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Sounds Like Love
A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they’ll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from Ashley Poston.
Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.
When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.
How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?
Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.
Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.
But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:
They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.
Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.
Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.
When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.
How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?
Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.
Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.
But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:
They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.
Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 17, 2025
3135 people are currently reading
131133 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Poston
28 books22.2k followersNew York Times best-seller by day, fanfic author by night.
Viist her at www.ashposton.com.
Viist her at www.ashposton.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,420 reviews
August 10, 2025
A good summer read with a fun magical realism twist!
I don’t have much to say on this one other than:
- I enjoyed the small town beach setting a lot
- I thought the concept of hearing each other’s voices in their heads was interesting
- The musical element & family relationships explored were done well!!
Not memorable, but I enjoyed my time & there were a few quotes I liked! Recommend the audiobook for the song at the end 🎶🕺🏻
I don’t have much to say on this one other than:
- I enjoyed the small town beach setting a lot
- I thought the concept of hearing each other’s voices in their heads was interesting
- The musical element & family relationships explored were done well!!
Not memorable, but I enjoyed my time & there were a few quotes I liked! Recommend the audiobook for the song at the end 🎶🕺🏻
Want to read
September 22, 2024A musical romance with magical realism?!? GIVE IT TO ME RACHEL 🫴🏻🫴🏻
March 18, 2025
4.5⭐️
thank you to berkley for providing this arc!!
this was so so wonderful - i ended up finishing this in literally one sitting last night and i haven't stopped thinking about it since. this is so quintessential ashley poston at her best; such a gorgeous romance in a really homey and cosy setting with a super fun magical realism plot running throughout!! read this if you want a strong female lead, lots of discussion about home and family, lots of talk about music and how that brings people together, a wonderful male lead who's super down bad, a fun magical-realism thread and an overall wonderfully crafted and cosy book🤍
thank you to berkley for providing this arc!!
this was so so wonderful - i ended up finishing this in literally one sitting last night and i haven't stopped thinking about it since. this is so quintessential ashley poston at her best; such a gorgeous romance in a really homey and cosy setting with a super fun magical realism plot running throughout!! read this if you want a strong female lead, lots of discussion about home and family, lots of talk about music and how that brings people together, a wonderful male lead who's super down bad, a fun magical-realism thread and an overall wonderfully crafted and cosy book🤍
Want to read
April 13, 2025ashley poston should release books every week
July 20, 2025
Some classic rom-coms have unforgettable lines like, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” Well, I have one for Ashley Poston’s books: “I’ll never give them less than five gazillion stars.” Her stories speak directly to my soul! And this book? Pure magic.
The story follows two characters, each grappling with personal and career challenges, and both deeply devoted to their mothers. Inexplicably, they find themselves connected—telepathically. They keep hearing the same unfinished song playing in their heads on repeat. The only way to break the cycle? Finish the song together. Isn’t that a genius concept? I absolutely loved it.
Meet Joni Lark. She left her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, to pursue a music career and became a renowned songwriter. But when she learns of her mother’s dementia diagnosis, everything falls apart. Struck by a creative block, she feels empty and disconnected. Returning home from L.A. for a visit, she’s still reeling from an impulsive kiss with ex-boy band star Sebastian McKellen on a music hall balcony—an encounter that left her more confused than ever.
Back in her hometown, Joni reunites with her family and best friend, only to receive heartbreaking news that shakes her to the core. Then, something strange happens—she starts hearing a melody. And a man’s voice. No, she’s not drunk, and no, she’s not losing her mind. The voice belongs to a mysterious man who calls himself Sasha, and he seems to be the key to breaking her writer’s block. They both hear the same haunting tune, and the only way forward is to write the lyrics together.
When Sasha decides to visit her town, Joni is forced to confront not just the music but also her fears, her past, and the possibility that destiny might have something bigger in store for them. What if this telepathic connection is about more than just a song? What if Joni has to learn to let go, embrace uncertainty, and finally discover what she’s truly been searching for?
I adored this story—two seemingly random (but not so random) people brought together by an inexplicable force, leading them toward something profound. Joni starts off guarded and stubborn, but watching her lower her defenses and open herself up was incredibly rewarding. And Sasha? He deserves all the love. I mean, who wouldn’t fall for a man who tells the love of his life, “You’re poetry in motion”?
Another five-gazillion-star read! This supernatural, emotional, whimsical, and deeply romantic story completely stole my heart.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this heartfelt and inspirational romance’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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The story follows two characters, each grappling with personal and career challenges, and both deeply devoted to their mothers. Inexplicably, they find themselves connected—telepathically. They keep hearing the same unfinished song playing in their heads on repeat. The only way to break the cycle? Finish the song together. Isn’t that a genius concept? I absolutely loved it.
Meet Joni Lark. She left her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, to pursue a music career and became a renowned songwriter. But when she learns of her mother’s dementia diagnosis, everything falls apart. Struck by a creative block, she feels empty and disconnected. Returning home from L.A. for a visit, she’s still reeling from an impulsive kiss with ex-boy band star Sebastian McKellen on a music hall balcony—an encounter that left her more confused than ever.
Back in her hometown, Joni reunites with her family and best friend, only to receive heartbreaking news that shakes her to the core. Then, something strange happens—she starts hearing a melody. And a man’s voice. No, she’s not drunk, and no, she’s not losing her mind. The voice belongs to a mysterious man who calls himself Sasha, and he seems to be the key to breaking her writer’s block. They both hear the same haunting tune, and the only way forward is to write the lyrics together.
When Sasha decides to visit her town, Joni is forced to confront not just the music but also her fears, her past, and the possibility that destiny might have something bigger in store for them. What if this telepathic connection is about more than just a song? What if Joni has to learn to let go, embrace uncertainty, and finally discover what she’s truly been searching for?
I adored this story—two seemingly random (but not so random) people brought together by an inexplicable force, leading them toward something profound. Joni starts off guarded and stubborn, but watching her lower her defenses and open herself up was incredibly rewarding. And Sasha? He deserves all the love. I mean, who wouldn’t fall for a man who tells the love of his life, “You’re poetry in motion”?
Another five-gazillion-star read! This supernatural, emotional, whimsical, and deeply romantic story completely stole my heart.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this heartfelt and inspirational romance’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
medium.com
September 5, 2025
☆☆☆☆
“Something bitter and sweet, bird. Like a kiss goodbye.”
If you’ve ever lost yourself in the smoky, sun-drenched melancholy of a Lana Del Rey song—that ache for vintage glamour, poetic heartbreak, and golden-hour yearning—then imagine capturing that very essence not in a melody, but in pages. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston isn’t just a story; it’s a whispered incantation for the soul that thrums to Lana’s timeless vibes. Reading this magical romance feels less like turning pages and more like stepping into a waking dream.
It’s the exhilaration of chasing seagulls along a windswept shore, laughter ripped from your lips and carried away on the salt spray. It’s the reckless, breathless joy of running through a sudden summer downpour with a kindred spirit, sneakers slapping wet pavement, the world reduced to cool rain and shared exhilaration. It’s the tender, unexpected brush of a soft kiss against your cheekbone—a fleeting warmth that lingers long after, leaving a trail of butterflies. It’s the tart, sun-warmed sweetness of cherries bursting on your tongue, a simple pleasure turned profound.
Sounds Like Love did more than entertain me. It reached into my chest, wrapped gentle fingers around my yearning heart, and whispered, "This. This is the feeling. This dizzying, all-consuming, beautifully terrifying plunge." It didn’t just make me want to read about love. It made me ache—wildly, gloriously, madly—to feel it, to live it, to drown in its depths and call it home.
" Love is not yours to own forever, Love is borrowed and love is blue. It’s a gift of time we don’t got, baby, So I’ll steal my moments with you And when I’m gone and buried under All the baggage that we found Remember to lose yourself, baby. ’Cause wherever you go, there you are. Wherever you go, there we are Alive in the sound." —“Wherever” by Roman Fell and the Boulevard
Nestled amidst the whispering pines and salt-kissed shores of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, lies a home – and a heart – that successful LA songwriter Joni Lark thought she’d outgrown. Yet, life, with its cruel twists, has drawn her back. Haunted not just by the ghost melodies of her past, but by a profound, echoing silence within – a crippling creative block that descended like fog after her mother’s devastating diagnosis of early-onset dementia. The glittering promise of LA feels hollow now. Joni returns to Vienna Shores carrying a quiet, desperate hope: to reclaim the spark of her music in the place where it first ignited, and to gift her fading mother one last, golden summer of shared memories before the family is forced to sell the soul of their shared history – the beloved, ramshackle music venue, The Revelry.
The Revelry, with its scarred wooden stage and the ghosts of a thousand performances in its rafters, stands as a monument to joy now tinged with melancholy. It’s here, amidst the familiar scent of old vinyl and stale beer, that fate orchestrates a collision as unexpected as a summer storm. Enter Sebastian Fell conquering boy band, and the perpetually overshadowed son of a legendary rock god. His presence is a jolt of faded glamour to the sleepy town. And then, under the unforgiving, playful glare of a "kiss cam" at a local event – a moment of awkward proximity, forced smiles, and a fleeting, almost-chaste press of lips – something inexplicable crackles to life within Joni.
Suddenly, the suffocating silence in her mind is shattered – not by her own muse, but by the rich, resonant timbre of a man’s voice, weaving a haunting, unfamiliar melody. The voice is achingly present, intimate, yet utterly disembodied. Panic gives way to bewildered realization: the voice belongs to Sebastian Fell, and it’s broadcasting directly into her consciousness. The accidental kiss wasn't just awkward; it was a psychic spark, forging an unbreakable, invisible tether between their minds.
Thrust into a surreal reality where thoughts bleed and emotions resonate unbidden, Joni and Sebastian find themselves locked in a bewildering dance of forced intimacy. She hears the raw vulnerability beneath his practiced charm; he senses the storm of grief and creative frustration swirling within her. Their mission becomes painfully clear: sever this intrusive, magical connection. But untangling this ethereal knot proves far more complex than they imagined. Each must navigate their own tempestuous seas – Joni wrestling with her mother’s accelerating decline and the impending loss of The Revelry, her songwriting soul still stubbornly mute; Sebastian grappling with the suffocating weight of his father’s legacy, the disillusionment of faded fame, and a deep-seated fear of never being seen for himself.
As they are thrust together by necessity, desperately seeking a cure for their psychic entanglement, the constant, involuntary sharing of thoughts and feelings begins to erode the walls they’ve both carefully built. Beneath the annoyance and the profound invasion of privacy, something else flickers – an undeniable magnetic pull, a spark of genuine understanding that transcends their bizarre circumstance. The very connection they strive to break becomes a conduit for a startling, slow-burning attraction, forcing them to confront not just the magic binding their minds, but the possibility of a deeper, more terrifying magic beginning to bind their hearts.
“Sometimes the dreams you come with aren’t the dreams you leave with, and sometimes you
just don’t leave at all. Besides,”
The story flows like a melody through deeper currents: grief for a mother fading too soon, family ties tested by loss and change, the raw struggle to rekindle passion when inspiration drowns in silence, and the bittersweet pull of second chances. This last thread shimmers in the quiet presence of Van Erickson, Joni’s ex—a ghost of simpler times, a whisper of "what if" that lingers in Vienna Shores, a subtle counterpoint to the storm Sebastian brings.
And oh, the chapter titles! Each one is a tiny, tantalizing hook—a lyrical tease I cannot resist peeking ahead for. 😭 (That guilty flick to the next page? Pure, delicious compulsion. They’re breadcrumbs of magic, making every turn of the page a heartbeat of anticipation.)
I found you in a summer haze.
With sand and sky in our veins.
I wish that I could keep you.
But the good ones never stay.
So kiss me in the mornings, And keep me in a song.
Love me with conversations That take the whole night long.
We are poetry in motion, We are bittersweet goodbyes.
Your heart sings softly in my ear And it sounds like love tonight. —“Sounds Like Love” by Georgia Simmons, written by Joni Lark and Sebastian McKellen.
ʚɞ__________________________________ʚɞ
“Bird, you are the first person I want to hear in the morning and the last person I want to say good night to.”
“You should cry as much as you want. It’s not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse.”
“It’s not given, it’s not stolen—love is borrowed, she always said. It’s borrowed, and how lucky we are to be afraid of losing it.”
“Here, you’re like poetry in motion.”
“Oh, we’re a story never told before.”
“Kiss me in the morning, and keep me in a song. Love me with conversations that take the whole night long”
“there is nothing about you that I won’t like. And if there is, I’ll just write a song about it.”
“You’re addicting, like candy.”
‘‘Sounds like—like what? Hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers, and blue moons. Bullshit.”
“She used to make this look so easy,”
“No one told you what to do after you made it to the top, after you accomplished what you set out for—no one told you that the grass wasn’t greener, that you didn’t feel any more whole, that whatever you were chasing and finally caught didn’t fill you with the permanent kind of happiness you expected.”
“It scares me a lot, bird, because you know more about me than…anyone else. But what scares me the most is that I don’t know what you’d want.”
“I’d rather be alone than surrounded by people who just want something from me.”
“You are all those things, bird. Older, wiser, and beautiful.”
“I liked the feeling of being in someone’s eye.”
“Like a songbird. You seem happiest when you’re playing music.”
“And I don’t care about making it big—I just want to make it. I’d rather be ten people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s tenth-favorite thing.”
“She tastes like cherries.”
“I’ll whisper it in your ear like poetry. Make you feel like the lyrics could be real.”
Shakespeare once wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.”
ʚɞ__________________________________ʚɞ
ʚɞmy bookstagramʚɞ
“Something bitter and sweet, bird. Like a kiss goodbye.”
If you’ve ever lost yourself in the smoky, sun-drenched melancholy of a Lana Del Rey song—that ache for vintage glamour, poetic heartbreak, and golden-hour yearning—then imagine capturing that very essence not in a melody, but in pages. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston isn’t just a story; it’s a whispered incantation for the soul that thrums to Lana’s timeless vibes. Reading this magical romance feels less like turning pages and more like stepping into a waking dream.
It’s the exhilaration of chasing seagulls along a windswept shore, laughter ripped from your lips and carried away on the salt spray. It’s the reckless, breathless joy of running through a sudden summer downpour with a kindred spirit, sneakers slapping wet pavement, the world reduced to cool rain and shared exhilaration. It’s the tender, unexpected brush of a soft kiss against your cheekbone—a fleeting warmth that lingers long after, leaving a trail of butterflies. It’s the tart, sun-warmed sweetness of cherries bursting on your tongue, a simple pleasure turned profound.
Sounds Like Love did more than entertain me. It reached into my chest, wrapped gentle fingers around my yearning heart, and whispered, "This. This is the feeling. This dizzying, all-consuming, beautifully terrifying plunge." It didn’t just make me want to read about love. It made me ache—wildly, gloriously, madly—to feel it, to live it, to drown in its depths and call it home.
" Love is not yours to own forever, Love is borrowed and love is blue. It’s a gift of time we don’t got, baby, So I’ll steal my moments with you And when I’m gone and buried under All the baggage that we found Remember to lose yourself, baby. ’Cause wherever you go, there you are. Wherever you go, there we are Alive in the sound." —“Wherever” by Roman Fell and the Boulevard
Nestled amidst the whispering pines and salt-kissed shores of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, lies a home – and a heart – that successful LA songwriter Joni Lark thought she’d outgrown. Yet, life, with its cruel twists, has drawn her back. Haunted not just by the ghost melodies of her past, but by a profound, echoing silence within – a crippling creative block that descended like fog after her mother’s devastating diagnosis of early-onset dementia. The glittering promise of LA feels hollow now. Joni returns to Vienna Shores carrying a quiet, desperate hope: to reclaim the spark of her music in the place where it first ignited, and to gift her fading mother one last, golden summer of shared memories before the family is forced to sell the soul of their shared history – the beloved, ramshackle music venue, The Revelry.
The Revelry, with its scarred wooden stage and the ghosts of a thousand performances in its rafters, stands as a monument to joy now tinged with melancholy. It’s here, amidst the familiar scent of old vinyl and stale beer, that fate orchestrates a collision as unexpected as a summer storm. Enter Sebastian Fell conquering boy band, and the perpetually overshadowed son of a legendary rock god. His presence is a jolt of faded glamour to the sleepy town. And then, under the unforgiving, playful glare of a "kiss cam" at a local event – a moment of awkward proximity, forced smiles, and a fleeting, almost-chaste press of lips – something inexplicable crackles to life within Joni.
Suddenly, the suffocating silence in her mind is shattered – not by her own muse, but by the rich, resonant timbre of a man’s voice, weaving a haunting, unfamiliar melody. The voice is achingly present, intimate, yet utterly disembodied. Panic gives way to bewildered realization: the voice belongs to Sebastian Fell, and it’s broadcasting directly into her consciousness. The accidental kiss wasn't just awkward; it was a psychic spark, forging an unbreakable, invisible tether between their minds.
Thrust into a surreal reality where thoughts bleed and emotions resonate unbidden, Joni and Sebastian find themselves locked in a bewildering dance of forced intimacy. She hears the raw vulnerability beneath his practiced charm; he senses the storm of grief and creative frustration swirling within her. Their mission becomes painfully clear: sever this intrusive, magical connection. But untangling this ethereal knot proves far more complex than they imagined. Each must navigate their own tempestuous seas – Joni wrestling with her mother’s accelerating decline and the impending loss of The Revelry, her songwriting soul still stubbornly mute; Sebastian grappling with the suffocating weight of his father’s legacy, the disillusionment of faded fame, and a deep-seated fear of never being seen for himself.
As they are thrust together by necessity, desperately seeking a cure for their psychic entanglement, the constant, involuntary sharing of thoughts and feelings begins to erode the walls they’ve both carefully built. Beneath the annoyance and the profound invasion of privacy, something else flickers – an undeniable magnetic pull, a spark of genuine understanding that transcends their bizarre circumstance. The very connection they strive to break becomes a conduit for a startling, slow-burning attraction, forcing them to confront not just the magic binding their minds, but the possibility of a deeper, more terrifying magic beginning to bind their hearts.
“Sometimes the dreams you come with aren’t the dreams you leave with, and sometimes you
just don’t leave at all. Besides,”
The story flows like a melody through deeper currents: grief for a mother fading too soon, family ties tested by loss and change, the raw struggle to rekindle passion when inspiration drowns in silence, and the bittersweet pull of second chances. This last thread shimmers in the quiet presence of Van Erickson, Joni’s ex—a ghost of simpler times, a whisper of "what if" that lingers in Vienna Shores, a subtle counterpoint to the storm Sebastian brings.
And oh, the chapter titles! Each one is a tiny, tantalizing hook—a lyrical tease I cannot resist peeking ahead for. 😭 (That guilty flick to the next page? Pure, delicious compulsion. They’re breadcrumbs of magic, making every turn of the page a heartbeat of anticipation.)
I found you in a summer haze.
With sand and sky in our veins.
I wish that I could keep you.
But the good ones never stay.
So kiss me in the mornings, And keep me in a song.
Love me with conversations That take the whole night long.
We are poetry in motion, We are bittersweet goodbyes.
