A romance that heals two hearts... The Songs that Brought Me Back by Mylissa Demeyere (Review)

The Songs that Brought Me Back
(The Songs Series #2)
By Mylissa Demeyere
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 291 Pages
December 4th 2018

Summary

Have you ever made a mistake? One so monumental you lost everything? I did, and I hate myself for it! All I want to do is close my eyes, and let the darkness consume me. Make it all go away. The end.

Ainsley is drowning in the depth of her despair. One wrong decision left her alone, with only regret as her constant companion. To escape it all, she makes another choice. One she hopes will end everything. Instead, she’s thrown into a whole new world filled with opportunities she doesn’t believe she deserves.

Ethan gives the appearance of breezing through life. But underneath his bright facade, he’s scarred by loss. When fate leads him into Ainsley’s world at the exact moment she needs someone the most, he can’t ignore the chance to right the wrongs of his past.

Ainsley and Ethan will struggle to help each other heal and start anew.

They’ll learn that the secret to conquering their pain lies within their power, if only they can do it together.

Always together.

Sometimes the ending is really the beginning.

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My Review

THE SONGS THAT BROUGHT ME BACK is a steamy, but sweet romance with lots of heart. It focuses on two characters who are both broken and who find healing in each other. Romance lovers who like their stories on the sweeter side with still plenty of heat may enjoy this one.

I heard good things about the first book in this series and from this author and so decided I'd take a chance on this second book. The beginning definitely grabbed my attention and I knew there were lots of things to know about these characters. It was interesting to see the history between these two unfold and get to understand why they feel as they do and why they hurt so much. I enjoyed getting to know them better and enjoyed the banter.  The romance was pretty steamy, with constant references to the characters' bodies and attraction, but without that going a step further. I overall liked these characters and especially loved Ethan's parents and when they visited his home. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the book.

After reading this, I think maybe it wasn't quite the right story for me. There were several things that started to bug me as I read... There were words that threw me out of the story (like who says "ministrations" when referencing how someone reacts to you when dancing, or uses technical terms for jet lag?). I just couldn't picture these characters using those words. The romance, innuendo, and references to attraction were constant throughout the whole story, and I find my preference to be more of a build up or to not have the characters consistently pointing out how they react to each other, especially under the circumstances. It just felt overdone. The characters also felt young to me for how old they were and for what their careers were. Ainsley's belief that she was a terrible person also never quite rung true for me. Maybe if there would have been more backstory and more genuine emotions, but I just couldn't see it from one mistake. If anything, I felt like she should have felt pain from what happened, but not blame for it. I also kept waiting for there to be a musical or song aspect weaved into this story due to the title... there wasn't. The only thing related to music was that at the beginning of each chapter there was a song listed and then at the end, there's an entire playlist (a compilation of the songs from each chapter). I think I was just looking for something different.

In the end, was it what I wished for? This wasn't my cup of tea, but those who enjoy general romance and are looking for a story that is strong on the romance/slightly steamy side, then you may enjoy this.

Content: Lots of innuendo, but otherwise clean.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the tour host/NetGalley, which did not require a positive review nor affect it in any way.

Have you read this or the first book in the series? You can check out a note from the author and tour giveaway here.

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