Natalie is a pianist who lost her husband two years ago in an accident. She's still grieving but it seems like the world expects her to be done. She's so lost she plays the piano in the subway. One day, she finds someone has left her sheet music of her husband's favorite song, a few days later she is left her wedding song. This is the story of how Natalie moves on. It's beautiful.

In The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis, Natalie is still struggling with her grief after losing her husband 2.5 years ago and when she finds someone keeps leaving sheet music on the piano bench that reminds her of her husband she begins to feel hope for the first time. This book is about finding herself again and maybe love?

I liked this book, but overall it just felt super slow to me. It meandered a lot, but ultimately the way this book shared grief and music therapy.

This was a fluffy romance. I can’t say it’s light since it deals with the heavy topic of grief, but it had its feel good, laugh out loud moments. I didn’t really care for the main character Natalie, she was a bit wishy washy for my taste. It was kind of slow to start and dragged a little in the middle, but overall it was a good read.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Prepare yourselves friends. The Key to My Heart will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions in the very best way.

When I reviewed Lia Louis’ Eight Perfect Hours last year, I wrote that she “wove a special kind of magic” with that book and I’m happy to report she does it again with The Key to My Heart. Lia is a master storyteller and an autobuy author for me.

This friends, is not a light-hearted book. If that is what you are after, please scroll on. But if you are looking for something a little deeper, something that will have you feeling ALL the feels, this is the book for you. It had me tearing up more than once as I followed Natalie’s story.

Natalie is stuck and with good reason. Her life simply isn’t the same since she lost her husband and she can’t seem to overcome her grief, even two years later. The joy of everything is just lost on her. Anytime she feels even a small glimpse of happiness, she feels guilty. Lia does an incredible job of addressing grief in this book. She once again deftly explores how grief shapes us as people. Through Natalie’s eyes, we see how she is coping and get great insight into how she is feeling. Natalie is a wonderfully constructed character. I just loved her. 

In this book Natalie ends up with two potential love interests – Tom and Joe. They are both great but admittedly I was cheering for Tom. He is just so witty and wonderful. Lia creates a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not Natalie will end up with either of them or neither of them and it kept me guessing right until the end.

I also loved the mystery aspect of the book as Natalie tries to figure out who is leaving her music on the piano in the train station. I found myself getting sucked right into the story wondering who it could be. I did not guess the end. The mystery kept the story moving and gave Natalie a great focal point to move through her grief.

The Key to My Heart is a wonderful story about grief, self compassion and finding ourselves after tragedy, you don’t want to miss.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As romance readers, we tend to love the big grand gesture. The grovel, the secret getaway, the loud, romantic declaration of love. And yet true romance is found in the minutiae of every day life. It's quieter. Lia Louis captures this like no other. Natalie is absolutely heartbroken. She's frozen in time after losing her husband way too young. Years after the loss, her friends can't bear to see her so sad still and all but force Natalie to go talk to a guy while they are out for girls night. Natalie agrees because she loves her friends and just wants to get away from their pity looks. A great friendship comes from that meeting with the super cute and easygoing Tom.

I loved the way that Tom and Natalie become friends. The tiny gestures. The quiet conversations. The way they make one another laugh. So much goodness in this book comes from the friendships within. Natalie's friends and family are there when she works to fix the house that she and her late husband bought to renovate. They encourage her when she meets the charming Joe and begins to consider dating. They listen when Natalie talks about the mystery that surrounds who has started leaving her sheet music at the piano in the train station. Natalie wonders if it could be her late husband sending her messages or someone else altogether.

Louis deals with grief and how we grow and change out of that darkness beautifully. I loved seeing Natalie, Joe, Tom, and Tom's mother, Shauna, all grow out of their loss. There is so much vulnerability and strength. Tossed in with lighter moments full of banter and laughter, The Key to My Heart is a perfect blend of all that makes up the joy of life. And there is still the big grand gesture that takes your heart away. Read this. You are sure to love it.

“That is the thing with Tom. He really makes me laugh. Genuinely. That sort of cheek-aching, belly laughing about everything and nothing all at once. The sort of laughter that leaves you feeling like light and warm afterward. Therapized.”

Okay Lia Louis, I’m convinced. You can’t write a bad book. I absolutely adored Dear Emmie Blue and Eight Perfect Hours and now we can add The Key to My Heart to that list!

The angst!! Wow. Grieving the loss of her husband two years later, I could really feel Natalie’s emotions. I couldn’t help but be on her side. The pressure from her friends and family to move on made me angry for her and I just wanted to wrap her up in a warm blanket. But it was really beautiful to see Natalie turn the corner on her grief with the help of some new friends that let her be the Natalie she that she is now. For me, the writing was on the wall for the romance from the very beginning. I just really enjoyed seeing how Natalie was going to work through getting there. And I really loved that she was clueless for most of the story.

