Such a beautiful love story and a great way to end one of my favorite series!
The story of Iris and Angel does not come easy. Angel is a successful R&B pop singer who becomes the brand ambassador of Save Face Beauty (The company Iris works for). Iris is cautious about their connection mostly because of her daughter, Calla; but also because she is a widow and has not shown interest in another man in 4 years. While on the beauty campaign, their chemistry is undeniable, despite Iris trying to remain professional.
I also really liked how the characters developed their relationship organically. It just felt so real.
Thank you Berkley Publishers and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved the entire Greene Sisters Series and I’m so happy we finally got to Iris and Angel’s story!!

Iris is a widowed single mother who is finally ready to start dating, or at least ready to think about the idea of dating again. Angel is a pop R&B singer, who works with Iris’ sister Violet, and has been drawn to Iris everytime they meet. And now that Angel is the brand ambassador for the new skincare line that the company Iris works for is releasing, they will have admit their mutual attraction to each other and try to stay professional as they work together.

Iris and Angel might be my favorite couple of this series! Iris is the ultimate eldest daughter and seeing her learn to love again after loss was everything my heart needed. Angel has always had a crush on Iris and as he learns more about her and her past he fully understands and respects why Iris has turned him down, but that does not stop him from showing up and supporting her. And by doing so he is actively showing her that being vulnerable and open to receive help from him is something that she doesn’t even have to ask for. *cue the swoons*

Angel also has some trauma in his past, he grew up in an extremely religious household and was quite sheltered before he left to LA as a young adult. And now that he has a growing career, he still faces the rejection of his life choices by his mother. And this is something that we see in their interactions. And I loved how often Iris stood up to his mother for him.

Their romance is so sweet and tender and I just love them so much!! I cannot recommend this book and series enough!!

So sad to see this series end but man did it end on a high note! Forest saved the best for last.

I really loved Angel and Iris. Angel is drawn to Iris the moment he meets her (we love to see a man down bad!) Iris is hesitant to date due to her grief over her late husband, plus she has a daughter to think of. The relationship between these two progressed naturally and was super sweet. I just liked how kind and considerate they were of each other. They are very loving towards each other which just warmed the heart. The romance will give you butterflies. I thought the steamy scenes fit the characters and were still sexy.

I thought the author handled the topic of grief well and celebrity romances. Everything was well balanced and written with care.

A romantic romcom that many will swoon over!

I am very excited for this grand finale to the flowery sisters series! THE LOVE LYRIC was a great story, and truly cemented my love for Kristina Forest. She is so incredibly talented at writing complex characters with unique backstories. She makes her stories centered around not just a love story, but also the union of two families, of two support systems colliding to make a stronger one. One thing about this novel that I didn't enjoy was the obstacle keeping the couple apart. I don't want to write spoilers, but I feel like the reasons for Iris being hesitant to dive into a relationship were weak and unfounded. It felt random and strange for her to avoid putting labels on her relationship with Angel for the sake of another person, and not even a person who was extremely close to her. I felt like this book needed more conflict and tension between Angel and Iris to not only turn up the heat, but also create a REAL reason for them not being able to get together. Obviously, I wasn't a huge fan of the plotting, but the characters did indeed steal my heart.

Musician love stories will always win me over. Not only that, though, this was such an impactful and quick read. This book addressed topics such as loss, grief, and the fear of opening yourself up to love again for Iris that were absolutely beautifully done. Angels struggles with his parents and religion were also done in a way that had a balance of showing its power and importance but the value in putting yourself first, and the joy that can come from it. Finding a work/life balance was also heavily emphasized in this, while not taking over the entirety of the plot. At the end of the day, the romance in this book was beautiful and joyous, and the spicy scenes were a great balance of detail and privacy that really highlighted the way the characters are as a whole. I loved reading about the Greene family and the continuations of their stories, and Calla!!! Beautiful, quick-witted, and fun little Calla stole the show for me despite her relatively small appearances. This book left such an impact without having to dive into great detail about topics, and I truly enjoyed this read! I also reallllly loved the therapy features and being able to get glimpses into sessions! Each and every side character was so fun to read as well- there were none that I felt deserved less time on the page. Such a great romance that was not JUST about the romance. The only reason I really docked a star was for the pacing. It felt almost too easy to read and too easy to flow into the relationship (especially for Iris), but I think the last half really makes up for it as well as what the characters are going through. While I don’t always love a third act breakup, I felt how necessary it was to this book, and their relationship’s growth.