Your heart sings softly in my ear And it sounds like love tonight. —“Sounds Like Love” by Georgia Simmons, written by Joni Lark and Sebastian McKellen.
ʚɞ__________________________________ʚɞ
“Bird, you are the first person I want to hear in the morning and the last person I want to say good night to.”
“You should cry as much as you want. It’s not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse.”
“It’s not given, it’s not stolen—love is borrowed, she always said. It’s borrowed, and how lucky we are to be afraid of losing it.”
“Here, you’re like poetry in motion.”
“Oh, we’re a story never told before.”
“Kiss me in the morning, and keep me in a song. Love me with conversations that take the whole night long”
“there is nothing about you that I won’t like. And if there is, I’ll just write a song about it.”
“You’re addicting, like candy.”
‘‘Sounds like—like what? Hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers, and blue moons. Bullshit.”
“She used to make this look so easy,”
“No one told you what to do after you made it to the top, after you accomplished what you set out for—no one told you that the grass wasn’t greener, that you didn’t feel any more whole, that whatever you were chasing and finally caught didn’t fill you with the permanent kind of happiness you expected.”
“It scares me a lot, bird, because you know more about me than…anyone else. But what scares me the most is that I don’t know what you’d want.”
“I’d rather be alone than surrounded by people who just want something from me.”
“You are all those things, bird. Older, wiser, and beautiful.”
“I liked the feeling of being in someone’s eye.”
“Like a songbird. You seem happiest when you’re playing music.”
“And I don’t care about making it big—I just want to make it. I’d rather be ten people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s tenth-favorite thing.”
“She tastes like cherries.”
“I’ll whisper it in your ear like poetry. Make you feel like the lyrics could be real.”
Shakespeare once wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.”
ʚɞ__________________________________ʚɞ
ʚɞmy bookstagramʚɞ
August 17, 2025
3 stars ⭐
⤷ spoiler-free review!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ my thoughts
remember how i said i might just have a mental breakdown if i didn’t end up loving this book? well… 😅 I’M HAVING THAT MENTAL BREAKDOWN RIGHT NOW (just kidding! 🤣 or am i? ���)
like i mentioned in my pre-read review, this was my most anticipated release of 2025. i’d been looking forward to it for months and even told ash i had a feeling this was going to be the book to finally pull me out of my reading slump. unfortunately, i was wrong—this book fell completely flat and didn’t help with my slump at all.
it started off on the wrong foot and never really got better for me. joni and sebastian’s relationship felt way too insta-lovey for my liking which immediately threw me off. from there, my excitement turned into mild disappointment, then boredom, and eventually… dread. by the time i reached the third-act conflict, i was honestly just ready for the book to be over 🤦🏻♀️
i couldn’t connect with any of the characters and the romance just didn’t work for me—i didn’t feel any chemistry or emotional connection between bird and sasha (yes, those are their nicknames 💀) Ashley Poston is known for weaving whimsy and magical realism into her stories, but this one didn’t have that same spark. even the dementia subplot—a topic that usually hits me hard—felt brushed over and didn’t have that emotional impact i was expecting.
that said, there was one line that did hit me:
"And then I wonder when I'm gone, will my life have meant anything at all?"
whenever i find myself asking that question and feel like my life didn’t mean anything at all, i think back to my happiest memories and proudest accomplishments—like experiencing my favourite k-pop boy band's concert for the first time or living in korea for four months as an exchange student. in those moments, i'm reminded that my life has actually meant something and that i'm incredibly blessed.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ overall
don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad book by any means. i liked the setting and the music theme, but overall, it didn’t live up to my expectations and i’m pretty disappointed 😭
i was going to rate it 2.75 stars at first, but since my slump might’ve played a part in my reading experience, i’m giving it the benefit of the doubt and rounding it up to 3 stars.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ quotes
“And I was scared. I think that’s what I regret. I regret being scared, because I thought I had time. I always thought I had time. But we never have enough.”
“It was Mom I went to fill those silences. With her, I could pour my heart out; I could tell her anything. She was my secret keeper, my confidant.”
────────── ⋆⋅end⋅⋆ ──────────
pre-read 🎼
this is my most anticipated release of 2025 and i’ve been meaning to read it for what feels like forever. i love music and i’m a sucker for books with music themes so i have high hopes for this one (even though i always remind myself not to get my hopes up because if you expect disappointment then you can never really get disappointed right?) still, if i don’t end up loving it… i might just have a mental breakdown! 😝
br with ash bb <3
⤷ spoiler-free review!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ my thoughts
remember how i said i might just have a mental breakdown if i didn’t end up loving this book? well… 😅 I’M HAVING THAT MENTAL BREAKDOWN RIGHT NOW (just kidding! 🤣 or am i? ���)
like i mentioned in my pre-read review, this was my most anticipated release of 2025. i’d been looking forward to it for months and even told ash i had a feeling this was going to be the book to finally pull me out of my reading slump. unfortunately, i was wrong—this book fell completely flat and didn’t help with my slump at all.
it started off on the wrong foot and never really got better for me. joni and sebastian’s relationship felt way too insta-lovey for my liking which immediately threw me off. from there, my excitement turned into mild disappointment, then boredom, and eventually… dread. by the time i reached the third-act conflict, i was honestly just ready for the book to be over 🤦🏻♀️
i couldn’t connect with any of the characters and the romance just didn’t work for me—i didn’t feel any chemistry or emotional connection between bird and sasha (yes, those are their nicknames 💀) Ashley Poston is known for weaving whimsy and magical realism into her stories, but this one didn’t have that same spark. even the dementia subplot—a topic that usually hits me hard—felt brushed over and didn’t have that emotional impact i was expecting.
that said, there was one line that did hit me:
"And then I wonder when I'm gone, will my life have meant anything at all?"
whenever i find myself asking that question and feel like my life didn’t mean anything at all, i think back to my happiest memories and proudest accomplishments—like experiencing my favourite k-pop boy band's concert for the first time or living in korea for four months as an exchange student. in those moments, i'm reminded that my life has actually meant something and that i'm incredibly blessed.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ overall
don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad book by any means. i liked the setting and the music theme, but overall, it didn’t live up to my expectations and i’m pretty disappointed 😭
i was going to rate it 2.75 stars at first, but since my slump might’ve played a part in my reading experience, i’m giving it the benefit of the doubt and rounding it up to 3 stars.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ quotes
“And I was scared. I think that’s what I regret. I regret being scared, because I thought I had time. I always thought I had time. But we never have enough.”
“It was Mom I went to fill those silences. With her, I could pour my heart out; I could tell her anything. She was my secret keeper, my confidant.”
────────── ⋆⋅end⋅⋆ ──────────
pre-read 🎼
this is my most anticipated release of 2025 and i’ve been meaning to read it for what feels like forever. i love music and i’m a sucker for books with music themes so i have high hopes for this one (even though i always remind myself not to get my hopes up because if you expect disappointment then you can never really get disappointed right?) still, if i don’t end up loving it… i might just have a mental breakdown! 😝
br with ash bb <3
June 19, 2025
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
“Sounds Like Love” by Ashley Poston
A soft song about grief, healing, and the kind of love that sneaks up on you.
This book felt like dusk on a quiet beach—melancholic, beautiful, and a little bit magical.
There’s something about Ashley Poston’s writing that lingers. Like a melody you can’t forget. And in Sounds Like Love, she does what she does best: wraps pain in poetry, stitches grief into magic, and tells a love story that’s equal parts heartache and warmth.
Joni’s story isn’t just about music.
It’s about burnout. About losing yourself. About what happens when you return home and everything’s changed—especially you. The songwriting, the telepathic connection, the slow-burn romance—it’s all threaded through that core: trying to rediscover what made life feel full in the first place.
This wasn’t flashy. It was real.
It leaned into quiet moments. Into unspoken fears. Into the way grief changes your relationship with the world—and with yourself.
And then there’s Sasha. Who begins as a voice in Joni’s head, frustrating and familiar. He’s snarky, closed-off, a little broken. But he listens. He sees her. And their connection—literally telepathic—somehow feels earned. It's weird. It's messy. It's intimate in a way that words can't always capture.
This book isn’t about fixing each other.
It’s about understanding. About holding space. About finishing a song when the lyrics feel too hard to write alone.
The setting?
Vienna Shores is cozy, hazy, and filled with history.
The vibes?
Whimsical. Wistful. Warm.
The romance?
Slow-burning and delicate, with just enough tension to make your heart ache.
What worked:
🎶 Magical realism done right. Just enough sparkle to feel enchanted, never overwhelming.
🤍 Grief portrayed with care. It's messy. It's honest. It hurts in ways that felt too familiar.
🎶 Music as memory. The unfinished song plotline? Stunning.
🤍 Joni’s arc. Watching her come back to herself was quietly powerful.
What didn’t fully land:
🎶 The romance started a bit insta-feel-y—but eventually earned its weight.
🤍 I wanted more time with them together, just… existing. Letting that tenderness settle deeper.
This book doesn’t shout.
It hums.
Softly, steadily.
Until you realize it’s been singing in your heart the whole time.
If you're craving something bittersweet and beautiful—something that feels like late-night songwriting sessions and soft confessions—this is for you.
It’s not just a love story. It’s a healing one.
And it sounds like love.
━━━━━━━━━━━⊱♡⊰━━━━━━━━━━
🎧 Pre-Listen Thoughts 🎧
Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
🎙️ Narrated by Patti Murin
music + magic + heartbreak??? i'm in.
a grumpy musician and a burned-out songwriter sharing a literal telepathic connection??? this is the soulmate energy i’ve been waiting for.
ashley poston always gets me in my feels, and this one sounds like it’s gonna hit all the soft spots. grief, healing, music, and that hint of magical realism?? it’s giving emotional wreck in the best way.
also—slow burn + small town + unfinished song haunting their thoughts? yeah i need to know everything.
tropes i'm already loving:
🎶 Musician x Songwriter Romance
🤍 Telepathic Connection
🎶 Small-Town Setting
🤍 Grief and Healing
🎶 Magical Realism
🤍 Slow-Burn Romance
“Sounds Like Love” by Ashley Poston
A soft song about grief, healing, and the kind of love that sneaks up on you.
