More than Maybe

Beautifully written story on finding yourself and following your dreams.

The diversity in this book truly gave a complete story, from the gay brother hooking up with the best friend to the dead beat dad. Luke and Vana made me relive my first crush and honestly gave me the “feels”. The characters are witty, funny and seriously left me wanting more. Do not sleep on this gem!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc.

Two shy teens quietly pine for each other, one a cohost of a popular podcast with his gay twin brother (love me some representation), the other working in the college town dive bar where the podcast is recorded weekly, dreaming of becoming a music journalist and blogging in her spare time.

After they’re paired up for a joint composing/choreographing project at school, a budding crush turns into a real appreciation for who they are as people. It’s not the instalove you get in a lot of these contemporary YA romances since they’ve known and admired each other from afar for three years and you can really see that as the book goes on.

What I enjoyed most was the music and how it’s woven throughout the story, from set lists to texted YouTube videos, and of course the Stevie Nicks hate! I also thought the complex relationships Vada and Luke had with their respective fathers was really well done and added an interesting dimension.

The love story itself was cute, the brotherly love was great and the side relationship of Luke’s brother and his best friend was adorable as well. If there was anything I thought could’ve been better, occasional the voices of the two main characters didn’t feel as authentically teen as they could’ve, but to be fair, these are clearly not your typical teens.

Overall a very enjoyable read, great for YA and adult audiences as well.

I really enjoyed how this book was more than just a typical YA rom com. The characters were well-developed and well written. I also enjoyed how the romance wasn't the primary focus. And I love how the author used music in the story as the characters would go back and forth sharing different songs that were relevant in certain situations. I will definitely revisit this book and recommend it to everyone I know. So sweet!

Overall, this was a really cute book about a couple of teenagers who finally get past their anonymous crushes on each other. I liked Vada and her spunk. I thought Luke was a bit boring. His Clark Kent modesty only goes so far. I loved all the musical references. That always pulls me in, especially when it stretches me to start looking up things on Spotify (there is a playlist, btw). I probably would have enjoyed more Zack and Cullen, but they weren't the main characters. Sadly there was really nothing super unique about the story and nothing to make it stand out months or years from now. That doesn't mean it wasn't an enjoyable read. It won't change the word, but not every book needs to do that. This one entertained and made me smile and maybe a bit nostalgic for live concerts.

god this book was adorable. the mutual pining, the yearning, the communicating feelings through music, it was so sweet my teeth have rotted. i really liked how luke and vada complemented each other, and didn't force each other to be anything but themselves. a lot of the conflict lies in the fact that luke is at odds with his dad about pursuing a music career, and vada is at odds with her dad (in a completely different way) about pursuing a career in music journalism, but i found it quite refreshing how vada always supported luke's choices, and how luke (and vada's mom, boss, and best friend) encouraged vada to follow her dreams. the big romantic gesture at the end had me smiling so hard, and was the perfect, slightly cheesy and over-the-top ending to a really lighthearted, enjoyable read.

I thoroughly enjoyed More than Maybe! I really resonated not only with the characters, but also all the themes of the book: music, family, love, and the choice to pursue the things you're passionate about or not. I really love Hahn's debut and I went into this book expecting the same whimsy and easy reading experience full of feels/ Hahn did not disappoint! Loved this book!

I really enjoyed music-themed YA romance More Than Maybe. The many accolades given to Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows in the book, and especially my favorite song of theirs, Anna Begins, almost made up for the number of Stevie Nicks disses. Almost.
Luke and Vada have secret crushes on each other, and the book is a very slow burn to them getting to a point where they can admit the other might like them too. Luke is a brilliant singer/songwriter who wants nothing to do with the spotlight his famous punk rock father wants for him. He’s shy and private and just wants to write music for himself. Vada has a 5-year plan to write for Rolling Stone and her Behind the Music review blog is just the start. She works at a club run by her mom’s boyfriend so she can have access to musicians, and tries to avoid her mostly-absent father’s drunken scenes. When Luke offers to compose something for Vada for a dance showcase, the two build a friendship one texted YouTube song link at a time.
This book is swoony and witty and fun. I liked both main characters and loved their relationship although the pace did feel a little silly when we were being told so clearly from each of their points of view how much they liked each other. I only knew about half of the songs mentioned in the book—and there were a lot of songs. I could have stopped to listen to each as they were mentioned, and I think that’s an aspect that some readers will find really fun. For me, I felt a little overwhelmed by the volume, but liked the idea of communicating through song lyrics. There was a lot of drama with Vada’s father that didn’t really get resolved. I know that’s not always how life works, but so many other things in the book were tied up so nicely, I would have liked a father-daughter resolution, even if it wasn’t a positive one. That said, I loved how everything else came together in the end. Overall, I’d definitely recommend YA romance lovers pick up this book when it’s released in July. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by Erin Hahn!
Thanks to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

