I was very happy to receive an ARC of The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis as I've read some of her previous work (Eight Perfect Hours) and enjoyed her writing. This book is about Natalie Fincher, an early thirties widow who seems to just go through the motions of life 2 years after losing her husband Russ. Natalie's friends try to set her up with a guy at a restaurant, Tom, and this becomes the beginning of Natalie finding the herself after so much heartbreak. We get a window into the world of Natalie, the grieving process, the feeling of stagnation, the guilt of moving forward and opening up her heart in more ways than one.

I was a little nervous to read this book given what some would say is a difficult subject, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lia Louis has a beautiful way with words and really brings depth to Natalie, Tom and all of the supporting characters. Though we deal with the loss of a loved one, this is not a tragic book. This is a hopeful view at how we work hard to put our pieces back together after a loss, how a person can break, but not be broken. As someone who is dealing with a lot of these feelings, I felt comforted by Natalie's journey and her strength. I cannot wait to read what's next for Lia Louis!

It's not often that I find a romantic comedy that is fun and heartwarming, but also hits on harder topics like loss and grief and does them in a such a wonderful way. The Key to My Heart was so wonderfully done, and Lia Louis has now won me over entirely!

This book was so incredibly good! From the very start to the end it was great. I was drawn to the mystery of who could be leaving music for Natalie after her husband Russ passed away. The young widow meets multiple people throughout the book who she thinks may be playing into it...or could it be one of her friends? Who could possibly know that much about her, that they left particular songs for her to play? I loved so many of the characters, their relationships, and the overall concept of the story and how it all came together at the end. I will definitely be recommending this to readers I know!

I have nothing grand or verbose to say except for I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK! Lia Louis’s writing will just tug at your heartstrings, and she brings you along for the ride and it compels you to relate on an emotional level with her characters – and could she just not, because this may be one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2022.

Natalie is grieving after the loss of her husband Russ, and feels the pressure from her friends and family to have already moved on with her life instead of allowing her to process her grief in her own way. During this time, Natalie has been playing the piano publicly in a train station, when she discovers that someone is leaving sheet music for her to play that holds special meaning for her and her late husband. While trying to figure out who is leaving the sheet music, Natalie rediscovers herself and finds love in the process and let me just say you will enjoy the journey right along with her.

Ughhhhh prepare yourself for a slow burn, and I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face during a majority of the banter during this book because you just know Natalie is meant to find love again, but honestly the book is more about rediscovering oneself and processing through what life throws your way at your own speed and time. But nevertheless, was very happy to have an HEA.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Lia Louis and Atria Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

This was super cute! I really liked all the main characters and the growth of Joe and Natalie as they work to overcome their grief. Tom is amazing. 10/10 for Tom alone. This was a fun and light hearted read and I will look for more from this author!

The Key To My Heart

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Key to My Heart is a heart warming story of a widow finding her way through grief. She navigates through friendships, her career and home as she learns to adjust to her new life.

This was written by Lia Louis, author of Eight Perfect Hours, which I read last year. I liked this one even more! While it has some romance going in, I thought the preview prepared me well for a more melancholy story. Good to the happy ending!

Thanks to @netgalley for this advanced copy!

Natalie Fincher lost her husband after a hit and run accident. For two and a half years she's been grieving over the life they could have had. As a talented musician before the accident she used to write and play the piano and now only plays the public piano that sits in St. Pancras Station in London. She spends her Tuesdays and Thursdays playing the piano and getting coffee at the coffee shop while chatting with Shauna, the coffee shop owner. All of the sudden, sheet music appears at the piano, it's not just any sheet music, but music that meant something to her and Russ, her late husband. But who is leaving the sheets of music?

One of the best romance/chick lit books I've read in a long time, but the romance part isn't what takes center stage of this story. It's super sweet, heart warming, realistic and a lovely plot. It's not filled with steamy sex scenes or filled with a ton of swearing, but more about Natalie's journey through grief and those around her who are trying to help her through this time in her life. I loved reading this book so much that I didn't want it to end. I can't wait to read more of Lia Louis' books!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this incredible digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions,

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the gifted ebook

This is going to be one of those reviews where I wish I could eloquently say what I loved about the book, but won’t be able to properly verbalize it. Here’s my best attempt though…. this book, like all Lia Louis’ novels, is a hug. It’s being reunited with an old friend who just “gets you”. It’s your favorite comfort meal after a bad day.

The ending was 🥰😭♥️ perfection. This book explores grief and the aftermath of loss so well. It shows how hard it can be to navigate relationships when it feels like everyone else has moved on and expects you to as well. I think a lot of people will feel very understood by this part of the story and how when you go through a major loss you can feel like you are no longer that same person you were before, even if others expect that of you.

