This was an interesting story, but not a great romance book. I would actually put this more into Women’s fiction because the storyline was good. I enjoyed getting to know Layla who is recovering from her divorce, and only uses her music as a teacher. Throughout the book she manages to get back into playing music the way she loved. Josh is a single dad with a young daughter and throughout the book you see both these injured hearts connect, first as friends, and then finally as a couple. There was a lot of going back and forth in history of each person, and sometimes that was distracting for me. Overall a nice read.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

Here's why:
- the writing felt stiff
- the chemistry between Layla and Josh was practically nonexistent. I could not root for them as a couple because I didn't believe in their love story
- the flashbacks + switching POVs actually took me OUT of the story more than I expected and I couldn't find myself caring about either of the MCs.

Based on the subject matter (finding love after divorce), I think there is a specific targeted audience for this book. That audience was just not me.

A realistic piece of women’s fiction that explores what went wrong in a marriage and what it looks like to find oneself at any age. Completely different than I expected, this is a book about self discovery and moving forward, and less about romance and finding love. An honest portrayal of two broken relationships and the hope in the after.

Layla and Josh have both ended their marriages and end up meeting each other when Josh drops off his daughter at school. The two embark on a friendship that slowly turns into something more. They learn to navigate a new relationship after divorce and the awkwardness that comes with it.

I had really high hopes for this one, mainly because I love the author so much, but the story flatlined for me. Although I understood the flashbacks, they actually made me dislike the characters more. I think I needed more emotional openness or vulnerability from Josh and Layla. Even though we read about their dating, I felt no chemistry. I kept wondering when the story would pick up steam, but it just never happened. While I did love reading about their developing relationship, this one just didn’t do it for me.

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺.

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this fall and it was everything I was hoping for. A beautiful story about second chances full of warmth, hope and love that captured my heart completely! And there was an adorable senior dog!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and SMP Romance for this gifted copy.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘓𝘪𝘵, 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Heard it in a Love Song is a cute read about what can happen if you just open your heart to finding love. I enjoyed the way the author presented this story and I thought the flashbacks added to the plot. Sometimes I think flashbacks take away when there are too many but this gave us good context! The second chances here made my hopeful and loved this feel good book!

4.5 Stars!

It was a little bit of a slow start for me. The chapters switch between Layla and Josh, and then within those chapters, they each reflect back on their time with their ex. At first I found all the flashbacks distracting because I was invested with Layla and Josh and where their story was going and felt the flashbacks were delaying me from continuing with their story. Additionally I had to make a conscious effort to remember during the flashbacks that they were referring to their exes and switch my focus away from Layla and Josh. Once my mind got used to the flow I became very involved with the story and finished it quickly. I think the flashbacks were important and did help me to understand the sacrifices Layla and Josh made in their past relationships and how they've worked to reclaim parts of their lives they lost.

Overall I think it’s a great story and I think once you get used to the flow of the story, it works well.

Layla and Josh are two people recovering from the loss of their marriages. Layla might have become a famous singer, but instead is dealing with walking away from an abusive relationship. Josh is there too, trying to put the pieces of what is left of his life back together after twenty years with a spouse.

They meet at school where Josh's child is going to school where Layla teaches. Both characters are dealing with the aftermath of unsatisfying relationships and it's easy to understand why they aren't eager to jump right back in with both feet. They have scars.

There are many emotions to unpack and examine in this story, which is why I really liked it. It did not trivialize what it takes to move past a life altering event like divorce and its aftermath. This is a romance that builds slowly through these emotions and then past them to what could be as Josh and Layla's friendship grows into something more.

Their story is told through flashbacks which sometimes worked well for me and other times made the story drag a bit. Overall, the backstory was an added component to the story that I found good to know.

I liked this love story. It was full of emotions across a wide spectrum which is exactly the type of romance I like. Even better, I adore when a love relationship starts out with a solid friendship. Overall, there was a lot to like in Heard It in a Love Song.

(Great cover too!)