As a music and concert lover, this book felt really special to me. I probably went to 100 shows by the time I was 22 - most of them falling in my teens. It was my safe space. It was the place I made so many of my now best friends. The music I listened to then helped me form the person I am today. Music really goes that deep - and I think that’s why this book hit so close to home!

This book made me so nostalgic for being 18 again, smushed in a pit, feet aching, voice gone, when music was my whole life. I loved reading Vada and Luke talk about just how much music made them feel. Their romance had me swooning I loved the whole cast of characters that surrounded them. This one lost a star for me only because I felt the ending was a bit rushed. So many different plot lines were cumulated so quickly when I wished for the pacing I felt throughout the rest of the book. However, this didn’t stop me from absolutely loving this story. As Vada would say, “countless eye-closers”.

What an excellent story! It made me smile and remember my youth.
I loved the characters, the great setting and the plot that flows. The author is a good storyteller and it kept me hooked till the end.
It was the first book by this author but it won't be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Wow, was I pleased to receive this beautiful ARC in the mail--thanks Wednesday books! This book made me feel like a gooey brownie on the inside and I couldn't stop swooning. I'm not even THAT into music but I love how Erin Hahn writes about music and romance. I also love her alternating POV style and this ending had been begging for more from her!

Vada's a music blogger eager to prove her chops and Luke's the son of a former rocker who wants anything but the limelight. They come together over a love of music and a classroom assignment where Luke composes a piece for Vada to dance to--and trust me, it's magic. Throw in a bar where they both work, an asshole, deadbeat dad and a sweet mother--plus a gay brother and his adorable boyfriend--and you have a recipe for a good book. When Luke's song goes viral, he's going to have to decide what he wants, and if he's willing to take it, in order to be with Vada.

This book made me gooey inside. It's sweet, it's charming, it's got great pop culture references, and I love reading books by Erin Hahn.You don't have to be a music nerd to enjoy these books--trust me. I'm not and they're still adorable. Plus, Hahn's characters are 18 so they can actually work at a bar and curse and have illicit makeout sessions and be adult-ish, which makes it a better read for me as a 20-something. Seriously, just read this book when it comes out and get ready to swoon!

More Than Maybe is on sale everywhere July 2020.

This one was just fine. I feel like I went through this one with this expectation that I would start to care more about the characters and grew less interested in them.

I found I was much more interested in Vada than in Luke. Vada seemed like a real person, whereas Luke, cute British accent and all, seemed more like a a caricature. I never found a reason to like him or root for him. I think ultimately I was looking for more romance in this than I got. I had thought it was more rom-com but it didn't come off enough to me that way.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is perfect for those who have a passion for music! Both of the lead characters are so endearing and watching their relationship develop was so much fun!

I would definitely recommend this book if you are in search of good music-themed, romance!

More Than Maybe us perfect for the music lover in all of us. Luke and Vada feel like real people we all knew at one point in our lives, whether they were a friend or ourselves. The story was compelling and the tidbits of pop culture gave me life.

The writing was easy to follow and the plot progressed quickly.

Solid read! Really cute, YA romance. I thought the first kiss scene between the MCs was super swoony and well-written. All the musical references were solid, thought-out and fitting for the characters. Also great to see different genres represented than the usual for a book like this.

I just didn't find myself connecting with the characters like I wanted to, and I don't like public declarations in my romance novels, but that's just me - a lot of people will enjoy this one a lot more than I did!

