Most of us are familiar with the popular song 'Hey There Delilah' by The Plain White T's and we've often wondered who the song was written for. In 'What You Do To Me' we learn of a possibility of the back story of the song. This is a fictional story, but it gives us a glimpse of how a song could have such an impact on many lives, through several generations. It has a modern day Romeo and Juliet vibe, without the whole suicide issue, but steeped with heartbreak and tragedy. Several lives and careers are on the line as the story unfolds into an epic tale of love for the ages. Make sure to check out Rochelle's playlist to go along with the book!!

This book was touted as a mix of Daisy Jones & the Six combined with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. And while I can see where the comparison draws from... this did not live up to either of those books.

Now, the premise of What You Do to Me was right up my alley. A woman in the 90's (Cecilia James) who works for Rolling Stone wants to investigate the mystery of who the woman is behind the 70's smash hit, What You Do to Me. However... there was so much in this book that just made me irrationally angry that I couldn't find myself enjoying the majority of it. Spoilers ahead, so be warned.

1) HOW DOES SHE MISS BOARDING A CRUISE SHIP THAT HAS LIKE A 5 HOUR WINDOW FOR PEOPLE TO BOARD? That was my first major red flag. If I were Pete, that would have been my last straw too. If you can't put aside your work long enough to have a romantic getaway with me that we've planned for MONTHS and spent oodles of dollars on, then you don't care enough.

2) Sara's mom. Now, this isn't to say that there aren't women like her out there that are just as restrictive and way too over protective, but I couldn't stand her. Just because your sister died due to an unfortunate accident that was 100% preventable (aka letting her date a non-Jew) doesn't mean you have to do that to your daughter. When Sara didn't want to confront her at the end... she's a better person than me.

3) Eddie's Spanglish. I believe if this were in script format on a television show, it wouldn't have been as cringey. But it felt like the author was trying to throw as many little Spanish words in as possible that Sara wouldn't understand, even though they were all elementary level Spanish words.

4) CECELIA BEING A BITCH TO HER DAD AND HIS FAMILY. GIRL YOU ARE 26 YEARS OLD. ACT LIKE IT! That's all I'll say on that front.

5) The epilogue... why?

Overall, I still had a decent time listening to this book, as the narrative had a decent flow. There was just too much that annoyed me for me to give it anything above a 3 star rating, I still think a lot of people will enjoy this book, so give it a chance if you do like books that take place in the recent past.

I enjoyed this book. The modern love story connected to this popular song is what drew me into reading this book. A good beach read.

Music means many different things to its listeners. For some, it’s nice to have on, a background noise while driving or a beat to dance to at a club. Others, like me, connect songs to pivotal moments in life. I grew up as the daughter of a DJ and have encyclopedic knowledge of more music than most people have ever listened to in their lives.

And then there’s Cecilia Caroline James, the main character in the new novel What You Do To Me by Rochelle B. Weinstein. Like me, she grew up entrenched in music, but she took it a step further. She spoke in song lyrics, learned secret languages of music, and pursued a career in music journalism. In this new novel, Cecilia seeks her big break at Rolling Stone magazine while sabotaging her personal life. When she believes she has found the muse behind the smash hit “What You Do To Me,” she does anything she can to get the story.

This novel takes place between the 1970s and present day, with most of the action in the late 70s and 1996. There are two love stories being told, which can get confusing for readers who do not have the time to immerse themselves in the narrative and try to read it a little at a time. It’s perfect for fans of books like Daisy Jones and the Six and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Pub Day Review of What You Do To Me by Rochelle Weinstein

This book has so much to offer everyone. I absolutely loved it. It’s for anyone who loves a good love story, a second chance love story , and especially for anyone with a love for the music business. I loved the two stories following a famous musician
and his muse/first love from the past, and the protagonist’s current life as a journalist and her love story as well. I loved the writing style and the overall vibe of this one and I can’t recommend it enough. It is out today, so you definitely want to get a copy if you love any of these things mentioned.

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends comes a moving novel of two unfinished love stories and the music and lyrics that bring them together.
Journalist Cecilia James is a sucker for a love song. So when she stumbles across a clue to the identity of the muse for one of rock’s greatest, she devotes herself to uncovering the truth, even as her own relationship is falling apart.
While writing an article for Rolling Stone, Cecilia works to reveal the mystery that has intrigued fans and discovers a classic tale of two soulmates separated by fate and circumstance. Rock star Eddie Vee once sang with his soul, dedicating love songs to Sara Friedman, his inspiration and first love. Now, Eddie takes refuge in anonymity, closed off to the past. Sara, too, has distanced herself from their love, moving thousands of miles away to live the life she once railed against. As Eddie and Sara tentatively open up to Cecilia about broken dreams, she struggles to give them a happy ending. In the process, she learns that broken hearts can be healed―even her own.
What You Do To Me is the story of a love song and of the triumph of the heart over the greatest of odds. Even for those who have written off love forever.