This book felt like dusk on a quiet beach—melancholic, beautiful, and a little bit magical.
There’s something about Ashley Poston’s writing that lingers. Like a melody you can’t forget. And in Sounds Like Love, she does what she does best: wraps pain in poetry, stitches grief into magic, and tells a love story that’s equal parts heartache and warmth.
Joni’s story isn’t just about music.
It’s about burnout. About losing yourself. About what happens when you return home and everything’s changed—especially you. The songwriting, the telepathic connection, the slow-burn romance—it’s all threaded through that core: trying to rediscover what made life feel full in the first place.
This wasn’t flashy. It was real.
It leaned into quiet moments. Into unspoken fears. Into the way grief changes your relationship with the world—and with yourself.
And then there’s Sasha. Who begins as a voice in Joni’s head, frustrating and familiar. He’s snarky, closed-off, a little broken. But he listens. He sees her. And their connection—literally telepathic—somehow feels earned. It's weird. It's messy. It's intimate in a way that words can't always capture.
This book isn’t about fixing each other.
It’s about understanding. About holding space. About finishing a song when the lyrics feel too hard to write alone.
The setting?
Vienna Shores is cozy, hazy, and filled with history.
The vibes?
Whimsical. Wistful. Warm.
The romance?
Slow-burning and delicate, with just enough tension to make your heart ache.
What worked:
🎶 Magical realism done right. Just enough sparkle to feel enchanted, never overwhelming.
🤍 Grief portrayed with care. It's messy. It's honest. It hurts in ways that felt too familiar.
🎶 Music as memory. The unfinished song plotline? Stunning.
🤍 Joni’s arc. Watching her come back to herself was quietly powerful.
What didn’t fully land:
🎶 The romance started a bit insta-feel-y—but eventually earned its weight.
🤍 I wanted more time with them together, just… existing. Letting that tenderness settle deeper.
This book doesn’t shout.
It hums.
Softly, steadily.
Until you realize it’s been singing in your heart the whole time.
If you're craving something bittersweet and beautiful—something that feels like late-night songwriting sessions and soft confessions—this is for you.
It’s not just a love story. It’s a healing one.
And it sounds like love.
━━━━━━━━━━━⊱♡⊰━━━━━━━━━━
🎧 Pre-Listen Thoughts 🎧
Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
🎙️ Narrated by Patti Murin
music + magic + heartbreak??? i'm in.
a grumpy musician and a burned-out songwriter sharing a literal telepathic connection??? this is the soulmate energy i’ve been waiting for.
ashley poston always gets me in my feels, and this one sounds like it’s gonna hit all the soft spots. grief, healing, music, and that hint of magical realism?? it’s giving emotional wreck in the best way.
also—slow burn + small town + unfinished song haunting their thoughts? yeah i need to know everything.
tropes i'm already loving:
🎶 Musician x Songwriter Romance
🤍 Telepathic Connection
🎶 Small-Town Setting
🤍 Grief and Healing
🎶 Magical Realism
🤍 Slow-Burn Romance
Want to read
March 12, 2025 A magical and musical romance from Ashley Poston? 🙏🏻😭 you know I’m in! 😍
Idk. 😬 I don't like this cover so much.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
Idk. 😬 I don't like this cover so much.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ Connect with me on Instagram ˗ˏˋ★‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
June 18, 2025
Kiss tonight goodbye if you have to go, and tell yourself you will come home. Sounds Like Love written by Ashley Poston was so beautiful, raw, heart breaking, pure, honest, whimsical, heart felt, magical, and enchanting. QUEEN ASHLEY just wrote the most powerful and deeply inspiring book ever, in my honest opinion, this was my favorite book she has ever written, and it's honestly the best one she has ever written so far. I was so hyped when I saw Ashley had a new book coming out, and I'm so honored and blessed to have been able to read this book early because it was such a lovely lyrical love story. Over the years, Ashley Poston has become a favorite author for me because she writes the most heart breaking stories, but at the same time they leave you smiling so much that your cheeks hurt. I can confirm that Ashley knocked Sounds Like Love out of the ballpark, there's absolutely nothing I would change about this novel, it was just utterly beautiful. I know the cover is a bit questionable, but the words inside were just like the biggest hug filled with so much warmth. I had so many emotions while reading this beautiful story, I smiled, I cried, I laughed, I swooned, it's kind of hard to describe how I felt unless you read this book, so please do yourselves a favor and read this book immediately. My kindle and blanket absorbed so many tears that were streaming down my face, and for that I'm so thankful because my mascara was ruined.
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!! BERKLEY, I LITERALLY LOVE YOU SO MUCH, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR BLESSING ME WITH AN EARLY COPY!!!!!!!
"You end up learning a lot about a person trapped in a recording booth during a song writing session".
"Don't put your life- your dreams- on pause for me. I would hate myself if you looked back in twenty years and regretted it".
"I was broken. My heart, my head- all of it".
"If you spend your entire life comparing everything to the best thing you ever made, then you aren't going to find joy in any of it. You will just be unhappy that they aren't like the original thing".
"Like a songbird. You seem happiest when you are playing music".
"You should cry as much as you want. It's not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse". -Wyn- Joni's mama.
Jimmy Buffett said it best- "no reasoning with the hurricane season".
"Good love songs made you want to fall in love. They held emotions, weight, and memories".
"No amount of success or songs will save the people I love the most".
"Your thoughts whisper in my rib cage,
your memories hum in my veins
I wish I could keep you
But the good ones never stay.
So kiss me in the mornings,
And keep me in a song.
Love me with conversations
That take the whole night long.
We are poetry in motion,
We are bittersweet goodbyes.
Your heart sings softly in my ear
and it sounds like love tonight".
Vienna Shores, North Carolina is the cutest beachy town. It was a little known in the world, except among certain circles such as the music buffs, and horse girls because of the wild horses that wandered the beaches and dunes. I am a proud North Carolinan.
Joni Lark is best described as poetry in motion. Joni is a thirty something year old that moved to Los Angeles, California to chase her dreams of being a song writer-, but she hasn't written a new song in over a year due to her mom's dementia diagnosis. Joni has written songs for the better half of twenty years, but now she feels empty, bone dry, and stuck with her song writing career. Every summer, Joni takes a vacation to the Outer Banks, but now she's going back to Vienna Shores for a month longer than she normally goes for. Joni's mom- Wyn has been diagnosed with the early onset of dementia, the verbal kind- the kind that took away your words, your voice, yourself. Joni has been keeping a secret that has been festering in her chest- Joni is afraid of losing her mom. Joni used to love concerts, they were her happy place, her home. In her own words, Joni was a slut for romantic overtures, but her love life is drier than the Sahara Desert. Joni is good at writing pop rock anthems about best girl friends and endless summer nights. My heart broke for Joni when she would talk about her mama and watching her life with dementia deteriorate. I just wanted to see Joni thrive in the music industry because this woman is such a golden ray of sunshine that deserves the best in life.
Sasha is a bad boy musician with daddy issues. Sasha is someone who existed somewhere in the world with a Santa Ana phone number area code. Sasha is a mysterious voice in Joni's head, his voice is warm like fresh cinnamon rolls. Sasha has brown hair half pulled up into a messy bun, a collection of ear piercings, a constellation tattoo behind his right ear, and bright cerulean eyes. After being inside of Joni's head, Sasha decides to show up in Vienna Shores, North Carolina to be with Joni after she shares that she's afraid to be alone after being surrounded by the diagnosis of her mom's dementia, because Sasha knows what it's like to lose a parent. Sasha's mom lost her life on her way to a music audition after being in a head on collision with a drunk driver. I absolutely loved and adored Sasha, he was the absolute sweetest character with the biggest heart, I mean he's been stuck in Joni's head, yet he takes a trip to Vienna Shores to comfort Joni. that's literally the sweetest thing ever. I just wanted to reach into my kindle and hug these two characters after their talked about their love they have for their parents, it was just so heart felt. The first thing Joni hears from Sasha is "she tastes like cherries" after their cute little kiss. Sasha and Joni will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Joni and Sasha have a melody to a song neither of them know stuck in their head, it's just a melody without lyrics or a meaning. Together Joni and Sasha are going to write a song together, but they aren't getting anywhere with the genre and lyrics, but they find their inspiration spending days at the beach and playing the piano at The Revelry. Joni calls Sasha- "that voice in my head" because they have full on conversations out loud even though at first Sasha just remained in Joni's head. Even though Joni gets caught talking to that voice inside of her head, she wants Sasha to stay as anonymous as possible. Together, Joni and Sasha keep humming that sweet and familiar melody that is stuck in both of their heads. One night, after listening to Sasha's heart beat after making love, their song blossomed into a beautiful masterpiece. Joni and Sasha are now writing their own lyrics, but often woven between the other person's words their beautiful love song has blossomed. Together Joni and Sasha form a song called Sounds Like Love which is an anthem for all the people who shone brightest in someone else's eyes, and is now a song from their soul. After making love, a song formed slowly. A song about a cacophony of sound. About a love that's so sweet and gentle. A meet cute in motion. A ballad in technicolor. About finding someone who understood you without asking questions. Someone who was at your side, singing your favorite songs, telling you that you were not alone.
