* This ARC was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion on the book. *

I know this book is set in freezing Minnesota, but it just had a really good summer read vibe to it. Heard It in a Love Song is a wonderful story centering around the idea of navigating life after a divorce, and even the eventual dipping of the toes into romance. I found myself very attached to Josh and Layla both individually and together. The dialogue between the two characters was beautifully written as their chemistry was off the charts, and I loved the presence of the side characters such as Tonya and Brian. They added to the story in a fun, but substantial way. The flashbacks to Josh and Layla's individual marital issues prior to meeting the other gave the reader more than enough context for why the two were drawn to each other. This was a very quick read and I can't wait for everyone to be able to read it!

A second-chance love story for divorced romantics and single parents that celebrates self-love and hope.

This book was somewhat of a slowburn but felt very real. Josh and Layla were adults, and acted as so, and as someone around their age i felt i could relate. their romance built slowly and carefully due to their respective divorces. their divorces were completely different and i though that was an interesting take as well. overall even though it built slowly, i still read it in it's entirety within two days.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an arc of this book! My review will be posted closer to publication date, but I can’t wait to read this!

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book! If you’ve read and liked other books by @traceygarvisgraves (On the Island, The Girl He Used to Know, Heart-Shaped Hack) then this one will be right up your alley! Dual POV with flashbacks, an easy read, a plot line that flows and doesn’t get stale - it was a perfect read on a couple of rainy days! Really enjoyed Layla’s character and the music element! Be sure to add it to your TBR - it releases in November!

Sometimes “present Josh” didn’t seem to jive with “past Josh” - they seemed to almost have two different personalities, but with the flashbacks you could see how he became the person he was today.

This story starts with a prologue that is actually the end of the book. We see Layla Hilding playing her guitar with a man, on stage, and finally happy with her choices in life. She finally has the answers to the words from the song she is singing, “What do you love? What do you really want?” Tracey Garvis Graves creates a beautiful love story. I loved discovering the emotional journey of Layla and Josh from their own perspectives.

Layla Hilding is a newly divorced music teacher, even though she would like to be a never married Rockstar. Her first marriage has left her financially insecure and with trust issues. She had to become a teacher in order to keep her and her husbands life afloat. When Josh comes into her life, she wants to dismiss it. She wants to reclaim her life, as her own. Josh didn't really want a divorce and thought him and Kim should work through their issues. As Layla and Josh start spending more time together, thanks to Josh's daughters wish to have her teacher dog-sit for them, they begin to wonder about their original goals.

After their ups and downs, Layla realizes she has already reclaimed her life. She isn't miserable as a teacher, she can be a teacher and still perform on her own terms. Josh realizes Kim and him have been over for a longtime and needs to figure out his own needs. Will their needs bring Josh and Layla back together or will they keep them apart?

I was expecting Heard It in a Love Song to be more of a romance and even though it WASN'T I enjoyed it immensely! This is a story about overcoming, finding your way, and falling in love again. It's a story that focuses more on the individuals rather than their budding romance. It's also a story that gives readers faith! Tracey Garvis Graves does it again and pens another winner in this book.

Heard It in a Love Song is a sweet romance story. Layla is a divorced music teacher, who in her younger days was in a band. Josh is an almost divorced father to a kindergartner who goes to Layla’s school. Josh married very young and does electrical work. The book goes back and forth from past to present and delves a little into who Layla and Josh are. It’s a sweet love story. Enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC. This is my own opinion.

Heard It in a Love Song is a great romance about starting over and second chances. It tells the stories of Layla and Josh and what happens as they grow to care about each other. They meet at a school where Layla is his daughter's teacher and they hit off over time. Both are going through a divorce and kind of unsure how to navigate things. The story is told with alternating points of view which I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed the flashbacks which show how they grew apart from their spouses. The MN setting is spot on and the characters are fantastic. This is my first time reading this author but it won't be my last.

Heard It in A Love Song is a realistic, touching look at lost love, found love, and the heartbreaks in between. Josh is the cute, newly single dad who is adjusting to life with his daughter, an affectionate older dog, and three brothers who want him to reenter the dating world ASAP. Layla is the recently divorced music teacher who greets her students warmly - despite the freezing Minnesota weather - outside of school every morning. Will Josh and Layla find a lasting connection, or will their quests to find themselves take them in opposite directions? You'll find yourself rooting for Layla and Josh in this beautiful story about love, music and second chances.

Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves is a lovely book about personal growth and living your dreams.

Layla Hilding is a 35-year-old recently divorced music teacher in an elementary school. Her divorce left her lonely, but determined to re-capture her love of music, and playing music for herself. She transforms the basement of her home into a soundproof studio where she can play and sing to her heart’s content.

Her duties as a music teacher involve helping the students and parents in the morning to greet students and parents and direct the traffic in the drop-off zone. Here she meets Josh, also recently divorced and the father of one of Layla’s students. Every day, he walks his daughter to her classroom and stops to talk to Layla, his daughter’s favorite teacher.

