Book Review: SMOKE & LYRICS by Holly Hall

Title: Smoke and Lyrics

Author: Holly Hall

Genre: NA/Contemporary Romance

Release Date: December 1, 2017

Country star Jenson King is accustomed to fighting battles and losing--in his career, in his love life, and with alcohol. Following his divorce, thousands, if not millions, of fans are counting on his comeback. But how does one find the spark of passion when it's long since burned out?

Lindsey Farrar wants nothing more than to prove herself as a music photographer. Fiery and independent, she'd work countless side jobs to fuel her dream rather than ride the coattails of someone else's name to success. After a chance encounter, Lindsey shakes up everything Jenson believes about life and that other four-letter word.

After all he's been through, Jenson isn't willing to let anything meaningful slip out of his grasp. But Lindsey's determined to shine all on her own, and Jenson casts an enormous shadow.

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"He's a pitch- black cavern or a man, and I'm just a girl with a flashlight."

Going into Smoke & Lyrics I hadn't ever read anything by the author before and I was only going off the synopsis. And let me tell you this book definitely didn't let me down. These characters and so troubled, in so many ways...broken but it's what makes their characters speak to me. It's that brokenness that lets you relate to the characters.

"I am not made for the greed and narcissism of the industry, yet I hold onto my career with desperate fingers even as it slices deep. Nothing sticks in my world; not good habits, not love."

Jensen is broken. He's struggling through life with booze, music, and more booze. After his wife left him, his career started falling apart and he turned to drowning himself in liquor just to get by. He knows he can't keep living this way and letting his band down. But it's what helps...until he meets Lindsey. Lindsey is about to shake up his world better than any whiskey can.

"Life is a runaway train that won't stop for anyone. I just don't know where it's headed next."

To everyone but Lindsey her heart is closed. Cold. She's closed off to anyone to prevent herself from getting hurt. All she wants to do is photograph music artist and be successful. She just needs to get her foot in the door but when she meets Jensen she wants nothing to do with him. She knows all about how big he is in the music industry, his past, and how he's turned to booze to live life. But she can't seem to stay away from his tortured soul. Their broken pieces just seem to fit.

"I'm a man chased by storm clouds; no matter where I go, the past will always be lurking overhead, dark and heavy. But she's pure sunshine- unbearably bold, but warm nonetheless."

She's sunshine in Jensen's life and exactly the dose of liquor he needs. But these two are a unlikely pairing that just work but the truth is they have never been able to find themselves. And now is their chance.

"I let every lick and tug and moan orchestrate the melody in my mind, and our bodies create the music I haven't been able to capture in almost a year."

I loved this book like crazy and watching them change over the book. Character growth is one of my favorite things to read about because it's so true, and raw to how we grow as people. And Holly captures that essence perfectly.

Holly Hall was raised in North Texas. She drinks coffee on the daily, would love to get paid to travel for a living, thinks animals are often better than humans, can count on one hand the number of things she loves more than reading and Texas A&M football (okay, that might be an exaggeration), and couldn’t handpick a better family than her enormous one. She is currently the reluctant resident of Houston, Texas with her husband and German shepherd. She is the author of three other standalone contemporary romances, Forever Grace, All the Pieces That You Left, and Love in Smoke.