Layla Hilding is trying to move forward after her divorce from Liam. She thinks back on her glory days as a singer in a rock band and yearns to be back performing in front of an audience. She is now an elementary school music teacher. Josh Summers is waiting for his divorce from Kimberly to be finalized and is also trying to look ahead. He is father to Sasha, who is a kindergartener in Layla’s school. Layla and Josh, both in their 30s, meet at the school and slowly form a friendship. They are not ready to enter into new relationships but both are hopeful they will get a second chance at love and happiness.

Through flashbacks, their backstories are told and how their once loving relationships with their spouses failed. Author Tracey Garvis Graves presents the stories of two deteriorating marriages and the tough road to taking a chance again on love. It’s a moving story that shows the pain these likeable characters have gone through. The story is at its best when it focuses on Layla’s love of music. Her passion for performing felt very real and the original music was a nice element as well as the references to popular bands and musicians.

Ten years ago, Layla was on the brink of a big break with her singing career when she learned how precarious her and her husband’s financial situation was, so she took a job as an elementary school music teacher. Now, finally divorced from her mercurial, self-absorbed, spendthrift spouse, she returns to music, if only as a way to keep loneliness at bay.

Single dad Josh is the talk of the carpool line, but after being with one woman since high school, and with a vulnerable kindergartner, Josh is hesitant to start dating. But when his daughter asks her music teacher to dogsit, Josh finds himself spending more time with Layla. They agree to be friends—not friends with benefits, but friends with potential.

This is an engaging romance, told from both protagonists’ points of view, with flashbacks to explain their back stories. It’s good, and heartwarming and funny, but it has the disadvantage of following THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW, which was so gorgeous and transcendent and luminous. It’s not fair to compare the two works, but I had impossible expectations. TGHUTK ruined me, I guess. #HeardItInALoveSong #NetGalley

I really wanted to love this story, and I did for the first 25% or so and then the energy just died out for me. I liked the characters a lot, but I just lost steam. I would definitely pick it up again in the future to try when I'm in a different headspace.

I usually enjoy whatever Tracey Garvis Graves writes, but sadly, Heard It In a Love Song is not one of my favorites. I found the book to be slow moving and not really a romance in general. And I didn't feel a connection with the characters at all.


Thanks to SMP and NetGalley for receiving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heard It in a Love Song follows recently divorced Layla and newly separated Josh, both trying to navigate their new lives. With heartache, loss, and bad advice from well-meaning friends and family all they both really want is a companion. Someone who understands the ups and downs of their current situations.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. It's a slow-paced story that really didn't feel like the romance genre to me. Yes, it meets the technical definition, but it was more about finding what you want in life and making space for yourself. I was at the 40% mark before I really became invested and wanted to know what was going to happen. There are a lot of flashbacks with important information, but they are midchapter and felt a little out of place. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this book, it has all the right elements, is well-written, and has great characters that are likable. It just wasn't for me, but don't take my word for it, there are tons of great reviews, read those, then decide.

Heard It In Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves is about two recently divorced characters, Layla and Josh, and their journey to find love again.

This was a slow-paced, steady story about finding love and second chances. I loved that the characters were so vulnerable and warm, which made it easy to root for them and their happy ending. I also really enjoyed all the musical aspects that were woven into the story. While this one didn’t sweep me away, it was still a beautiful story about personal growth. I’d recommend this one if you enjoy a slow-burning romance that is character driven.

A huge thank you to @smpromance @stmartinspress for the #gifted copy.

I LOVE Tracey Garvis-Graves' books and this one was reminiscent of her book Covet...which was one of my all time favorite stories.

This book follows Layla and Josh. Both characters are going through divorce and having different experiences. Garvis-Graves always tends to build characters that feel very real to me and I appreciate her ability to do that. As both Layla and Josh start to rebuild their lives into what they want / think they want, they meet and things start to click.

I loved not only do we get to see how their relationship developed, we also get to see how they figure who they are now without their exes. Regarding the relationship, they built a friendship and went through that phase of trying to figure out what's weird and what isn't. The fact that Josh has a daughter and Layla teaches at her school (so there's definitely risk to running into Josh's ex) created some challenges. Getting the chapters from both perspectives shared what they were thinking, not only about each other but also just in general about their "new" lives.

If you haven't added this book to your TBR yet, I highly recommend you do so. I didn't want to put this down until I finished and if you appreciate a story that feel real and characters that help to drive the story along, I think you'll find yourself in the same boat.

