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A review by red3horn
American Love Songs by Ashlyn Kane
4.0
Way back in the fall of 2012 I bought a book about boys who love other boys. I wasn’t the m/m romance reader that I am today, honestly the only boy love action I had read was part of an erotica series. BUT I was interested and I had a thing for boys in bands so I bought American Love Songs. For reasons, so many that escape my mind at the moment and reasons I am quite frankly doing a major face palm for, I kept putting his book aside. I will be the first in line to kick my ass for not reading this sooner.
The book starts out with an adorable blog post from our narrator Jake Brenner as he tells us he is in love with his band mate, Parker McAvoy. I kinda love stories that start this way; starting you off in the present and taking you back to where it all started. Granted, this felt a bit too similar for me and the similarities are one reason I put off reading this back in May BUT then again, the similarities are what also drew me to the story and maybe it was all meant to be? I don’t know but I can tell you that I adored the hell out of this story.
Jake is the bassist for Wayward Sons and the resident blogger for the band who keeps the fans updated on all the goings on. When their guitarist Kylie bails on the band to go to school, they desperately need a replacement. In walks Parker , well Parker walks up to Jake as he is sitting on the porch lamenting the loss of Kylie and Jake sees Parker’s guitar and asks him to play one of his favorite songs - Parker’s response is one of my favorites, “To play or to listen to?” Ugh. Yeah, total music nerd here so I fell for the boy right there before he let one calloused finger touch a string on his guitar.
This story was so damn adorable! I have many highlights and moments where I hugged my Nook because the boys were either so overwhelming BOYS or they were so into each other and swoony (Parker crawling into Jake’s bunk because he was cold) that I couldn’t stand it. I don’t always need the overtly sexual scenes in books, when you have the emotional pull and intimacy you can have me in a puddle with kisses and the first kiss between these boys was so good and the second was even hotter and I won’t even go into the shower. *fans self*
I loved the serendipity of their meeting, it was unexpected but fit these two so well. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this was a slow burn to the lovers stage and that burn felt so good as it melted away into the lull of pleasure. Ugh. These two were so damn good together. Sure, it took them some time and I kept wondering when they would actually talk about things but I kept turning the page and that in itself says something to me.
So to keep this short and simple, for me at least, this was an adorable, fun, sexy, cringe worthy at times and just gooey type of read for me. I love that the words “Not yet but soon, okay?” from Parker changed in what they meant as Jake decided what he wanted and decided to take it and I love that the boys are where they are now. The only things that bothered me in the story were the footnotes; having to click on each one to read it and then go back to the text was distracting and I really wish we would have got what Jake wanted to say to Parker at the end but it’s all good. At least that is what I will keep telling myself and pretend they were said…
3.5 stars
The book starts out with an adorable blog post from our narrator Jake Brenner as he tells us he is in love with his band mate, Parker McAvoy. I kinda love stories that start this way; starting you off in the present and taking you back to where it all started. Granted, this felt a bit too similar for me and the similarities are one reason I put off reading this back in May BUT then again, the similarities are what also drew me to the story and maybe it was all meant to be? I don’t know but I can tell you that I adored the hell out of this story.
Jake is the bassist for Wayward Sons and the resident blogger for the band who keeps the fans updated on all the goings on. When their guitarist Kylie bails on the band to go to school, they desperately need a replacement. In walks Parker , well Parker walks up to Jake as he is sitting on the porch lamenting the loss of Kylie and Jake sees Parker’s guitar and asks him to play one of his favorite songs - Parker’s response is one of my favorites, “To play or to listen to?” Ugh. Yeah, total music nerd here so I fell for the boy right there before he let one calloused finger touch a string on his guitar.
This story was so damn adorable! I have many highlights and moments where I hugged my Nook because the boys were either so overwhelming BOYS or they were so into each other and swoony (Parker crawling into Jake’s bunk because he was cold) that I couldn’t stand it. I don’t always need the overtly sexual scenes in books, when you have the emotional pull and intimacy you can have me in a puddle with kisses and the first kiss between these boys was so good and the second was even hotter and I won’t even go into the shower. *fans self*
I loved the serendipity of their meeting, it was unexpected but fit these two so well. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this was a slow burn to the lovers stage and that burn felt so good as it melted away into the lull of pleasure. Ugh. These two were so damn good together. Sure, it took them some time and I kept wondering when they would actually talk about things but I kept turning the page and that in itself says something to me.
So to keep this short and simple, for me at least, this was an adorable, fun, sexy, cringe worthy at times and just gooey type of read for me. I love that the words “Not yet but soon, okay?” from Parker changed in what they meant as Jake decided what he wanted and decided to take it and I love that the boys are where they are now. The only things that bothered me in the story were the footnotes; having to click on each one to read it and then go back to the text was distracting and I really wish we would have got what Jake wanted to say to Parker at the end but it’s all good. At least that is what I will keep telling myself and pretend they were said…
3.5 stars