Six Ways to Write a Love Letter is a cute beach read that will elicit giggles from anybody even half familiar with Taylor Swift and the reputation given to her by the media, but can still be enjoyed by anybody who likes pop music and celebrity gossip. Remy and Vivi’s fade to black romance is candy sweet, even if it lacks any substance to it. When Six Ways does approach any topic that might have any kind of real world impact, it quickly shies away- making it an easy book but not one you’ll like if you want your book to say something.

This story follows Remember “Remy” Young, an LA-based drum of a one-hot wonder indie band that does session drumming for survival money. He’s offered the spot playing for Vivi Swan- American Sweetheart, country-pop princess superstar- on the North American leg of her world tour. While he initially sees her as fake and more a product than a person, that all changes when the two spend a night together on a tour bus and really meet. The two quickly strike up a behind the scenes romance as they create a song together but two things stand in their way- Vivi’s fame and Remy’s trauma.

These two obstacles are what Six Ways to Write a Love Letter revolve around. Of course there’s Vivi’s fame, which I’ll discuss next, but also so much of their relationship is formed and affected by Remy’s past. As the middle child of an extremely religious Southern Baptist family, Remy grew up only knowing the church. Homeschooled and isolated, his one chance at outside connectivity is music lessons where he falls in love with creating songs (the drums just happen to be how he does it). However, he’s torn between his loyalty to his older brother Valor/“Val” and his worry for his younger sister Mercy, who is sick with some unnamed illness. I tend to not care for books with major religious trauma themes- especially Southern Baptist- but Six Ways really had me wishing Jackson Pearce would have dived deeper into how Remy’s childhood set him up to be the man he is. Much of his struggle to really connect to Vivi and trust her stems from the fact that Remy thinks loving somebody/thing new will hurt the ones he already loves. In this case, adult Remy is scared to love Vivi and even producing to a degree because he thinks doing so will cause Val to relapse, like how his growing interest in music “caused” his sister Mercy to grow sicker as a kid. This shying away from his trauma caused Remy to really fall flat for me. Without this core motivator, I struggled to figure out why he would do so many things beyond what was convenient for plot reasons.

As for Vivi, her character wasn’t exactly stellar development either. Part of why I wanted to read this book was because I’m a big Taylor Swift fan and her description in the blurb sounded like Taylor. However, there is a line between inspired by a real life person and just blatantly copying their persona. I started listing all the connections between Vivi and Taylor, when really a list of how they’re different would have been shorter. For just a few telling characterizations:
- Vivi is said to have a perfume line and deal with Diet Coke. I even vaguely remember a shoe line comment that harks back to Taylor’s Keds collar.
- A big scene in her previous concert was Vivi interrupting a wedding and running off with the groom; could Speak Now vibes be more obvious?
- She loves her family but isn’t close to them because she got famous at 15. She especially misses her younger brother who is a bit younger and studying drama to be an actor (Austin Swift has entered the chat).
- All the reoccurring media speculation and comments about her relationships and Vivi’s worry about how they appear in turn. Vivi LITERALLY even has an ex-boyfriend named (Joe) Jonas in the book. Then, the start of Six Ways sees her dating Noel Reid, a Harry Styles/Calvin Harris like fellow musician she doesn’t really love but looks good next to her.
Of course, I could probably ignore these if the big fourth act reunion wasn’t at a Grammys Museum Performance that rips off the one Taylor Swift did in 2015, down to the exact outfit Vivi wears.