I really adored this story and highly recommend it. I think it’s important to know going in that this book is literary fiction. There is romance, but that is not the central part of the story. Personally, that is my favorite type of book, but I’m including this disclaimer in the hopes I don’t see people complaining that they thought it was going to be a RomCom just because it has a cutesy illustrated cover!

With this book, Lia Louis has cemented her stories as “must read” for me.

Natalie is a young widow of two years who can’t seem to restart her life. She’s overwhelmed by sadness and guilt. Each day is a repeat of the one before until she begins finding sheet music by the piano in the Tube station. Someone is leaving random sheets of music pertaining to her life with her late husband, Russ. She looks forward to these finds, hoping they are a message sent to her by Russ.

This is a poignant story of love, loss and finding the courage to live and love again. Tom and Joe were such amazing characters, both as friends and love interests. Natalie was lucky to have so many loving friends and family to help her navigate her grief. And of course, the end was all worth it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a meh book for me. There wasn't anything that I particularly loved about it and there wasn't anything that made this a 1-star book. I liked the exploration of the topic of grief and following Natalie's journey as she overcomes it. If you were wanting to read this for the romance aspect, you'll probably be disappointed as romance was not the main focus of the story. I also liked the mystery of trying to find out who was leaving sheet music was really intriguing and added another layer of depth to the story. Unfortunately, I didn't really connect to the characters which did impact my enjoyment of the story, but I don't think that was the fault of the author, I was reading this on and off for about a month so I didn't continuously spend time with the characters. If you're wanting a book that explores the topic of grief in a meaningful way, especially in regard to losing a spouse, then you would like this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the advanced reader copy!

The Key to My Heart was wonderfully done, spinning grief and loss with growth and hope in such a masterful way. It felt heavy and light at the same time. I appreciated Lia Louis' ability to sprinkle humour throughout.

Two years after now 33-year-old Natalie unexpectedly loses her husband in a tragic accident, she's struggling to figure out who she is and what she wants in this stage of life. She's unsure of how to connect to her friends in the same way and hesitant to find love again. Trying not to give too much away, but Louis' did a wonderful job of letting us connect and see Natalie's growth and change. It didn't feel rushed or forced, but very real and genuine.

I am definitely a Lia Louis fan after this book, and will be digging into her backlist ASAP!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, for the advance eARC in exchange for the honest review.

3.5 Stars

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me but I definitely think it's one that has an audience and is well written. it was just too slow of pace for what I enjoy right now.

It follow the story of Natalie, a recent widow that her friends are trying to push to get out there again. She just isn't interested in dating yet but she tries to be a good sport and talk to a man named Tom at the bar her friends encouraged her to talk to. Tom is such a great sport when she is honest about the situation. He's charming, funny, and incredibly sweet. I loved Tom so much

Natalie also plays piano in the subway. Things start to take an unexpected twist, with her finding new sheet music left at the piano sometimes. It's not any sheet music this is music specially special to Nat and her dead husband. Their wedding song, the song she sang to him while he was at the hospital.

This is a story about grief and learning how to move on. I loved the two main characters, they are super likable and well written.

The downside of this book is it is just slow pace and takes a bit to get going. I think fans of ps I love you could love this book. I'm interested to check out other stories by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this EArc. My review is voluntarily my own

**3.5 stars**

This is a lovely book about grief and relearning how to live and love after tragedy. The protagonist, Natalie, has just lost her husband two years ago, and everyone around her––even her friends––expects her to be ready to "move on," but, understandably, she isn't ready. The depiction of Natalie's grief is so real, and that's what I liked most about this book. Everyone processes grief differently, but I liked how her character didn't just "bounce back" after her husband's death and try to move on like her friends keep forcing. It was frustrating how often they pressed the subject, but that's how some people react in real life too: "it's been ___ amount of time, why can't you let it go??" as if your grief inconveniences them and they want the old you back.

The sheet music being left at the piano was cute. I wished that had been more of the book's focus. It seemed like it would be introduced right away and that it was going to play a much larger role than it did, so I was a little disappointed. But it was a cute way of getting Natalie to fall back in love with music, and it was fun to figure out the mystery of who was leaving it for her.

My only huge drawback is the pacing. It is a very slow-moving, drawn-out story. I'm not sure if that was intentional because that's how the grieving process sometimes is, especially in Natalie's case, but either way, it resulted in my interest being lost much of the time. I don't think I mesh well with slow-moving books, personally, but again, I did enjoy the premise, the depiction of grief, and I liked Tom's character a lot. He and Natalie had a connection from the start, but it made sense why it wasn't pursued from the beginning and why she originally kept him at arm's length.

