Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Playing Our Song
AUTHOR: L A Bryce
PUBLISHER: JMS Books LLC
LENGTH: 361 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 27, 2021
BLURB:
Jase is famous around the world, and Garrett’s well-known in his neighborhood. They’re two singers. One is living his dream, and the other is living his brother’s.
Jase’s boyfriend’s hostility has increased toward him, making their relationship toxic, but too focused on his band, Jase lets it slide, causing him to almost miss out on the kind of love that lives in his fantasies.
Garrett made a promise to his brother when he passed. But a mistake in its interpretation almost causes Garrett to live out his brother’s dream instead of reaching for his own.
Can these men spot and remove the obstacles stopping them from making beautiful music together before it’s too late?
REVIEW:
By chance, famous band member Jase goes into a bar and hears something incredible. The beautiful voice belongs to Garrett, a man whose looks match his singing. The two become friends, however with Jase already in a relationship, nothing more can happen. But with Jase’s wayward boyfriend on his travels, the two have time to concentrate on their creative sides.
Imagine this story as a long-haul flight. On takeoff, you’re given info on the aircraft. There’s some turbulence and impatient anticipation while rising through clouds to the right altitude before leveling out for a while. All is smooth. Then you hit a storm front where the seatbelt signs come on, and you’re gripping the armrests, wondering if the airbags will be released. Then you exit the nasty clouds and enjoy the remaining flight before descending to the final destination. That is what it was like reading this tale of warring emotions – and yes, I enjoyed it.
The story is told in the third person from the viewpoints of Jase and Garrett. Grammatically, nothing glaring stood out as wrong, but as the story progressed, increasing instances of electricity shooting up arms put me in the ‘yeah, I get it’ frame of mind.
Andrew, Jase’s boyfriend, is a prima-donna piece of work. A brilliant character – easy to hate. However, the old saying that love is blind comes in here because Jase also seems to be missing all his other senses when it comes to Andrew. Jase is a man who often overthinks things, questions his actions, and goes OTT on his thought process. Occasionally, his internal monologue got to the point where it slowed the story down, and I believe most readers already will have grasped the gist, almost losing patience with the man. Then again, it is often the case that those closest to a situation are the last to see the light.
Garrett, bless him, has the sadness of loss in his heart and is a truly touching soul. He’s also an honorable man who would never infringe on another’s boyfriend. In his soul, he is a writer. People write songs for similar reasons why authors write stories – it’s cathartic, and there’s an inner need to release the tale from within. And if the subject matter comes from the heart – it transcends the page. This is one of the reasons why this story clicked with me. Yes, he frequently reads situations wrong, but that’s all part and parcel of fiction.
Overall, Playing Our Song is a slow burn story of highs, lows, creativity, drama, wrong conclusions, frustration, and some delightful characters – a few of which you wanna slap. That’s the juicy part of storytelling. As a rather long read, some impatient souls may conclude that it wouldn’t hurt to lose a few K’s of words from the ramblings. Nevertheless, it is still a sweet story that gave my emotions a workout – which is something I love from a book.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: