Love Songs and Other Lies by Jessica Pennington

Love Songs and Other Lies
By Jessica Pennington 
Read: June 7 - 10, 2017
Published: April 24, 2018 by Tor Teen
Source: BEA
Category: New Adult, Contemporary, Musicians, Second Chance Romance, Reality Shows, Tour Busses
Find: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Indiebound

Book Description: 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.
___________________________________________________________________

Love Songs and Other Lies is a book that I discovered pretty randomly at BEA last year, and though I don't traditionally think of Tor Teen as publishing contemporary romances, they've been releasing some addicting examples recently, including this one. I'd also personally label this book more of the New Adult category than Young Adult, since these characters are college aged in present time. But I know those distinctions can get a little bit muddled. 

Love Songs and Other Lies is a second chance romance that weaves the past into the present by alternating chapters of Then and Now: Then, when the characters were in high school, and Now, on a tour bus for a music reality show. We also get both Vee and Cam's perspectives throughout both time periods, all of which just makes everything more intense and emotional and sweet and heartbreaking and heartwarming. Aaaahhh. There is so much FEELING in this book, and the song writing and performing just adds to the entire experience. I was also impressed with the pacing of how information about each character was revealed through both timelines. I sympathized with both of these characters, which doesn't always happen with second chance stories (usually I'm more upset with one of then than the other). I just wanted so much for Vee and Cam to be happy, and I was right there for the entire journey. 

If you look above, I read this one way back in last June, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since then. We still have a few months to go before release, and you should definitely preorder this now. This is Jessica Pennington's debut, and I cannot wait for what she writes next. 

Love Triangle Factor: None
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone