This was a very sweet romance. I loved Quito and his Filipino heritage, especially all the food, leapt off the page. My one quibble was that I wish he and Emmett had better communication ,because I felt a lot of the conflict would have been avoided.

Actual rating 4.5 stars.

Sometimes I just want to immerse myself in a book. Because I feel down. Or because I’m tired. Or like now because my previous read consumed me wholly and still haunts me. All the Right Notes is the perfect book to read at times like these.

Told in a dual timeline, senior year in high school and twenty years later, All the Right Notes is a story about two men who once bonded over music and fell in love, and meet again, still feeling that tingling vibe between them from the past.

Like I said, I needed a book like this. It’s a wonderful debut. The almost blunt writing, the rather short chapters, and the alternation between now and then made me sit on the edge of my seat, and the palpable chemistry between Quito and Emmett made me want to devour this story in just one sitting. That heavy feeling in my chest from my previous read slowly disappeared. Instead, a fuzzy fondness entered my body and a smile started to tug at my lips. Not only because of Quito and Emmett but also because of the side characters. I immediately fell in love with Quito’s sweet and supporting dad and Jee, OMG, Jee. They reminded me so much of ‘glitterbal’ Jacob from First Time for Everything (Henry Fry). And can I gush about Emmett for a moment? He was so cute, no wonder that he had so many fans! Last but not least, I shouldn’t forget to mention that Domenic Lim is a Filipino-American author and Filipino food is interwoven throughout the story.

If you love dual timelines, music, a slow burn second chance romance with little steam but lots of yearning, and fully fleshed out characters then you should definitely read this great debut! Domenic, I can’t wait for what you have in store for us next!

Quito and Emmett are thrust back into each other's worlds almost a decade after their last fateful meeting. At first a pianist at a piano bar and a famous actor seem to be polar opposites with nothing but their high school past a common vein in their lives. Their second chance romance is a test of time, closeted feelings and what it takes to acknowledge a love that has far reaching consequences.

What do I say about this book? My heart was wrenched the whole time. Every single chapter is so well written and I feel like I'm living Quito's life, feeling his feelings. Loved all the wonderful imagery, Quito's honest introspection and the inclusiveness of this book. Loved the song woven through the book too. The secondary characters in the book, especially Jee, were written just as well as the main characters. Quite honestly, I can't believe this is a debut novel- it's that good.

I wish I had seen a bit of Emmett's introspection, his feelings, though. I loved his character.

This was a really sweet book! The storyline is endearing & engaging; I think there were a few rough edges here & there, but overall a good story.

I particularly loved Quito's point of view in the piano bar he worked at - the mockery of the very 'showboat'-y style singers who tried to show off & the shy old man he got to sing something nostalgic, and then having someone famous come in -- loved this scene & from his perspective - would have been happy to see even more of the book set from his piano bench in this bar - super fun setting!

Overall, I wanted a little more of the 'now' storyline and how Emmett & Quito find their way back to each other/communicate more as older characters -- and a little less/more condensed of the 'what happened back THEN' storyline, but both were interesting & keep the reader engaged. I might have liked a chapter here & there from Emmett's perspective...

The whole "let me teach you about pronouns and trans people through this example and this example' was a little too on the nose/clumsily done & I think actually takes the reader out of the flow of the story - I find this more effective if it's not so overtly preachy.

A new author I'll keep an eye out for in the future!