Georgia "Gigi" Simmons and Joni Lark have been best friends since third grade. Together they drink Cheerwine out of glass bottles, they have sand and sunscreen crusted to their skin, and they sing at the top of their lungs whenever they are in each other's orbits. Gigi- "I love you, but you are just a little prickly. Gigi is also dating Joni's brother- Mitchell and she kept a huge secret from Joni. Gigi believed that a good love song could cure everything, I loved Gigi but this girl has a lot of learning to do. After crying, Gigi and Joni wiped each other's make up away, oh goodness, I wish I had a best friend like Georgia Simmons in my life that wiped off my mascara after reading this beautiful book. Gigi's energy is so infectious, it was so hard not to laugh and cry when she would. I absolutely loved and adored witnessing their friendship, it was beautiful to get a backstory of how they met and became friends. Despite the secret that Gigi kept from Joni, it was so hard not to love her, she was like a sister to Joni. They both watched Wyn's dementia deteriorate and it just broke my heart that both of these women had to experience someone so close to them lose her battle. I will never forget this book, nor any of these characters, they were all such lovely and amazing people that I will cherish for a long time to come. Sounds Like Love is the most beautiful and cherishing book that will remain with me forever.
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!! BERKLEY, I LITERALLY LOVE YOU SO MUCH, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR BLESSING ME WITH AN EARLY COPY!!!!!!!
"You end up learning a lot about a person trapped in a recording booth during a song writing session".
"Don't put your life- your dreams- on pause for me. I would hate myself if you looked back in twenty years and regretted it".
"I was broken. My heart, my head- all of it".
"If you spend your entire life comparing everything to the best thing you ever made, then you aren't going to find joy in any of it. You will just be unhappy that they aren't like the original thing".
"Like a songbird. You seem happiest when you are playing music".
"You should cry as much as you want. It's not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse". -Wyn- Joni's mama.
Jimmy Buffett said it best- "no reasoning with the hurricane season".
"Good love songs made you want to fall in love. They held emotions, weight, and memories".
"No amount of success or songs will save the people I love the most".
"Your thoughts whisper in my rib cage,
your memories hum in my veins
I wish I could keep you
But the good ones never stay.
So kiss me in the mornings,
And keep me in a song.
Love me with conversations
That take the whole night long.
We are poetry in motion,
We are bittersweet goodbyes.
Your heart sings softly in my ear
and it sounds like love tonight".
Vienna Shores, North Carolina is the cutest beachy town. It was a little known in the world, except among certain circles such as the music buffs, and horse girls because of the wild horses that wandered the beaches and dunes. I am a proud North Carolinan.
Joni Lark is best described as poetry in motion. Joni is a thirty something year old that moved to Los Angeles, California to chase her dreams of being a song writer-, but she hasn't written a new song in over a year due to her mom's dementia diagnosis. Joni has written songs for the better half of twenty years, but now she feels empty, bone dry, and stuck with her song writing career. Every summer, Joni takes a vacation to the Outer Banks, but now she's going back to Vienna Shores for a month longer than she normally goes for. Joni's mom- Wyn has been diagnosed with the early onset of dementia, the verbal kind- the kind that took away your words, your voice, yourself. Joni has been keeping a secret that has been festering in her chest- Joni is afraid of losing her mom. Joni used to love concerts, they were her happy place, her home. In her own words, Joni was a slut for romantic overtures, but her love life is drier than the Sahara Desert. Joni is good at writing pop rock anthems about best girl friends and endless summer nights. My heart broke for Joni when she would talk about her mama and watching her life with dementia deteriorate. I just wanted to see Joni thrive in the music industry because this woman is such a golden ray of sunshine that deserves the best in life.
Sasha is a bad boy musician with daddy issues. Sasha is someone who existed somewhere in the world with a Santa Ana phone number area code. Sasha is a mysterious voice in Joni's head, his voice is warm like fresh cinnamon rolls. Sasha has brown hair half pulled up into a messy bun, a collection of ear piercings, a constellation tattoo behind his right ear, and bright cerulean eyes. After being inside of Joni's head, Sasha decides to show up in Vienna Shores, North Carolina to be with Joni after she shares that she's afraid to be alone after being surrounded by the diagnosis of her mom's dementia, because Sasha knows what it's like to lose a parent. Sasha's mom lost her life on her way to a music audition after being in a head on collision with a drunk driver. I absolutely loved and adored Sasha, he was the absolute sweetest character with the biggest heart, I mean he's been stuck in Joni's head, yet he takes a trip to Vienna Shores to comfort Joni. that's literally the sweetest thing ever. I just wanted to reach into my kindle and hug these two characters after their talked about their love they have for their parents, it was just so heart felt. The first thing Joni hears from Sasha is "she tastes like cherries" after their cute little kiss. Sasha and Joni will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Joni and Sasha have a melody to a song neither of them know stuck in their head, it's just a melody without lyrics or a meaning. Together Joni and Sasha are going to write a song together, but they aren't getting anywhere with the genre and lyrics, but they find their inspiration spending days at the beach and playing the piano at The Revelry. Joni calls Sasha- "that voice in my head" because they have full on conversations out loud even though at first Sasha just remained in Joni's head. Even though Joni gets caught talking to that voice inside of her head, she wants Sasha to stay as anonymous as possible. Together, Joni and Sasha keep humming that sweet and familiar melody that is stuck in both of their heads. One night, after listening to Sasha's heart beat after making love, their song blossomed into a beautiful masterpiece. Joni and Sasha are now writing their own lyrics, but often woven between the other person's words their beautiful love song has blossomed. Together Joni and Sasha form a song called Sounds Like Love which is an anthem for all the people who shone brightest in someone else's eyes, and is now a song from their soul. After making love, a song formed slowly. A song about a cacophony of sound. About a love that's so sweet and gentle. A meet cute in motion. A ballad in technicolor. About finding someone who understood you without asking questions. Someone who was at your side, singing your favorite songs, telling you that you were not alone.
Georgia "Gigi" Simmons and Joni Lark have been best friends since third grade. Together they drink Cheerwine out of glass bottles, they have sand and sunscreen crusted to their skin, and they sing at the top of their lungs whenever they are in each other's orbits. Gigi- "I love you, but you are just a little prickly. Gigi is also dating Joni's brother- Mitchell and she kept a huge secret from Joni. Gigi believed that a good love song could cure everything, I loved Gigi but this girl has a lot of learning to do. After crying, Gigi and Joni wiped each other's make up away, oh goodness, I wish I had a best friend like Georgia Simmons in my life that wiped off my mascara after reading this beautiful book. Gigi's energy is so infectious, it was so hard not to laugh and cry when she would. I absolutely loved and adored witnessing their friendship, it was beautiful to get a backstory of how they met and became friends. Despite the secret that Gigi kept from Joni, it was so hard not to love her, she was like a sister to Joni. They both watched Wyn's dementia deteriorate and it just broke my heart that both of these women had to experience someone so close to them lose her battle. I will never forget this book, nor any of these characters, they were all such lovely and amazing people that I will cherish for a long time to come. Sounds Like Love is the most beautiful and cherishing book that will remain with me forever.
Want to read
August 17, 2025We have a cover 🥁 and it's kind of ugly 😔
•~
I loved her book the dead romantics and if I get anything even 🤏🏻 this similar I will take it!!
•~
I loved her book the dead romantics and if I get anything even 🤏🏻 this similar I will take it!!
August 11, 2025
i guess i'll be the odd woman out and say i didn't like this
it felt oddly hollow to me. i think it can be really hard to capture how music and books move us, and to center a book around those feelings is really challenging. but beyond that... i felt so detached from everything else. the heroine's relationship with her hometown, her best friend, her mom suffering from dementia, the romantic relationship... nothing really landed in the way i expected it to.
which isn't to say this was unpredictable. for a book that features a magical element, it was strangely predictable. but none of the elements of the story had an emotional impact on me. which sucks, since i've loved other books by this author in the past.
it felt oddly hollow to me. i think it can be really hard to capture how music and books move us, and to center a book around those feelings is really challenging. but beyond that... i felt so detached from everything else. the heroine's relationship with her hometown, her best friend, her mom suffering from dementia, the romantic relationship... nothing really landed in the way i expected it to.
which isn't to say this was unpredictable. for a book that features a magical element, it was strangely predictable. but none of the elements of the story had an emotional impact on me. which sucks, since i've loved other books by this author in the past.
September 1, 2025
2 stars ✧
⟡ i’m really, really disappointed in this book. going into this book, i had maybe, extreme, expectations, now that i look back on them. i thought that this book would contain the magical storytelling & setting, relatable characters, and a beautiful love story just like the seven year slip had, but sadly, this just didn’t have any of that. i’ve been seeing other reviews for this book and her other books, and it seems like tsys was maybe just a one-hit wonder (hopefully not though). this is probably going to be the last Ashley poston i’m reading in a while 🥲
♯ joni lark. she was an okay character - i liked her determination and humbleness. other than that, she was an extremely boring and honestly, really forgettable character. i don’t even remember anything she likes or almost anything about her besides the fact that she’s a songwriter for famous singers. i can’t help but compare her to clementine from tsys. clementine had a big, beautiful personality, and joni just felt like.. a shell of a human. since we were in her head so much, i hoped that we would get more of her actual self, but unfortunately, her struggles and worries just felt so.. constructed and not real.
♯ sebastian fell. i had so much hope for him the beginning because in famous singers books, we get to see the singer do cute things for their partner due to their fame, but i felt like he was just.. there. there was nothing special about sebastian fell at all - during the whole book i felt like he was just an unimportant side character with no personality. and i know that sounds incredibly harsh, but again, (i must) compared to the seven year slip, iwan had me giggling and kicking my feet but Sebastian had me rolling my eyes and falling asleep.
