Review Detail

YOU’D BE MINE by Erin Hahn is a YA contemporary romance set in the confines of country music, road life, and hidden demons. The story has a dual point of view between Annie, a budding starlet on the cusp of her potential, and Clay, a bona fide megastar at risk of losing it all if he doesn’t clean up his act. Insert some sparks between the two and it’s pretty clear where this story is headed. Despite that, Hahn does a good job of getting us there.

Both Annie and Clay are full of depth, way more than I expected when I started the book. The first one hundred pages are a little slow and the dialogue feels off, so I was concerned I’d spend the entire novel disconnected from these strangers, but I was wrong. They each have their own internal struggles they must confront before they’re able to be together and we get to witness that journey. They are melodramatic in moments, but they’re country music stars after all.

The ending of the novel is sweet and wraps the tale up with a nice button, but I wanted more. We invest a lot of time waiting for Annie and Clay to finally get it together, so I needed a bigger payoff. A scene where they professed their love directly to each other privately, instead of through other characters or at an event, would have been preferable. With that being said, for the last two-thirds of the book, Hahn had me feeling all the feelings. I was swooning along with Annie, annoyed when Clay was being an idiot, and protective when they were attacked by other characters.

Fitz was hands down my favorite person in the book. He brought such a light and also a lesson in priorities. Kacey and Jason were less developed and often didn't say what they were thinking to Annie, which read more like a plot device than what people would actually do in that situation. However, Hahn seemed pretty knowledgeable about the country music world, and whether it’s from experience or research, the circumstances were believable.

Overall, YOU’D BE MINE is the perfect summertime beach read. I’m not even a fan of country music, but this book made me want to be. It will also appeal to those who liked A STAR IS BORN (2018) or WALK THE LINE (2005). Hahn dedicates the book to her late grandmother, hoping she’d be proud. In my mind, there’s no doubt she would be.