Book Smart Kate

August Lane by Regina Black: Thank you @hachetteaudio and @grandcentralpub for the #gifted digital and audio copies! #hachetteaudioinfluencer

Luke Randall hates the song that made him famous. Now that he’s “used to be famous,” he hates it even more as it is the only song anyone wants him to play – because it always reminds him of her. Then he gets the opportunity of a lifetime – to open for country music legend JoJo Lane at her Country Music Hall of Fame induction concert being held in JoJo’s hometown of Arcadia, Arkansas. Luke never wanted to go back to Arcadia as his traumatic youth was filled with abuse at the hands of his addict mother. He’s also not sure he can face August Lane, his first love and JoJo’s daughter. August hates Luke, the song that made him famous, and for leaving her behind in Arcadia, where she’s barely scraping by while still dreaming of a music career. But Luke and August are going to have to face the music literally and figuratively – and if they can forgive the past, they might both find a way to a better future.

There is so much to love about this story. The brutal honesty about struggling small towns and the people trying to make ends meet in them, racism, addiction, child abuse, child neglect, and the predatory nature of the music industry are all themes that shaped Luke and August’s experiences. Because of this, both as teens and again as adults, they are riddled with emotional trauma and complex feelings around love. Black beautifully navigates these two tender people who deserve so much more than they were given in life. The core of the story is the romance between August and Luke, but I was equally intrigued by the ways other characters influenced their experiences – some in positive, understated, and transformative ways, others in deeply diabolical ways that I wish the characters were held more to account for. I did feel like the book wrapped up a little more quickly than I would have liked and I wish it closed out with more time through Luke or August’s POV.

🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: Narrated by Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon, the cast does an exceptional job with the leading narrative voices in the story. I thought they all brought a ton of emotion and depth to the story, especially the interview sections with JoJo.

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

🎧 Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🔥 Spice: 🌶️🌶️