If you’re looking for a swoon worthy, contemporary romance, than this is the book for you! Love Songs & Other Lies is author Jessica Pennington’s debut novel.
A big thank you to Kester at lilbooklovers.wordpress.com for inviting me to participate in the Love Songs & Other Lies Blog Tour! I’ve enjoyed working with him and I can’t wait to see what other tours are in the works. Thank you also to Jessica Pennington for inviting me onto her street team and to all my street team members!
About the Book
Title: Love Songs & Other Lies
Author: Jessica Pennington
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: April 24th, 2018
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Synopsis: It’s summer romance and second chances, the songs that stay in your head, and the boy you’ll never forget.
Two years after rock-song-worthy heartbreak, Virginia Miller is looking forward to a fun, carefree summer. Her friends just landed a spot on a battling bands reality show, and Vee is joining them for her dream internship on tour. Three months with future rockstars seems like an epic summer plan. Until she learns she’ll also be sharing the bus with Cam. Her first love, and her first heartbreak. Now Vee has more than just cameras to dodge, and Cam’s determination to win her forgiveness is causing TMZ-worthy problems for both of them. With cameras rolling, she’ll have to decide if her favorite breakup anthem deserves a new ending. And if she’s brave enough to expose her own secrets to keep Cam’s under wraps.
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Review
I absolutely adored this book! Jessica Pennington truly impressed me with her debut. Love Songs & Other Lies is told from alternating points of view and timelines. It alternates between Vee (Virginia) and Cam (Cameron) during their senior year of high school, and then a couple of years later when they’re on a Battle of the Bands reality tv show tour.
Vee seems to know which direction she is going in after she graduates from high school. She is planning where she will go to college after she graduates, what she’ll major in, etc. Vee is the manager for her best friend’s band and she seems content with that, even though she’s a very talented songwriter. She’s completely fine with staying behind the scenes. Cam has no real plans, other than hiding from his past. He meets Vee after moving to a small beach town in Michigan. Cam also has an interest in music, and he brings out some things in Vee that she never had thought about before. Cam and Vee become friends and more, and we see how they change and shape each other through their points of view.
Two years later, Vee agrees to rejoin her best friend’s band to help out with their social media campaign while they’re asked to compete in a Battle of the Bands reality tv show. She finds an unexpected surprise waiting for her when she first gets on the tour bus. Her ex-boyfriend, Cam is part of the band. Vee is still very angry with him because of their past history. We are able to see their journey through the present. With the cameras rolling, they have to decide if they can get over the past.
I have to say that I wound up really enjoying how the story alternated from the past to the present. I found myself laughing along with the characters, crying with them, and I felt their anger and frustrations. I wanted their problems to be worked through and resolved. There was a ton of emotion and angst involved. Lots of ups and downs. I found myself cheering and rooting for the characters throughout the story. I felt very emotionally invested in them. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen!
Love Songs & Other Lies will be finding a special place on my bookshelf! I’ve already preordered my finished copy and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. This story, full of both love and heartbreak is definitely one you don’t want to miss. Be sure you add this wonderful debut to your TBR pile!
*I received an E-Arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
About the Author
Jessica Pennington is no stranger to the combination of love and drama. She’s a wedding planner, after all. A writer since the age of ten—when she sought publication for her poem about a tree—Jessica likes the challenge of finding the humor in a sad situation or highlighting the awkwardness in a romantic one. She lives in a Michigan beach town suspiciously similar to the one in her books, where she’s currently finishing her second novel, WHEN SUMMER ENDS, out April 2019.
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Giveaway Rules:
1 winner will receive a signed hardcover of LOVE SONGS & OTHER LIES along with a swag bag filled with a t-shirt, bookmark, stickers, buttons, etc.
Rules are included inside the Rafflecopter giveaway
US only, 18+ or with parental permission
Ends on midnight May 12th, CDT
Link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f13123ce22/
Follow the Tour
Love Songs & Other Lies Blog Tour Schedule
Monday 16th
LILbooKlovers – Interview
Ashleigh’s Bookshelf – Review
Tuesday 17th
The Clever Reader – Dream Cast
Tale Out Loud – Review
Wednesday 18th
Smada’s Book Smack – Top 10 Quotes
BookCrushin – Review
Thursday 19th
My Fangirl Chronicles – Excerpt
A Blunt Book Blog – Review
Friday 20th
BookishBitsBlog – Guest Post
Books. Life. and Everything Else. – Review
Monday 30th
The Candid Cover – Interview
Belle’s Archive – Review
Tuesday 1st
The Cursed Books – Playlist
The Heart of a Book Blogger – Aesthetic
Wednesday 2nd
Portrait of a Book – Aesthetic
Vicky Who Reads – Review
Thursday 3rd
The Mind of a Book Dragon – Interview
Boundless Bookaholic – Review
Friday 4th
Claerie’s Tales – Fanfiction
Librarian Laura – Interview and Excerpt
ashleighsbookshelf.com 
I’m a musician so I already want to read this book, and especially now after your review. Characters I can get to know and care about and cheer for are must finds in books I read.
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Great review, Ashleigh! I’m so glad you were a part of the tour!!! I’m very looking forward to seeing more from your blog! 🙂
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