I received So Long As We're Together by Glenda Burgess as an ARC from NetGalley. So Long As We're Together tells the story of twins, Marley and Andi. I have twins so I love reading books about twins and this one was exceptionally good. When the girls were young they traveled the country with their mother as a country duo. Now that they are adults, Andi is a famous singer and Marley writes her songs. Their mother has committed suicide and Marley goes to clean out her house to get it ready to sale. and then Andi joins her. I have two sisiters and I enjoy reading about sister relationships. I loved this book and found the relationship between the twins very intriguing. I look forward to reading more by Glenda Burgess.

I found this book an easy read, yet held surprises as you turned the pages. Two sisters, involved in music, plus many other feelings and emotions which made me feel sorry for them. They were close but could they depend on each other to understand when events happened such as their Mother's suicide. This was my first book by this writer and I see talent with a little more pressure. I want to thank Net Galley for giving me the chance to read this book.

This novel has a musical premise, and while I know very little about music, I know a lot about writing. Glenda Burgess does a phenomenal job of describing imagery, bringing her reading right into the moment with each character.

While this is my first novel by Burgess, I have repeatedly heard positive reviews of her writing abilities, and So Long as We're Together did not disappoint!

Marley and Andi are two sisters that Burgess gives us, as readers, a peek into their lives and relationships. Burgess brings her writing details into clear perspective through an all out assault on our senses- and I mean that is a POSITIVE way!

Every little detail, nook, and cranny of each character's life is woven with explicit intricacies. I could imagine myself sitting, as a little fly would, right on the wall of the rooms, through every conversation.

If you enjoy novels with a musical theme, intensely accurate imagery, then you will really enjoy this novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I love books about sisters (I don't have sisters, so I'm always fascinated with books about sisters), friends, relationships and country music and this book had all of those and more. It looks at life and relationships and the shortness of each either by accident or on purpose. While I read it there were a few things in it that I had a hard time reading through (suicide, cutting) so my view of it may be different than someone else's.

I thought it was good and it portrayed sisters realistically. It was hard to read about the mother and the after effects of her suicide. I just don't think this was the right time for me to read this book as it stuck a few nerves.

AS LONG AS WE’RE TOGETHER by Glenda Burgess is a fictionalized take of a musical family story with deeply emotional issues, like suicide covered.

I loved this book!
It was such a great surprise. It had a touch of my favorite book from last year (Daisy Jones And The Six) but I really felt something for these characters.
There is lots of secrets, loss and, courage.
This was a great afternoon read. Highly recommend

I really enjoyed this story of twin sisters, Andi a country singer and Marley a songwriter. A story about family, friendships, secrets, and loss. I was surprised that the setting was in the area where I spent my high school years in Idaho. Not very often so I see Lewiston, Idaho in a book 🙂. Quick and enjoyable read. I will be checking out the authors previous books.

Marley grew up in a magical circle of love with her mother and her sister, the now-famous Andi Stone. Marley and Andi, led by their effervescent mother Nora, traveled the country as a singing duo. Now they are grown, Andi is a big star, Marley writes her hit songs and Nora has committed suicide. Marley feels lost, disconnected and decides to return to the family's lake cabin to think things through. SO LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER is a lovely story of family, heartbreak and the strength is takes to finally grow up.

A story about twin sisters being raised by their single mother. They were moved around a lot while growing up. Their mother, Donna was somewhat of a free spirit although a loving mother at the same time. The girls never knew their father and referred to him as Mystery Fred. The twins become famous, one as a singer, one as a songwriter.
After their mother commits suicide the girls go to the Lake cabin where Donna had lived to go through her things. At this point the girls make a lot of discoveries about their mother and also connect with people from their past. Even though the ending of the book was pretty predictable it was a very good story. Without giving anything away there was a question left unanswered that in my opinion should have been but all in all I would recommend this for anyone who likes this genre.

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this arc for my honest review.

"My mother...had been anything but ordinary. She had little to no interest in plain living...[she] had been devoted to living life forward." The Stone twins, Marley and Andi, described "unexplained and unplanned car trips of our childhood 'catching the night train'...traveling the empty miles from wherever we were living month-to-month to destinations unknown." Donna Stone led an unconventional life, but a life filled with country music. Alone, at the family cabin at Lost Prince Lake, Donna walked off the dock, pants pockets weighted with rocks.

Andi Stone was the front woman for the Andi Stone Tour. She loved being on the road. "Andi gathered no moss, the true rolling stone." Marley shunned the spotlight. As the band's songwriter, "when [she placed her] fingertips on the cool resin piano keys...a waiting universe of notes and chords and arpeggios...speak...as sentences..." "[We] were living the dream...[Donna's] dream...She's the reason for the road."

Marley and Andi grew up fatherless. Perhaps this absence accounted for Andi..."asking every wrong man home...I was...truant to love. My sister grew up to sing about heartbreak and moving on, and I wrote the music for her to sing." The sisters made the decision to sell the family cabin. Marley took on the difficult task of sorting through Donna's possessions. "I was a Stone girl. And Stone girls can hold back hell. We did it all the time...[I] glanced down at the nearly invisible script tattoed on my inner arm. 'Don't Look Back'. It was time to let the secrets go."

"So Long As We're Together" by Glenda Burgess is a beautifully rendered work of literary fiction about three strong women. Marley, now in her 40's, narrated their musical odyssey replete with love, heartbreak, emotional upheaval and the high cost of fame. Marley and Andi have many unanswered questions. Why did Donna walk off the dock? Who is mystery Fred? Might the family cabin shelter any secrets? The characters seemed genuine, the road traveled to stardom challenging. "Music is the language of family." The country music infused references, priceless!

Thank you Black Opal Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "So Long As We're Together".

This book was a story about sisterhood, and even more specifically, twins. As a twin myself, and with two other sisters besides, I love books about the complex relationships and pasts between sisters. This book did a good job of developing the characters in the present while describing their past at a good pace that didn't disrupt the narrative. Through their chain of events throughout the book, you could tell they were growing both together and apart, but the author left you with a sense of growth and purpose for both sisters.

However, the lack of punctuation around the dialogue was extremely confusing, and I found myself having to reread several segments to figure out what was dialogue vs. narrative. The language, too, around art, whether music, drawing or other forms of art, was abruptly flowery, relative to the rest of the book. And ultimately, one of the big questions the author presents the reader is never answered.

Not really my cuppa tea. Writing itself overwrought, overly descriptive. Just get on with the plot.

“””we’re strongest where the scars grow”””

Amazingly written, with a slight Country’ish version of Daisy Jones and the Six. Meet the Stone Sisters. One’s a singer the other a songwriter. Follow their story on their return home to wrap up their past after their mother unexpectedly takes her own life at the family cabin. Fast paced, family drama read, leaving country lyrics dancing in your head for days after you read it.