4 stars!

"What You Do To Me" by Rochelle B. Weinstein is a music lover's dream of a romance book. It really is a love letter to music. The story is told over two alternating timelines that ultimately converge with one another as main character Cecilia, who is a writer for Rolling Stone, attempts to chase down the story that will make her career while also trying to mend her relationship with her boyfriend Paul. As she gets closer to figuring out who "Sarita" is to famous musician Eddie Vee, who wrote the hit song "What You Do To Me" decades ago, Cecilia's relationship with Paul suffers more and more each day. She must find herself and discover what she wants while navigating her busy, raucous work life and her fledgling relationship. I really dug this book after a while. I almost did not finish it because it was really slow to get started, but once you get over the first few chapters and into the meat and potatoes of the story, it's a touching ode to true love, music, nostalgia, self-discovery, grief, redemption, and making amends. I found this book to be touching and compelling. I did want to throttle Cecilia a couple of times, though. Her frustrating nature definitely comes across on the page! It's like she can't slow down, can't sit still, and judges everyone at their worst. Some readers will be turned off by her, but to me, she felt authentic. Weinstein gets so many points for doing what she did with her epilogue. So many readers will not be satisfied by it, but I think it stays true to her characters and her story. Check this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley, Rochelle B. Weinstein, and Lake Union Publishing for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I recommend this book! It get me engaged, i liked the story and i liked the characters. I want to read more of rochelle b weinsteins books!

I will be honest in saying that I did not enjoy this book. I gave it a chance because I wanted to try something different but it was not interesting to me. I got bored about halfway through and couldnt keep myself interested and thought it was kinda repetitive. I just felt like it wasnt for me.

This book was beautiful and will stay with me for quite a while. It was written in a way that went back and forth between past and present and between two different storylines. Even though everything ultimately links together, it takes a bit for it to get there.

The main character, Cecilia James is a writer for Rolling Stone who uncovers the story of a lifetime when she stumbles across a woman that she believes may have been the muse for a song that has led to much speculation over the years. In following this story, Cecilia will find herself.

It's hard to explain this storyline without giving away just how special it was. It left me reeling bit when I finished and I'm definitely glad I read it. It's just one of those stories that reaches in and touches your heart.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I received a digital ARC of this novel from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I loved everything about this novel. I highly recommend it!

DNFed this book a couple chapters in. I found the writing style hard to understand and kept zoning out. I couldn't care less about Cecelia and felt that the introduction to her background was too sober. I see that there's a lot of readers that absolutely loved this book, but it's just not for me.

Rochelle B. Weinstein's 'What You Do To Me' is a heartbreaking and epic story thats part love letter to music and part love story.

Ambitious young Rolling Stone journalist Cecilia James is on assignment when she overhears a woman she later believes is the inspiration for the hit song 'What You Do To Me'.

Switching between 2023, the late 1970s and 1996, we see the parallel stories of Cecilia's dogged pursuit to find the mysterious 'Sarita' and Eddie at the expense of her relationship with boyfriend Pete, and the star-crossed story of teenage Sara and Eddie. Sara's mother disapproves of Eddie because he's not Jewish and speaks broken English.

Both Cecilia and Sara are both shaped in different ways by their parents. Sara wants to break free from her religious mother's stiffling ways with the pressure to marry the Jewish boy next door, while Cecilia is nursing anger her father's abandonment of her and her mother to start another family.

This book manages to pack a lot in it and I don't think the balance between the two love stories worked for me. By chapter nineteen I ended up skipping to the last third as the flashback scenes were becoming repetitive (especially when Cecilia interviews them later which made these superfluous). I also think it either needed to focus on one story more. When we learn what happened to Sara, it felt like overwrought Lifetime melodrama. It seemed cruel that Sara was punished for finally making an active decision to life her life on her terms after being unhappy for doing what Shira pressured into her.

I felt let down by the bittersweet and the epilogue. While Weinstein gets kudos for her bravery to go against reader expectations, I felt after all the growth she undergoes, Cecilia was robbed of a true happy ending. Hence I came away finishing this feeling saddened more than uplifted for both heroines who I was invested in.