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler books and NetGalley for this ARC!!

This protagonist of this book is Natalie, a young widow who is still heartbroken and stuck 2.5 years later. She is not able to bring herself to resume her career (musician) and is just drifting through life. She is also overwhelmed by the money pit of a cottage, which she purchased with her husband as their dream home.

She is working at her parents clothing store to pass the time, and feels compelled to play on the public piano on St Pancras station twice weekly. Then she starts finding sheets of music in the St Pancras station piano bench. The odd thing, is that these were songs that Natalie played for her husband while he was in the hospital.

What I really enjoyed about this book, was that even though it dealt with grief there was also lots of humor, and hope. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I plan to read more.

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed this book. It isn’t so much of a romance as a reflection on life after death and picking up the pieces. I will read any book she writes as they are strong, solid reads!

This book was so cute and I loved it so much. I really enjoyed it and felt like I was at home with this book.

”’Guilty,’ I type and send. ‘Scared,’ I send again.”

Made it through 40% of this novel before the crying started. The Key to My Heart is another tear-jerker from Lia Louis, this one about an extremely young widow trying to move on, but stuck. This is the third book I’ve read by this author, each with a devastatingly sad premise. Second in a row with a gone-too-soon character/ghost haunting the main character.

“This is what happens. This is what happens every single time I try to move forward. It’s like treacle. Like vines wrapping around my ankles, dragging me back. The guilt and the grief and the stop signs that seem to appear the second I hold my head up high and choose a path.”

The thing about grief is that it doesn’t leave you. It truly feels as if you are the keeper of the world you shared with your dearly departed, and it hurts so much to move forward and put those memories on ice. And every time you touch one of those precious memories, it’s another punch to the gut. Natalie is a character you want to put in a protective bubble. But Notebook Joe is who I think I would be were I a character in this book. He becomes a friend of Natalie’s, and maybe more, but he’s more quiet grief. Suffering alone. It is what Natalie does but she has friends to pull her out, in their flawed and human ways. She has her sister.

“And there I was thinking it was all about me. What is it Jodie always says? Nobody’s really watching. You think they are, but they’re too busy watching themselves.”

This is a lovely book. Nearly impossible to read through without shedding a few tears. Wildly romantic in parts. Lia Louis has done it again.

A cute read but to be honest it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I was super excited for this book, hoping it would be a more emotional romance than most (with the main character being a widow). However I ended up feeling like the first 3/4 of the book was slow, repetitive and I didn’t find myself getting immersed in it. The last 25% of the book really picked up though! The pace was better and characters became more fun and interesting.

It’s a good read if you’re looking for an easy to ready romance but it definitely hasn’t been one of my faves as of late.

A story of grief and love.

Natalie Fincher is heartbroken. Her husband passed away two and half years ago and she was left with feelings of guilt and unable to move forward. She used to write music and play the piano but now her only time spent playing the piano happens when she uses the public piano at the London train station.

Her family and friends are worried about her. Her girlfriends are trying to stir her into dating again but she doesn't feel ready. Yet, she still goes out with them although she would prefer to be home. During one of these outings is when she meets a guy named Tom. Is not too long before Tom and Natalie start a friendship. She confides in him about playing the piano at the train station and someone leaving behind music sheets of songs she use to play to her husband while he was in the hospital.

The mystery surrounding the papers left for her is what propels her to start interacting with more people including the owner of the coffee shop, Shauna and Notebook Guy.

The Key to My Heart was engaging, with a plot that moves forward with a natural flow. My favorite part was the last reveal which was pretty great in my opinion.

This is the 3rd book I have read by Lia Louis and I'm a fan.

I want to thank Melissa and Jayme to read it with me. Buddy-reads are the best!

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story and was especially pleased with the unique plot line.

Natalie is a young widow who tragically lost her husband over 2 years ago. Everyday she travels through the same Tube station on her way to her favourite coffee shop in London. She's intrigued by an old piano just left on the side of the station. She's an accomplished musician who has lost her way as she is still grieving. She finds sheet music everyday by the piano. Music that was special to her late husband, Russ. She begins to play the piano everyday at the station. Just who is leaving these sheets of music? That plot was very intriguing to me and unique. I enjoyed going through all the emotions with Natalie as she begins to finally get a hold of her life once again.

This story has a lot of heart. It features supportive friends and light romance. Love will prevail! I like Lia Louis's style of writing. This is my second book by her, the first one being, Dear Emmie Blue. While I did like this one a lot, I did not like it as much as that one.

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for granting me access to this Advance Reader Copy.