꒱ ┊joni & sebastian. possibly the most boring part about the book. where was the chemistry? the yearning? the spark? there was NOTHING that brought these characters together - except the fact that they could hear each other’s thoughts, but that could’ve quite literally happened with any other man/woman. it felt like since they figured out they could hear each other’s thoughts, they just settled for each other. also it was so silly when they already fell for each other when they were just in each other’s heads - you’re telling me you fell in love with a voice in your head.. 😭? make it make sense. there was also no development in their relationship - it was just boom, they were together and suddenly in love.
the one redeemable quality about this book was the setting. i adored it. a super small town beach setting will always do it for me!
overall, i would not recommend. this book was unbelievably boring that it genuinely made me mad at some times. i had to force myself to read this book and not fall asleep. if you’re just looking for a vibe-y setting however, you may enjoy this book.
✧ and lastly, but definitely not least, thank you to my best friend and invisible string, kella, for reading this book with me. i could not have asked for a better reading partner - you made this book more bearable. i cannot wait for all the future br’s to come 🥹👯💓
⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡
˗ 🪄 pre - read
maybe unpopular opinion (idk) but i adore this cover! hopefully the book is as good as the cover 🩷💛
✩︎ and I'm so happy to finally doing a buddy read with one of my closest and dearest friends on this app, kells. can't wait to have the best time ever with you, ml 🥹🩵✨
⟡ i’m really, really disappointed in this book. going into this book, i had maybe, extreme, expectations, now that i look back on them. i thought that this book would contain the magical storytelling & setting, relatable characters, and a beautiful love story just like the seven year slip had, but sadly, this just didn’t have any of that. i’ve been seeing other reviews for this book and her other books, and it seems like tsys was maybe just a one-hit wonder (hopefully not though). this is probably going to be the last Ashley poston i’m reading in a while 🥲
♯ joni lark. she was an okay character - i liked her determination and humbleness. other than that, she was an extremely boring and honestly, really forgettable character. i don’t even remember anything she likes or almost anything about her besides the fact that she’s a songwriter for famous singers. i can’t help but compare her to clementine from tsys. clementine had a big, beautiful personality, and joni just felt like.. a shell of a human. since we were in her head so much, i hoped that we would get more of her actual self, but unfortunately, her struggles and worries just felt so.. constructed and not real.
♯ sebastian fell. i had so much hope for him the beginning because in famous singers books, we get to see the singer do cute things for their partner due to their fame, but i felt like he was just.. there. there was nothing special about sebastian fell at all - during the whole book i felt like he was just an unimportant side character with no personality. and i know that sounds incredibly harsh, but again, (i must) compared to the seven year slip, iwan had me giggling and kicking my feet but Sebastian had me rolling my eyes and falling asleep.
꒱ ┊joni & sebastian. possibly the most boring part about the book. where was the chemistry? the yearning? the spark? there was NOTHING that brought these characters together - except the fact that they could hear each other’s thoughts, but that could’ve quite literally happened with any other man/woman. it felt like since they figured out they could hear each other’s thoughts, they just settled for each other. also it was so silly when they already fell for each other when they were just in each other’s heads - you’re telling me you fell in love with a voice in your head.. 😭? make it make sense. there was also no development in their relationship - it was just boom, they were together and suddenly in love.
the one redeemable quality about this book was the setting. i adored it. a super small town beach setting will always do it for me!
overall, i would not recommend. this book was unbelievably boring that it genuinely made me mad at some times. i had to force myself to read this book and not fall asleep. if you’re just looking for a vibe-y setting however, you may enjoy this book.
✧ and lastly, but definitely not least, thank you to my best friend and invisible string, kella, for reading this book with me. i could not have asked for a better reading partner - you made this book more bearable. i cannot wait for all the future br’s to come 🥹👯💓
⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡
˗ 🪄 pre - read
maybe unpopular opinion (idk) but i adore this cover! hopefully the book is as good as the cover 🩷💛
✩︎ and I'm so happy to finally doing a buddy read with one of my closest and dearest friends on this app, kells. can't wait to have the best time ever with you, ml 🥹🩵✨
August 12, 2025
2.5, that didn’t feel very whimsical. rtc maybe
-
hopefully this fills me with the same joy and whimsy i got from the seven year slip! br with bsf cherie <33
-
hopefully this fills me with the same joy and whimsy i got from the seven year slip! br with bsf cherie <33
June 19, 2025
Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
Narrated and SUNG by Patti Murin 🎤
With a touching personal “must read” AFTERWORD read by the author 🤧💔 11 hours 25 minutes at 1.x speed
TW: Dementia
Joni Lark is one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…but since learning of her mother’s Dementia diagnosis she has been unable to write.
She decides to return to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, where her parents own “The Revelry” her family’s music venue. She hopes to soak up some sun, spend time with her Mom at the Outer Banks 🐴 and maybe find some inspiration but when she arrives she learns the heartbreaking news that they will be closing the establishment soon.
In addition her best friend seems distant.
How can she think about writing her next song when the life she left behind seems to have moved on without her?
“How can her mother be right in front of her at the same time that she is also a thousand miles away? “ 💔
But then, like magic, she hears the start of a melody in her head. It doesn’t yet have lyrics, or even a subject but it does seem to have a voice attached to it-That of a musician named Sasha. She can hear his thoughts and he can hear hers.
COULD THEY POSSIBLY COLLABORATE ON A SONG?
Turns out the voice actually belongs to a living, breathing man and when he shows up in Vienna Shores, he is not at all what Joni expected.
COULD something that started in her HEAD end up occupying her HEART?
“What does it mean when you realize that there is one person’s voice that you want to hear first when you wake up in the morning and last before falling asleep?”
SOUNDS LIKE LOVE
It seems like all of the ROMANCE AUTHORS this year challenged themselves to go a little deeper-to offer more than the chosen trope, with the third act break up and the Happily Ever After-but they have done so with mixed results….
Ashley Poston however, NAILED IT-writing a very moving book that is like a love letter to mother/daughter relationships, best friends, and staying true to oneself without losing the focus that this is a romance book and while still tackling the heartbreaking disease of Dementia.
It doesn’t have quite the same amount of whimsy of her earlier “magical realism” books, but it definitely still has ALL of the heart.❤️
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of the audiobook which was waiting for me on Publication day!
Narrated and SUNG by Patti Murin 🎤
With a touching personal “must read” AFTERWORD read by the author 🤧💔 11 hours 25 minutes at 1.x speed
TW: Dementia
Joni Lark is one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…but since learning of her mother’s Dementia diagnosis she has been unable to write.
She decides to return to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, where her parents own “The Revelry” her family’s music venue. She hopes to soak up some sun, spend time with her Mom at the Outer Banks 🐴 and maybe find some inspiration but when she arrives she learns the heartbreaking news that they will be closing the establishment soon.
In addition her best friend seems distant.
How can she think about writing her next song when the life she left behind seems to have moved on without her?
“How can her mother be right in front of her at the same time that she is also a thousand miles away? “ 💔
But then, like magic, she hears the start of a melody in her head. It doesn’t yet have lyrics, or even a subject but it does seem to have a voice attached to it-That of a musician named Sasha. She can hear his thoughts and he can hear hers.
COULD THEY POSSIBLY COLLABORATE ON A SONG?
Turns out the voice actually belongs to a living, breathing man and when he shows up in Vienna Shores, he is not at all what Joni expected.
COULD something that started in her HEAD end up occupying her HEART?
“What does it mean when you realize that there is one person’s voice that you want to hear first when you wake up in the morning and last before falling asleep?”
SOUNDS LIKE LOVE
It seems like all of the ROMANCE AUTHORS this year challenged themselves to go a little deeper-to offer more than the chosen trope, with the third act break up and the Happily Ever After-but they have done so with mixed results….
Ashley Poston however, NAILED IT-writing a very moving book that is like a love letter to mother/daughter relationships, best friends, and staying true to oneself without losing the focus that this is a romance book and while still tackling the heartbreaking disease of Dementia.
It doesn’t have quite the same amount of whimsy of her earlier “magical realism” books, but it definitely still has ALL of the heart.❤️
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of the audiobook which was waiting for me on Publication day!
August 3, 2025
Ashley Poston never fails me!! (except that one time with a novel love story, but we’re gonna ignore that) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I adore the magical realism in Ashley Postons’s writing! This was such a unique story and I loved these characters so much. They were both so real and complex. It was such a special read and I’m so glad I squeezed it in before the end of my summer reading!
some fave quotes! <3
“You should cry as much as you want. It’s not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse.”
“If you spend your entire life comparing everything to the best thing you ever made, then you aren’t gonna find joy in any of it. You’ll just be unhappy that they aren’t like the original thing, you know?”
"My grams used to tell me that love is rare, The real kind." Gigi pulled her arm through Mitch's, her face thoughtful and adoring. "It's not given, it's not stolen—love is borrowed, she always said. It's borrowed, and how lucky we are to be afraid of losing it."
“Sometimes the dreams you come with aren’t the dreams you leave with, and sometimes you just don’t leave at all.”
I adore the magical realism in Ashley Postons’s writing! This was such a unique story and I loved these characters so much. They were both so real and complex. It was such a special read and I’m so glad I squeezed it in before the end of my summer reading!
some fave quotes! <3
“You should cry as much as you want. It’s not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse.”
“If you spend your entire life comparing everything to the best thing you ever made, then you aren’t gonna find joy in any of it. You’ll just be unhappy that they aren’t like the original thing, you know?”
"My grams used to tell me that love is rare, The real kind." Gigi pulled her arm through Mitch's, her face thoughtful and adoring. "It's not given, it's not stolen—love is borrowed, she always said. It's borrowed, and how lucky we are to be afraid of losing it."