Overall though, this is still a well-written, easy to read and be swept up into the story kind of book. Its clear with the detail that Weinstein loves music and the power of a song. For that reason alone, despite my issues with it, I still think any music and romance lover should give this book a read.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

What You Do To Me is the first book that I read by the author, Rochelle B. Weinstein. This book wasn’t my normal go-to genre so I was a little hesitant to read it at first. But when I read the blurb, I was so intrigued that I wanted to read this book and see how the song, Hey There Delilah, by the Plain White T’s inspired this book.

This book is a standalone, contemporary romance about star-crossed lovers who were impacted by music and one song in particular, What You Do To Me, by the band High Tide. It loosely follows the lives of Sara Friedman and Eddie Santiago who are our star crossed lovers, but also features the complicated romance between Cecilia James and Pete Shepard. The book goes back and forth in time between the 1970’s and the 1990’s and some in the present times, 2023. It can get confusing with how quickly the chapters go back and forth, but it isn’t too bad.

As this was the first book I have read by the author, I am intrigued to read more books by her. I would recommend this book to any music lover especially those who loved the song, Hey There Delilah.

Having recently finished “What You Do to Me" by Rochelle B. Weinstein, I am happy to have had the chance for the Advanced Reader’s Edition e-copy; thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing!

As a lover of music, “What You Do to Me" was a selection that I was excited to add to my NetGalley shelf. Both timelines of this entertaining story were full of important and complex relationships and lessons of trust.

One of my favorite parts of a memorable book is what I think of as a “full circle” moment. That moment in this story was one of the best I've read recently. It was one that solved a mystery, brought a smile to my face, and why not; a song to my heart…

“Be bold, be brave.”

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

I loved this book. The dual timelines and focus on music was such an amazing part of this story. I loved the backstory of the book and how it was inspired by the song 'Hey There, Delilah'. It's such a clever idea to incorporate the song and expand on it to create a book. I didn't like the ending of the story because I wanted more. I cried while I read this book, and I would recommend it.

I loved the concept and thought it was so cool reading about Cecilia working at Rolling Stone! I have a hard time with past/present timelines and was only able to get invested in the present timeline - it’s usually one or the other that I connect with. The past timeline chapters just felt like they dragged on forever and I just kept excitedly waiting for Cecilia’s moments. There was so much going on in this book though and Cecilia definitely wasn’t likeable half the time. BUT THE ENDING OMG I BAWLED.

What You Do To Me is a story of love making someone be very cautious about opening their heart but then realizing that opening your heart to someone is the greatest risk with the greatest reward.

Cecilia has a dream job and now that job is giving her the chance to solve the mystery of who the love song is truly written for. It has been a mystery since the song first played on the radio. The song was the main story of this book but her relationships were just as important. The relationship with her boyfriend was perfect for them both until it was not. Her relationship with her dad was also perfect when she was young but as she grew up it became something else. I felt like I was watching Cecilia grow up. She learned some very hard lessons but also was able to make the choices that were right for her to get the future that she really wanted.

Rochelle B. Weinstein wrote a book that had me cheering for the characters, invested in the story, and hoping it never ends. I would recommend What You Do To Me to anyone who is looking for a romance that is more than romance. There is family dynamics, career choices, relationship choices, and romance.

The book's inspiration is from the Plain White T's Hey There Delilah and I could not stop singing the title of the book while reading it. It gets in your head.

Cecelia James writes for Rolling Stone, waiting for her big story to break, when she accidentally gets her hands on the handwritten copy of a song by Eddie Vee. It is his big hit and no one knows who it was written for, if anyone in particular. He has disappeared since an accident at a concert and no one knows where he is. Cecelia makes it her mission to find him and to connect with the mysterious woman Sarita, that she meets. It really is a tale of love lost and love you fight for as Cecelia and her boyfriend hit a really bad patch due to Cecelia. It is also a story of what is true in life and what we tend to see instead.

Will there be healing all around? I really loved how the story played out and how all the parts made perfect sense. It is a good love story on all counts and a good read. Oh, it's what you do to me, it's what you do to me.....

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union for a copy of this book for review.

Rochelle B. Weinstein has written a love story to music and the stories behind songs.
I couldn’t have loved this book more if I tried. I felt connected to Sara and Cecilia in different ways, feeling their love and heartbreak through the songs and years.

Stacy Gonzalez does an exceptional job narrating this five star read. One of my favorites of 2023 hands down.

Thank you, Rochelle Weinstein, Lake Union,
& netgalley for my advance ecopy. All opinions are my own.