Live in Love was a book I found on NetGalley and instantly wanted to read because I love Thomas Rhett, the country singer for those that are not familiar. Several of his songs are like soundtracks to my life and I love that. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with this whole family. After reading this I truly feel like I could head to Nashville and have dinner with the Akins family like we’ve been friends forever. I borrowed the audio version from my local library and OMG that made the book. I borrowed the audio so I could catch up on NetGalley reads while getting some stuff done, you know accomplishing those new year goals. I didn’t realize that Laura read the book herself and I was so shocked when Thomas Rhett started telling his side of the story. I really think that’s what made reading this book a whole experience, like a few friends sitting around telling our life stories.

I was so inspired by their love and love for others and how much they embraced everyone around them. There was a part of me, the military wife part, that felt some of Laura’s struggles. When she talked about Thomas Rhett being on the road while she was back with kids and the resentment that came with that or when Laura wanted to follow her dream of nursing in a foreign country which meant living apart for awhile, they supported each other and knew sometimes following dreams takes the biggest sacrifices.

I found the format of the book easy to follow, even the part where Thomas Rhett told his part. I LOVED that Laura included pictures of the stories she told and the people in her life, just another way the reader felt brought into “family”.

Thank you Laura and Thomas Rhett for sharing your story and inspiring me to Live in Love. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Thomas Rhett and Lauren’s relationship. This book was nice to see their sweet history and see the transparency of their lives. I would recommend this book. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

I’ve never read a non-fiction book or memoir that I found as hard to put down as this one. I just tore through it! I laughed so hard so many times, and the pictures throughout are so fun. So well done. I was so invested in their story and am an even bigger fan now!

I so enjoyed getting to know Lauren and hearing about her childhood. Honestly, it brought back some nostalgia – not like our lives had that much in common, but just the feeling that it was always you and your friends against the world when you’re in middle school.

Anyways – this was such a deeply transparent book that I really appreciated. I think, especially in today’s time, people are really seeking to find that they are not alone. In an age of social media when everything is so curated, hearing the real and true life stories was absolutely refreshing.

Lauren doesn’t sugar coat. Honestly, I wish I was friends with someone like her. She isn’t afraid to pursue what she wants, and she’s not going to shy away from telling you exactly how she feels and what she needs. I loved that.

Her and Thomas Rhett have such a sweet history, I loved reading about them. And then you add in his career really taking off, and their journey to adoption, and this book just becomes a kind of salve for a weary soul. It’s not easy reading all the news about the world today, but this book was like taking a little break from all of that and getting a bandaid.

I was worried that I would be too old to appreciate the content here, but that faded quite quickly.

"Live in Love" was selected as Country Living magazine's October book club selection. A review was posted to CountryLiving.com and a Q&A with Lauren was posted to @countrylivingmag Instagram Stories.

I love Thomas Rhett and the stories he tells through his music.  I was hoping to fall in love with his wife’s memoir about her life and their life together, but I just couldn’t get into it as much as I wanted to. I had to put this one down before the end.

I'd been having a hard time starting new audiobooks and sticking with them lately. Live in Love was just the thing to snap me out of my funk! Narrated by one of my favorite celebrity couples, Lauren and Thomas Rhett Akins, we get the behind the scenes view of their relationship. 

Starting from Lauren's childhood, we hear everything from how she grew up to meeting Thomas Rhett, dating in high school, and then reconnecting towards the end of college. She takes us along their deeply religious journey as a young married couple being thrown into the spotlight. I didn't expect Lauren to be so real in talking about their issues and struggles, and they both seemed so grounded and down to earth.

Reading this book just reinforced them as #couplegoals. I will continue listening to all of Thomas Rhett's songs and following this adorable family and all of their adventures!

I enjoyed this book so much! Lauren was so brave with the transparency and insight she has given into all aspects of her life, from childhood tragedies to marital issues, and even diving incredibly deeply into her faith and how it has evolved throughout her life. Reading about her journey to motherhood had my emotions on a rollercoaster, and I love that she uses her platform to advocate for her missionary work. I knew very little about Lauren prior to picking up this book, but after reading her life story, I feel like she is an old friend. Her family isn’t perfect, but that’s what makes it real. It was a perfect book to read in 2020, with so much craziness happening in the world, because it reminded me to keep the faith and live in love. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

Title:  Live In Love

Author:  Lauren Akins

Ch: 18 plus Prologue and afterword

Pg:  336

Genre:  Memoir

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publisher:  Ballantine Books

 

Live in Love is a memoir by Lauren Akins the wife of Thomas Rhett. I’m a sucker for memoirs I just wish I had listened to the audiobook which is read by Lauren and her husband. But reading the print version was still good.


Lauren writes about before and after her marriage and she doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. She’s shares the ups and downs. I finished the book in a couple of days because I didn’t want to put the book down.

I recommend this book to country music fans and fans of celebrity memoirs.

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’m not much of a country music fan. Well, unless you count the stuff from the late eighties or early 90’s. So, going into this I wasn’t necessarily a fan of hers or her husbands. I was surprised at how enjoyable the story was to me. She radiates joy and happiness. Right now I think we could all use more of that. Her support of her husbands career is also admirable considering what it puts their family through every day. I love non-fiction and being that I didn’t know her I went into it with an open mind. I wasn’t looking for details on anything and I was able to just enjoy the story.

Live in Love was such an uplifting read. 
Lauren Akins shares her life story, but also by the end of the book she has you inspired to be looking for ways to be a positive light in your corner of the world.
I enjoyed reading this book!

***Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary arc of this book. All views and opinions expressed are my own.***

This is such a sweet story worthy of a romance novel. The rest of the book dive in to her struggles of being a new wife, mom and navigating her own (unwanted) fame. She is very honest in this memoir. If you are a fan of the couple this is a must read. Thank you to the publisher for the free review copy.

Live in Love is an inspirational read.  Lauren Akins shares her life story.  This book will have you looking for ways to be a positive light in this world.  It is a very timely read.

I am a huge fan on Lauren Akins and her husband, Thomas Rhett. This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. I have followed Lauren (and Thomas) for quite a while so I knew some parts of her story. This book was fascinating and I think those who have followed her and those who haven't would enjoy this book. I definitely recommend it!

As if I didn't love Lauren Akins enough already, she went and wrote this book! This heartfelt story of her growing up and finding love with Thomas Rhett Akins is what we all needed in 2020. Throughout her book Lauren highlights many lessons of love, faith family, friends, and God. She is so relatable and not to mention open and honest about every corner of her life. You will get a glimpse into the life of a woman married to a country star, but doesn't like the spotlight herself. Falling in love and growing a beautiful family isn't always easy and you'll feel like you're a part of their story while you read each page!

Live in Love is the memoir of Lauren Akins  starting long before country music fans began to adore her.   Lauren takes us through her life from childhood to the mother and wife she is today, through many struggles.   I enjoyed reading how Lauren and her husband (Thomas Rhett) met as young adults and grew up together, dated, broke up, and wound up back together as the loving couple & parents they are today.   

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read & review.  

#LiveinLove #NetGalley #LaurenAkins

I can't quite put into words how much this book touched my heart. I sat down and read it in one sitting and was not able to put it down. I am so thankful to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me the opportunity to read an early release. I had tears in my eyes throughout reading and could see Lauren's words already working in my life. It was so beautifully refreshing to read about her relationship with God, family, marriage and motherhood. I found I could really relate to her as someone who also married young. I know and understood the struggles she wrote about in putting her husband's career first and being on the sidelines. I love how honest and real she is throughout all the trials and tribulations. This is a fantastic book for anyone at any age. In an age where people believe Instagram is reality this book does a beautiful job of pulling back the curtain. This book was a light to me and I know it is going to move mountains in many lives. Lauren said it so beautifully, "we are blessed to be a blessing." I am going to take these poignant words and live with them everyday! This book is truly a blessing.

"This is the real story of who we are, what we believe, what our passions are, and why we do what we do. I hope it’s a reminder that having faith is a good thing, that a healthy marriage is a good thing, that standing up for one another is a good thing, and that valuing one another as human beings is a very good thing."

I'm not really a celebrity person, but because I also "went out" with my now husband when we were teenagers, Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins have always intrigued me. Lauren specifically has always been a bit of a mystery to me, like I'm sure she is to many women. How can she be so down-to-earth in an industry that is a lot of smoke and mirrors? How is she just so impossibly cool and chill? Where does her giant heart come from? Her memoir answered alllll my questions. I read this book in less than 24 hours! I was HOOKED, from her idyllic childhood, to discovering her faith, through her dating years and her marriage to TR, all the way to Uganda and her journey now as a mother. I'm just totally in awe! There are so many things to love about Lauren, her parents, her incredible friends and family. I'm inspired by her dedication to her values, and how she allows her faith to inform her decisions and her standards for herself. What a great woman for young girls to look up to. If I had a daughter, I'd consider myself immeasurably blessed if she turned out like Lauren 💕

"It is our job as humans to take care of each other, and it does not matter if it’s in Haiti or right in our hometown. And when we recognize needs in other human beings but then turn a blind eye to it, we are not living the way we were created to live."

Review to be posted at the link below on pub day 8/18/20.

I have been following Lauren Akins for a couple of years now on my personal IG. I can honestly say I am a huge fan of both her and her husband, famous country singer @thomasrhettakins. I love everything about them as a couple and their little fam bam. While their marriage looks picture-perfect on social media, I was surprised how much Lauren acknowledged it is far from it. They struggle with common issues most of us married couples go through - who would’ve thought right? Lauren was super honest and raw on sharing their personal journey through marriage counseling (pre/post children) and coping with the spotlight and fame.

Lauren begins the memoir by taking us through her amazing childhood memories, falling in love, and starting a family. I enjoyed the small passages from Thomas Rhett - it was sweet to hear both sides of particular events, especially about the Ugandan adoption process for their daughter Willa Gray (she’s the cutest). They truly went through a long vigorous process with multiple obstacles while never losing faith in God. I have so much more respect and admiration for the both of them! Highly enjoyed and recommend this delightful memoir.

This book is a memoir of Lauren Akins. She's the wife of the famous country singer, Thomas Rhett. We learn about her childhood, the first time she ever met her husband in 1st grade and their relationship through the years. I thought this book was absolutely adorable. I loved it. It captivated me from start to finish. Not only do I love fiction romances, but apparently I adore real life ones as well. I could "hear" Lauren's voice inside this story. She tells tales of her childhood memories and speaks fondly of her parents and her neighborhood "crew". She's extremely religious. Even though I'm not a religious person, it didn't take away from the story in any way for me. After seeing her life on instagram, it was so fun to read about inside of her life and marriage. I loved how in certain parts it had Thomas Rhett's POV. Such a great book. There was raw emotion and all the feels. I loved every second.