“Sometimes the dreams you come with aren’t the dreams you leave with, and sometimes you just don’t leave at all.”
June 22, 2025
This surpassed seven year slip and is now my favorite ashley poston book.
If you love music, you need to read this book asap. I knew from the first chapter I would love this book, the way it is written is just so beautiful and it describes music in such a hypnotic way that I just couldn't help but be amazed. Poston's writing definitely improved, and it was already really good.
The parts about her mother were heart wrenching, it's impossible not to feel helpless just as the characters, it was devastating. It affected me a lot, more than I thought it would.
The romance was good but for some reason it was the thing I liked the least. Don't get me wrong, it was good but between all the other things going on: her family life, the discussion about following dreams and finding new ones, the magical aspect, the music talk, it just took a background place for me. I loved the magical realism here, it is similar to something else I've read before and because of that I was expecting their reaction in the end, so it wasn't as frustrating as I could've been. The twist was predictable as hell, but again, it wasn't a big deal.
I don't think everyone will like this book, but it definitely was right up my alley and I loved it.
If you love music, you need to read this book asap. I knew from the first chapter I would love this book, the way it is written is just so beautiful and it describes music in such a hypnotic way that I just couldn't help but be amazed. Poston's writing definitely improved, and it was already really good.
The parts about her mother were heart wrenching, it's impossible not to feel helpless just as the characters, it was devastating. It affected me a lot, more than I thought it would.
The romance was good but for some reason it was the thing I liked the least. Don't get me wrong, it was good but between all the other things going on: her family life, the discussion about following dreams and finding new ones, the magical aspect, the music talk, it just took a background place for me. I loved the magical realism here, it is similar to something else I've read before and because of that I was expecting their reaction in the end, so it wasn't as frustrating as I could've been. The twist was predictable as hell, but again, it wasn't a big deal.
I don't think everyone will like this book, but it definitely was right up my alley and I loved it.
June 19, 2025
4💫
"If we were a song, I would want to be this one. The feeling of slow dancing when no one was looking, pressed cheek to cheek with someone who knew you better than you knew yourself. I wanted this buoyant, breathless feeling in every lyric. It didn't feel like falling the way you did when love was quick and exotic. No, it felt like finding a song you hadn’t heard in years played on a jukebox in an old music hall. The feeling of the world stopping. Of hearts beating together"
"I wasn't sure what kind of song this would be, but I hoped it would be the kind that made memories. The kind that made love a conversation, made romance a work of art. Painted stories of late-night confessions and midmorning heartbreaks, falling in love through joyrides and banana-lemon margaritas and secrets whispered against flushed skin. And the kind that, when you were lost in the world, brought you home"
I don’t think im going to write an in-depth review for this one, but i will leave you with a couple thought!
the writing: beautiful. just read the two quotes i included!!!
the characters: perfect for each other. so understanding of each others struggles- helps that they can read each others thoughts, ha!
the storyline: so original and magical. i love how she incorporates magical realism into all of her novels. the connection between the characters through an unfinished tune played out so beautifully.
i also loved how each chapter started with a song lyric! i knew most of them and kind of sang the song at the beginning of each chapter haha.
"If we were a song, I would want to be this one. The feeling of slow dancing when no one was looking, pressed cheek to cheek with someone who knew you better than you knew yourself. I wanted this buoyant, breathless feeling in every lyric. It didn't feel like falling the way you did when love was quick and exotic. No, it felt like finding a song you hadn’t heard in years played on a jukebox in an old music hall. The feeling of the world stopping. Of hearts beating together"
"I wasn't sure what kind of song this would be, but I hoped it would be the kind that made memories. The kind that made love a conversation, made romance a work of art. Painted stories of late-night confessions and midmorning heartbreaks, falling in love through joyrides and banana-lemon margaritas and secrets whispered against flushed skin. And the kind that, when you were lost in the world, brought you home"
I don’t think im going to write an in-depth review for this one, but i will leave you with a couple thought!
the writing: beautiful. just read the two quotes i included!!!
the characters: perfect for each other. so understanding of each others struggles- helps that they can read each others thoughts, ha!
the storyline: so original and magical. i love how she incorporates magical realism into all of her novels. the connection between the characters through an unfinished tune played out so beautifully.
i also loved how each chapter started with a song lyric! i knew most of them and kind of sang the song at the beginning of each chapter haha.
June 18, 2025
”We were all made of up memories, anyway. Of ourselves, of other people. We were built on the songs sang to us and the songs we sang to ourselves, the songs we listened to with broken hearts and the ones we danced to at weddings.”
Ashley never disappoint. She done such a beautiful job with writing about magical realism with grief. She had by bawling my eyes out by the end of the book which I honestly was not expecting to happen.
”You should cry as much as you want. It’s not a bad thing. It never is. Grief is just a love song in reverse.”
The romance between Sasha and Joni was done so beautifully. It felt so real. I loved how they communicated in their heads when they didn’t know how to say it out loud. The connection those two have together is beautiful. The relationship also feels more believable since they know each other thoughts and they grow and bond over that.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
——————————
ೀ preread ᡣ𐭩
OMGGG IM SO SO GRATEFUL FOR RECEIVING AN ARC FOR THIS!!! SO SO EXCITED TO READ THIS!!!
——————————
a new ashley poston book!!?! a singer and a songwriter!! sign me up!!
September 4, 2025
this was very quick and fun. I flew through it in no time! I really loved the overall vibe of the book: the setting, the mood, the aesthetic, it all came together and it felt so cozy!!
magical realism in romance is one of my favorite elements and I think it always adds such a whimsical, enchanting layer. it was written beautifully here, and I adored the beachy, small-town setting. joni’s circle of friends and family, especially the family-owned bar, gave the story so much warmth and personality. also the backstory of her mother and father was so touching it definitely added more depth and heart to joni and sebastian’s story 🥹
since this was my first ashley poston book, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed her writing style. It was fast-paced, easy to sink into, and managed to be both light and emotional at the same time. there's a lovely balance in her voice. i was in love with how she made the narrative musical!!
she really sticked to that theme.
the main characters were fun to follow, BUT their development was very quick 😐 it did feel very rushed. that’s actually the one thing that held the book back from being truly great for me. the romance didn’t feel fully fleshed out. It almost read more like a screenplay than a book in that sense ?? I kept thinking how perfectly this story would translate to film, where the visual elements and chemistry could carry some of the emotional weight that was underdeveloped in the book.
still, it was an enjoyable read overall. perfect for summertime that’s coming. If you want something that’s light and warm with a touch of magic I definitely think it’s worth picking up!!
***ARC Provided by the Publisher Berkley Publishing Group***
magical realism in romance is one of my favorite elements and I think it always adds such a whimsical, enchanting layer. it was written beautifully here, and I adored the beachy, small-town setting. joni’s circle of friends and family, especially the family-owned bar, gave the story so much warmth and personality. also the backstory of her mother and father was so touching it definitely added more depth and heart to joni and sebastian’s story 🥹
since this was my first ashley poston book, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed her writing style. It was fast-paced, easy to sink into, and managed to be both light and emotional at the same time. there's a lovely balance in her voice. i was in love with how she made the narrative musical!!
she really sticked to that theme.
the main characters were fun to follow, BUT their development was very quick 😐 it did feel very rushed. that’s actually the one thing that held the book back from being truly great for me. the romance didn’t feel fully fleshed out. It almost read more like a screenplay than a book in that sense ?? I kept thinking how perfectly this story would translate to film, where the visual elements and chemistry could carry some of the emotional weight that was underdeveloped in the book.
still, it was an enjoyable read overall. perfect for summertime that’s coming. If you want something that’s light and warm with a touch of magic I definitely think it’s worth picking up!!
”I can only hear you, bird."
I blushed at the nickname. "Bird?"
"Like a songbird. You seem happiest when you're playing music."
***ARC Provided by the Publisher Berkley Publishing Group***
September 1, 2025
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand the pacing was well done and I appreciated the Alzheimer’s representation. On the other side the plot was boring at times, the romance was flat and the characters were underdeveloped. The plot felt chaotic and I didn’t stay invested in the book. I enjoyed the focus on music and the meaning behind words in songs. The Alzheimer’s representation was thoughtful and relatable, especially in the way that it effects all the family members. The characters were okay but they felt flat. I liked Joni, she was very passionate about music and family. I related to how much she loves her mom and cares about her family. I loved Joni’s interactions with her mom, it was so sweet. Sebastian was sweet and I did like that he came out of his sell, but I didn’t love him. I felt that something was missing from his character qualities. I liked Joni’s mom, brother and her best friend. The romance was underwhelming, I didn’t feel the connection between Joni and Sebastian till the end. Also their development of their relationship went by too fast, one minute they didn’t like each other and the next they fell in love. The ending was underwhelming and rushed. Overall this book was okay, but the plot was boring for most of the book, the romance was flat and the characters were underdeveloped.
July 21, 2025
4.5
ASHLEY POSTON IS SO BACK!
This felt like a musical in the absolute best way. The plot, the characters, the romantic connection, the MIND BANTER???
Love the family, love the friendships, even loved the romantic nickname. Obsessed.
ASHLEY POSTON IS SO BACK!
This felt like a musical in the absolute best way. The plot, the characters, the romantic connection, the MIND BANTER???
Love the family, love the friendships, even loved the romantic nickname. Obsessed.
