judeinthestars's review against another edition
4.0
I tell my wife she’s my sun. Every time she enters a room, everything is warmer, lighter and the colors are brighter. So of course I could relate from the beginning to how Alex loved Bridget. She said exactly that on page one.
This is a friends-to-lovers / celebrity / small-town but mostly second-chance romance. Alex and Bridget were childhood friends then, growing up, became lovers. They were the perfect couple under they weren’t and Bridget left. Five years later, she’s a Grammy Award winner but fame and success are no substitute for the love she left behind. Alex still lives in their hometown, where she’s found her own success, as the beloved owner of a café, a bar and a brewery. Try as they might, neither is over the break up or each other.
By definition, second chance romances are full of angst. Will she win her back? Will they be able to get over past hurts, to find happiness together again? Always a Love Song is no exception. It’s full of regrets and what ifs, of hopes and longing.
Maybe I’m emotional at the moment (though previous reviews tell me I’m not the only one) but I have to admit there were more than a few tears shed in the reading process.
I was a little worried about the then / now structure, it’s so easy to get lost in time with flashbacks and such but it worked. The flashbacks served a purpose and were done in a very organic way, so no complaints.
The secondary characters were excellent too, from both women’s friends or Bridget’s mother to the smaller parts such as the head-whacking doctor. There’s a tenderness in pretty much all the interactions that I loved.
The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars is that somehow it lost me a bit at the end. I finished rather late in the night, so that might not have helped.
Always a Love Song is pretty amazing for a debut novel and I hope we won’t have to wait too long for Charley Clarke’s next book (no pressure!).
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a friends-to-lovers / celebrity / small-town but mostly second-chance romance. Alex and Bridget were childhood friends then, growing up, became lovers. They were the perfect couple under they weren’t and Bridget left. Five years later, she’s a Grammy Award winner but fame and success are no substitute for the love she left behind. Alex still lives in their hometown, where she’s found her own success, as the beloved owner of a café, a bar and a brewery. Try as they might, neither is over the break up or each other.
By definition, second chance romances are full of angst. Will she win her back? Will they be able to get over past hurts, to find happiness together again? Always a Love Song is no exception. It’s full of regrets and what ifs, of hopes and longing.
Maybe I’m emotional at the moment (though previous reviews tell me I’m not the only one) but I have to admit there were more than a few tears shed in the reading process.
I was a little worried about the then / now structure, it’s so easy to get lost in time with flashbacks and such but it worked. The flashbacks served a purpose and were done in a very organic way, so no complaints.
The secondary characters were excellent too, from both women’s friends or Bridget’s mother to the smaller parts such as the head-whacking doctor. There’s a tenderness in pretty much all the interactions that I loved.
The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars is that somehow it lost me a bit at the end. I finished rather late in the night, so that might not have helped.
Always a Love Song is pretty amazing for a debut novel and I hope we won’t have to wait too long for Charley Clarke’s next book (no pressure!).
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
mjsam's review against another edition
4.0
ARC received from YLVA in return for an honest review.
This is a pretty impressive doubt novel. I didn’t pick this up when it first came out because second chance romances aren’t my favourite genre, but this had such good reviews I wanted to give it a try.
This features Alex and Bridget, who fell in love in high-school, were together through all sorts of things and are reunited after having broken up five years earlier. During that time Bridget became a famous singer, while Alex has remained in their home town running a cafe and bar. Bridget has just broken up with her fiancé after realising she’s still not over Alex and goes home to see if she can win her back.
Now, the way the story is written, Bridget is made out to be the bad guy in the relationship, at least early on, but she was much more likeable (to me anyway) than the emotionally repressed Alex. And once we eventually got to the ‘why’ of the breakup, also the more sympathetic of the two.
I’m not a fan of flashbacks because generally what’s contained in them could be revealed in a few conversations (which is still true here) but they didn’t bother me as much here, although I did chafe a bit at how slowly everything was revealed.
There are plenty of supporting characters, though none of them are terribly well fleshed out, mostly they’re just there to give support to whichever lead requires it at the time. This story is about Alex and Bridget though, and I enjoyed watching them navigate their way back to each other, though I did want to smack Alex for being so closed off!
This is a nice sweet romance, though readers should not that it also features no sex scenes to speak of, so if you’re after sexy times, you won’t find that here, but I didn’t feel this lacked anything due to that. As I said before, it’s an impressive debut, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
This is a pretty impressive doubt novel. I didn’t pick this up when it first came out because second chance romances aren’t my favourite genre, but this had such good reviews I wanted to give it a try.
This features Alex and Bridget, who fell in love in high-school, were together through all sorts of things and are reunited after having broken up five years earlier. During that time Bridget became a famous singer, while Alex has remained in their home town running a cafe and bar. Bridget has just broken up with her fiancé after realising she’s still not over Alex and goes home to see if she can win her back.
