I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. The description sounded promising.........a novel about a female singer-songwriter, music, friendship, motherhood and love. At the core, the novel accurately portrays the sacrifices a mother has to make for the benefit of her child. Unfortunately the characters didn't have a lot of depth nor did the story line. There were too many events that were predictable. It was 3.25 for me.

An interesting story about love, ambition, motherhood and the sacrifices a woman makes to care for her child. Laura writes her first song when she is a young girl in Ohio. She doesn't know it's a perfect song but she knows music is an important part of herself. Life continues and Laura is living in New York with a roommate who introduces her to the music scene there.

The story is character driven with some great insights into how heartache and unexpected circumstances can change the course of a woman's life. The question is, how much control does Laura have over her life? Does she have the ability to nurture her talent for music or will she passively let life happen to her?

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own.
#PerfectTunes #NetGalley

Laura is a bright-eyed small-town young woman, a recent transplant in New York City determined to make her dreams come true as a musician. Her best friend Callie whom she grew up with in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio shares an apartment with Laura as they both work meaningless jobs in pursuit of becoming famous.
Laura meets Dylan, an up and coming rockstar in a band called The Clips. They become romantically involved, and soon Laura finds herself addicted to this guy. Dylan spends his time doing drugs and drinking when he’s not playing in the band. Laura gets an opportunity to open for his band and her college acquaintance Andrea who works for a music magazine wants to do a story on her. But then September 11, 2001, happens and New York is in chaos. This changes everything including her relationship with Dylan.

Laura finds out that she is pregnant. With the birth of her daughter, Marie, Laura finds it difficult to make ends meet. She starts teaching music classes for babies in yoga studios and toy stores instead of touring with the Clips. When Marie is 14, she is interested in learning more about her biological father and embarks on a trip to do so against her mother's wishes.

Although somewhat heavy with themes of alcohol and drug use, this novel had so much heart and honesty. The main character’s narrative was engaging and hard to put down as she details her struggles with trying to make her musician dreams come true and balancing her life as a single mom. I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn’t want it to end. The ending is left kind of open-ended which suited the novel in my opinion. The book also has mentions of mental health and some sexual content that I was okay with.

I did not complete this book. I thought it was a pointless story with very unlikable characters and totally unexplained plot lines. One chapter ends with a comment that something terrible happens and the reader is never told what it is. The main character overdid drugs, alcohol and sex. She definitely needs help. ..a very unappealing character. Pointless story line added to my annoyance with this book.