Thank you @berkleyromance for the free book and to @prhaudio for the audiobook. You have no idea how excited I was to get to read this one early. #berkleypartner #prhaudiopartner #berkley #berkleyromance

Love is a War Song by @danica_nava
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A “cancelled” pop star escapes to her family ranch in Oklahoma only to fall for a ruggedly adorable ranch hand, all while learning about her lineage, her people, and her Muscogee roots.

Can I just say it now? Danica Nava is the new queen of cowboy romance.

I absolutely adored this a story and the delightful cast of ensemble characters. I giggled my way through this one!

After loving The Truth According to Ember, I knew I would enjoy this one too, but to say I loved it is an understatement. IT’S ROMANCE PERFECTION.

The audiobook is so well narrated! @kylark brought this story and these characters to live with such talent!

I recommend this one for all romance readers!

i enjoyed this one, definitely more than her debut! i think her books need a little more editing but always a good time!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Love is a Warsong by Danica Nava is a cutesy, sarcastic banter, love story about indigenous pop singer Avery Fox and country music star Lucas Iron Eyes. The two eventually pair up to help raise funds to save Lucas Iron Eyes home/ranch. This novel gave me more YA romance content than romance novel content and left me struggling with this read. Something I was excited about reading left me feeling unsatisfied with how much potential it could've had. Nava adds banter on it that made me feel relatable to the FMC (Avery Fox) but overall thought this was lacking in some way. I would recommend this book to high schoolers but wouldn't be recommending this novel to my romance book clubs.

I loooooved this fresh take on a cowboy romance! I really loved the Indigenous representation as that’s not something I read about often nor know a lot about. I also loved the disgraced pop star vibes, going back to her roots and finding love on this ranch. It gave big Hannah Montana Movie energy. I thought Avery’s growth was wonderful, and Lucas was what dreams are made of. Highly recommend!

Avery Fox, a Muscogee pop star who grew up in LA and has never really known her family, gets into hot water after a Rolling Stones cover incident. She is then sent to live on estranged grandmother Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma and of course there is an attractive man, Lucas Iron Eyes, working on the ranch. This is a romance after all. There is dislike to lovers and forced proximity.

But what made me enjoy this was the relationship Avery discovers with her family and her own identity. What does it mean to be a “real” Native American, and who gets to decide that? I liked seeing a cowboy story told from a Native American perspective, and follow along with Avery as she learns more about her culture and what it means to be family.

Was some of this book cheesy? Yes, but it’s a romance and that was what I wanted. The overall message of the book - that people can make mistakes but learn and grow and not make those mistakes again, was great. Our mistakes don’t have to define us. Pick this up if you want a good cowboy romance with Native representation and character development. I read this on audio and kylark did a great job.

I love Danica's first book so I was so excited for her second book to be released. This book shows how much her writing has already grown compared to her first book. This book was fun, spicy and had great banter between both main characters. The way that Danic covers not feeling like you belong to a place/culture due to not growing up immersed in it, is something that many of us that are immigrants or first gen can relate too. The way that her community welcomed her and was willing to teach her and show grace since Avery did want to learn was beautiful. I absolutely love this book and Danica is now a must read author.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-ARC, it in no way influences my review.

*Miigwetch (thank you) to Berkley and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

I want to start off my review with two points: I am Indigenous (Bodéwadmi and Ojibwe), and I’m not a huge romance reader. That being said, when I do read romance, it is usually because it was written by a Black, Brown, or Indigenous author because they are paving the way for the underrepresented in most genres.

Danica Nava is one of the first traditionally published romance Indigenous authors, so I have a soft spot in my heart for her and her writing. How did we get this far and we have only a handful of Indigenous romance books? There isn’t a variety of choices for us like there is for other groups, but I think Danica is doing fantastic work of opening that door.

