Emily Albright
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Pippa Wyndham is a top cellist―she’d never settle for anything less. Determined to get into the nation’s most prestigious music college, nothing’s going to stand in her way . . . Until her senior year of high school when a new guy from a fancy New York conservatory transfers to her school.REVIEW
Declan Brogan’s cocky, and he knows how amazing he is at the cello. He has every intention of knocking Pippa out of first chair and showing her who really belongs on top. Forced together when assigned a duet, their personal competition and mutual dislike transform into a teasing friendship.
Torn between her childhood crush and the boy who threatens her dreams, Pippa finds herself at risk of losing her best friend, her future, and the boy who makes her heart melt. Struggling to make things right, Pippa discovers that sometimes the thing you want the most doesn’t always end up being the thing you need.
After years of dedication to her craft, Pippa was at the top of her game. Selected for the youth orchestra, first chair in her school's orchestra, and right on track for admissions to the best music program in the country. Everything was going according to plan until HE showed up. For the first time in her life, there was another cellist, who played at her level, and she felt her dreams slipping away.
I enjoyed this book so much! My love of romance is well-known, and well, in simplest terms, this was a romance. You may hear people say something about a love triangle, but that was non-existent for me. All I saw was Pippa and Declan. I shipped them from the get-go. They had a little bit of a friendly competition between them, and I think each was somewhat threatened by the other, but once they were assigned their duet, their friendship started to flourish. I mean, they figuratively AND literally made music together. What more could you ask for?
I loved these two together, but I also loved them apart. Pippa was a force to be reckoned with. She was so focused and so driven. I really admire people, who dedicate themselves to something with their heart, body, and soul, and you could tell this was the case with Pippa. She was so lucky to have such an awesome, supportive family too, because that was not necessarily the case with Declan.
Declan had a strained relationship with his father after the divorce, and his mother was often absent due to her career. I know Declan was almost 18, but he still needed his parents' love and support. My heart ached a little for him.
I have to believe that Albright is a music lover, because the passion and adoration Pippa had for music was very authentic. I also thought the scenes, where she was playing, were so well written. I found myself swept up in the melody of it all. And the quotes featured at the beginning of each chapter were such a lovely little extra. I looked forward to them as each chapter began.
I had some small issues with this book. I struggled a little with Pippa's best friend. She was pretty selfish and self-centered, and seemed to have a history of not being a great best friend. However, I think Albright did a decent job addressing that later in the book, and I was able to move past it, because like I said, this was all about the Pippa and Declan for me.
I am well known for being an endings critic, and I am here to say: A+ ending. I smiled, experienced lots of feels, and was just so elated from the ending to this book. It was everything I could have wished for, and there's nothing like going out on a high note.
Make no mistake, the tears I cried were happy tears. This book wrapped its arms around this romance lovers heart, and held tight. It was such a joy to be a part of Pippa's journey, and I found that my only complaint was: I wanted more.
* ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
She's a writer, a major bookworm, a lover of romantic movies, a wife, a mother, an owner of one adorable (yet slightly insane) cockapoo, and uses way too many :).
Do you play an instrument?
Let us know in the comments!
I love how you described Pippa and that the book celebrates all that about her, along with her romance. This sounds wonderful, it really does!
ReplyDeletePippa was a great character, and I had nothing but respect for her
DeleteThis sounds like such a lovely book. I love a good friendly rivalry to romance and the romance sounds precious.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Sam!
It was exactly that, but Albright brought the pain too.
DeleteOh, I'll have to check out this one, Sam. My younger daughter plays viola and seems similar to Pippa in her dedication to and love for music. :) I also like that Pippa has a supportive and, seemingly, loving family even if Declan doesn't. YA needs more positive family portrayals. I'm so happy you enjoyed this one!
ReplyDeleteI never played an instrument, but I admired both Pippa and Declan. Their talent and drive was incredible. Declan's family situation does improve some over the course of the story, and I always like seeing positive growth.
DeleteYA Books with supportive parents are rare indeed. I’m glad Pippa had them. This one sounds very cute.
ReplyDeleteI do think YA families are getting better, or at least, I am seeing more functional families than I used to. This book gave us a little of both, the good and not as good.
DeleteI love it when a competitive relationship forms into a friendship and then romance. This sounds like a sweet story! Wonderful review, Sam! :)
ReplyDeleteThe competition between these two was fierce, and I like that they sort of kept striving to best the other, even when they moved to friendship and beyond in their relationship.
DeleteI'm glad you liked it. I thought about getting this from Netgalley, but there were other books that caught my attention more. It does sound like a good book though.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly the type of book I like, and I was really impressed with how large a role music played in the book. Books often say they are about something, but that something plays a minor role. Well, Albright had music front and center in this one, and I really enjoyed getting a look into that world.
DeleteGreat review. I do love my romance too, but mine usually comes with dead bodies or mythical creatures. Everyone once in a while a contemporary love story sneaks in.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Sorry, I can't stop laughing! I am the opposite of you - mostly contemporaries with mythical creatures and dead bodies sneaking in.
DeleteOMG YES to Pippa and Declan! I did see a love triangle, but I was HIGH KEY shipping those two because Noah does NOT DESERVE PIPPA (and Declan is precious and I will protect him with my fictional glory). I did have trouble getting into this one though, but eventually I warmed up to it (plus DECLAN COME ON).
ReplyDeleteThe other guy had no chance with me. Noah was not the right guy for Pippa, and Albright made it soooo obvious that they didn't belong together. I don't remember not being into the story, but I do remember not being a fan of the best friend storyline, because I thought she was the worst. My enjoyment definitely hit a high, when they let the friendship happen, and a low again when you know what happened, but the ending was so good.
DeletePippa sounds awesome, and I love that she has a supportive family!
ReplyDeleteThis book had a lot of fantastic elements, and an MC like Pippa made it easy to get into the story.
DeleteOh the main character sounds delightful. I love when the family is present. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see authors finding more to write about outside of family drama.
DeleteGreat review, Sam! This actually sounds like it's adorable. I'm put off slightly by the classical music element, simply because I'm generally not a fan of books that focus on classical music (even though I enjoy listening to it), but it sounds like music isn't necessarily the main focus, even if it features heavily. The romance is sounds awesome enough to take a chance. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteIt's more about the competitive nature of musicians at that level, than the actual music, and yes, it was packed with quite a few adorable parts.
DeleteThis sounds like a really lovely read. I love music based books and the fact the two MCs came together and their friendship grew from making music together is just awesome. I love that even though some might argue there is a love triangle going on here as well it's obvious who the ship is and it's easy to ship them together.
ReplyDeleteIt was no question that the other guy was a no-go. Albright built a solid case for why Pippa belonged with Declan
DeleteThis sounds like a really cute book. I don't know why I absolutely love it when I am reading books involving music. I have a best friend who plays cello as well :) I think liking the characters when they apart is just so important too as well when it comes to reading romance. So I am happy this one kind of aced it ;)
ReplyDeleteThis one surprised me in a good way, and Albright did a good job giving me closure, which is probably what I complain about the most. Some moments were touch and go for me, because I hate when my couples aren't doing well in a romance, but since it was a romance, I know how it's going to end, so I just have to wait it out.
Delete