The mystery behind the piano sheet music was such a fun thread in this story. It had its highs and lows, but it was ultimately so healing for Natalie. I must say that despite what I said about her friends and family earlier, I did end up loving them as well. They truly just wanted what was best for Natalie and they always stuck by her.

My favorite parts of this book were Shauna, Foxes, words and the photographs. All were integral in Natalie’s growth and healing and made my heart swoon. There is so much beauty in this story and I highly recommend experiencing it for yourself.

CW: some language throughout, death of a spouse, women’s fiction

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

2.5⭐️ Dear Emmie Blue is still this author’s best book. This one, and the last, didn’t measure up for me. And with this one,I found myself skimming often as I only stuck with book to see who left music.

4.5 stars!

TW: hospitalization, death, depression, grief, loss.

I just loved "The Key to My Heart" by Lia Louis! This is such a sweet (and bittersweet!) story about Natalie, who is trying to find a sense of connection after an unimaginable accident took her husband Russ away from her three years ago. She has lost time, and herself, to the grief she has felt following the immeasurable loss of Russ. Her friends just don't understand how she feels. To take her mind off of things, they frequently try to set her up with guys they see at bars and restaurants. Tom is one of those guys. After understanding that she's only doing this to please her friends, they part, never to see each other again...only Natalie keeps running into Tom all over the place, even in the train station where she has found solace playing the piano for no one in particular (an homage to her former life). Weirdly enough, someone keeps leaving sheet music on the piano, music that has major significance to Natalie. As the months' pass, Tom and Natalie become friends. While love isn't on her radar, she can't deny that being with Tom makes her feel safe. Is she ready to move on with someone else? Can she love again after loss?

Lia Louis kept me reading into the early morning hours with this one. I could not put this book down! Even though it deals with heavy subject matters, it still manages to have a renewed hope and lightness to it. It felt fresh to me. This book has a tremendously challenging conversation about "betraying" someone you love after they have died, and what to do with the feelings widowers may have about disappointing someone after the death of their spouse. It discusses moving on, however long it may take, starting over, and rebuilding after tragedy. It's not all sadness, though. It is also so, so funny. Natalie and Tom, Natalie and Shauna (the manager of the coffee shop Nat frequents in the train station), and Natalie and Joe (who she meets at music therapy) all her terrific banter with one another. This book had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. The beginning of the book sets the stage as it is a deeply layered character study. Lia Louise lets readers get to know all the different people in Natalie's life. They aren't just figures who pass by. We know who her friends are, who Russ's brother is, who Nat's sister is, who Joe and Shauna and Tom are...every character has a purpose in her life. The story speeds up in its latter portion. I never felt like it dragged. In fact, I think it's quite the page-turner. It's heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lia Louise, and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

"Because I’m not broken, like a part on the side of the road. I can like—and maybe even love again."

I’ve read and loved Louis’ previous two novels and The Key to My Heart was no different! I adored this emotional & heartwarming story about the struggles of grief, and finding love after loss. As someone who is currently struggling with grief, although different (loss of a parent) I easily connected to the story and the genuine characters. I enjoyed the humor, the music, and that the romance wasn't the main focus of the story..

4.5⭐️! The Key to My Heart was another beautifully written, perfectly paced read by Louis and I definitely look forward to more.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria, and Lia Louis for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I've never read Lia Louis before, but I can't wait to read more! I mean, if Jodie Picoult says she's a "must-buy author," we should all listen! "The Key to My Heart" released yesterday and I loved it! I'm excited to go back and read "Eight Perfect Hours." 5⭐

Natalie is a Londoner whose husband died unexpectedly 3 years ago. She does not want to move on, even though her friends keep encouraging her to, and she's starting to withdraw from them as a result. She finds comfort playing the piano in the train station and a stranger starts leaving her sheet music. Natalie also befriends the workers in the train station cafe and begins to navigate dating again.

This book seemed like a crossover between a romance and women's fiction book. Much of it was about Natalie's personal development, but there were romantic subplots as well. I loved that I didn't know who she was going to end up with until the very end (it felt similar to "Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake" and "Finlay Donovan is Killing It" in that way).

I also loved that the friendships in the book were imperfect - they were flawed and cracked and some of them were fixable and others, maybe not. One aspect I didn't love was thencover, which makes the story look like a very fluffy, whimsical read when it's actually fairly complex and thoughtful.

