Heard It in a Love Song is a slow-burn romance between Layla, recently-divorced after ten years of marriage, and Josh, currently divorcing after a twenty-year marriage. Both are struggling to break free from their pasts. Layla had dreams of making it as a singer in a band but set those aside for a husband who never put her foremost in his life. Josh misses the connection he once had with his wife but has remained married for the sake of his daughter. Both Layla and Josh fully recognize their failings—and those of their spouses—and aren’t eager to repeat the patterns they’ve been stuck in.
I enjoyed reading this novel of second chances, in part because the couple is “seasoned” by life and actually use their brains rather than their sexual organs—though their chemistry is readily apparent—to work out their relationship. It’s also nice that Layla reembarks on her musical dreams with some degree of success but finds she doesn’t really like the social media aspect required to promote herself. I particularly enjoyed the passages about Layla and her connection to music and her feelings about herself as she sings and the Janis Joplin-esque cover.
The novel is low-key, told in alternating points of view between Layla and Josh, and also switching back to both their pasts in extended flashbacks. The flashbacks are written in italics, and I found the long italicized passages difficult to read.
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Heard It in a Love Song (St. Martin’s Press, November 9, 2021) is available through:
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