Author: Erin Hahn
Pages: 256
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: 2nd April 2019
Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary, Country Music
Format: Kindle
{Good Reads Synopsis}
Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things.
But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen.
Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk.
Erin Hahn’s thrilling debut, You’d Be Mine, asks: can the right song and the perfect summer on the road make two broken hearts whole?
But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen.
Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk.
Erin Hahn’s thrilling debut, You’d Be Mine, asks: can the right song and the perfect summer on the road make two broken hearts whole?
{My Thoughts}
It was cute, but not believable, not even for a YA novel. I am sure things don't work out so easily for young artists. I know too little about country music, except for what I learned from movies/ TV shows and books, but even I sense there is a bit more to getting into the high ranks of it. The fact that Clay's growl into the mic was pure art makes me raise an eyebrow and narrow my eyes. And question country music.
As for the love story, pure teenagehood. All about physical attraction and too little interest for each other's depth. The two main characters were so out of sync at times but then suddenly so engrossed in each other it was confusing. They acted immature, although that can be overlooked when thinking of 18 year-olds; but then don't act like you are mature and know what life is all about. I felt for their loss of family, but there could have been a bit more meat on the bones of this angle.
The serious angle of drinking and drugs could have been treated more seriously. Clay too easily gets over his one-year long pattern of drinking, just to drop it of his own accord because he's on a farm, listens to the right songs on Annie's old iPod, and Annie's grandad has a talk with him. Highly unlikely. And speaking of the slim substance of the novel, there were episodes when the story read like a bunch of fragments written separately and then put together to make a novel. I didn't see the fluidity of the plot, which is pretty meager, if you think about it. And the constant repetition of "I'm not good for him/ her" or "I will be the destructive force for him/her" grew tiring after a while. Two kids pining after one another, but being kids, they need 250+ pages to end up together.
The mixing of religion into the story was the element that was needed to create a complete Southern image. Coming from a religious/ Christian background, I don't see a world in which God and Clay and Annie's choices could coexist.
For readers into country music, for those looking for an easy read, or a road trip sort of novel, this is a nice choice. I watched A Star is Born not long ago and I am still listening to its soundtrack, so this novel came as a different perspective on the whole music industry.
PS. As I read the lyrics Annie and Clay wrote I kept thinking there would be so cool to listen to them or listen to a playlist that goes with the novel. Guys, there is a playlist! On the author's website there is one. Here it is. It would also be nice to see a film adaptation of this. I'd totally watch it.
I received a free e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
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