Thanks to @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for the free ARC and to @prhaudio for the ALC!

What I Liked—The three sisters had such a close relationship. I didn’t read the first two books, but I still got a chance to get to know the other sisters well. A lot of interconnected standalone romance series don’t give any further details about characters from the previous books, but this one made them part of the story. I also liked the single mom aspect and the focus on grief and therapy. I really liked Angel’s character as well. He had managed to overcome his toxic upbringing and be a kind, generous, well-adjusted person despite his celebrity status. I also liked how the author showed that religious people don’t have to be toxic. His sister remained religious but was in a kind and welcoming community.

What I didn’t like—There was so much telling. I like to know what the characters look like, but detailed descriptions of every minor character just drew me out of the story. I also felt like the resolution after the third act breakup was rushed and that after spending so much time seeing every thought and feeling the characters had, suddenly Iris was giving completely different reasons for her actions. It felt jarring.

But honestly, if I had read the book on paper instead of listening to it, I would probably have given it four stars. But I really struggled with the narration. The female narrator made the descriptions drag. And I wasn’t a fan of the voices either narrator gave to the minor characters, especially the young daughter. I also felt like the two narrator’s voicing of each other’s characters didn’t match at all. For me it was a two star audiobook.

A four star story with a two star audiobook. So I’m meeting in the middle with three stars.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
After the previous book was a dud, I still had high hopes for the final book to measure up to the solid quality of the first. Unfortunately, The Love Lyric was just as bad. Like its predecessor, it was slow as molasses and felt very uninspired and passionless.
Kristina Forest has great ideas for characters once again, and individually, they’re not awful. Iris and her journey of self-discovery is fairly compelling for a decent part of the book. Angel’s struggle to find meaning in music is also fairly well-realized, and comes across well. However, I was not invested in their romance at all; the bit about him having written a song about her after meeting felt weird, and there was no real enduring chemistry to make me root for them. The narrative also felt like it was trying to be a slow-burn, but it moved at such a snail’s-pace, that while I was initially invested for like the first 50%, I really began to stop caring after that. The main reason I bothered finishing, apart from being so far into it, is that Forest’s writing made the subpar story fairly tolerable to get through, despite my generally lack of investment.
I’m once again sad that a Greene Sisters/Kristina Forest romance didn’t work for me, especially since book one was so great! But it’s perfectly possible it’s just me not meshing with the specific tropes included in this book and Forest’s execution of them, as this book in particular has gotten a lot of love from other reviewers. I implore you to go look at those reviews as well before making a decision, especially if you happen to enjoy slow burn contemporary romance, and are looking for one with Black leads.

*Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC* I absolutely LOVED The Love Lyric. I enjoyed Iris’s story so much. Being the eldest daughter, I could relate to some of her struggles and motivations which made her very relatable. Her grief was also relatable for anyone who has lost someone close to them. The connection Iris and Angel had was delightful. I found myself laughing at their banter throughout the book but also tearing up when they were being vulnerable with each other and experiencing their own personal growth. Their love story is so many things but in the end it was heartwarming and hopeful. Beautiful book.

4.5 stars. thank you berkley for the e-arc! this one was a hit! i love this series so much. superstar x business woman romance with depth and an engaging story. i liked how Angel found his way back to his r&b roots while keeping boundaries between his mom. i also liked iris’s character development on letting love in after terry. great read and can’t wait for the world to have their story! out 2/4

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC. This finale to the Greene Sisters series was heartwarming and cute. Perfect if you’re looking a book that’s sweet with a little bit of spice.

