⭐️⭐️⭐️ [It was okay]
I love this author’s writing but this wasn’t my fave from hers. The story fell a little flat for me but I did really love the characters. The narration of the audiobook was great. This book gave me a little bit of “PS I Love You” vibes - which is a fave of mine so maybe that’s why this book didn’t quite make it past the 3⭐️ mark.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much @atriabooks and netgalley for my digital review copy of THE KEY TO MY HEART by Lia Louis!

TW: this book heavily deals with grief and loss of a partner/spouse

I was able to listen to this book, courtesy of the Libby app and I really enjoyed the audio! Lia Louis’s book usually focus on heavy content. I’ve only read this one, and Eight Perfect Hours, but both have heavy content.

While this one talks about grief and losing a partner/loved one, it does so in a way that is very relatable, while also adding some humour to such a heavy topic. The FMC, Natalie is still trying to figure out her life after her husband passed away suddenly two years ago. Everyone thinks she should “be over it” by now. I really like how the author showed that grief doesn’t have a time limit. No one can tell you how to grieve for a lost loved one, or when you should be moving on.

What I also loved about this book, is that despite the heavy content, this book has some humour to it too. Natalie also has a great friends group, that are very supportive of her!

I recommend this book, but make sure you proceed with caution ♥️

A story of loss, grief, hope, and love. A very heartwarming novel.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

It took me a little while to start reading this one (life in the way, you know) but I actually really appreciated this book. Some of the relationships I initially had qualms about, but I found the story of navigating loss and to move in the world after it really spoke to me. Nat felt deeply relatable and I was invested to know just as much as she was about who was leaving her music to play. I do think things wrapped up a little too quick for her and Tom, but I liked the tension they had to overcome. I would have liked a few more details towards the end, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you netgalley and Atria books for an ARC to review!

I absolutely loved this book about Natalie, a young widow unable to move on without the love of her life. They were only married for a short time and they had so much to look forward to in the future. They had just purchased a fixer upper cottage and she had an opportunity to tour with a musical she’s been writing.

But her husband was passes away suddenly and Russ’ life isn’t the only one that stopped that day. Natalie is unable to play music unless it’s at the London train station playing for passing strangers. She has lost everything she loves in her life.

But suddenly, someone is leaving all her husband’s favorite songs at the station’s piano. Trying to figure out who is doing this finally begins to get Natalie out of her depression.

My heart absolutely broke for Natalie! I can’t even imagine her grief as someone recently married myself. She doesn’t know what to do with the house that they were going to renovate together. Her friends are supportive, but they can’t know 100% how she feels and she begins to make new friends who don’t know Russ. It’s easier to be herself with them since they didn’t know her before. While this book is very sad, it’s very genuine and there are parts of humor and future romance. I really loved it.

Thank you so much to @atriabooks @bookclubfavorites and @lialouisauthor for my gifted copy.

I tried several unsuccessful times to get into this book, but it just didn't grab me in the same way that Eight Perfect Hours did. I ended up deciding not to read this one, at least for right now.

This book captured me heart and soul. I felt so much with Natalie and what she was going through. Putting one foot in front of the other just to keep going can definitely lead to the unexpected. But sometimes life knows what you need before you do.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley

Natalie is left feeling lost and alone when her husband suddenly passes away. She begins playing the piano at the train station. When someone starts leaving sheet music for her to play that seem to have ties back to her husband it sparks an excitement in her that she thought was lost forever.

This was a super sweet story. Lia Louis tugs at the heartstrings again! Natalie’s friends - both new and old - really made all the difference in her life. Her support system was able to help her see light in the darkest times. Thank you Netgalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

Perfection. I will read everything Lia Louis writes & I know I will love it. She is definitely on my list of favorite authors, especially after finishing The Key to My Heart, the third book from her I've read. Some of my favorite novels recently have dealt with grief like The Key to My Heart. Natalie is a young widow & is grieving 2 and a half years after her husband's death. We follow her journey in healing and I felt a range of emotions as I read. Lia Louis writes real characters, dialogue that makes me swoon, snort, & cry, and stories that are raw & hopeful.

📚Book Review📚
The Key to My Heart
By Lia Louis
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5
▶️ Swipe: Book Description
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 Friends to Lovers
🔺Love Triangle
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Set in London
🎵 Music Themed
🌪️Plot Twist
‼️TW: Death of husband

This was such a touching and heartfelt story. I didn’t expect to have tears reading this one, but I did. I really felt Natalie’s pain from the lose of her husband. So many raw feelings. On her journey to discover who’s leaving the sheet music a love triangle develops between her, Tom and Joe. It’s pretty obvious who she’s going to choose, but I still enjoyed reading this. I also enjoyed the unexpected plot twist at the end. I will say that the romance in this book wasn’t the main focus. I was more absorbed in the ‘who done it’ aspect than in the actually romance itself. This was more women’s fiction than romance so be aware of that if you decide to read this. Either way, it was well done an a very enjoyable read.

this was very generic to me. there was nothing special and nothing that made this book stand out from the others. I would pass.

