Review: Perfect Rhythm by Jae
Love knows no bounds.
When you find the person you're meant to be with, you move heaven and earth to make it work.
Leontyne (stage name Jenna) Blake, is a pop-star just coming off her world tour of over a hundred cites, overwhelmed by sexy costumes, and screaming fans, Under the popstar persona Leo just wants a break, to find herself again, and to find the joy in music she used to feel. Tragedy strikes when her father suffers a stoke and her mother calls her back home to the small town she tried so hard to run away from. Leo has to take a break whether her manager likes it or not.
It’s there that she meet’s Holly, the home care nurse who has been taking care of her father. She’s caring, she’s stubborn, she’s strong. Add the fact that she’s gorgeous, and she’s irresistible to Leo. The two women clash and they clash and it’s a classic tale of enemies to friends and then something more. But not without a little navigation around Holly’s asexuality and the fact that Leo has a career and life and a demanding record label back in New York City.
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Every character was beautifully crafted. First, Holly and Leo. I loved them as a couple and I loved their individual characters. I was rooting for them together and apart, for their growth and confidence, their love for each other and their self love. I connected instantly with the Leo even though we’re absolutely nothing alike. That takes a certain amount of skill, but skill is never in short supply when it comes to Jae’s writing. I’m going to gush a little and say I like to think I’m like Holly because she’s so pure and caring but gosh I would settle for being her best friend because she sounds like the loveliest person in the world. I loved each and every one of the supporting character’s, even the ones maybe I wasn’t supposed to like because they added such great texture and authenticity and life to the story. I loved Sasha a lot, her character stood out, quiet but strong, and I’m hoping maybe to hear her story one day. As always, I loved the mentions of other characters from Jae’s other works.
I think I spent the last thirty or forty percent of the book crying my eyes out. I grew so close with the characters, and so quickly, that I felt like I knew them. I felt every agony and every moment of joy and love along with them.
I can’t speak to the asexual representation because I’m not asexual myself but it’s clear that Jae did her research. She treats the subject with sensitivity and still wows us with the sweeping romance we know and love to flow from her pen…or her fingertips. I appreciate Leo asking some hard questions and maybe even asking some stupid questions to educate all of us reading this book so we don’t ask the stupid questions, or at least ask less stupid questions. I’m so glad to see more representation, more diversity, and more diversity in the diversity, in lesfic.
Finally, the LGBTA sandwich was one of the many highlights of this book. It really stole the show!
Like every single one of Jae’s books there's only one thing I hate. Finishing the book. I never want the stories to end. I keep picking up my phone to keep reading but alas nope. I will absolutely be buying this in paperback first chance I get.
This book was a perfect romance story in every sense of the word. I cannot recommend this more to romance lovers out there and fans of Jae’s writing. It made me think and made me ask some hard questions and open my mind a little more and try and understand a little more the wonders and complexities of human sexuality.
5 out of 5 stars.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.