Even more than that, I genuinely liked this book. As I said, I don’t usually like romance books because I tend to get bored, but this book had me hooked in. I was flying through chapters when I had time to read because it is more than insta-lust and attraction (nothing wrong with anyone who prefers that). That element is here but it isn’t the main focus. There is a fun banter between Avery and Lucas, an ideal dynamic in which I prefer to see in couples when I’m reading any other genre. They bicker, and have tension, in a way that keeps you on edge for when they finally come together. This book is also about community, finding your place in this world, sticking up for your dreams, and setting boundaries with those who are meant to protect you (like parents). It also has that Hannah Montana: The Movie and Cowbelles vibe that I really enjoyed as a kid, and Danica delivered an adult version for us. It is lighthearteded while not shying away from tough conversations.

It also tackles the harm we can play as Indigenous peoples when we aren’t putting community first and listening to those who are connected. Especially those of us who are white Natives. We have a duty to our people to make sure we are representing them in a good, honest way, and Avery makes a major mistake that she has to reconcile with. Having made my own mistakes in connecting with my culture, it is nice to see this topic being tackled because we need to be having these conversations, while being open to offering forgiveness is there is a genuine effort in making amends and doing better to our community. Not everyone has to forgive, and this book didn’t push that message either. It just is about owning up and continuing forward.

I do wish there was a little more atoning for the song/music video that Avery releases but overall I do feel Danica handled all of this super well.

IN SUMMARY: this is a beautiful, funny story with classic Hallmark, Hannah Montana: The Movie, and cowboy loving vibes. This is a genre that we need more of for sure, and I hope Danica delivers even more. I also hope we get to revisit these characters in another book.

Rep: amputee sc, dyslexic love interest. Muscogee characters.

This book was just fun. You read so many of the same kind of stories about celebrities/big city girls going to live on a ranch and they all start to read the same, but this one felt a little different.

Avery Is a pop singer who got herself into a bad media sitch which required her to get out of the public eye a bit. She goes to her estranged grandmother’s ranch in Oklahoma and experiences for the first time life on a reservation. She meets Lucas, a cowboy who has worked and lived on her grandmother’s property for years.

I loved the indigenous representation in this book, because I honestly haven’t read anything like it. It was the perfect book for cultural exploration, self discovery, humor, and a ton of flirting :). If you have been wanting to try a cowboy romance, I’d strongly recommend this one, I think it has more heart to it, and you can actually feel the connection between the characters and their land.

I was a bit too old for Hannah Montana, but if that was your jam, then I think you’d like this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read, and the audio is fantastic. A pop star searching for her history, wanting to know who her family is outside of her mom. Native rep, romance, a family farm, learning who you are. This is a must read!

There is a lot to like about this book. I really enjoyed Lucas' not white Cowboy perspective and Avery's fish out water journey. Seeing more layers in this particular Native community and some lightheartedness mixed with heavier topics really worked well. I'm just not sure how I felt about the writing style. Some of the dialogue felt really stiff and it wrapped up so quickly after everything. I think I wanted a little bit more depth.

𝗔𝗱-𝗣𝗥-𝗔𝗿𝗰

🎤 pop star on the run
🎤 Native American heritage
🎤 repairing family bonds
🎤 finding your true identity
🎤 enemies to lovers

4🌟 - Avery Fox is a pop star on the run after a career crisis and is sent to her family home in Oklahoma, where her Muscogee roots are. There she learns about her heritage and I absolutely adore the bond that grows between Avery and her very headstrong grandmother! As Avery discovers her true self, she can’t help but to be charmed by the ranch hand Lucas, also Muscogee with his own secrets. He is not swayed by her celebrity status and yet they are attracted to each other despite their clashing. Horses, tornadoes, cooking lessons and family secrets, are all included in this cute rom com. Although a romance ( very low on the spice scale and reminiscent of a YA novel in its writing style ) I felt the ending was a little lacking and honestly felt more like a young woman’s journey to discovering her true potential and worth.
I’ll definitely read the author’s previous book as I also have indigenous heritage ( Kanien’kehá:ka ) and finding indigenous authors is exciting.

I was really excited for this book, so I don't know if it was the time of year- or the writing style but I couldn't connect with the characters and found the story a little slow. It gave me Hannah Montana but Native American vibes and almost felt like it would've been better for a Young Adult book than Adult Romance.