Six Ways is a character-driven plot and yet both mains leave something to be desired when it comes to development. The rest of the book’s issues, from the lackluster supporting cast to undefined world, pale in comparison to the character development that need- well- developing. Much of the promotion material I saw focused on how love and fame intersect and all that comes with it, but Six Ways doesn’t go hard into answering this question. The most definite thing this book had to say was that Remy and Vivi wrote a song that changed along the way. I don’t regret requesting or reading Six Ways, but I do find it to be a major let down across the board.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 0/🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

**I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

2 stars

So when i pick this one up I wasn't aware this was heavily inspired by Taylor Swift and I mean this is her story with another name so, I was a little disappointed that this wasn't dual pov. We get the story through Remy and to be honest I'm not a TS fan (not my type of music) but a lot of very close friends of mine are and so I know her story and the struggles she has gone through so for Vivi here not to have A voice in her own story was not great and it's not me hating Remy because he was okay but I wanted/needed more.
I also struggle with the writing style, it feel too YA for me and there were certain Tropes that I didn't like here like the miscommunication and the cheating so that didn't help either.
I know some people will like this for sure but it wasn't really for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of "Six Ways to Write a Love Letter" by Jackson Pearce. This book is being released today - July 5th, 2022!

Overall, I rated this book a 3 out of 5 stars. While the storyline and the plot made sense and was easy to read, it just felt a little...dry?... to me. It was the type of novel that I would read once but probably not pick up again for a reread. I didn't want to DNF it, though - so that in itself was a plus. Also, I was extremely turned off by the fact that Val & Remy's parents were religious cult type nuts - it didn't vibe well with me. But I did however enjoy the relationship between Remy and Vivi, as well as the relationship that Remy had with his brother Val. The "Celeste twist" was something that was totally predictable for me as well.

First, can I just say this cover grabbed my attention?! Then the book blurb on the back? Heck, yes, I’m in! Who’s this girl, and why does she demand my attention?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Stars

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol and Drug Use and Recovery, Religion

Initially, the flashbacks of Remy Young’s life growing up in Florida with extremely religious parents when he and his brother were younger felt like a heavy, wet blanket. Eventually, they helped bring the story together, developing the characters, solidifying their brotherly bond, and how Remy and his brother ended up in LA.

Remy was probably the most realistic character I’ve read in a long time. A man of few words, he was dedicated and loyal to his brother and his music - he wore the world on his back and didn’t want to disappoint anyone. All that seemed to shift, in the best way, when he met the infamous pop icon, Vivi Swan.

I loved Remy and Vivi’s dynamic from the start - the bus mixup - and how it developed from there, even though Vivi had a boyfriend. I found myself rooting for them despite the seemingly realistic woes of Vivi’s superstardom. 🥰

While reading, Vivi Swan seemed loosely based on Taylor Swift. Maybe I’m wrong, and it’s an amalgamation of many other pop stars to make up Vivi, but I loved her character and her constant struggle with who she could and couldn’t trust. I imagine it’s difficult as a celebrity to always “be on” in case someone happens to see you, and how difficult it must be to drop those defenses. I felt like Jackson Pearce captured that aspect perfectly. 💕

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a good forced proximity meet-cute, love triangles, and closed-door romances!

A huge thank you shoutout to @netgalley @sourcebookscasa and @jacksonpearce for an advance reader copy of Six Ways to Write a Love Letter in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my goodness - I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I was going to! This lovely romance is beautifully written with flashbacks that share insight into the characters' backstories. The drama and undeniable connection between the main characters as their relationship evolves are almost more rewarding than the romance in the end. I read this book in one day, and part of what made it so addicting was the setting of the music tour. I highly recommend reading it while listening to a good pop soundtrack.

3.5 Stars. This celebrity romance follows session drummer Remy as he is asked to join internationally famous pop star Vivi on the North American leg of her tour. A mixup with the tour busses finds Vivi and Remy sharing part of a journey between cities together and Vivi discovering Remy’s talent for music production. The pair begin working on a song together which leads to romance despite Vivi having a celebrity boyfriend. To make things more complicated Remy is also navigating how his new role will effect his brother and bandmate, Val, and Val’s celebrity blogger girlfriend.

This book is straight up Taylor Swift fan fiction and I’m not mad about it, but literally it’s like an AO3 story about Taylor was written and then the author did a find and replace to switch the name to Vivi Swan. As a fan of Taylor I enjoyed the not so subtle references to Taylor’s life and music, but I can see a lot of it going over people’s heads. That being said, it was not the most flattering depiction of Vivi/Taylor. Her character comes across as fake and paranoid, man eater. There are reasons for those depictions, but it felt tired and misogynistic at times.