And here is to Heard it in a Love Song. This is an absolutely fabulous love story about Layla and Josh - two newly single adults, trying to put their past behind them and move forward. The chapters alternate between them but they also include stories from their past to give the reader background as to their emotions, stresses and concerns. The character development is deep. Very deep. This book will make you feel like you truly know these people, as if you are in the room with them, with all of their flaws and vulnerabilities. It isn’t flashy or fast paced but a slow burn that simmers and gives you time to digest. I loved it.

The Girl He Used to Know is one of my favorite books ever. I was so excited to read the next book out by @traceygarvisgraves, Heard It In a Love Song!

I really enjoyed this character driven novel. Layla and Josh are both recovering from their former marriages when they meet each other. Layla was in a rock and roll band when she met Liam, a well to do salesman with big dreams and a love of status symbols. Josh and his ex wife were high school sweethearts who met when they were very young and just grew apart despite their young daughter. They co-parent their little girl very well and they try their best to keep it normal for her.

I loved this slow burn second chance romance. Layla and Josh both take their new friendship and then romance slowly which was so fun to watch. I loved Layla’s love of music and the music mentioned is all awesome. (Has anyone made the songs of this book into a playlist yet!?)

The Girl He Used to Know is definitely still my favorite of Tracey’s books, but this was a very solid novel. My one minor complaint is that a lot of the text was written in italics - does this bother anyone else? I did read the book on a @netgalley copy, so I don’t know if this was throughout the physical book too. I didn’t need the italics to understand that it was a flashback.

Thank you so @stmartinspress, @netgalley, and the author for my ARC copy. Heard It In a Love Song is on sale tomorrow, 11/9!

This was my first story by Tracey Garvis Graves. I've had others on my TBR list for a very long time and I am definitely moving those stories up. This is definitely not your traditional romance although it most definitely is a love story. Both Layla and Josh are navigating new to them waters after both experiencing the loss of their respective marriages, for very different reasons. The story takes us from present to past to present again seamlessly in order to give us glimpses into both the characters and their pasts. When everything finally clicks for each of them separately and together, you end up with a wonderful, slow burn, well rounded story. I loved the easy flow of the writing and look forward to reading more from this author.

Tracey Garvis Graves was a new-to-me author with The Girl He Used to Know, and I loved that story. With a unique voice and heroine, it made me want to read more of her works. And I’m so glad I took the time to read this book. It’s a friends-to-lovers story but one full of significant growth for our heroine, Layla. Our hero, Josh, does a lot of personal reflection and growth, but this book is more about Layla’s metamorphosis into a better version of her younger self. It’s a story of the road to learning to love yourself again, trust yourself again, and trust others with you and your heart once more. While definitely a romance, it leans a bit more to the women’s fiction genre, so if you’re not a huge romance fan but love chick lit, I’d highly recommend giving this story a shot at trying to impress you. Told in a nonlinear timeline and dual points of view, the storyline was engaging and written in such a way that grew my curiosity more and more as I journeyed through the pages. When life interrupted my reading, I was more than frustrated to have to put my enjoyment on pause to do necessary adulting.

Heard it in a love song is very unlike to what I am used to read. I do read romance, especially contemporary, but not usually stories including characters who are divorced, so, it was different. That does not mean by any chance that I enjoyed it or liked it less. In fact, it was refreshing and interesting to read about such a topic.
The characters were carefully created and they were deep and complex. I liked both Layla ad Josh, and Sasha and Norton too. The rhythm was good and it was a fast-paced story that with such a rich and compelling writing makes you read and read for hours.
Even though I am not a music expert, I appreciated reading about the music part. At first I thought the story might be similar to others about music that I have read but I could not be more wrong, because Layla sees music in a unique way and it was nice to read about her POV, and also Josh’s, of course.
Overall, it was a lovely story, full of hope about love and especially about life itself. I truly enjoyed reading it and I absolutely recommend it.

An interesting story. At times the story was slow paced but overall I enjoyed reading this book. The romance was good but not over the top. The two main characters were great together, and I enjoyed their relationship. Overall it was a sweet second chance romance. Thank to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.