Face the music was a fast fun read. I loved the setting and I enjoyed the characters of Mason and Bryce. I thought their story was engaging and I could relate to the difficult relationship between Bryce and her mother. The dysfunction drew the reader in and the character’s weaknesses just made them that more believable. I had never read Ali Vali, but I would certainly keep a look our for more of her titles. This was a solid romance.

Sophie Roddy is country music legend, and her daughter Victoria works as her assistant. But when Sophie falls from grace into drugs and alcohol, Victoria will try anything to help her recover even if it means joining forces with the infuriating woman from Sophie's record label, Mason Liner. As Sophie begins her recovery, Mason and Victoria spend more and more time together, and their attraction is undeniable. Victoria has the freedom out from under her mother's shadow, to discover who she really is and who she is meant to be.

There was something about Mason's character that just rubbed me the wrong way - she was a little too knight in shining armour and old-fashioned masculinity for me. Normally these characteristics are written in a way that is swoon worthy in Ali Vali's butch characters, but in Mason it made me feel icky, like Victoria was too weak to do anything. Usually these characteristics are met by a strong femme character and they balance each other out, but here it made Victoria fade rather than shine. I did like Victoria's evolution throughout this book, I'm glad she found her voice. I loved all the secondary characters and the rich story and world Vali created in this book. The writing as always is excellent, and I enjoyed the story overall, but Mason's character kept me from fully connecting to the romance side of things.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Face the Music by Ali Vali was exactly the book that I needed to read during this time of crappy real life. This is a typical Ali Vali romance with strong characters, a beautiful setting (Nashville, Tennessee), and an enemies-to-lovers style tale. The two main characters are beautiful, strong-willed, and easy to fall in love with. The romance between them is steamy, and so are the sex scenes.

Music producer Mason Liner and Victoria Roddy, the daughter of country music celebrity Sophia Roddy must work together to save the career and quite possibly the life of Sophia. Alcohol and drugs have caused Sophia to spiral out of control publicly, and when she overdoses and almost dies, Mason intervenes. This creates the conflict between Mason and Victoria, but the more the two work together, the more intense the attraction between them grows.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. As I said above, it was a great escape from real life, even for just a few hours, and that is what I needed. I love Ms. Vali’s romances. Let’s be honest, I love pretty much everything I’ve ever read of hers, and this book is no different. If you enjoy romantic stories, with beautiful and strong characters, lovely settings, and interesting plots, then I can recommend this novel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Music, romance, family, mother/daughter dynamics, problem diva what a ride. This read made me think about what it feels like to have someone in your corner that believes in you. Veronica Roddy, reluctant manager for her country music royalty mother. As a result, Veronica is not living her life and hates what her mother, Sophie Roddy is doing to her career and life. Mason Liner, works with her father as a music producer and she is unbelievably awesome with her straight talk and desire to be helpful to Veronica. There have been very few characters in this genre with the "I am with you, no matter what" personality as Mason. While Sophie gets the help she needs, Mason and Veronica grow closer. While Mason and her family may appear to good to be true and Veronica and her family messed up, I appreciated how one family can be there for another family and both benefit.

Country-music, Nashville-centered romance. Overcoming challenges, becoming your own person outside of your parent's shadow, and realizing your own self-worth. Took a little while to warm up to this story, but I loved how truly supportive Mason - the dominant, confident character - is as she and Victoria try to make it work.

Victoria Roddy has spent her life making sure her mother's music career stays on track. As her manager, this task gets more and more difficult as her country-music legend mother descends further and further into drugs and alcohol. After two near-death disasters and a forced intervention, Victoria is left with enormous guilt and being pulled down by the weight of her perceived obligation to her mother.

Mason Liner is the daughter of country-music producer royalty and has been tasked by her father to decide the fate of legend-cum-addict Sophie Roddy and, tangentially, that of her daughter, Victoria.

During Sophie's forced convalescence, Mason and Victoria become closer than closer. But can Mason help Victoria see how special Victoria can really be outside of her mother? Is love and support enough to tear down the walls of a lifetime of neglect and put-downs?

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Mason is a music producer and thing she loves most about her job is the artist’s she can bring to the top. It hasn’t been easy living in her father shadow but she learns to overcome that. When her father ask her help with one of their bigger client Sophie Roddy who has been going self destruct lately she is reluctant to do so. When she meets Sophie and her daughter Victoria it doesn’t go as plan and they clash.

Victoria have basically sacrifice her own life to managing her mother career and life and it made her angry and distrustful towards the world even though her anger should be direct at her mother because she doesn’t appreciate everything her daughter done for her. Victoria and Mason butt head over her mother care but they come to a compromise. Mason calls in a favor from her friend Belle who help her when she needed it and knows she can go the same for Sophie and Victoria.

The romance between Mason and Victoria is sweet it’s not rush as Mason shows Victoria that she can have a life and that she needs to learn let her mother stand on her own two feet and put herself first for once.

Overall great read can’t wait for next book by this author hopefully the next one would be a third book with the characters Detective Sept and Keegan.

This really is only my second full length romance I have read by Vali and I would have to say this was okay. Face the Music is really an emotional roller coaster. The mains in this one are Mason and Victoria. Another key play is Victoria's mom Sophie. Mason is a confident, attractive, kind and thoughtful woman. Victoria has really lived in her mother's shadow and she may be attractive but for sure she is jaded. This is mainly because her mother is a piece of work and has treated her terribly. So initially Mason and Victoria is like oil and water.

Again this read was okay for me. I really did like Mason and her parents. For them to be in the music business where it appears to be cut throat they are some really nice people. I really did like the depiction of them. Honestly, as I read this one I really felt sorry for Victoria. Her mother really didn't want her and it shows in her actions. One thing that bothered me in this one was How Victoria and Mason got to the point where they were dating. Maybe I misunderstood Mason's intentions in the beginning. I knew she was a pretty awesome person, but not sure if I would have put the two of them together at any point. I did find this romance to drag a little in the middle. I did enjoy the ending and glad that Victoria was able to get to the point she was at.

I will rate this one 3.5 stars

This is Ali Vali's 25th book and it's awesome! I loved this stand alone story about family, music and love. You can feel this author in the storyline like all of her books but this one is different from her usual New Orleans fishing or mob offerings. The main characters were so good together and had chemistry burning the pages. The family dynamics were intense and emotional. The ending is just perfect. This book is a must read and a definite recommend. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.