Just a Girl by Ellie Cahill

I've always shied away from any romances involving musicians/bands, but I love Ellie Cahill a lot so I had to give this one a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Just a Girl! Ellie's writing is lovely, and she writes such great characters, so I knew I would like Presley and Paul. But I really, really liked them! They both are super likable, and have great personalities. I really felt for Paul and his crippling stage fright (me too, dude), and I liked that Presley was able to help him. I feel like traditionally in romance, the female character is the insecure one and the guy isn't so I enjoyed that the roles were reversed in this book. Ellie Cahill is always really good at mixing the sexy, fun, flirty, light romance with a little grit. She has the characters go through something and allows the reader along to see that. I felt like the treatment of addiction was so well done, and is definitely a title I will think of when this topic pops up in the library setting. Overall, this was such a romantic book with a little weight that makes the reader feel as though they've gone on a journey with the characters.

I knew I needed something lighter to read after a series of bad thrillers. Something fluffy, something angsty, something that gave me the good happily ever after feeling. Just a Girl has been on my Kindle since its release day, I just never reached for it. Admittedly, I only opened it this time as I was going through my To-read list and picking based on cover. I know, bad practice, but it turned out for the best here.

Just a Girl follows musician and singer, Presley Mason, as she returns home licking her wounds. Kicked from her own band by her boyfriend she's returned to her parent's music store to hide, recover, and possibly never return to music again. Of course, that's a bit hard when your parents are legendary themselves and all their friends are famous musicians too. Then walks in one of the local guitar teachers and Presley's promise to avoid musicians goes out the window. From the very first kiss these two are meant to be, the chemistry is in the air and music falls from them both like magic. Presley is too afraid to mix business and pleasure though, so when an opportunity to sing again presents itself it's him or the first love of her life.

I loved that Presley wasn't a pop star singer, because that was for sure my first thought. With a playlist full of blues, jazz, rock, and folk, the girl has a wide range of genre tastes and a voice that just so happens to be able to sing it all. Yes, I suspended belief about her small town having so many famous people in it, but man was it fun to picture her singing with a famous guitar artist from the 70s and boasting two proud folk singer parents too. She's smart, she's sassy, and her broken heart recovery was truly relatable. We all sabotage ourselves sometimes. Unfortunately, while I liked Paul a lot, I couldn't ever know him. We spend so much time in Presley's head that I think we miss the key moments that would've given us an insight into Paul. The drama between them feels surface level, but we know that there's for sure more going on there, we just don't see it. I wish we had.

A romance with just the right amount of music and secondary character plots, Just a Girl was just the read I needed.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

This story is about a girl in a music store. She was a big time rockstar. Until her band decided to kick her out she came back to live with her parents and run the music store with them. She meets a guitar player and falls in love. There are many conflicts along the way. This story was predicatable. It turned out the same as other stories about love and relationships but I still enjoyed it. It was a great read. and a great story. With a great plot.

Love Paul and Presley. I love a good rock star romance. I read this in one sitting. Thank you for the Arc Netgalley

I wanted to love this book.. but I didn't..
The idea behind it was different so I was intrigued. The writing was fine I enjoyed the flow of the book in the beginning just lost me. I couldn't; get into it

I actually enjoyed Just a Girl a lot more than I expected, which is always a nice surprise. This was a nicely written New Adult Romance that was wonderfully steamy and expectedly swoonworthy, but also managed to offer some depth.

This wasn’t entirely a fluff piece. The story had its fair share of angst and struggle. We have a great protagonist who lost her band, her boyfriend, and her dream all in one swoop, and in the aftermath of her losses, her fears began to outweigh her passion for singing and music. By the end of the day, however, Presley was a strong-willed female lead who was determined to be more than a pretty girl with a pleasing voice. She had a clear vision of the sort of artist she wanted to be, and she never strayed from that. We also have an equally compelling love interest, Paul, who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, which resulted in him depending on medicinal marijuana and drugs to keep his nerves in check before performing on stage.

One of the things I liked the most about Just a Girl was its honest, painfully realistic portrayal of substance abuse and addiction. It emphasized on the necessity of seeking the right help, instead of feeding readers an idealistic scenario where one character ‘saves’ another character from themselves.

This was quick to read and easy to follow. I finished Just a Girl in one sitting. Ultimately, however, I wasn’t very emotionally invested in anything, and I think, in the long run, Just a Girl won’t be a story I’ll be able to vividly remember.

Quick disclosure: I received a digital copy of Just a Girl from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3 stars

Adorable! I liked both Presley and Paul a lot, they fit well together. I was happy their relationship started off so strong in the beginning and it wasn't over-dramatic when the unavoidable break up occurred. Just a Girl had just the right amount of humor, swoon, and cuteness!

I have not had a chance to read this book yet. I am still working on catching up and also trying not to get too far behind on other books. I will update this review once I have read the book.

I am a big fan of books set in the music industry and read quite my share of them but still this book was able to make a nice change.

The musical setting was unique and set off a nice atmosphere. Presley's family completely involved in the music, the band etc. sent a pretty nice vibe and you could feel the passion every single character has for the music.

I liked Presley and Paul right from the beginning. They were working really well together and I liked the funny and cute bantering between them. There was a great humour in this book which I enjoyed a lot. Still there was some final sparkle missing which made me loose myself completely into the story.

I loved the themed playlists, chats with the best friends and articles at the end of the chapters. They made a cute little addition to the atmosphere.

This has been my first book by Ellie Cahill and I will definitely read more. I enjoyed her writing style a lot.

This was my first book by this author, but it will not be my last! I loved her style of writing, the characters and the way in which the story flowed so quickly. I was unable to put my kindle down! I loved everything about this book. There is no stopping point, once you start reading this book you are committed, forget all about your everyday life and the things that you need to get done, because this book will become your life while you are reading it!!

Unfortunately, I lost interest before I got around to this title.

A good, quick read! Loved that it was set in my hometown!