Iris reminded me so much of myself. Type-A planner, problem solver, takes care of others before her own needs.. the list goes on. Being a single mother and older sibling has been such a big part of her life. She’s been everyone's support for so long and in this book you see her go on her journey of self-discovery. It was beautiful to watch her open her heart up and embrace new changes after experiencing a big loss.

Angel literally was so sweet and I just love an MMC who falls first. He was so patient, understanding, and charming. I appreciated reading about his struggles with his family, faith, and battle with staying true to his vision of his music.

The mutual respect and support of one another shine the most throughout this book. Vulnerability and communication between the two were admirable.

The only drawback I had while reading was some moments the pacing was a bit too slow.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a chance to review and providing me with an ARC copy.

I ado the Greene Sisters, their names are a perfect combination for the characters portrayed.

When a man pray that you might show up one day, he’s definitely worth giving a flower too.
"I felt like you could use a song."

As Violet wedding day approached she had only two requirements, 1. Everyone had to come dressed to impress and two, the wedding had to feel like a big old party! No matter how beautiful everything in that day and moment was, Iris couldn’t let go of the memories her and Terry shared.
A significant part of the story was the food, you have to be careful who you’re serving too, especially influencers, all of them became ill with food poisoning and Save Face Beauty took on a bad rep for a while.

Angel’s love for Iris was heartfelt and beautiful. Even though Iris was challenging due to grief, Angel allowed Iris time to heal.

This book was a 5🌟 read for me, I love all of Kristina’s book.

Cute Names
Woof - Woof tickled me

Favorite Drink
Shirley Temple

Fav Songs
Spend my life with you - Eric Benét& Tamia
Cake - Rihanna

Quote:
Grief is like an ocean, sometimes the tide was high and low tide.

Triggers: Loss of a Spouse

A Slow Yes

I was so happy to catch up with the Greene sisters again. It was time for all three of them to get their happily ever afters. Uptight Iris was so resistant to taking her turn. She had every excuse to shut down Angel’s advances. He was surprisingly patient with her through it all. Their love story turned out to be quite the slow burn. As long as it took for them to finally couple up, they still managed to have the dreaded third act breakup. That really frustrated me. I wanted them to just be together. They had great chemistry when Iris wasn’t overthinking things. Angel was so loving and wonderful. When they finally made it work, I wanted to jump for joy.

This was a cute finale for the Greene sisters’ trilogy. Despite it being a delayed union, it was still an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Kristina Forest for this advanced copy for me to review.

#TheLoveLyric #NetGalley

This was such a warm read! I recently discovered the Greene sisters series and receiving this arc, at this time, was just meant to be. Out of the three sisters, Iris’ story was my favorite. There is just something about a man that is obsessed with a woman, in the best way possible, and makes it known without his ‘ego’ being involved. The romance in this book was so warm and felt like a hug, I loved it so much. Despite the love story between Iris and Angel, this was also a love story/homage to a lot of first daughters. First daughters are typically raised to be ‘caregivers’; constantly showing up for others, taking care of others at their own expense. I love that at the end of this, Iris was able to realize that she too deserved to be taken care of. Angel was such a humble and beautifully written character - an r&b singer that comes from a background of religious trauma and living in ‘objection’ of what his parents would prefer and being constantly criticized for it. Despite all that, he isn’t defined by it and navigates his pursuit of Iris in the most gentlemanly way undeterred by her hesitance.

I say all this to say, READ IT! I’m truly honored that I received and got to read this arc. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts too 😊

Thank you to @berkleypub @berkleyromance for the eARC, I’m so grateful!

I appreciated the love story between Angel and Iris. As a middle child, I related to Violet’s story more but I have a deeper understanding of the role of eldest daughter’s play now. I really liked how iris and Angel’s relationship evolved and she was able to let go and be free with Angel. I’ve been a fan of the Greene sister trilogy so this was a very nice ending. I really liked Angel for Iris and I appreciate how the book delved into religious trauma which is a topic that’s not always talked about. I really enjoyed this book

What a way to end this series! (I’m sad about it)

Iris, my sweet, strong and capable Iris. She is the definition of the oldest child syndrome and she is a widower finally open to dating. A business woman climbing the ranks of corporate America and doing it well. Everyone looks to her for answers. Including her family.