Two and a half years following her husband’s death, Natalie Fincher is still grieving. She plays piano in the train station to help cope, and one day she finds sheet music to a song special to her and her late husband in the seat. When Natalie finds a second piece of sheet music, she begins to feel hope for the first time in a long time, and begins to investigate who could possibly be behind the mysterious music.

This was a sweet, heart-warming book about love, loss, and a second chance at romance. I enjoyed following Natalie’s journey, and her grieving and growth as she struggled between remembering her late husband, and moving on. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of sweet, G-rated romances and women’s fiction!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my gifted e-book!

Definitely a sweet and heartwarming read. I have a hard time getting into modern romance novels personally. I think there is something about modern voice that just doesn’t feel romantic to me. That being said, I think readers who do love modern romances will love this sad but heartwarming story about love and loss and music.

This book was quite good - it definitely broke my heart, but thankfully it put it back together by the end. There were some twists and turns for sure, but I love the way it ended. Natalie's story was sad, but then it was hopeful and I love how music intertwined through her healing. I really enjoyed it. And Tom was my favorite, so many giggles. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

A lovely contemporary romance from Lia Louis that examines the personal nature of grief. Gently written and a nice slow and naturally developing plot that follows heartbreak, friendship, and love. Heartwarming story that isn't full of fluff and contains a protagonist who feels unapologetically real.

There is a bit of P.S. I Love You flavor to the narrative, but with its very own style and creative exploration. There was a lot of heaviness to the plot, so don't expect to go into this one as a rom-com. There are moments of levity in the banter, but the narrative is more seriously centered and things move at a slow burn.

Lia Louis is great a character creation and her cast in this novel works together quite well. Even the majority of the secondary characters have a good amount of personality and individual flavor to them. It's easy in a book containing a friend group for the characters to blur together as a solid mass, but that doesn't happen here.

An enjoyable and contemplative read that I flew through in two days. Quite well constructed. Not your usual contemporary romance fare, but something special all on its own.

I absolutely loved Louis' last novel, Eight Perfect Hours, and I expected this one to destroy me too.

Natalie Fincher's husband dies suddenly and her life is completely turned upside down. Two and a half years later she still can't find joy in the things she used to like, and she feels pressured to have 'moved on' and be 'ok' by now. She starts playing music at a train station's public piano and one day someone starts leaving her sheet music. It's not just any music either, it's her late husband's favorites and songs they shared.

The mystery of it all gives her something to focus on, and look forward to and she starts to open up to the world again.

The grief felt very real to me, and found myself hurting alongside Natalie as I read. The romance angle of the book felt a little disconnected to me though, and I thought it almost could have done without it, and been focused solely on friendship and healing. I just didn't feel the spark between the two of them, and that part of the story felt underdeveloped compared to the rest of the book.

THE KEY TO MY HEART
BY: Lia Louis

Lia Louis stole my heart in this sweet and heartwarming novel about grief, and a widow finding love again. In a magical story of how music helps with grief and healing, this novel was so well done that I really enjoyed the mental health representation and the lovely story that is both sad and also hopeful.

A beautiful heartwarming story. A story about moving forward, letting go, learning to love yourself and giving yourself a chance to love again. I love the mystery involved as Natalie tries to find the person behind living piano sheets on the piano by the train station. I love the support of all the charactes. Although I am not a fan of the love triangle created as Natalie built relationships with Joe and Tom, I really enjoy seeing Natalie grow and glow. The best part of the books was the last few chapters and I really fell in love with the man really meant for her and the grand gesture he did. Thank you Netgalley and Atria for the arc ebook of this book.

Louis once again takes the reader on a journey of grief and healing.
I like Natalie and her pain over losing her husband was well written and I could definitely feel her intense grief.

The supporting characters were also well written and all helped, in their own way, of helping Natalie travel through her grief. The letter Natalie wrote to her husband toward the end of the book really affected me emotionally.

I think I liked Eight Perfect Hours slightly more, but this was a solid story. Can’t wait for her next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had to put this one down at 43%. I was intrigued by who was leaving the music, but I wasn’t emotional invested in the characters. I didn’t “hate” this book but any means. I just wasn’t super excited to pick it up and keep reading so I knew it was them to choose something else.

A friend did end up telling me the full story and it sounds beautiful, so it’s very possible this is a “me” problem.