Now, the way the story is written, Bridget is made out to be the bad guy in the relationship, at least early on, but she was much more likeable (to me anyway) than the emotionally repressed Alex. And once we eventually got to the ‘why’ of the breakup, also the more sympathetic of the two.
I’m not a fan of flashbacks because generally what’s contained in them could be revealed in a few conversations (which is still true here) but they didn’t bother me as much here, although I did chafe a bit at how slowly everything was revealed.
There are plenty of supporting characters, though none of them are terribly well fleshed out, mostly they’re just there to give support to whichever lead requires it at the time. This story is about Alex and Bridget though, and I enjoyed watching them navigate their way back to each other, though I did want to smack Alex for being so closed off!
This is a nice sweet romance, though readers should not that it also features no sex scenes to speak of, so if you’re after sexy times, you won’t find that here, but I didn’t feel this lacked anything due to that. As I said before, it’s an impressive debut, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
theamandashelby's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first read by Clarke. I am always nervous to read a new author, but this was such a great first novel. I enjoyed it from start to finish and this one will go on my reread list for sure. I enjoy books where the chemistry between the two mains is solid. You can really feel the pain from the lost time, and the hurt between the two characters. This book is full of angst. The entire time I was rooting for them to find their way back to one another. I would never claim second chance romances as a favorite of mine, but this one was so good. This book has a lot of feels to it, but it makes the romance so much better. Love angst this is the book for you. Love second chance romances, you will love this one. Love a good romance, and hate angst... still think you will enjoy this one.
chrystopher_lytal's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a good read! This is Clarke's debut novel, but I have read her two novellas and she has one of the smoothest, most readable writing styles of any romance author I've ever read.
What struck me most about this story was how incredibly fleshed out and nuanced it was. It's a second chance love story, where a struck-it-rich character returns to her home town. It was not one of those romances where the reasons the mains can't be together are silly or based on an easily cleared up misunderstanding. This is also sort of a coming of age story for the millennial generation, one that shows how bewildering the world still is even when you're in your early and mid-twenties, how hard it is to adjust and function, maintain relationships, and grieve the death of a parent.
The relationship between Alex and Bridget shows real parity, and social issues like consent, respect for diversity, and support networks are layered in to make the story that much better.
Highly recommended.
What struck me most about this story was how incredibly fleshed out and nuanced it was. It's a second chance love story, where a struck-it-rich character returns to her home town. It was not one of those romances where the reasons the mains can't be together are silly or based on an easily cleared up misunderstanding. This is also sort of a coming of age story for the millennial generation, one that shows how bewildering the world still is even when you're in your early and mid-twenties, how hard it is to adjust and function, maintain relationships, and grieve the death of a parent.
The relationship between Alex and Bridget shows real parity, and social issues like consent, respect for diversity, and support networks are layered in to make the story that much better.
Highly recommended.
rrilal's review
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
synth's review
1.0
I honestly didn't hate this. It was more like a 1.5 rating – could have been okay. I was pleasantly surprised by the nuance in their break-up and generally their flaws and conflict.
BUT.
Alex is so closed off so much of the time that I just couldn't. She reads like an emotionally immature man too often and for too long for me to understand why anyone keeps trying with her. At some point she reflects that she's always been quiet but never mean, and I have to say that it's not what any of the book shows.
She sure seems caring for her best/girlfriend in a few of their recollections, but everything reads too much like the silent broody "protector" man type who gets mean when cornered/afraid/indecisive the rest of the time. And that really put me off.
Which is disappointing, since I thought the whole breaking apart of their relationship in the past was done better than usual, with a convincing balance of "it's no one's fault" and "it's both their fault" to make their reconnecting plausible, and even root-able.
Tbf, I think the writing decently managed to not have the characters come across as entitled or obnoxious, despite all that, so I'm not gonna avoid this writer in the future. I just really wish this brooding character hadn't been portrayed as redeemable and attractive, like all those shitty male characters in all stories ever (not saying that she was that shitty, but it still really rubbed me the wrong way).
BUT.
Alex is so closed off so much of the time that I just couldn't. She reads like an emotionally immature man too often and for too long for me to understand why anyone keeps trying with her. At some point she reflects that she's always been quiet but never mean, and I have to say that it's not what any of the book shows.
She sure seems caring for her best/girlfriend in a few of their recollections, but everything reads too much like the silent broody "protector" man type who gets mean when cornered/afraid/indecisive the rest of the time. And that really put me off.
Which is disappointing, since I thought the whole breaking apart of their relationship in the past was done better than usual, with a convincing balance of "it's no one's fault" and "it's both their fault" to make their reconnecting plausible, and even root-able.
Tbf, I think the writing decently managed to not have the characters come across as entitled or obnoxious, despite all that, so I'm not gonna avoid this writer in the future. I just really wish this brooding character hadn't been portrayed as redeemable and attractive, like all those shitty male characters in all stories ever (not saying that she was that shitty, but it still really rubbed me the wrong way).
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