Angel is a charismatic, outgoing, sweet and successful singer. From the moment he spotters Iris he was head over heels. She was everything he wasn’t and he wanted to be her everything.

These two when they interacted throughout the books made my heart melt. It was like two 19 year olds falling in love and mannnnn. They were so meant to be it hurt!!

I loved this book. There was so much depth to both characters and the things they went through.

This entire series has a special place in my heart. I wish there were five more sisters to do five more books 😩

Ok Angel is a delight and I liked Iris so much better in this story compared to the first. You get to see what happened to her and why she is the way she is. I loved watching their relationship unfold. Angel might have had insta-love but their story came to be in a believable way.

My favorite scene was when Iris stood up to Cora for how she treats Angel. I was grinning and cheering her on.

However my next favorite scene may or may not be right after his birthday party. IYKYK.

Aw! Iris’ story was probably my favorite of the 3. Widowed, perfectionist, single mom? I’ll take it.

Angel was just the sweetest. I enjoyed reading their love story.

More than anything, I enjoyed reading about Angel’s experience with church and religion. It was very relatable and I felt seen in those pages. I think it was such a good theme to bring to the book because so many of us struggle with the same things Angel dealt with.

Of course, reading about the other Greene sisters warmed my heart.

4.5/5 stars -This was such a great way to wrap up the Greene Sisters trilogy!! The Love Lyric is officially my favorite in the series. Angel and Iris’ love story was so sweet and wholesome. I loved how Iris navigated her journey with grief to ultimately find love again after a major loss. I also enjoyed the side plot with Angel’s faith and his mother. One of my favorite aspects of this book was the emphasis on healthy communication between Angel and Iris! Read if you enjoy:

-Forced proximity
-Workplace romances
-Finding love after loss
-Sweet yet steamy romances!

Kristina Forest delivers a heartfelt conclusion to the Greene Sisters trilogy with *The Love Lyric*, earning a solid 4.5 stars. This final installment focuses on Iris Greene, the eldest sister, whose journey through grief and rediscovery of love is both tender and empowering.

Iris, a widow and the mother of the wonderfully spunky Callah, has always been described by her sisters, Lily and Violet, as the most accomplished and put-together of the three. Yet, beneath the polished exterior lies a vulnerability rooted in the loss of her husband, a grief she has been too busy to truly confront.

Enter Angel, a charming and sensitive singer who has quietly admired Iris from afar for three years. While her sisters caution him against pursuing her, fate intervenes when he becomes the brand ambassador for Iris’s company. A one-week domestic tour places the two in close proximity, igniting sparks that neither can ignore.

Watching Angel fall first was an absolute joy. His childhood trauma and strained relationship with narcissistic parents have made him wary of love, but Iris fiercely defends him and helps him find confidence and self-worth. The way their relationship blossoms, despite all the reasons it shouldn’t work, feels authentic and deeply rewarding.

The slow-burn romance is beautifully paced, making every moment worth the wait. Witnessing Iris’s journey to love again after loss was especially moving, and the emotional depth of the story pulled at my heartstrings in the best way.

Kristina Forest has crafted a poignant and memorable story that celebrates healing, self-love, and the power of opening your heart again. *The Love Lyric* is a must-read for fans of the series and anyone who loves a romance that’s as emotional as it is swoon-worthy.

***Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the opportunity to read this eARC.***
I absolutely loved The Love Lyric! As a fan of the first two books in this series, I was so happy that Iris and Angel got their happy ending.
The love and care that Angel showed for Iris throughout this entire series before she even knew it, kept a smile on my face! I loved how grief, church hurt and difficult parent relationships were handled. This was absolutely a joy to read. I am so sad this wraps up the series but glad that I can always return to the Greene sisters and start the journey over.
The chapters can be a bit lengthy, but overall this was not a major issue for me.