This was a cute read and I really liked the MFC and the found (ish) family she found. I wasn't too attached to the MMC and MFC love connection though, I felt like getting them together felt rushed and would have liked to have more build up and anticipation. Overall, this was a nice read but not something I see myself rereading soon.

Former child star and current pop princess Avery Fox has been canceled. When she wears a war bonnet for a risqué photo shoot, Avery sees it as reclaiming her Muscogee heritage, but the public is (rightfully) in an uproar. This is how she finds herself in Oklahoma staying with a grandmother she’s never met and learning more about the family she’s never known.

I liked Danica Nava’s debut when I read it last year, but I think Love Is a War Song is even better. I really liked Avery as a main character and even though she was a a bit of a fish out of water, she was able to adjust to life on the ranch pretty quickly. Lucas was very charming (albeit a bit grumpy) from the very beginning and the tension between the two was palpable from their very first interaction. They’re definitely opposites, but their relationship is one where they bring out the best in eachother which made it easy to root for their romance. There are some heavier topics handled in this novel as well (both main characters have struggles with their families), but the author still managed to keep it light for the most part. My favorite moments were the stickball tournament and getting lost during the tornado sirens.

Read if you like:
-Opposites attract
-Celebrity/normie romance
-Cowboys!!
-Indigenous representation

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. 4.5 stars

5⭐️
2🔥

Quick Breakdown

Fish Out of Water
Grumpy x Sunshine
Celebrity x Cowboy
Coming Home / Small Town
Hannah Montana: The Movie vibes
Indigenous Rep
Slow Burn
Single POV
Open Door - Mild

THANK YOU @berkleyromance for the gifted copy & @prhaudio for the ALC #berkleypartner

Up & coming pop star Avery Fox is cancelled after posing on the cover of Rolling Stone in a feathered warbonnet. What was supposed to help her breakout as a Native American artist only lead to her being considered a fake & culturally inept. She escapes the backlash to her estranged grandmother’s ranch in Oklahoma. Her first time on the rez, Avery not only has to learn how to work to earn her keep but she continually butts heads with Lucas Iron Eyes, the man running her grandmother’s ranch, who’s made it very clear he had no respect for Avery or what she stands for.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! It came out of nowhere & made me fall head over heels. One thing that sucked me in from the start was the plot. Someone referred this to Hannah Montana: The Movie & they couldn’t be more correct. I loved the indigenous pop star coming home to family she’s never met written by an indigenous author. I know it wasn’t the point, but I loved that I learned a small amount about Native American culture along the way.

Avery is a new favorite heroine. Even in the beginning, you could tell she was ignorant but not indifferent. It wasn’t her intent to insult - she was just doing what she was told - but that in itself was part of the problem. I loved that Avery was legitimately sorry & self aware enough to own her mistakes & want to learn about the culture she was sheltered from. Her growth was palpable & I appreciated her growing a backbone for herself.

The romance between Avery & Lucas just felt right. The slow burn grumpy x sunshine, dislike to love set on a ranch made my cowboy romance loving heart go wild. Avery’s determination & Lucas slowly breaking down the idea of who he thought Avery was a joy to watch.

The audiobook was phenomenal. It’s narrated by Kyla Garcia whose voice I fell in love with after hearing her narrate Jessica Joyce’s books. I was so engaged I couldn’t put it down, finishing the book in under two days - a record for me & my slump at the time.

Do not sleep on this book! Love is a War Song is available now!