The book is entirely from Remy’s POV which was an interesting choice. I didn’t mind it, but I think some of my issues with Vivi’s character would have been resolved if I had her voice and her POV. The book was fade to black and I wish there was more depictions of Remy and Vivi’s chemistry on page. I also struggled a little with the ending of the book. There was grand gestures on both their parts but we never actually got a conversation or anything resolving their issues. While we do know they get their HEA from the gossip headlines that served as the epilogue, I just wanted more resolution. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it was far from perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and SourceBooksFire for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
TW: religious trauma, cheating, misogyny, mentions of EDs, drug abuse

Remember “Remy” Young is hired to replace a drummer on the Vivi Swan Sweethearts Tour after said drummer breaks his arm skateboarding. He mainly accepts the position because, well... he would be kind of insane not to; Vivi Swan is only the biggest pop star of their generation, being on tour with her, even as part of her band, would be amazing for his career. But when he accidentally gets stuck in Vivi Swan’s bus, things become decidedly less professional for Remy. He soon finds himself struggling with feelings for one of the most loved pop icons in the world, and it looks like she might reciprocate.

I don’t have much to say about this book. The characters were fine, the plot was fine, the romance was fine. I just didn’t care about any of it. The only time I *did care* about the characters or plot or romance was towards the end when a conflict was introduced, but it was resolved so quickly and abruptly that I couldn’t even enjoy it. Objectively, this book is a good book. There are no issues of plot holes or bad writing at any point. I just found it supremely boring. I feel bad for the two-star rating because I know someone out there might really love this book; I am just not that someone.

Also, and this is just a sidenote, Vivi Swan is such a thinly veiled Taylor Swift that there were times when I was convinced this was T. Swift fanfiction. But no, it’s just heavily inspired by Taylor Swift, I suppose. And another sidenote, this book was written entirely from the male main character’s POV, which was a nice change from other romance books! I just wish I actually enjoyed it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablance, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

There's so much to like about this book. This contemporary romance is told from the Remy's perspective. It's the first romance I think I have read which is entirely from the male protagonist's point of view. I think being able to dive into Remy's fundamentalist upbringing, his fraught relationship with his family and his strong bond with his brother gave his character more depth and I was able to feel a lot of empathy for him.

I normally don't really enjoy books about bands or musicians, but I really loved the way the author describes the song-writing process, Remy's interaction with the rest of the band and the way his perspective on Vivi and pop music changes, the more he tours with her.

I also liked the premise of Remy being the real thing in Vivi's world, and the one to help her see that she can be more than a brand.

The only thing I didn't like was Vivi. Maybe because we never hear what she's thinking, I found it hard to sympathise with her. We don't hear much about her backstory, and what we do hear made me feel that she had lost her connection to her roots (and perhaps reality). I didn't see much of an arc in Vivi's story and, if this was real life and Remy was my friend, I would tell him she's more trouble than she's worth.

I guess that means that, in the end, the romance didn't really work for me. I couldn't help drawing parallels between Vivi and another blonde pop star who seems to write a lot of break up songs. I am not really a fan of that musician, although I can see her appeal and agree that she is a talented performer and a hard worker. That's exactly what I think about Vivi.

Having said that, for me to have a personal reaction to a story, it has to be well-written and interesting. So, although I wasn't drawn to Vivi, I loved Remy and I would still recommend this. book.

3.5 stars

"She was still the girl who loved him long before he realized he loved her. She was still the girl he loved."

Remy Young gets hired to tour with famous singer Vivi Swan. It's a great opportunity for him to earn more money. When a bus mix up occurs Vivi asks Remy for help on a song she's been working on. As time passes their private and public lives start to clash together.

Based on the cover I thought this would be a romantic comedy. The story was also about Remy's relationship with his brother, Val and how they became famous. Told between past and present timelines I liked how you got to learn more about the struggles they faced in the music industry. The story also goes into a lot of detail about the behind the scenes of producing and doing music concerts.