⚠️ discussion of hospitalization/tragic deaths (less detailed than "The Friend Zone")

Shareability: readers of Mhairi McFarlane, Rachel Van Dyken, and Beth O'Leary will like this one

Spice: none, but didn't need it

Pairs well with: a full English breakfast

While this wasn't my favorite by Lia Louis, I still really enjoyed the heartfelt British romance about a pianist grieving the sudden death of her husband who starts finding sheet music she thinks her husband is somehow leaving for her.

Recommended for fans of P.S. I love you, Evvie Drake starts over or the Invisible husband of Frick island. Good on audio too narrated by Victoria Fox. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Steam level: kissing only

I really struggled with this book. The heavier topic of grieving was not what I was expecting. Lia Louis’ writing evokes the emotions so greatly. I was grieving as well.

this was character driven and emotional. I was hoping for more of a romance, but was engaged after somewhat of a slow start. It was a satisfying end

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I could not stop reading. I loved the easy friendship between Natalie and Thomas. Her friends keeping her from falling into a whole of despair are what we should all expect from our friends. This story has such a great flow, the slow burn into a wonderful love story made it all that much more enjoyable to read.

Immersion in grief looms large😰

3.5-4.0 🌟 stars
I'm afraid narrating grieving widow Natalie was too mired in her sadness, guilt, fear and grief through too much of the story for me to describe this story as an unqualified pleasure to read. Her move from focusing on the love and life she lost to looking to the present and future: slow. Even the description of her home read sad and lost.

There are romance and new friendship that blossom, old friendships to rebuild, but it's a long journey. I understand the author's desire to give a realistic portrayal but it was just heavy and excruciatingly slow-build.

I've read several works by the author and always found her writing thoughtful, heartful and ultimately rewarding. I can't fault the writing or her adept creation of soulful characters with this one and will, no doubt, keep reading her books.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I absolutely loved Eight Perfect Hours, so I was thrilled to see Louis' next holiday novel and get a chance to read it early. The Key to My Heart hits even harder than Eight Perfect Hours - I absolutely loved it. So often romance focuses exclusively on the romance, which is not the case here, and it makes the story even deeper and more enjoyable. Louis portrays love, loss and friendship in a beautiful way, which pulled me in from the beginning and didn't let me go until the very last page.

i enjoyed dear emmie blue and eight perfect hours, so i had high expectations for this one and it more than delivered. i loved the other two, i really did, but this one just blows them out of the water. it's my favourite. it's so emotional and raw, so authentic and realistic, i just absolutely adored it. i loved the characters, the story. i loved that it went in a way i didn't predict. i love how lia louis writes about grief.
i honestly loved this book so much and it's in my top books for 2022!

Light, charming, and delightful, THE KEY TO MY HEART by Lia Louis tells the story of a widow shocked out of her grief by sheet music that appears in a piano bench at a public piano where she plays a few times a week. With that mystery to solve, Natalie faces long-feared decisions, including letting her beloved go and new love into her life. Sparkling with humor and insight, this story was the ultimate in escaping into another life to return with a fresh, upbeat perspective. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The Key to My Heart is a sweet novel romance novel that explores one woman's grief with a touch of musical magic. I enjoyed Louis's descriptions of London and its quaint farm country where the novel takes place. In each chapter, the author paints a picture of Natalie's time moving on from the death of her husband. Natalie and Tom have unexpected chemistry and a charming romance. This book would be perfect for anyone who enjoys books with rich descriptions, character development throughout the story, and books with a bit of mystery.

Many thanks to the publisher for giving me the chance to read The Key to my Heart early!

Lia Louis is one of my favorite authors. There's something about her writing style that draws you in from the very first chapter. Her way of expressing emotions is so charming, yet so touching. And all of these aspects were highlighted in the best way possible in her newest release, The Key to My Heart.

In The Key to My Heart, we follow Natalie as she goes through a journey of grief, self-discovery, and finding the strength and courage to find love again after her husband's untimely demise. I connected with Natalie from the very beginning of the story. I was rooting for her the entire time, as if I were wishing for a friend to find the happiness she deserves! The plot surrounding the mysterious sheet music was so perfectly written. It was so unique and intriguing, and I was hooked all throughout the book about its source! There's also a beautiful romantic relationship that blooms throughout the book. I won't reveal much because I don't want to give away spoilers! And there's a love triangle too, and that unfortunately took away some of my enjoyment while reading TKTMH because I don't like that trope personally. But overall, the book was beautifully written. I will be thinking about Natalie and some of the other characters for a long time!

If you're a fan of gut-wrenching yet hopeful books, please pick The Key to my Heart up immediately, or any of Lia Louis' previous releases! Can't wait to read more from her.