Both Layla and Josh are still reeling from their divorces, and are hesitant to dip back into the dating pool. Josh got married right out of high school, and never had to do the typical dating that most men have had to do.

I enjoyed this book very much. It started a bit ordinary, but later in the book, we find out more about Layla’s past as a musician in an up-and-coming band in Rochester MN. I enjoyed the growth of her character from the wife of a domineering husband, to finding herself and reigniting her passion for music. I loved reading about Josh’s love for his daughter and his tentative start into the world of single people. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed this book, despite it not falling into romance and more into women's fiction. Loved how they related to one another and the friends to lovers with more adult characters. The dual timelines were a bit confusing in moments, but didn't ruin my overall feeling about the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

***Some mild plot spoilers ahead.***


My first book with this author and a pretty decent introduction.
Admittedly, I'm a sucker for writers who make music a big part of their stories and to be honest, I heard the Marshall Tucker Band song in my head as soon as I read the title.
Layla and Josh are really solid characters - they’re trying to figure out who they are now that they’re no longer in their respective relationships. Navigating that while feeling the pull of something new is where the story is headed but I kind of struggled with the route we took to get there.
The timeline jumps around quite a bit - you spend a lot of time in each character’s head as they hash out things from their pasts in flashbacks. While it’s not something I wrestle with as a reader, it seemed to me that the larger part of this story is told in this form...which means the time together as a couple working on them being a couple or working towards being a couple just didn’t stand out. In fact, a lot of this book was about Layla reconnecting with her music - which I feel makes this more of a women;s fiction story than a romance. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it’s pretty clear that Layla working on herself is the main story.
Josh’s story is mostly told in the disintegration of his marriage to his teenage sweetheart - the about-face of Kim was kind of predictable, with the custody drama floated like a trial balloon that just...popped with no big effect. And the pseudo-drama with Layla’s ex Liam - after all the flashback build up - was anticlimactic. His behaviour indicated a “big bad” but he was a sheep in wolf’s clothing and there could have been a better payoff there on the page.
Ultimately, I did like HiiaLS - I guess I just like a more definitive HEA in my romance fiction - a relationship win, while the characters have their own individual wins too.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

This is a tough one to review. The characters were relatable, their backstories were believable as was their connection. So why didn't this work for me? One thing that bothered me is the lengthy looks back into the past. There were many flashbacks that really helped to illustrate what the characters have done and it was helpful but it was happening in most of the chapters and it took away from the relationship that was building in the present. I think that is the crux of it. I would have liked to have more conversation, more interaction, more sexy times with Layla and Josh. I think that would have solidified the love story element to this book.

Otherwise, like I said, the characters were likeable and relatable so still worth the time to read it. It would work as a beach read.

I am a huge Travey Garvis Graves fan! This book was different from her others. I enjoyed the journey of the Layla on discovering herself and her second change relationship with Josh. I felt like I needed a little more from these two together... but I enjoyed this book all the same.

I wanted to like <i> Heard It in a Love Song</i> but it just never hit right for me. The story follows two characters Layla, a recently divorced former rock star turned music teacher, and Josh, an electrician going through a divorce. The plot is pretty straightforward in terms of the romantic relationship and I think that's probably why it never landed for me. The flashbacks seem to be building toward something, but it turns out they really aren't. I've seen other reviewers describe it as a slow burn, but it felt more like a little puff of smoke that takes forever to get started and then fizzles out before it has a chance to catch.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

Since The Girl He Used to Know is one of my favorite top 10 of all time novels, I was super excited to get the chance to review TGG’s latest - Heard it in a Love Song. And, friends, she did not disappoint!

Love Song is the beautiful story of Layla and Josh. Layla an artist and elementary school music teacher, and Josh - the almost divorced parent of one of her students. The characters are deep and blemished - which makes their coming together so much more perfect. TGG weaves together present day with their histories, giving rich detail to their current day struggles.

Love Song will be the perfect book to cozy up to a fire this fall all while listening to its’ perfect soundtrack.

Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves is a beautifully written friends to lovers romance. I really loved this book and the dual timeline where we get the back-stories of Layla and Josh and what brought them to where they were in their lives now. I could almost hear Layla singing. It is that well written. I love how they both have learned what they want in their lives and they work to follow their dreams and be who you want to be. I highly recommend this book!

[thank you to the publisher for the free book]

“From the bestselling author of The Girl He Used to Know comes a love song of a story about starting over and second chances.”

This book shows the realistic, messy, and cautious way two characters navigate divorce, grow and find each other. Someone close to me went through a divorce this year and I found a lot of the things the characters went through to be similar, even though the characters had two different experiences and situations in the novel. I was glad this book had hope, growth and healing. The slow burn fit and blossoming friendship between the two characters was done well and fit perfectly with this type of story. Tracy Garvis Graves is such a unique storyteller and all of her books have stood out to me in different ways. The only thing I thought was a little off was the cover; it looks like it takes place in the 60’s/70’s but it is present day.