This was a cute read! I do feel like the cover is a little misleading because it looks like a cute lighthearted romance that takes place in winter when in fact the story follows a widow who is still picking up the pieces of her life. There is a romance in the story but I wouldn’t say it's the main plot.

I thought the grief was very well written in this book and I liked that Louis showed how Natalie was flawed. I do wish she would have had Natalie get some real therapy along with the music therapy. I feel like Natalie's grief was very relatable even though I’ve never lost a partner.

I loved seeing Tom and Natalies evolving relationship throughout the book. I thought they had great banter! I really loved the slow realization of feelings Natalie had. I loved Tom’s character and I loved that he was Shauna’s son. I thought that added a fun aspect! I loved Shanua’s character!

I do think the pacing of the story could have been a little better. I struggled a little bit at the beginning to get into it but really enjoyed it by the end. I hope to check out more of Louis’s works in the future. Overall, this was a solid four stars for me.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Positives 

- tangible grief

- A good meet cute 

- Natalie is very obviously not flawless

- Raw sadness at going home to a house without Russ 

- Mystery music-leaver is well set up, especially with the inside knowledge 

- fun to have a mystery aspect in a rom-com 

- Everyone needs a Shauna in their life 

- Tom is very unflappable 

- Good banter between Nat & Tom

- Tom has no obvious motives

- the reader really feels for Nat

- Tom keeps Nat honest

- Shauna 5ever

- I love Tom 

- Solid reveal with Joe 

- Big fan of the slow realization with feelings re: Tom 


Negatives
- I know Lucy is supposed to be annoying but she’s actually the worst
- Joe is a hard no

Wow! I loved Eight Perfect Hours, so I was anxiously waiting to read The Key to My Heart - and it did not disappoint!

All of the characters were well written, and I especially loved discovering Natalie’s story.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley.

This was a slow start for me, but the story was unique and pulled at my heart strings. A couple of tears were shed at the end!

My first book of 2023 was The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis. This super cute cover immediately grabbed my attention because I also loved Louis previous book, Eight Perfect Hours.

Natalie lost her husband almost two years before, and as much as her friends and family want her to move on, she is still in the waves of grief. Playing the piano every week at the train station for strangers is the most she has done, to reclaim some of her previous solis she always received from music. Natalie was surprised to see sheets of music suddenly appearing in the piano bench where she played. The sheets of music held songs that held moments and memories attached to her husband. Natalie begins searching for signs in the music that may help her in life as she continued to navigate grief, her family, her friends and a potential for another love.

This book was sweet. The little bit of magic, the local coffee shop, Goose’s and Shauna the manager there, her sister and nephew who stepped in to help where they could and the quaint cottage that represented more than just the life she thought she was going to live. But also sweet Tom the target, with his steady presence, his family and quick wit … he was my favorite.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this eARC copy to read and review.

What is your favorite song? What song brings back good memories when you hear it?

The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis was a wonderful and unique story about one woman’s journey from grief to hope. This was very different from most books I’ve read, and I loved the characters and the journey.
Natalie Fincher lost her husband due to an accident. It’s been two and a half years since he died, but she can’t move on. Her friends and family all think she needs to move on, but she still feels lost. She has lost her spark for life. She doesn’t really love the cottage she lives in anymore but can’t leave because it was her and her husband’s project. She was a musician but doesn’t work in music anymore. She has started to play music on a piano at the train station and mysteriously has been finding music left in the piano bench that had significance to her and her husband. Who is leaving the music and why? As she starts to get out there and try to heal, she meets two interesting men. Is she ready to move on with love?

The Key to My Heart was an honest look at grief and going through the grief process. It was a good look at can you find “the one” after you have lost “the one?” How do you move on? When will people stop looking at you like you are broken? It was a good book about friends that stick with you and friends that aren’t sure how to act when something like this happens. I like how Natalie was able to find support and make new connections. I connected with Natalie even though I haven’t been through this experience. It was a very heartfelt book with great characters. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Thank you @BookClubFavorites #BookClubFavorites for the free book. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster and Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It felt heavy on the monologue which isn’t my thing. Stopped at 10%. I can see this going over well with readers though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

This book was so well written and easy to get into. But reading it was incredibly hard at times. In particular, about relating to the young widow. How everyone seems to have their life together and then it falls apart. I love the music mystery notes. But overall, it made me quite sad.

Natalie Fincher was all set in life, recently married, a new fixer upper cottage and the chance to tour with the musical she finally finished writing after years, until her husband dies suddenly. Her life changes in the blink of an eye and two years later, she is still dealing with her grief. Her friends don't understand, and are constantly trying to get her out on the town and meeting a new man. She still loves music, but can only play anonymously in a London train station. Then, someone starts leaving her sheet music on the piano. Music that brings back wonderful feelings and memories. As she tries to find out who is leaving it for her, she begins to open up to others and finds friendship and maybe even love.

