REVIEW: The Music of Us by Emerald Alexandrea
A fun and flirty contemporary YA novel between a cat café barista and a boy band pop star that hits all the right notes! The Music of Us is a laugh-out-loud friends-to-more romance perfect for fans of Kasie West, Beth Reekles, and Lynn Painter.
If life came with a playlist, Lucy’s current era would be “stressed girl summer.” While her friends are out enjoying the last summer before college, Lucy has her hands full managing her mom’s quirky cat café. But with the fancy new coffee shop across the street, how will she attract enough customers to adopt the cats—or even pay the rent?
In a desperate moment, Lucy emails her ex-best friend (and first crush) Jake Moody, who’s now the resident bad boy in the massively popular boy band the Usual Suspects. Lucy hasn’t spoken to him in years—not since he kissed her and left for auditions without a backward glance. Which she’s totally not holding a grudge about, thanks for asking.
To her surprise, Jake is all in on hosting a livestream performance to raise support for the café—and salvage his image after his most recent scandal. As Jake and Lucy work together to corral his bandmates and plan the livestream, she finds her old feelings resurfacing despite her firm intentions to keep her distance. Is it possible the old Jake she knew is still hiding under his new rebellious image?
Dear Ms. Alexandrea,
Oh my gosh this is adorable. Is it totally believable? Nah. Is it more like a made for TV teen movie? A little bit. But I don’t care. I had such a good time reading it.
Four years ago Luciana – she now goes by Lucy – and Jake were best friends in school. Her single mother runs a cat cafe and Lucy’s always wanted to become a veterinarian. Jake is a bit of an English lit nerd as well as a passionate musician. When a call goes out to form the next big boy band, he heads to LA to audition and seemingly drops Lucy in the dust on his way out.
Now the cafe is in financial trouble due to Lucy’s mom’s medical bills and with few other prospects to raise the needed money in time, Lucy reaches out through Jake’s email. Surprisingly, he not only answers but he says yes however the band manager will agree to a livestream from the cafe only if all the band is there. After years apart with no contact and his bandmates clowning in the background, can Lucy and Jake finally talk about how they really feel?
I whipped through this so quickly. It is definitely YA with only hawt kisses at the end. But it’s fairly emotionally deep as well. Lucy has issues, shouldering all the load of trying to keep the cafe going while her mother heals. For the cats and to keep her mother’s business alive, she’ll swallow some pride and reach out to the boy she is still bewildered that he ghosted her. I mean Jake kissed her before he left for LA and then …. crickets.
Rumple shot me a smug look as Jake started scratching him behind the ears.
Traitor, I mouthed.
Rumple turned his head toward Jake, then over in my direction as if to ask, Him or me?
When first Jake and then one by one the other band members enter the story, Lucy enjoys joking with them but also notices some strange looks from them when they learn her full name. What is going on?
“It’s Lucy now,” I replied.
He nodded, more to himself than to me as he continued to study my face. “Oh, this makes so much sense now.”
The boys are almost too good to be true despite the efforts to make them a little edgy and rumpled. They are delighted to help out at the cafe, feeding kibble, cleaning up, running the fancy barista coffee maker and Lucy can’t help but notice all the looks and vague things they say which make Jake tense up and glower. But then that is his “role” in the band as the “Bad Boy” all dressed in black even if he doesn’t mind when a cafe cat horks up a hairball on his designer boots.
“And if it doesn’t?”
He gave me a grave look. “Then get ready to run.”
Jake held his serious expression until I snorted, and the faux intensity on his face dissolved into something much softer and lighthearted as his dimples appeared.
“I’m not eleven anymore.” I laughed. “You can’t scare me like that.”
“Hey, if my memory’s right, you were the one who tried this stunt on me that one time with the café’s security system.”
“I was a lovely child. I don’t remember doing anything like that.”
“Hmm. Your smirk says otherwise.”
With the clock running out on getting enough money to pay the new higher monthly rent plus get their past-due bills paid, Lucy – remember who takes on the world as her duty – gets stressed about leaving with a hard earned scholarship to college and her dream. I love how things are worked out between Lucy and her mother – who is a sweetheart. What her mother says about Lucy’s dream and not giving up on it, finally gets across to Lucy and also makes Lucy think about a dilemma facing Jake. The two have worked out their friendship but just when Lucy thinks maybe they can move on and be something for each other, things break down. Luckily Jake’s bandmates are there to lend a hand. And it is just like the end of a music video.
“I remember everything you said.”
Yay, that Lucy and Jake don’t stay stuck in snark and hurt feelings and that they actually do talk to each other plus there’s a reason for what came between them that makes sense and absolves both. Most adults can probably easily see this reason coming but this is absolutely a feel good YA romance and I’m here for it. A-
~Jayne
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