REVIEW: Loud Is How I Love You by Mercy Brown

One girl’s heart gets rocked to the core in the first novel in this sexy New Adult series.



Twenty-one-year-old front girl Emmylou knows that getting her band noticed in the ‘90s indie rock scene will be no easy task. She definitely knows better than to break the number one rule of the band: Don't sleep with your bandmates! But after she ends up having the best sex of her life with her guitarist, Travis, she finds following that rule is a lot harder than it sounds.





When the band gets the gig of their dreams, making it big seems just within reach. But Emmy’s inability to keep her hands off Travis threatens everything they’ve worked for. Can Emmy find a way to break the rules and not blow the chance of a lifetime?

Kindle Edition

Published January 19th 2016 by InterMix

Source: Netgalley

Purchase a copy: Goodreads | Amazon

OUR REVIEW:

Shel: As I sit here thinking about this book I find myself laughing about Emmylou. Her mouth just runs away from her and her inner monologues were so freaking funny that I laughed out loud many, many times during my reading. I actually laughed until I cried TWICE.  So if you're looking for something that is not only about romance and love and a cool as shit rock chick but also something that will make you laugh, this is definitely a book you need to read.  Court: At first, the way her inner monologue's were written threw me off, being honest. But...then, I realized that I really like the zany way that her thoughts are just all over the place...as I know the feeling! And as I settled into that, the story took off and she is funny...and frustrating, and overall a great time!

Shel: I love music (when I met my husband he was in a band) and I love the 1990's (which is when this novel takes place (AND WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE)) and I absolutely LOVED that Mercy Brown kept throwing band/musician references throughout the novel. So obviously all of those things were what hooked me into this novel but Emmylou + Travis are what kept me reading. Emmylou was so fantastically real. Her desire for her band's success which was in direct conflict with her desire for Travis + how she handled it (read: ran from it/fucked it up/avoided dealing with it) hit really close to home. Sure I wanted her to get her shit together and face things but I think what made me adore her was that she didn't. She reacted like many of us do--she put her foot in her mouth A LOT, she did stupid crap for the right reasons, and she was so focused on how she thought things should go vs. how they might go if she let Travis 'in', that she messed things up many times... and yet I found her forgivable, funny, and incredibly sweet. When I think of Emmylou I think of her as one of my girls--I know she'd fit right in with me and all the girls in our scene in the 1990's --and even when I was texting Courtney about her, it felt like I was talking about a friend. Crazy, I know.


Court: She definitely liked to be in control of the people around her, and as the story develops and you find out why...it is all with a good heart attached. She doesn't like change. It scares her a lot, and for good reason...so she holds onto what her idea of a perfect life is and doesn't want to deviate from that. Travis. Boy, that boy got taken through the ringer with this one...but her descriptions of him I loved. His reactions to things I loved, and I loved how everyone else had Emmy figured out way before she did. She took a while to catch up, but the journey is fun! (Mr. Montana!!!)

Shel: I adored Travis  and how he was so wonderfully in love with Emmylou and  how he accepted her fuckery, even when he was hurt or befuddled by her. He seemed so even-keeled and like he took things in stride. I loved how he nurtured her dream and yet saw the need to be aware of the 'real' world. I love that even in all of the drama towards the end, it didn't really feel like drama--it felt like the steps that needed to be taken to nudge Emmylou out of her nervous hamster ball thoughts. Court: Amen. He never got mad and blew up, because his end game was going to be different than she was letting him be, consequences be damned. And I loved, loved, loved it! Travis is the kind of guy we all want. He is artistic, he is loving and kind, but isn't a pushover when it really counts...he stands up for himself without being mean, and he let Emmy grow and try to find her own way. He is my favorite part of this book.

Shel: In addition to Emmy and Travis, the secondary characters really enhanced everything about this book: the music scene, the parents, the friends, and some interesting 'others'. With Cole's book out next it'll be neat to see what they're all up to. Court: Surprisingly Montana, and her mother stole the show for me. No, wait...Millie did too. In a completely surprising way. So you get the idea...there are several characters who help this story be so complete.

Shel: Loud Is How I Love You is a exactly what I was looking for: a laugh out loud, sexy romance with a heavy emphasis on music and being in a band and falling in love with your best friend.  Thank you Christina Lauren for putting this novel and Mercy Brown on our radar and thank you Mercy Brown for this novel!  Court: It was perfect for us. We both love music. We love reading and English (and so did Emmy) and we love female lead singers, and the guitarists who don't want to probably but can't help but love them! Long live band romances. Mercy Brown, thank you for this book. It touched our hearts, and hopefully will find many readers to love it too. (Did I tell you too that I love alternative bands mostly just because of the band names? Yep! Long live the Butthole Surfers)

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