This is such a wonderful story. I love the way Lia Louis writes about Natalie, her feelings and her life while dealing with her grief, it was tangible. I understand how she felt as well as the various situations with well meaning friends. No one can predict how long it will take to deal with grief, and you don't "got over it". I cried several times while listening to this book, as it brought back so many memories of those feelings and dark times, but I also smiled and laughed as Natalie began to open up to possibilities of what her new life could be. As she allowed new people in, and friendships developed, I cheered her on. I really connected to Natalie, not only because I have also lost my husband, but because she wanted to live, but was afraid of what that life would look like. She moved forward with trepidation, but still moved with baby steps. She was real and I related to her on many levels. I liked both the men that she met and although there was some romance that slowly develops, I also liked their friendships. Tom was such a great guy, and he seemed to be able to intuit what she was feeling and how to make her smile. A wonderful story about new beginnings, grief, friendship, moving forward and finding yourself with a bit of a mystery added. I highly recommend, The Key to My Heart.

Loved this cute story of finding hope after loss. Loved how music plays a role in finding that hope.

Don’t be tricked by the snow on the cover, this is not a holiday romance. 😆 In fact, I don’t even think it snows in the book.

Instead, this is a romance, bordering on “women’s fiction” with a big focus on grief, healing, and strong bonds with others: romantic, platonic and familial. This is my first book by this author, but I will definitely be reading more of her work. In The Key to My Heart we read about Natalie, who lost her husband almost 3 years ago and is lost in her grief. The book is about her slowly coming out of her shell thanks to an unexpected surprise left for her by someone at the train station piano where she plays from time to time and her quest to find who that someone is.

👍
+ What an absolutely fantastic book boyfriend! I fell in love with him from the first scene we meet him. He’s so sweet, considerate, romantic, patient, giving, the list goes on... I read this with a group of people and we all fell in love with him, and he was the favorite book boyfriend of the year for many of us!
+ The main character, Natalie carries a lot of grief with her, it impacts her life in every area. In a way, she wears her grief as armor, keeping people and feelings at a distance. Her not being ready to let any of her grief go was handled so beautifully, then various events has her slowly come out of that armor, and that was beautiful too.
+ Despite how much space Natalie’s grief takes, the book doesn’t feel heavy, it is still easy to read, it’s cute and it’ll put a smile on your face.
+ The romance is a slooow burn and doesn’t take up that much of the book, but with where the main character is in her life, everything in how the romance develops makes sense. I also love the friendship they build while they’re not romantic, especially how he helps her get out of her shell, she helps him not be afraid anymore. I think the fact that they build their friendship first also strengthens the payoff of the romance. Plus they have amazing banter! And the big gesture at the end! 😍
+ There are also many other people around Natalie, sometimes they blunder, but they’re all unique and great characters, who are trying to care for Natalie in their own way. I especially loved Shauna from the coffeeshop!

Overall rating: 4.5⭐, rounded up

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

3.5/5 stars

TW: Loss of a loved one

Natalie Fincher was at the absolute high of her life, married to the love of her life about to move into their dream home and her musical on the verge of success. But when Natalie’s husband dies, everything in her life begins to crumble. Still grappling with the loss, Natalie is sleep walking through life. She’s abandoned her dreams in music, only performing on a public piano at the train station where she can remain anonymous. Suddenly Natalie begins to receive sheet music left for her of very important songs that have high meaning in her life. As she sets on a quest to discover who this mystery person may be, she meets people along the way who help her realize that all hope is not lost for her to be happy once again.

•

This was an emotional read that did shines a light on the struggles one can go through after the loss of a loved one. Natalie’s journey is filled with highs and lows as she struggles with the idea of people expecting her to just “move on”. I really enjoyed the exploration of music therapy and how it helped Natalie in her healing journey. I really enjoyed the characters in this one, Natalie’s character was so authentic, she was flawed and genuinely human as she struggles with being open to someone new in her life. There is sort of a “Team Edward vs Team Jacob” kind of love triangle going on here which I enjoyed but mainly, I really enjoyed reading about Natalie’s growth. This one was a little too slow of pace for me but I did enjoy the writing and the relationship Natalie develops with one particular person 😉 Everyone handles grief differently, and I was really intrigued with Natalie’s story and all the characters that contributed to it along the way. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is now available for purchase!

I can always count on Lia Louis to make me feel things. In The Key to My Heart, Natalie is living as a shell of herself 2.5 years after the sudden death of her husband. She begrudgingly tags along on nights out with her well meaning friends and can only bring herself indulge in her musical passion by playing at a public piano at a train station.

Natalie’s struggle trying to honor her late husband while also give herself the grace to move forward with her life was so heart wrenching. The way that her grief impacts her relationships with those around her and the unwitting pain she herself causes added such emotion and intricacy to her story.

I was obsessed with all the secondary characters in this book. Natalie has a rich community around her, from an older woman she befriends at her regular coffee shop to a handsome stranger at a bar who she uses to get her friends off her back about getting back in the dating scene. Everyone had such a detailed backstory and distinct characteristics that they came to life and created such a well rounded support system for Natalie.

The flirty banter in this book was next level. It was sexy and funny and creative and it was impossible not to root for the romance to work out.

