Exuberant and sexy debut!
The author of course first drew me to this sexy romantic comedy. I have always loved Susanna Hoffs and The Bangles, and this book proves she is a woman of multiple talents.
Jane had one hit song years ago but now she is pretty much broke, with no professional or personal prospects on the horizon. Her manager arranges for Jane to travel to London for sort of a musical writing retreat, and Jane meets the very handsome Tom Hardy on the flight (no, not that Tom Hardy! This Tom is an Oxford professor.) They have an instant connection.
Jane is surprised and disappointed that she doesn’t hear anything from Tom for several weeks. When they finally reconnect, sparks fly and the chemistry sizzles. There are some warning signs – such as Tom’s stunning ex-girlfriend who seems to still be in his life somehow. But Jane is suddenly on the brink of a major comeback, in the form of a one-night-only show at the Royal Albert Hall of all places with Jonesy, her former collaborator and a global star who seems to molded from the likes of Prince.
I loved the behind-the-scenes look at the music business from a real insider, with a wink and a nod to Hoffs’ real-life husband. There are some eccentric yet endearing characters in this lively romance. If you don’t mind some insta-love, then this book is a light and entertaining romance with two very memorable lead characters.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Little, Brown and Company through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)
About the Book:
Jane Start is thirty-three, broke, and recently single. Ten years prior, she had a hit song—written by world-famous superstar Jonesy—but Jane hasn’t had a breakout since. Now she’s living out of four garbage bags at her parents’ house, reduced to performing to Karaoke tracks in Las Vegas. Rock bottom.
But when her longtime manager Pippa sends Jane to London to regroup, she’s seated next to an intriguing stranger on the flight—the other Tom Hardy, an elegantly handsome Oxford professor of literature. Jane is instantly smitten by Tom, and soon, truly inspired. But it’s not Jane’s past alone that haunts her second chance at stardom, and at love. Is Tom all that he seems? And can Jane emerge from the shadow of Jonesy’s earlier hit, and into the light of her own?
In turns deeply sexy, riotously funny, and utterly joyful, This Bird Has Flown explores love, passion, and the ghosts of our past, and offers a glimpse inside the music business that could only come from beloved songwriter Susanna Hoffs.