More Than Maybe is an interesting YA contemporary that I'm still not sure I've fully wrapped my head around. On its face, it's a book about music, which is why I loved it. But it also weaves in bits and pieces of Vada's journey with faith (Christianity) and a really lovely familial storyline for her as well. And Luke's own storyline is mostly about music, but also a little about a strained relationship with his father. I think despite the alternating points of view, this book is really Vada's, although I did like Luke a lot.

Vada is determined to to move to Los Angeles for school and she's already in to her dream university. Now she just needs her dad, who likes to forget she's his daughter, to step up and help her pay for it. She works at a dive bar known for putting on great shows in Ann Arbor and she knows she will write for Rolling Stone one day. Luke tries to avoid the spotlight, but he's really into composing and writing lyrics, and his voice can definitely carry the songs. But that's not the life he wants. The two are thrown together for a school project and can finally discover the person behind their crush.

The romantic aspect of this book is slow moving and beautiful. I liked the way there were hints of mutual pining and I loved the way Luke seems to respect Vada. I thought that their habit of texting each other songs from YouTube was so perfectly high school and I adored that aspect. I do feel like Vada and Luke both read older than high school aged, to me, but the book still feels grounded in that phase so that was interesting. And I absolutely adored all of the musical elements of this book, from dancing to singing to reviewing to the conversation about "eye-closers". It made me really nostalgic for concerts I've gone to in the past and also desperately sad I can't go to Lover Fest this year since it's been postponed.

The part of the book that I was a little less sure I loved was the whole faith aspect. I have zero issues with faith being explored as part of a book, especially given it's such a huge part of so many people's identity. But it didn't feel like it flowed? And I'm not sure if that's just a me thing, but it felt very jarring every time we got a bigger scene. Also weird is that there is a scene where Vada goes to a youth group thing because her best friend is singing and then it cuts away and the next scene with Vada is her reflecting on her own faith and it felt like something big happened at that service, but like... What?

However, that really didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book and I'm really happy to have read it. Another aspect I really liked was Vada's mom and Vada's boss. These are adults in YA that are good and stable and I really, really loved seeing that. I also loved how much we got to see Luke's brother, Cullen, and his boyfriend, Zach. I think they were really excellent side characters. Actually, I loved all of the side characters really. So, all in all, a really good read, but I definitely think people who don't like faith storylines should tread lightly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review this book early!

My heart can hardly contain my love for this book. I love the musical reference, the characters, the humor, the heart. I feel as if Erin Hahn understands the complexities of teenage relationships so well and represents the complex layers in a way that honors them. Run, run, run to read this boo!!! I know I'm coming back to read it again!

Disclaimer: NetGalley and Wednesday Books provided me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

I am not normally a fan of high school romances but this book charmed the pants off of me. As a native Michigander, I'm predisposed to love the setting (Pinball Pete's is a classic!) but Hahn builds such an interesting and dynamic world, where the two main characters -- Vada and Luke -- tackle not just their growing feelings for each other but the trials and tribulations of dealing with one's family.

It's the family dynamics that truly set More Than Maybe apart, as Vada attempts to traverse her complicated family dynamics, with an absentee father who doesn't want to pay for her college tuition but gladly drinks for free at The Loud Lizard, the bar where she works. Luke, on the other hand, has to deal with the escalating expectations of his father for Luke to follow in his footsteps and become a famous musician -- which is the exact OPPOSITE of what Luke wants to do. These plot lines aren't new or unique to this novel but Hahn deploys them in a way that really resonates in a true and authentic way.

The only criticism I have is that sometimes the constant music references can feel a little inside baseball at times. I had to google the lyrics to many of the songs Vada and Luke sent to each other -- I'm sorry, but I'm just not an Adam Duritz aficionado! But this is a minor complaint about an otherwise throughly delightful book -- plus the cover is so so beautiful. Highly recommend picking up this book when its released July!


