Heard it in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Fiction
Book Review
Layla Hilding was once the lead singer in a prominent local band. But now, she’s a divorced thirty-five-year-old music teacher, embracing her newfound independence. Through her job at the elementary school, Layla meets Josh, the newly single father of one of her students. Layla and Josh bond over the similarity of their situations, and the struggles of being newly divorced. They decide to become friends with the potential for something more. But will their emotional trauma and insecurities threaten their second chance at love?
Heard it in a Love Song is told in the third person in alternating perspectives between Layla and Josh. It is told in the present and a series of flashbacks to Josh and Layla’s respective marriages through the years. It focuses on life after divorce and re-discovering passions later in life.
This is a very slow-burn, slowly-paced novel. I loved getting to know the two main characters and learning about their previous marriages and what went wrong. This is more of a contemporary fiction novel than a romance novel. There is romance, but it is not so much the central focus of the novel. I loved getting to know both Layla and Josh. I was fascinated by the flashbacks to their previous marriages.
Music is a huge part of this book. The author mentions at the beginning that the book was largely inspired by the song “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and that fits with the overall vibe of the story. I highly recommend Heard it in a Love Song to fans of Tracey Garvis Graves’ previous books, as well as lovers of contemporary fiction!
Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the review copy! All opinions are my own.
Synopsis from Goodreads
Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past—her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who never put her first—Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness.
Then there’s Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he’s still processing the end of his twenty-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more.
Equally cautious and confused about dating in a world that favors apps over meeting organically, Layla and Josh decide to be friends with the potential for something more. Sounds sensible and way too simple—but when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?
About the Author
Tracey Garvis Graves is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestselling author of contemporary fiction. Her debut novel, On the Island, spent 9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into thirty-five languages, and is in development with MGM and Temple Hill Productions for a feature film. She is also the author of Uncharted, Covet, Every Time I Think of You, Cherish, Heart-Shaped Hack, White-Hot Hack, The Girl He Used to Know, and Heard It in a Love Song. She is hard at work on her next book.
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Erin Evelyn Reads 