The beginning was a little confusing as well because I couldn't tell whose POV I was reading. I would of liked to have gotten some chapters in Vivi's POV too. Although the writing wasn't that bad I feel like the romance wasn't the main focus of the story. I would of preferred less chapters of the brothers.

Release Date: July 5, 2022

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3,5 stars

The romance on Six Ways to Write a Love Letters is slow-burn and closed doors, beginning with a friendship that doesn't hide that at any moment that it will be romance a few pages later on, and me, that doesn't like many grand gestures on romances, loved the one in this book!

There are few novels that involve singers/bands that focus on songwriting, we have it here and adding with the road trip I enjoyed very much this story vibes, I wish I liked "Six Ways to Write a Love Letter" more, but at least I loved the vibes.

Full review on: https://deiumjeito.blogspot.com/2022/07/review-six-ways-to-write-love-letter.html

This book was not at all what I expected! It was so much more than your typical romance that took a unique take on the pop star character.

The book is told entirely from Remy’s point of view. He and his brother had a complicated relationship filled with toxic religious parents and a drug addiction. It’s had some “then” flashbacks that show how Remy and Val became the way they are and gave a more in-depth understanding to the characters,

It’s clear Vivi’s character is drawn from pop stars like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodriquez. It touches on the unfairness of the media when it comes to celebrities and their break ups. While I didn’t always like Vivi or her choices, I came to understand why she did what she did, without getting her POV. This feels intentional on the authors part as this is what it feels like when reading about celebrities: you feel like you know them without breaking knowing them at all.

Against all odds, Remy and Vivi work together professionally and romantically. There’s plenty of romance, but it’s sweet with kisses and fade-to-black, implied intimacy where that part takes a back seat to the true heart of the story: trust, family, growth, and relationships.

Thank you NetGalley and Spourcebooks for a copy of the book!

So, unfortunately, this was a book I DNF. The blurb sounded right up my alley. The music tour and business in general was the most interesting parts in here. It was all very fascinating. My issue was with the main characters. They had no chemistry together and they were each pretty boring. I ended up dropping the book because I was uninterested in any scenes with them in it, which was most. Also, there was an added homeschool storyline from Remy’s past and it just didn’t fit in here. It was just an odd addition to the story and not necessary. Didn’t work for me at all, but I’m definitely in the minority.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry. I wanted to like this one, but it just didn't grab my attention. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Six Ways to Write a Love Letter has a fun premise, being an homage to Taylor Swift (it’s pretty obvious Vivi Swan is her with the serial numbers filed off), and the premise excited me. But I feel like the book could have done so much more exploring a Taylor-inspired character, and I feel that makes her a weird fit for the way this book was executed.
There are many occasions where the book comments on the misogyny Vivi is targeted with. We even get snippets from a gossip blog, highlighting “insider” info on her current romantic escapades, demonstrating how invasive the press is and how damaging it can be, but there’s no real catharsis or payoff, especially without getting intimate insights into her perspective.
Given the “women’s fic/chick lit” direction romance has taken in recent years, going for a more female-lead-centric focus, it’s an intriguing concept to turn things on its head and follow the male lead. But again, that doesn’t work when you’re following such a compelling (at surface level, anyway) heroine, who you don’t get enough depth to truly understand. It feels like the author decided to pay homage to the dynamics of popular romances like The Spanish Love Deception and The Hating Game, but with a “gender swap.” The results are equally uninspiring, and made even more so in context with the promised themes. There are some aspects of Remy’s past included, but the way they were explored in flashbacks didn’t flow very well with the overall narrative.
Despite my growing confusion with the book, it was an easy read, so I kept going in hopes that something I thought was missing would become clear. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and I feel using Taylor Swift for this story was a huge missed opportunity to explore her “reputation” with the media, when we don’t get to hear things from “her” side.
While I didn’t care for it, I am a Swiftie and will admit that colored my opinions in how issues were handled here. That’s not to say some other Taylor Swift fans (especially more casual fans) won’t enjoy it, but the lack of introspection may be a turnoff. If you’re a bit less invested in her, but are interested in celebrity romance, and don’t mind single-POV, it might be worth giving a chance.