Really loved the dynamic between Avery and Lucas. She’s a pop princess laying low at her grandmas ranch who she’s just met. He’s her head ranch hand with dreams of expanding.
You can tell when they meet there is chemistry though it shows as animosity at first. They both have complicated relationships with their parents.
The authors note discussed in how this was talking to who can cancel based on appropriation. As Avery wore some ceremonial attire for a cover shoot she technically wasn’t allowed to. It went viral and she had to hide for a bit but everyone questioned if she was even indigenous. Social media is quick and pretty judgemental before any facts.
It also showed community and reconnecting or in her case connecting for the first time to her extended family and found family.
Definitely recommend!

danica nava is my new favorite author -- this was the cowboy x popstar romance that i needed!!! the characters were so lovable and i learned a lot, i was rooting for them the whole time

I absolutely loved Love is a War Song! From the moment I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. Danica Nava gives us such a fun and heartfelt story with an unlikely pair—a disgraced pop star and a cowboy—who are thrown together and slowly chip away at each other’s walls. The banter between Avery and Lucas is top-tier, with just the right enemies-to-lovers vibe, and their chemistry had me hooked the whole way through.

What really stood out for me was Avery’s journey. She starts out living under everyone else’s expectations and then finds herself completely out of her element at her grandmother’s ranch. Watching her stumble, try, and ultimately grow into her own while reconnecting with her Native heritage was both funny and touching. Lucas was the perfect balance as an MMC—supportive, steady, and swoon-worthy, but never overshadowing her. Excellent book boyfriend material.

I also loved how Nava wove in themes of community, found family, and three generations of women whose secrets slowly come to light. It gave the story so much depth. The ending felt delightfully cinematic, and I closed the book with a huge smile on my face.

This book was romantic, funny, heartfelt, and just plain addictive. A perfect Sunday afternoon/beach day/summer read. THIS was one of the most enjoyable rom-coms I’ve read this year; had me giggling, swooning, squealing the works.

I now have a finished copy and it's the perfect addition to my romance shelves.

Thanks so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance #Partner for the free copy of the book!

This book is out now!

I became a fan of Danica after reading her debut The Truth About Ember last year. I was so excited when this book was announced because as you know I love a normie and celebrity romance. And the fact that she is a pop singer - even better!

I remember Ember was such a silly book in the sense that I remember laughing out loud at the different things that Ember was getting herself involved in. But with this as much as it was fun, it didn't have that same humor (not a bad thing!). As mentioned above, I love a normie and celebrity romance and I'm always curious how authors curate those stories. In this case Avery Fox is being cancelled after a photoshoot and is shipped off by her momager to stay with her grandmother in Oklahoma. In OK, she is not a pop singer and has to do daily chores on her grandmother's ranch. There she meets worker Lucas who just wants to live a simple life and help others.

I love the relationship between the two. I thought the relationship between the two was a mix of slow burn but also insta love? It's weird because in one sense I felt like we were building up to when they finally got together but also wait you're kissing already?! Either way I loved it. There was a moment where she stood up for him to his parents and you couldn't help but clap at it. I also was proud of Lucas and how far he had come since being at the ranch. You get a deep dive into his back story and his complication relationship with his parents.

Speaking of complication with parents, Avery has her own set of issues. The relationship between her and her mom and then her mom and grandmother was interesting to see play out. Her mom is not an easy woman to get along with. Being also her manager, the line between personal and business blur heavily. We also got a small glimpse into the relationship between her mom and grandmother which spoiler is not good.

What was cool for me is that I was able to meet with a local Indigenous Book Club who picked this as their August book and be apart of their discussion. It was very insightful hearing from the host who is Native American. She loved the book and talked about the whistling at night and the indigenous monsters. The host was so knowledgeable and I was so happy to have gotten to partake in the discussion!

I highly recommend if you love a celebrity romance, family drama all in an Oklahoma setting!

4.25

Thank you so much to Berkley & NetGalley for this e-arc.

Love is a War Song is a complex representation of Indigenous identity and the significance of reestablishing ties to one's lost ancestry. As Avery and Luca got to know one another, their romance developed slowly. I adored the variety of experiences Avery had on the ranch, as well as with the locals and other people she encountered during the course of the story. I thought the relationship was great since they had to learn to compromise and strive toward a future together. All things considered, this was a fantastic book about learning to stand up for what you want, reconnecting connections with your family, and rediscovering your heritage. I'm going to read Nava's other work because I thought her writing style was excellent.