This was a 5-star read until the ending, which left me wanting. There was a mystery throughout the book and the conclusion of it felt anticlimactic. I still highly recommend this book, but I wanted just a little more to wrap it up.

Natalie lost her husband, Russ, in an unexpected accident a couple years ago - for those that experience grief after losing someone they love, they know that grief has no timeline.

But then someone keeps leaving music at a piano and the music all means something important to Natalie. In an attempt to find out who keeps leaving her the sheet music, Natalie must also get her friends to understand that there is no right way to grieve.

I was so excited to get this ARC because I absolutely loved "Eight Perfect Hours'" - however, this felt like a much slower read and struggled to catch my attention. I think the story idea is a good one, but this book just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC for my unbiased review.

What to say about this book? It's really difficult for me to talk about this because there were things I really loved about this book but also things I despised. Let's start with the things I didn't like, shall we. First of, the main character's inner monologue. It was so exhausting to read. She was just really insecure and overthinking every single possible interaction she could have. It was a real slog to get through. Especially because it halted the actual story WAY too much. This is just something I didn't really like but something I despised were the main character's friends. I mean, she does have some really good and supportive friends but there's also just some terrible friends in here that somehow get a really lamely done redemption arc (as in they just say "sorry" and that's it). These friends spend the entire book being selfish little shits and trying to police how the main character griefs. Blegh. I really hate the fact that they got a redemption AT ALL but the fact that there was barely any effort put in just made my blood boil. So now, things I liked. I really loved the discussion around grief in this book, especially the focus on feeling guilt around moving on. I especially liked how this all was combined with a side character and their experience with grief and how there are similairities and differences between the two. I really loved it. I also thought the romance was really well done. I love how they were friends first and how we got to see them really get to know each other before feelings were ever really talked about. The big moment where they get together also made me cry. It was so beautiful and felt very satisfying as we've seen them go through a lot together already.

What a heartbreaking and lovely story that follows Natalie, a young widow who shows us that hope and love is possible after loss. It’s been a couple years and Natalie is still living in a daze. Her friends pester her to move on, so she goes as far to fake attention from another guy just to get them to back off. What blossoms from this is a lovely friendship with Tom (you will also fall in love with him). This is not a holiday rom com, but a story about growth and grief and friendship and how all of these come together.

Lia Louis is a master at writing somewhat tragic romances, similar to Katherine Center and TJR's older works. In this novel, we meet young widower, Natalie, as she's still battling with grief after her husband's death two years ago. Natalie has attempted to cope by playing piano in the busy London train station, but soon, someone begins leaving her pieces of music to play that had meaning to her and her deceased husband, Russ. Natalie is determined to find out who has been leaving the music. Is it one of Russ' friends or brothers, acting on instructions from Russ? Is it Natalie's ex-best friend, Edie? Is it her handsome new friend, who she seems to always be running into? As Natalie comes more out of her shell, the possibility of romance and moving on finally seems like a reality.

While I tend to prefer strict romance, this book--for the better--is mostly a fiction story, with elements of romance and mystery intertwined. So go in with those expectations! I don't want to spoil too much, but very little of the book is spent focused on Natalie's romance with her eventual partner and it's much more about Natalie discovering herself and moving on. There's a bit of a love triangle, but it all works out for the best, and all loose ends are tied up nicely.

Thanks to Atria for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

This definitely wasn’t the romcom I was expecting, but I really enjoyed the book. I got way in my feelings and felt like the characters were real and would come off the page at any moment. The prose was beautiful and I really resonated with the story.

3.75⭐
G for like one kiss at the end of this book?

It is I, here to report on another British contemporary fiction novel published in the past few months that has a cute looking wintery illustrated cover... But is actually not that wintery and includes a dead family member and is just barely a romance. Whoever did the marketing for Lia Louis and Emily Stone's book this year did NOT understand the assignment.

Natalie's husband died two years ago and she's still picking up the pieces of her life when she finds someone left the piano music to her husband's favorite song in a train station for her. And that catapults Natalie to start finding ways out her grief, meet new people and find healing.

This journey is so important and I am glad Lia put this on paper so that it can resonate with others, but I also found a lot of time that the inaction of the narrator was driving me up a wall. I was left wishing for better pacing and for Natalie to go to therapy with a professional counselor (beyond her musical therapy sessions) rather than rooting for Natalie to find love.

There were some very profound and heartfelt moments in this book, but they were watered down by how this relied to heavily on a predictable twist and several flat side characters. I wanted to love this one but it just wasn't quite for me. If you like a sad girl Brit contemporary like Mhairi McFarlane or Emily Stone, this may be for you.

Thank you so much to Netgally and Simon & Schuster for an advanced readers copy of this book. I was thrilled to read another book by the author of Dear Emmie Blue which I adored. The Key to My Heart was slower paced and also touched a lot on the theme of grief. It reminded me a lot of P.S I Love You which I also loved. While heartbreaking and emotionally tough, it was a story about finding yourself (and love) again. The slow pace and the focus on grief was a lot. However, I loved the epilogue and the ending.