This book was really fun! I enjoyed getting to know Remy and Vivi on different levels throughout the story. Remy seems like a super caring guy and not at all what you would expect from a guy who drums in a band known as “Quiet Coyote.” Vivi is a very sweet pop star who can’t live a normal life kinda gal. The entire time I was reading this book I was just waiting for the two of them to realize that they both come from places of desiring to be wanted wholly and fully for themselves. It made me melt a little bit.

Getting to see the inside scoop of what it would be like behind the scenes of an international pop sensations world tour was really cool and I liked that part of the story a lot! It added to the way that Remy seemed to grow in knowing what he wanted from others and himself, I also really liked that he didn’t seem to compromise on who he was throughout the tour. I respected that a fair bit.

The flashbacks to Remy and Val’s super religious background was interesting in the way that it made them into the people they became and was a part of why Val struggled with substance abuse for a long time. I do wish that we had been able to see more of their sister Mercy in the story and what ended up happening to the sickly sister they left behind.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would love to see a sequel about Remy and Vivi’s lives in the future!

Thank you, @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Six Ways to Write a Love Letter is a romance that takes a unique perspective of a drummer/producer, Remy Young and pop star, Vivi Swan. The story dealt with many hard hitting topics such as privacy and media scrutiny and even takes it further by looking into Remy's past. It was a slow burn that really showed depth between the characters and was so sweet. I particularly liked the background being the tour and how that developed the relationship. Honestly it was a very sweet story.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.

(Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for a honest review)

Publication date: 05 July 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Tropes: friends to lovers, slow burn
Triggers: addiction, cheating, misogyny

Plot

Vivi Swan's drummer, Remy Young knew that he could bring back more money for his brother and himself if he travelled with her, without any unnecessary problems or drama. One day, after spending hours together due to a bus mix-up, Remy is shocked to find that Vivi is not at all what the reports had suggested. He agreed right away when she asked for his assistance in creating her upcoming song—only because they worked together. What would happen next when Vivi's personal and professional life clash and everything she built is destroyed when it was published by a celebrity gossip blog?

Thoughts

This is not the kind of book I'd read to be honest, I didn't read Daisy Jones and the Six because I can't relate to the music industry but I picked this up because of its cover. I also didn't know this was a book inspired by Taylor Swift (Swifties, you should read this).

This book had a plotline of two brothers Remy and Val and another plotline of Remy and Vivi. I had a tough time being interested in the start but after the 1/4 mark into the book I could feel myself curious about the chemistry between Vivi and Remy and the brothers' background story as to why they had to resort to certain decisions. The book was also in a male POV which is rare and I do appreciate that.

However in terms of their characters, I felt that Vivi was not reciprocating as much as Remy especially towards fighting for him because she put more importance on her reputation and her image. The last conflict act also was unnecessary and even the way it was handled didn't feel like a proper closure. There also isn't much character development for Vivi as the book is told in Remy's POV, it would have been better to get dual POV to know her feelings.

3.5 out of 5. A cute quick read romance that dabbles in the wonderful world of the music industry. I totally was imagining Taylor Swift throughout the book, and she even wears red lipstick, so clearly the author probably wanted us to image Remy as her or someone equally famous. I enjoyed the songwriting aspect and loved when the explanation of the title came about at the end.

This is not the rom com I was expecting from the cover and description. The beginning was slow and I couldn’t connect with the characters or story. This is the right story for someone, but not for me. DNF at 16%.

I think I was maybe expecting too much from this story. I read the description and thought it sounded great - and some of it was. I just struggled a bit with staying connected to the story and I think it was because it was just being told from the male point of view. It wasn’t that Remy’s character wasn’t well written, it was, it was more that I felt Vivi’s had no depth. Whilst you could understand the pressures she was under there was a lack of depth to her character which I felt let the story down and made it quite a long read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy of this novel.