Broken Notes - Review

 

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Author: Ann Marie Frohoff
Publication Date: December 28, 2014

Publisher: AMF Publishing
Series: Heavy Influence, Book 2
Genre: New Adult
Age Recommendation: 17 and up

Rating:  4 Stars

 Book Description:

Music fades with a death. Dreams and impulses may kill a future.  

Being rich, famous and in an award winning, multi-platinum band can't save you from life's tragedies. 

When Jake and Alyssa begin to build a life together in New York City, a death and an unfortunate set of events rattle Jake's very existence.  Alyssa clings to her own dreams.  Jake's blurred take on life may end what they've fought so hard to keep.  

Will love remain the same?

My Review:

Be prepared.  There is no slow build up to this story, we are thrown right into the action and right back into the almost chaotic dynamic that is Alyssa (Aly) and Jake.  This isn't a pretty love story, it is raw, emotional, frustrating, and beautiful.  This is not a fairytale, this is the life of two people who have lived heartbreak since the day they met.  This is the story of two people who find a love so deep it's painful and they struggle to keep that love alive, because sometimes, love is not enough.

Aly and Jake are some seriously flawed characters.  Jake struggles to accept life outside of his unyielding love for Aly and his music.  His struggle to accept that he could possible hurt others leads him to hurting them through omission, in particular Aly.  He seems to always be throwing her into situations that she is unprepared for and of course considering some of Jake's past behavior this leaves her questioning his love for her. I have to say Jake reminds me a bit of myself in tat he just wants everyone to be happy and in order for that to happen he will sacrifice his own happiness and at times the happiness of the people closest to him.   On the other side Aly's indecision, her ability to both let Jake off with out repercussions for some of his behavior and her (occasional) selfishness  leave Jake confused and unsure of their relationship.  I have to say there is a good portion of this book where I wanted to give both of them a good shake and tell them just to get it together.  Looking at their families, particularly Jake's  I am not at all surprised by their coping abilities, they all need a good therapy session.
 
This is a book about growth and growing up.  It is a book about making decisions even if they hurt and dealing with the pain of life as seen through an adults eyes. The responsibilities, the consequences to our choices, the loss of friends and loved ones.  It's about how we accept our selves and each other and how we move forward.  While I personally would not make most of the choices these two characters make, there is a realness to them.  I can look at both of them and understand where they are coming from even if I don't like it.  I want Aly and Jake to fight for each other, I want them to have their HEA, but at the same time I wonder if that is what the future should hold for them.  Sometimes loving someone means the best thing for them is letting them go and while I want them to have their moment I wonder if maybe their love story isn't a story about loving each other but of learning to love themselves.

This is a emotional read, it is not a fairytale, but it is a beautiful story about love, pain, acceptance, consequences, and growing up.  There is a lot more story to be told at the end of this book and I am pretty ticked off at everyone involved, (haha) but I am so anxious to see how their lives unfold and if love truly can be enough.


*I know that this book has also been billed as a Young Adult, but I am placing it more in the New Adult genre and suggest it for older YA readers only due to mature content, both emotional and romantic.*

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Ann Marie ("Annie") Frohoff grew up in sunny Southern California. As a teen and young adult, she spent her time frequenting and living in nearly every beachside city up and down the coast.

Ann Marie is a debut author whose vision to tell a story started out like many other aspiring writers, with a dream, literally.

After taking her then eight-year-old daughter to a concert, her dream weaving took on a life of its own. Long story short, she quit her high- paying corporate job and went for broke to follow her dream.

The first installment in her Heavy Influence Trilogy, FIRST KISS, released June 11, 2013 — the series is a story about young, reckless love between a rising rock star and his younger muse, spanning 10 years of their tumultuous and passionate relationship. Each book in the Trilogy will come with a soundtrack of original music, of which the lyrics will appear in the pages of the books.

Annie has settled in the South Bay area of Los Angeles with her family.

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