Ryan Winfield

"A grieving mother must decide what boundaries she's willing to cross for true love when she takes in her dead daughter's young boyfriend, a struggling street musician, and finds herself falling for him."--P. [4] of cover.

Jane's Melody

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I wasn't sure at all what to expect when I started reading Jane's Melody. I'd heard such wonderful things about it, but I was a little afraid of the "ick factor" with the relationship between the main characters. Not because of the age. Honestly, once you hit a certain point in your life, age really is nothing but a number. It was more the mom getting involved with her dead daughter's boyfriend. I'm happy to say I unfairly judged the book at first based on the synopsis. There's a lot more to the story than what I took away from that short blurb. When all's said and done, this is a great story about loss, friendship, love and second chances.

My heart broke for Jane during this book, especially early on. I'm not a parent, but I can't even begin to imagine the grief losing a child would cause. Jane and Melody hadn't been close for a long time, not since addiction started to run Melody's life, but that doesn't make losing her forever any less difficult. She feels guilty because she wonders if she could have done more. Life isn't easy for Jane, as you can imagine. But, sometimes the right person will come into your life and start to ease the aches. That's exactly what Caleb did for her. She first sees him at her daughter's grave and assumes they were dating. After finding him again in the city, after he's been jumped and robbed, she brings him home and strikes up a deal with him: she'll give him a place to stay and pay him the money he needs to follow his dream of music in Austin, Texas if he helps her clean up her yard and do some landscaping. As they spend more time together, they build a friendship which then extends on to more. Truths come out and love blooms.

I really liked Jane and Caleb together. They were passionate about each other and their relationship built from something real. They were supportive of each other and there for one another. Their age difference didn't matter at all. At least not to anyone but Jane. She was afraid she was holding him back from following his dreams. He assures her she's not keeping him from anything. He's where he wants to be.

My favorite thing about the book was not the romance. Yes, I enjoyed that part and there was no "ick factor." Their relationship was believable and honest. There were tons of feels and I went through the whole range of emotions. But what really stuck out to me most during this book was the friendship between Jane and her sponsor, Grace. It was real and rich and heartfelt. Grace was Jane's rock, at least until roles were reversed and it was Jane's turn to be there for Grace. I love seeing strong female friendships in books and this was one of them. It was a great addition to an already very good story.

The only thing I felt was really lacking from this story was more information about Melody. I know the book wasn't about her, but it also wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for her death. I wanted Jane to find out more information about Melody and get some peace of mind. It's a wound that won't ever be fully healed, but I think learning more about her daughter and what led her down that path might have helped some. Maybe that will come in the second book.

But all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an easy read that I devoured in a few short hours. It was emotional, but not overly-angsty. I shed a couple tears, but that's not uncommon for me. It's not my normal choice of read – falling more into women's fiction than what I tend to pick up – but it's nice to mix things up a bit, especially when it leads me to find a book as heartfelt as this one. 

Jane's Melody has been on my TBR since it was first released last year. Somewhere along the line I was approved for an ARC via NetGalley, but I didn't get around to reading it until recently. It was the first titled I pulled out of my TBR Jar and the timing couldn't have been more perfect, because I was just approved for an ARC of the sequel, Jane's Harmony, earlier this week. After finishing this book, I'm excited at the prospect of a sequel, but I'm a little nervous after reading the blurb. I guess I'll have to wait and see, and trust Ryan.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Jane's Melody

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