I read my first book by Minnie Darke last year, Star-Crossed, and thought it was delightful. So I was eager to read her newest. This book just blew me away, in the best way!
Warning: be prepared with lots of tissues at your side when reading this.
Diana Clare is an accomplished and talented pianist, just beginning a world tour.
Her love of seven years, Arie Johnson, awaits her return home to Australia. Before she left, he asked her to marry him. Diana has been reluctant, she knows they will be together forever anyway.
During her travels she composes a song for Arie, a way she knows best to express her love for him.
Late one evening she practices it on the hotel piano. It is overheard and the songs voyage is launched, moving through the world.
Evie Greenless left Australia years ago with hopes of becoming a poet. But she has been wandering aimlessly away from her dreams. While in Scotland, she hears a song. A love song that will lead her heart to its destiny.
This was an exquisitely written, poignant and emotional story, about many types of love and the power of music.
There was a wide range of captivating characters in it.
From the wondrous beginning to the spectacular end, I loved everything about this story.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

The Lost Love Song was a unique and compelling read about love and music. When I read the premise for this book, I knew I had to read it. Songs travel in our hearts and often, a song will come on that takes me to an exact moment in time. It will trigger the emotions that I was feeling and can literally sweep me off my feet.

In this story, a woman has trouble expressing herself and uses music to share her feelings. She answers a proposal through music; however, the attended recipient never knows it’s for him. In true narrative form, the written score is found over and over again, each time taking on a new tone, varied lyrics and affects different characters.

This book is chock full of love, loss, disappointment, romance, new starts, family relationships and the power of music. It’s a great escape and a light, easy read. Highly recommend for fans of romance and women’s fiction.

The Lost Love Song is a story about a love song that connects several people across the world. Diana is the original writer of the love song. A gifted pianist, she writes the song for her lover Arie as a way to express her love in a way her words cannot. But before she has a chance to play it for him, Diana tragically dies in a plane crash. But miraculously, Diana’s notebook containing the song is discovered and makes its way around the world. In Scotland, Evie hears the song played by two lovesick teenagers. Realizing that she wants to find that kind of love, she heads home to Australia in search of more permanent life. In Melbourne she meets a heartbroken Arie, bringing the song with her.

I have nothing but good things to say about this book. I loved the structure. It was set up in sections that mainly followed Arie, Diana, and Evie, as well as an Interlude section that introduced other characters who were influenced by the song, all over the world. Some of my favorite story arcs were in the interlude sections.

Overall the story had a very cozy, we are all connected, sort of feel. It would be perfect for fans of the show This Is Us.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

DNF. What a lovely premise that a love song connects people. I couldn't connect with the characters at the beginning of the novel so I put it down a quarter way through. Perhaps I can return to this one another time to give it another try.

Following the release of her debut, STAR-CROSSED, Minnie Darke returns with THE LOST LOVE SONG, a tender and harmonious tribute to the powers of love and music.

Every great romance kicks off with a meet-cute, and this book is no different. When famous concert pianist Diana steps into Arie’s office in the IT department, he is sure that she is there to complain about Wi-Fi or missing emails. When she asks him to lunch instead, it is love at first sight, and the two are not without one another ever again, despite well-meaning jabs from Arie’s friends about “punching above his weight” or thinly veiled criticisms from Diana’s mother. For seven years, they maintain a great love that runs parallel to Diana’s passion for the piano, with Arie never once becoming jealous of her success and Diana never forgetting Arie for the glow of the stage.

However, on the night before she is set to leave for a tour in Singapore, the two argue about Diana’s hesitancy to get married, despite their buying a house and being engaged for years. Unable to explain away her fear or put into words how deeply she cares for Arie, she writes the most beautiful love song that her skilled and careful hands know how to play. But technical issues turn her plane ride home into an unspeakable tragedy, and she never makes it back from her tour. And Arie never hears his love song.

Fortunately, Diana’s song did not go down with her. When she was still in Singapore, she finished the tune on her hotel’s piano, catching the ear of a visiting businessman who became entranced with the melody. Exhausted and drained, Diana left her manuscript book at the hotel, where the man pocketed it in hopes of returning it to its owner one day. Unaware of Diana’s fate, he returns to Scotland, where the real magic of THE LAST LOVE SONG begins.

In Scotland, we meet Evie, a struggling young poet who has lived as a bit of a nomad for the last few years, having departed her beloved Australia for adventure. Trapped in a loveless maybe-relationship, Evie slogs away at bars and cafés, visiting poetry libraries and bookstores, and hoping for inspiration. With nothing to call her own, she decides it is time to go back to Australia to find love, home and a sense of belonging. One night she hears a beautiful song played by a young flautist and her boyfriend, a couple so hopelessly, undeniably in love that it gives Evie just the push she needs.

Back in Australia, Arie is continuing to live with his grief. Little does he know that a part of Diana has lived on and traveled the world --- fascinating some, uniting others and motivating the rest to do more. Weaving together seemingly disparate characters, storylines and settings, Darke pens a harmonious and moving love story full of second chances, loss and the courage to move on.