July 7, 2025
this book was so cute!!! Ashley has easily become one of my auto buy authors and this was at the top of my 2025 release radar so i’m so happy it was worth the wait.
i binged this in two sittings, it was so easy to get swept into right away and kept me invested. the romance was slow burning but very believable. i love how her romances have a blend of genres, especially with magical realism. however the magical realism element in this one surprised me and i would say is a bit confusing (why did that happen, i’m still unsure lol?)
the small town beach setting was such a vibe and i loved all the little side elements—the music, the family themes / plots, the Revelry, and ofc the romances!!
for me this wasn’t as strong as THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP (those character crossovers tho!!! obsessed!!!!!) but it was still a delightful read and a perfect romance to binge by the pool or beach :)
this is for fans of SAY YOULL REMEMBER ME - similar in a lot of ways. Poston handled the dementia topic with such grace.
💙
i binged this in two sittings, it was so easy to get swept into right away and kept me invested. the romance was slow burning but very believable. i love how her romances have a blend of genres, especially with magical realism. however the magical realism element in this one surprised me and i would say is a bit confusing (why did that happen, i’m still unsure lol?)
the small town beach setting was such a vibe and i loved all the little side elements—the music, the family themes / plots, the Revelry, and ofc the romances!!
for me this wasn’t as strong as THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP (those character crossovers tho!!! obsessed!!!!!) but it was still a delightful read and a perfect romance to binge by the pool or beach :)
this is for fans of SAY YOULL REMEMBER ME - similar in a lot of ways. Poston handled the dementia topic with such grace.
💙
August 4, 2025
This might just be my favourite Ashley Poston book! Joni and Sasha’s romance has such a unique and quirky start, there’s even a little supernatural twist (kind of like Freaky Friday, but way better and no body-swapping drama).
The story flows so well, and I was hooked the whole way through. The characters are amazing and easy to love. A fun, heartfelt read that totally won me over!
The story flows so well, and I was hooked the whole way through. The characters are amazing and easy to love. A fun, heartfelt read that totally won me over!
March 19, 2025
did THEE ashley poston even write this?
it feels like it’s lacking in everything i’ve come to love about her magical realism books. the quippy fmc’s, the soul crushing romance, lines that make me angry i didn’t think of them or write them first…i read the authors note and this is her love letter to music, but for that being the ENTIRE premise, it felt like the mmc and her being famous-adjacent was also ignored(?)
thank you to netgalley and berkley for the arc
it feels like it’s lacking in everything i’ve come to love about her magical realism books. the quippy fmc’s, the soul crushing romance, lines that make me angry i didn’t think of them or write them first…i read the authors note and this is her love letter to music, but for that being the ENTIRE premise, it felt like the mmc and her being famous-adjacent was also ignored(?)
thank you to netgalley and berkley for the arc
July 7, 2025
Didn't think it was possible to like a book more than The Seven Year Slip but here we are. Sounds Like Love was an enchanting love letter to music, highlighting how lyrics and melodies bring people together. And in this case, literally bring people together, given that the FMC and MMC telepathically connected over the same ear worm.
What I love so much about Ashley Poston's work is her poetic writing and figurative language. Her books are cozy in that summer beach read type of way and evoke such strong emotions. The way she adds in seemingly offbeat yet descriptive details that capture feelings and moments is everything. I also think Sounds Like Love, out of all four of her books, had the best integration of the magical realism element.
Sebastian and Joni's connection was beautiful, and I loved the little invisible strings that tied them together. They had excellent chemistry, and the ex-boyband member x songwriter trope? Iconic. I loved everything about the musical elements, references, concert vibes, etc. And the incorporation of their parents and how music played a starring role in each character's life was heartwarming. I also loved the mother daughter relationship and emotional subplot which came with that. Easily one of my favorite romances of the year, and by far her most summery book!
What I love so much about Ashley Poston's work is her poetic writing and figurative language. Her books are cozy in that summer beach read type of way and evoke such strong emotions. The way she adds in seemingly offbeat yet descriptive details that capture feelings and moments is everything. I also think Sounds Like Love, out of all four of her books, had the best integration of the magical realism element.
Sebastian and Joni's connection was beautiful, and I loved the little invisible strings that tied them together. They had excellent chemistry, and the ex-boyband member x songwriter trope? Iconic. I loved everything about the musical elements, references, concert vibes, etc. And the incorporation of their parents and how music played a starring role in each character's life was heartwarming. I also loved the mother daughter relationship and emotional subplot which came with that. Easily one of my favorite romances of the year, and by far her most summery book!
July 5, 2025
. ۫ ꣑ৎ 4.5 stars ★
if you enjoy music – the lyrics, the community aspects, any of it – then you’ll like this. but if you enjoy music and a perfectly wholesome romance with cozy vibes? then this just became a must read for you.
ashley poston writes magical realism in the most perfect way, and she always leaves me looking for magic in the real world when i finish a book by her. so, like, is that song that’s been stuck in my head all day going to lead me to the love of my life? groupie love by lana del rey, work your magic for me, okay?
sasha (i know, i hated the name at first too but it grew on me) is absolutely everything you look for in a book boyfriend. the MOUTH on him is perfect – not in the way you’re thinking, get your head out of the gutter – because “you’re poetry in motion”!!! excuse me sir are you actually trying to make me into the 🥹 emoji right now?
joni was a bit harder for me to warm up to, but i did ultimately end up adoring her. seeing her struggle through her mother’s dimentia diagnosis as well as a complete and total mess of emotions in general (think, like, when you’re pmsing and everything makes you feel a way, except you’re not pmsing, your life is just, well, a mess). she had such amazing growth and became so easy to root for by the end of the story.
and – potentially my favorite part of the story – a clementineiwan cameo!!! the seven year slip is one of my favorite books EVER, and seeing my babies again felt like a big, warm hug. but you know what, jonisasha is a great second place in my heart too.
ashley poston just has such a magical (pun intended) way of writing beautiful, emotional, and – in an increasingly oversaturated and rapidly declining-in-quality contemporary romance genre – unique stories, which just have a special way of worming their way into your heart 𖹭
ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ pre read
i’ve heard there’s a clementineiwan cameo in this and that’s all i needed to read it immediately 🤭
if you enjoy music – the lyrics, the community aspects, any of it – then you’ll like this. but if you enjoy music and a perfectly wholesome romance with cozy vibes? then this just became a must read for you.
ashley poston writes magical realism in the most perfect way, and she always leaves me looking for magic in the real world when i finish a book by her. so, like, is that song that’s been stuck in my head all day going to lead me to the love of my life? groupie love by lana del rey, work your magic for me, okay?
sasha (i know, i hated the name at first too but it grew on me) is absolutely everything you look for in a book boyfriend. the MOUTH on him is perfect – not in the way you’re thinking, get your head out of the gutter – because “you’re poetry in motion”!!! excuse me sir are you actually trying to make me into the 🥹 emoji right now?
joni was a bit harder for me to warm up to, but i did ultimately end up adoring her. seeing her struggle through her mother’s dimentia diagnosis as well as a complete and total mess of emotions in general (think, like, when you’re pmsing and everything makes you feel a way, except you’re not pmsing, your life is just, well, a mess). she had such amazing growth and became so easy to root for by the end of the story.
and – potentially my favorite part of the story – a clementineiwan cameo!!! the seven year slip is one of my favorite books EVER, and seeing my babies again felt like a big, warm hug. but you know what, jonisasha is a great second place in my heart too.
ashley poston just has such a magical (pun intended) way of writing beautiful, emotional, and – in an increasingly oversaturated and rapidly declining-in-quality contemporary romance genre – unique stories, which just have a special way of worming their way into your heart 𖹭
ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ pre read
i’ve heard there’s a clementineiwan cameo in this and that’s all i needed to read it immediately 🤭
June 25, 2025
4.5⭐
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓽? 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓶?
“𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽. 𝓐𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽, 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷’𝓽. 𝓘 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝔂. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓘 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼. 𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓘’𝓭 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓾𝓹 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓾𝓰𝓼. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓮’𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓫𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂, 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓭𝓸.”˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
This was amazing. I’m so thankful that this book was my first Ashley Poston read..... It made me feel so much.
Normally, I don’t enjoy books about music; they feel a bit shallow -at least to me. But this one? It’s so much more than a story about music. It’s about two souls tangled together in the most unexpected way.
The concept of telepathy isn’t exactly new, but I wasn’t expecting it, and it really made me reflect. How many of us who seem grumpy on the outside are actually softies inside? And how many of us who come off as cheerful are hiding so much beneath the surface?
I’ll definitely be reading more of Ashley Poston’s books—I have no doubt I’ll love them too.
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
I didn't ever think that my first Ashley Poston book would be an ARC 😭 Ilysm Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group 🩷
Find my review on Instagram
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓽? 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓶?
“𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽. 𝓐𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽, 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷’𝓽. 𝓘 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝔂. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓘 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼. 𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓘’𝓭 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓾𝓹 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓾𝓰𝓼. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓮’𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓫𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂, 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓭𝓸.”˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
This was amazing. I’m so thankful that this book was my first Ashley Poston read..... It made me feel so much.
Normally, I don’t enjoy books about music; they feel a bit shallow -at least to me. But this one? It’s so much more than a story about music. It’s about two souls tangled together in the most unexpected way.
The concept of telepathy isn’t exactly new, but I wasn’t expecting it, and it really made me reflect. How many of us who seem grumpy on the outside are actually softies inside? And how many of us who come off as cheerful are hiding so much beneath the surface?
I’ll definitely be reading more of Ashley Poston’s books—I have no doubt I’ll love them too.
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
I didn't ever think that my first Ashley Poston book would be an ARC 😭 Ilysm Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group 🩷
Find my review on Instagram
September 11, 2025
20% in and forgot to update because I’m hooked 🤭
——
So apparently Ashley got the memo that I fell in love with musical/rockstar romances this year? 😍
——
So apparently Ashley got the memo that I fell in love with musical/rockstar romances this year? 😍
June 28, 2025
obsessed!! a romance with telepathy GENIUS 🥰🥰 couldn’t get enough of this hehehe
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