Blog Tour: MUSIC OF THE HEART by Katie Ashley
Blurb
For Abby Renard, the plan was supposed to be simple—join her brothers’ band on the last leg of their summer tour and decide if she’s finally ready for the limelight by becoming its fourth member. Of course, she never imagined stumbling onto the wrong tour bus at Rock Nation would accidentally land her in the bed of Jake Slater, the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train. When he mistakes her for one of his groupie’s, Abby quickly lets him know she sure as hell isn’t in his bed on purpose.
Jake Slater never imagined the angel who fell into his bed would resist his charms by promptly kneeing him in the balls. Of course, the fact she seems like a prissy choir girl makes her anything but his type. So he is more than surprised when after betting Abby she wouldn’t last a week on their tour bus, she is more than willing to prove him wrong. But as Jake’s personal life begins to implode around him, he finds an unlikely ally in Abby. He’s never met a woman he can talk to, joke with, or most importantly make music with.
As the week starts comes to a close, neither Abby nor Jake is ready to let go. Can a sweetheart Country songstress and a bad boy of Rock N Roll actually have a future together?
Review
Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends. ~Alphonse de Lamartine
Oh how I love a good romance! And add in a bad boy rocker and I’m in book heaven! Jake is the bad boy rocker and Abby is a sweet, seemingly strait-laced girl that has a voice to rival Adele. Oh, but she is also not one to let an opportunity go by to give as good as she gets!
I was immediately caught up in Jake and Abby’s story. Abby mistakenly finds herself on Jake’s Runaway Train tour bus along with his bandmates – Rhys, Brayden and AJ – instead of on her brothers’ bus. This leads to some confusion and a bet. Not one to back down, Abby takes the bet that she can handle staying with Runaway Train for a week. There are some heated and also very sweet interactions between Jake and Abby as they begin to define a relationship. At first, it seemed like they jumped right into a relationship – seemed a little too fast. There is a depth to their shared feelings that is seen through their music and how they have fun and can be silly together that helps build their relationship as the book progresses.
So let’s talk about Jake and Abby a little…Jake – grrr….gawd!!! His initial response to getting close to Abby was to eff it up a couple of times. He made me so angry! I was like ‘Abby…noooo…don’t forgive him so easily for that!!’ But underneath it all you could sense this super-sensitive guy who was afraid of caring too much. And his relationship with his mom was beautiful. Now Abby – I thought she was too sweet and accepting at times. That’s what I love about her but also what was frustrating. I wanted her to make Jake grovel just a little more. I did like her sass that came through when talking with her brothers and with the band!
Through it all, music and family is at the heart of it. I love how the music can speak to the story so well. Be sure to check out the playlist, particularly the songs tied to the end…Oh my gosh, I cried so hard and it was bittersweet!! My heart broke and then was mended. I loved how it wrapped up and would love to read more about the rest of the Runaway Train crew!
Some of the music of ‘Music of the Heart’ that spoke to me (full playlist not listed):
Abby sings an acoustic guitar version for the boy of Adele’s Someone Like You.
AJ and Abby sing a duet to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s Islands in the Stream
Abby proves Jake wrong singing Madonna’s Like a Virgin
Abby tries to get Jake to keep song writing by mentioning Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven
And singing in codes like in the 60’s with The Byrds Mr. Tambourine Man
Jake and Abby hang out together and jam to duets like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man
Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford’s Close My Eyes Forever
For her first song with her brothers, the boys of Jacob’s Ladder, Abby sings a cover of The Band Perry’s If I Die Young
One of the most important songs is Aerosmith’s Angel that Jake sings to Abby on stage
Susan asks Abby to sing the old hymn Angel Band for her.
With her brothers, Abby sings Pink’s Beam Me Up at Susan’s Benefit Concert
She also sings Pink’s Great Escape, which she dedicates to Jake
At the benefit concert, Jake and Abby do a duet to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s I Need You
They also sing Paul McDonald and Nikki Reed’s All I Ever Needed
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About the Author
Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.
She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.
She also writes Young Adult fiction under the name Krista Ashe.
How to connect with Katie
Website ♥ Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Goodreads
I love these blog tours, Katie’s going to think I’m stalking her, Love Katie’s books and Music of the Heart is up there as one of my favorites of this year. It was a treat to follow Jake and Abby as they discovered one another and the end result of love, mmm.