With its compelling combination of magic and love, THE LOST LOVE SONG reads like a holiday romance in all the best ways. Darke is a clever constructor of novels; she excels at dropping in little side plots and subtly tying them into the larger narrative. Though it is Diana’s love song that brings the characters together, it is the author who skillfully highlights how one piece of art can influence so many people in surprising ways. I loved watching the path that Diana’s song followed, jumping from ear to ear and making every character stop and listen. Equally powerful was the effect that the song had on each person who heard it, and how it seemed to respond to what he or she needed --- be it love, bravery or inspiration.

It should come as no surprise that you’ll have to suspend your disbelief a bit to follow along as the love song travels the world. Some scenes are overwritten and contrived, which does a disservice to the magic that the book produces. The writing of the final third especially could have been tightened to let Darke and Diana’s creation fully shine. That said, THE LOST LOVE SONG remains a wholly satisfying, truly magical novel as smartly written as it is romantic and tender, and perfect for fans of Love Actually and ME BEFORE YOU.

I received this book "The Lost Love Song" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. Love, Loss, Sadness. I thought this was a good story but so so sad! A very emotional book but in a good way. I enjoyed reading this one.

This is a beautiful story of a love song and how it connects people. Bittersweet at times, it is a story that will touch you and stay with you.
Many thanks to Ballantine Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hi! I reviewed this book on Thrive Global
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/escape-into-fiction-this-fall/

And my friend, Danielle Wood’s new book!
The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke
Last year my friend, Danielle Wood, published her book, Star Crossed, as Minnie Darke and I wrote about it in my article for Ms. Magazine, Feminist Fiction Books to Curl Up With for the Holidays.

This year, she published The Lost Love Song. In this book, the unbelievable happens in Arie Johnson’s twenty-six year old life when Diana Clare, piano prodigy, asks to have lunch with him. He explains that “if this wasn’t a prank, there was only one other explanation: he was experiencing a real, live, actual miracle.”

After great happiness comes terrible loss and the unimaginable when you must wonder, “If she knew the plane that held her aloft was going to fall out of the sky, would she turn to the person next to her and say something profound?“

Across the seas and styles of music, a song is lost and then found which brings a series of people to bump into each other’s lives. I knew that an ending was being artfully woven and enjoyed as the strings pulled together into a beautiful composition.

As one point Evie wonders: “What was it that made some people fit for a love like that, and left other people wanting? Was love like a radio signal, and you just had to be lucky enough to be born with your heart’s dials tuned to the right frequency? Or was it something that could only happen to you when you were young and fearless? And, if so, had [she] already grown too old and too scared? Had she already missed her chance? Or was there still time?“

I hope that there is still time for all of us to find love, leadership and a way out of this pandemic to happiness and full hearts. Happy Reading!

What a beautifully, bittersweet written story using music to bring people together. One of the things I love about this book are the characters. They are not perfect. They are relatable and likable. You can’t help but cheer them on as you read.

I loved the description for the book and had high hopes. The idea of a love song traveling around the world finding it's way to different couples just brings out the romantic in me. There's love and loss throughout the book. Which means there were tears for me over the beautiful story, friendships, and events. I don't want to say too much to ruin the plot, but just know this is a sweet book that everyone should read.

This was such a moving story. Minnie Darke wrote this beautifully. I was crying and smiling while reading this book. I definitely recommend it for those looking for a more emotional story.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early. I have never read anything by this author so i was excited when I was granted access. I am in love with this story & have already recommended it to a bunch of people. Check this one out :)

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review. The Lost Love Song felt like it should be a Nicholas Sparks novel or movie. It had all the same feels: a couple in love, a tragic loss and a song that somehow binds many lives together. It is a tear jerker for sure, but really a lovely story.

Do you remember the lyrics for the Bobby Vee song “Rubber Ball”? Yes, no, anyway, the basic refrain is “Rubber ball, I come bouncin’ back to you.” While the lost song in Minnie Darke’s book is so much more magical and mystical than a simple rubber ball, I just couldn’t get that refrain out of my head. Each chapter was; Oh, this is where the ball has bounced, song has flown, love has landed - pick your own metaphor, write your own analogy, so many fit.

A lesson in love, love lost, love mourned, life missed amidst a “plagal cadence” – all wrapped in a music lesson, ending with a divine “A-men.” Sound oblique? Maybe a little for just a few pages but it helps the story ever so much. It defines the song and its many transformations which never render it unmistakable to those who have heard it and fell in love beside it. It is an anthem for all those who believe they are going to “meet somebody. Somebody nice. Somebody really nice. And they are going to want me. Really, properly want me, not just kind of. And it’s going to be as simple as that.”

A lovely story of how a song infects your heart with love and once heard can never be forgotten. Thank you NetGalley and Random House /Ballantine Books for a copy.

