field, but this one didn't do it for me. Annie and Clay were great characters, but I was sort of bored with the plot itself.

I was hoping for more from this book. Parts of it were cute, but good lord, where were the adults for these children who are going around the country and apparently just doing whatever they want? What exactly are these managers doing, if not trying to make sure their clients are sober, clean and happy?

It was clear both of them had issues, but it seemed like they matured and grew over the summer. I wasn't sold on their romance by the end of the book, but there were hints that it could be real.

You'd Be Mine follows a wide array of characters but mainly Annie and Clay, two talented artists on the glow up. Much to the industry's dismay, Annie and Clay aren't on good terms. But they are forced together on a summer-long tour around the US. That's this book in a nutshell. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel! It was cute and funny while being tense and serious all at the same time. It was a beautiful combination of expertly crafted plot and writing that of someone who really knows what they're doing!

Clay is a country music's current bad boy celeb, to keep his star rising, he will need a stellar opening act. Good Girl and legacy, Annie Mathers and her band would be a perfect opening act. Annie doesn't want to fall prey to the fame game like her parents, who both died as a result, but music is her life. She decides to give the tour a chance and has hope for it, so long as she doesn't fall in love with Clay. It is through their troubled pasts that Clay and Annie find their way to each other and struggle with their futures as performers and possibly romantically.

I enjoyed this novel. I thought the dramatic past of the characters added to the story and pushed it beyond a typical fluffy romance. This is a perfect summer relaxation book, complete with outdoor country concerts and romance.

You'd Be Mine immediately caught my attention online when I saw its gorgeous cover. I mean it's just so pretty! When I read the blurb, I knew I had to read this one. Unfortunately, it didn't hold my attention. I really like the plot and think the book has a lot of potential. The romance and characters in You'd Be Mine just didn't connect with me. There isn't a specific reason I can list as to why they didn't, it just fell a little flat for me.

I have seen a lot of reviews that completely disagree with me and readers who loved Annie and Clay's story. If you've read You'd Be Mine, I would love to know what you thought about it!

I voluntarily received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my new favorite books! This author has such a way with words the pages flew by in no time! I can’t wait to see the next work by this author! This was such a joy to read!

A quick read for any fan of (teen) romance. Although the storyline was a bit predictable it was still enjoyable and I liked the addition of the song lyrics, thought that gave it a different edge.