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Oh Lordy. I am absolutely in love with this story! It was ADORABLE. PERFECTION. I couldn’t get enough of it! Told from alternating povs, Vada and Luke, are so precious and the slow building of their relationship was amazing. The YEARNING. My goodness I can go on and on about how absolutely adorable this book is. I loved the story and I loved the characters. Everyone was sweet and lovable except for (you know who) when you read it. I highly recommend this book! Perfect for all you music and romance lovers out there! This definitely hit the spot for me! Vada is a strong girl just trying to get the funds to go to school and work her dream job in Music Journalism while Luke is trying to hide from his past fame and focus on his goal of song writing. I felt for Vada’s struggles and I loved the support between these two characters.
*thank you netgalley for sending me an early arc in exchange for an honest review *

Oscillating between 3 and 4, so I'm going to call it a 3.5 and round it up to 4 stars because I have a soft heart. This is a really cute story and definitely something I'd recommend to fans of YA romance. It's heart achingly sweet, has the romantic grand gestures we all love, and the happy ending for all.

While most of it is pretty lighthearted, I was also really touched by the side plot of Vada dealing with her deadbeat dad, while Phil, her future stepfather, steps into the role. Pour one out for kids of deadbeat dads everywhere.

I had a hard time falling in love with the characters. Don't get me wrong, I liked them and I was rooting for them, but I didn't really love them the way I wanted to. I think partly because I'm about 95% sure I would be incredibly annoyed with them if I knew them in real life lol But that's very much a me thing so others might end up loving them!

The characters is really the thing that kept me from falling head over heels with this book, but even despite that, I had a great time reading it. A little cliche as romance tends to be, but in the best way possible. A good sweet read for a long summer.

**Disclaimer: I received a free early advanced reader's copy of More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn in exchange for a honest review through NetGalley.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.

More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn is a YA contemporary romance novel.  It features a dual point of view with both of our main love interests, and takes place in Michigan.  The novel features Hahn's signature mix of music and romance, and was a sweet and fun read.  I gave it 5 stars on GoodReads.  It publishes on July 21st, 2020.

Here's the summary from GoodReads:

Growing up under his punk rocker dad's spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn't in front of a crowd, it's on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.
Vada's got a five year plan: secure a job at the Loud Lizard to learn from local legend (and her mom's boyfriend) Phil Josephs (check), take over Phil's music blog (double check), get accepted into Berkeley's prestigious music journalism program (check, check, check), manage Ann Arbor's summer concert series and secure a Rolling Stone internship. Luke Greenly is most definitely NOT on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and out-of-this-world music knowledge makes her dizzy? Or his brother just released a bootleg recording of Luke singing about some mystery girl on their podcast and she really, really wishes it was her?

I was so excited when I heard Erin Hahn was coming out with a second book.  I loved You'd Be Mine, her debut, and I knew that I needed to read her second book.  Pretty much as soon as I heard it was coming out, I hopped on NetGalley to request it and I was so excited to find out I got approved.  I had high expectations for this book and I absolutely was not disappointed.  It was the perfect read for me right now.

I want to start with the fact that I loved both of the main characters.  Luke and Vada were both precious, and I loved how fully developed and real they felt. Each of their perspectives were unique and I really loved how they came together. I also liked watching them develop over the course of the novel, and seeing how they dealt with the various problems that arose.  I felt like their reactions were realistic and natural.  None of it felt forced.

The romance in this novel was delightful.  I loved that it was a slowburn just as much as I loved the fact that Erin Hahn promises a happily ever after.  You find out early on that both Luke and Vada have a crush on the other and so you're eagerly rooting for them to figure it out and finally get together.  The romance grows and develops, and I found myself really devouring the story because I absolutely needed to know what happened next.

There was a part of me that predicted how things were going to play out, but I'm not a reader who is typically bothered by this.  I like trying to guess, and I'm fine if I'm wrong but also fine if I'm right.  In this case I was fine to be right, though I definitely didn't predict the exact way things would play out.  I just loved having ideas about what was going to happen, and overall it was just such a fun read.

I also really enjoyed most of the side characters in this book.  Each of them felt well developed and not tropey.  I loved Cullen and Zack together.  They were really cute.  I also loved the dynamics between Vada and Phil.  He was such a good role model/father figure for her.  I had all of the squishy feels about their family.

Music was also such a huge part of this book.  The way that Erin Hahn incorporates music into her stories always really impresses me.  It makes me wish I was more interested in music or that I had more musical talent.  I like that she includes songs in her book.

Overall, this was an amazing read.  I had such a fun time reading it, and seeing Luke and Vada grow together.  If you're looking for a sweet romance, I highly recommend this one.  Make sure to check it out when it releases on July 21st.