This book is a beautiful story about how 2 people are pulled together by one song, and the love that comes from it.
Diana is a concert pianist. Her and her long time fiancé are about to start actually planning their wedding, and she creates this beautiful piece of music in his honor to tell him. She is tragically taken from her lover, Arie.
After some time, he is pulled to a woman named Evie, who lives in Scotland through the long lost song that Diana wrote for Arie. They form a relationship over the song, and things go from there.
This story was beautiful, but full of grief and loss, so please be careful if this can be triggering for you. I cried, and loved this story of finding love again, and moving forward in life.

Arie’s fiancé Diana (a renowned concert pianist) is finally ready for the next step. After all, she LOVESArie, she just has some commitment issues. While away on a tour, she writes the perfect love song to tell him how she feels and to show him in HER way how much she loves him. And then….everything goes wrong. And Arie’s world ends. He continues on in this new colorless, musicless world in Australia.
Just before she left on the trip, Diana began composing the song…so there is a hint of a memory of it in Arie’s head, but grief takes over. And while Diana was on the tour, she was composing the song…and others heard it. And slowly but surely…this love song lives on.
Meanwhile…we have Evie. She seems to be a nomad just trying to figure out where and who she wants to be. After nomading (is that a word?) through Europe, she decides to head back to her native Australia. Along the way, she hears a song. She hears THE song.
And then...the world has music again...and it's THE SONG.
This is a beautiful book about the magic of music connecting, reaching, and healing.

Minnie Darke’s new novel The Lost Love Song is one of the most unique love stories I’ve read in a long time. Rather than a character, the star of this story is actually a love song and the powerful yet subtle way it serves as a catalyst to bring people together all around the world. The unnamed love song was composed in a hotel in Singapore by a piano prodigy named Diana Clare, who wrote it for her fiancé, Arie Johnson. Diana desperately wanted Arie to feel all the love for him that she had in her heart, and while she was never very good with words, her exquisite music has always perfectly conveyed what she’s feeling.

When Diana returns home from her concert tour, she plans to share her song with Arie and tell him that she’s finally ready to get married. When she checks out of her hotel, however, she accidentally leaves the notebook behind. When tragedy strikes soon after, it appears that the beautiful song is lost. Or is it? When the notebook finds its way into the hands of another musician, he falls in love with the song as soon as he plays it and thus begins the song’s journey as it captivates everyone who hears it.

We get to see the song work its magic on several couples throughout the story and I really loved how the song felt like it was actually a character in the story with the way it spoke to people and brought them together. That was probably my favorite thing about the story honestly. I was also quite captivated by Arie and Diana’s story, which is both romantic and tragic, and by Arie’s connection to a young woman named Evie who is staying in the apartment next to his. This was a double-edged sword for me though because although I loved that I was so drawn to these three characters, I didn’t find any other characters nearly as compelling. This made for a slightly uneven read as I found myself skimming through their parts so that I could get back to Arie, Diana, and Evie where I would then devour their chapters.

Even with that issue though, I still really enjoyed The Lost Love Song overall. It’s a beautiful story that is full of grief and heartache, but also with love, hope, and second chances. If you’re a romantic at heart, I think you’ll love this one.

The Lost Love Song is a beautiful novel about love, loss, grief, and the human condition. Minnie Darke writes so wonderfully and her descriptions of relationships are impeccable! This book is incredibly sad, bittersweet, and a triumph in this genre. Sometimes you need a book like this to put things into perspective for you. I found this to be a welcome distraction from the world at hand, which gave me a few days to feel intense emotions as prompted by the story.

The power of music is explored in great detail throughout the narrative and I felt it so deeply here! This is a perfect recommendation for a book club, an independent reader who enjoys romance/women's literature, etc, or anyone wanting to explore the complexity of music and human relationships.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You know when you read a book and think, this would make a great movie! Yeah, that was my thought when I finished The Lost Love Song. The book is exactly that. It’s about a lost love song and how it touches different lives in different ways, but eventually goes back home. The main character is Arie, the one that the love song was written for. He is a bit of a nerd, but a loveable character at the same time. He started an IT company with his best friend and lives with his love Diana. Diana is a famous pianist from Australia that often travels the world playing with famous musicians. She writes a love song, but tragedy strikes...
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I don’t want to say much more about the book, because I don’t want to unwillingly spoil it for you. This is one of those books you can’t wait to get back to, often ignoring responsibilities and children. It made me cry at the beginning and the end. I need someone to make a movie similar to Love Actually with this book because that’s what would make this dumpster of a year a little more bearable. Please.

Bittersweet is one of the best words for this book- it holds such immense heartbreak in it, but then also so much joy and love that comes out of a simple chain of events. I was intrigued with each new character introduced because it soon became clear that while they may seem to be unrelated to the story, each one played a role in events that would ultimately bring a joyous, satisfying ending. This was kind of quirky and with it's through line of the impact of a piece of music, one I'd love to hand to music lovers of all kinds.