PUBLICATION DATE: AUGUST 01, 2012

ennifer Clodfelter is heading to Nashville to chase her dream of making it big in country music. Her journey to being famous begins with a rough start, but with the help of someone she meets at the hotel, she soon finds herself on the road to success. However, success is not turning out to be what she thought it would be. Her past keeps coming back to torment her and she’s ready for a change. Will she be able to believe that God does love her or will she make changes that could be catastrophic to her career?

I must start by saying this is the first book I have read by Julie and I am really impressed with her writing. I normally can’t stand a book written in first person and it usually takes me a while to get into the story when it is written in first person. However, being written in first person didn’t slow me down a bit with this book. To me, that says a lot about the author!

I also enjoyed all the research that went into this book. Honestly, I don’t know if all the information was accurate since I don’t live that lifestyle, but it all seemed pretty realistic. I liked that there were famous names throughout the book, references to famous country music places, and mentions of local places. All of those together and the information regarding the music business made the story seem very realistic. The only negative thing I would say about all the “name-dropping” was that there seemed to be one particular singer that was mentioned A LOT. While I enjoyed the famous names, at some points, I think they could have been left out and it would have been just as nice.

As far as the story itself, I enjoyed it. I loved how the story was divided into “verses.” Very cool idea to go along with the music theme. I was really into the beginning and the first part of the second verse, but then somewhere in there, I kind of lost interest. I just don’t think it was enough “got to know more” for me.  After a while I just wanted to know what happened in Jennifer’s past and be done with it. And to me that means there was a lull in the storyline. I loved Aunt Gomer’s character, that’s what got me through the second verse. I wanted to see more of her spunk. Finally, as the third verse started, then it got my attention again and I wanted to see the resolution. I almost feel this book was a very deep, dark story as far as the main character. Which for me was just a little too heavy for what I normally like to read.

I would not say this was a bad book; it just wasn’t what I normally read. I am however, really looking forward to reading another book by Julie Cannon. As I said earlier, anyone that can write a story in first person and it not bother me is a very talented author!

–Jodie Moore