Review Detail

"You'd Be Mine" follows two young country music stars on their path to self-discovery, dealing with past family deaths, and romance. Clay Coolidge is a sensation- he seemingly has it all, but he hasn't coped with the deaths of his grandfather or brother, who died as a soldier in Iraq. He deals with it by drinking- which is an unhealthy behavior, he knows it, but he doesn't know what to do about it. After an incident with underage drinking (he is underage) and a fight, Clay's label is ready to drop him and cancel his tour. They offer him a second chance if he can get Annie Mathers to sign onto the tour.

Annie knows she is ready to sign and begin touring, but she has a lot of fears about it. Her parents were country music royalty until they committed double suicide when Annie was 13. Annie is afraid of turning into her parents and ruining her life. She clings to religion and an unwillingness to drink or participate in those aspects of music star life to prevent what happened to her parents from happening to her. When Clay comes knocking, Annie is up for the tour, but afraid of having a relationship.

Over the summer of the tour, both Annie and Clay must face down their demons and begin to heal if they have any hope of a future. Told in alternating parts, we see how they each must confront and deal with their pasts. While I found the first third a little slow, the pace sped up and got more intense later in the book. By the middle, I was pretty invested in Annie and Clay as well as a potential relationship. Their journeys to healing were really powerful to watch. This is a very angsty and push-pull romance that builds somewhat slowly- though I wouldn't want it to go faster. They both have a lot to deal with and this doesn't happen overnight.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and watching Annie and Clay begin to grow up and move forward in their lives and with their music. Be prepared for a somewhat rough and angsty but real and intense ride to romance with content warnings for alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicides (past).

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.