Name: Hammers, Strings, and Beautiful Things
ISBN: 9781635555387

Morgan Lee Miller

While on tour with the biggest pop star in the world, rising musician Blair Bennett falls in love for the first time while coping with loss and depression.

Hammers, Strings, and Beautiful Things

Jude Silberfeld

I liked this book a lot more by the end than I did at the beginning. At first, I couldn’t get where the author was going. I loved Morgan Lee Miller’s debut novel, All the Worlds Between Us, and it felt like she wanted to try and create an older, more rock’n’roll version of the complex but sweet teens that are Quinn and Kennedy.

For a significant part of Hammers, Strings, and Beautiful Things, I had the feeling I was watching a train wreck waiting to happen. At twenty-four, Blair Bennett is about to go on a tour with the world’s biggest pop star, Reagan Moore. The band she and her best friend Miles form is on its way to the top, and her talent as a songwriter is undisputed. Life would be perfect if only her grandfather hadn’t just died. A renowned musician, he was her idol as well as the only father figure she’s ever known. He was the one who taught her about music and made it possible for her to learn eight different instruments. So she’s a mess, and when we meet her, she’s breaking up with her girlfriend, claiming she can’t be good for the girl when she doesn’t know who she is anymore. At first, she comes accross not so much as broken but as irresponsible and spoilt. She’s in pain and it mostly translates through selfishness. It’s like she’s trying to tick all the boxes for the dark and broody rock’n’roll chick. I kept wondering when Blair would fall off stage, hurt herself or worse. Snorting coke and drinking that much alcohol can’t be good for your coordination.

Reagan is the opposite. At twenty-three, she’s incredibly grounded, professional and reasonable, despite being one of the most famous singers in the world. She also manages to be sweet, charming and kind. And she seems to see through Blair’s façade, all the way to the nice and romantic girl underneath the grief and self-destructive ways.

For a long time, the story is mostly the two of them flirting and falling in love and playing music, until Blair flips and goes too far, putting Reagan’s reputation and the whole tour at risk. And that’s when I really got into the story. I wanted Blair to overcome her issues, to let the nice person I could feel she could be out, to show herself to be deserving of Reagan’s love. Because as annoying as she was, I believed in her.

That’s why this book was a little frustrating. Morgan Lee Miller creates endearing characters, she writes them well and she knows how to tell stories. Yet this story took way too long to start. More than half the book is spent setting the scene. It’s well-written so not too boring, but had I not read Miller’s first book and hence been aware of how good she can be, I don’t know if I would have stuck until the end. Which would have been a pity, really. If you decide to read this book, stick with it, it’s worth it.

And I just found out that Miller’s third book will be the sequel to All The Worlds Between Us, giving Quinn and Kennedy that third chance I was hoping for. So, you know, life is good.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Megan Cooper

3.5 

When the book starts, Blair Bennett makes a less than stellar first impression.  Still reeling from the death of her grandfather, she breaks up with the girlfriend who has supported her through his illness and death with the dreaded "It's me, not you ...I'm not in the right place" rationale that she's just too messed up to be in a relationship.  Like I said, not a great first impression - Blair comes off as a rather selfish heel.  So I started this book with the idea that I wasn't really going to like either Blair or the book.  I may be turning into an old fuddy-duddy, but I just felt that Blair was a bit too young and reckless for my liking and then there's the whole fluffy pop music setting (omigod, I am an old fuddy-duddy - next thing you know I'll be shouting at the kids to get out of my yard). By the end, I was engaged in the story and was impressed how Ms Miller handled Blair's character and growth.

The story begins shortly after the death of Blair's grandfather, when she and her best friend/band mate are starting as the opening act for the US leg of pop star Reagan Moore's world tour.   Rather than a self-absorbed diva, Reagan is a pretty sweet and down to earth young woman who keeps herself apart from most people as the pressures of fame have forced her to guard her privacy.  There's a unmistakable connection between the two women which builds slowly on the tour with both so hesitant to be the one to make the first move - whether its the first kiss or admitting that the relationship is more than just a convenient hook up.  

Told from Blair's POV, this is really more about her than a straight up romance. I think this would fit into the New Adult category as Blair is really still trying to find her place in the world - she may be 24 but her choices and actions seem much younger and hedonistic.  Even though she's been raised in a loving and supporting family, she has a penchant for trouble, not thinking about consequences and the disappointment some of her escapades engender. Don't get me wrong, Blair isn't an unlikable character - she's a real one.  She is deeply passionate about her music and Miller captures the thrill and love Blair feel for music and performing as well the highs and lows of the emotions as she tries to make sense of her relationships with Reagan, Miles and her family.  Deeply affected by her grandfather's death, she struggles with the grief and her new found fame and the relationship she is building with Reagan.  She is talented, intelligent, loyal and genuine and its very obvious that she has strong and supportive relationships with her family and friends.  Her actions are sometimes questionable and there's a subtle escalation of self-destructive behaviour that sort of sneaks up on you just as it sneaks up on Blair - it makes you appreciate how sneaky that slippery slope is - one small or inconsequential things leads to another until it hits a critical point.  Miller deftly leads both Blair and the reader to some pretty serious realizations without hitting you over the head with them.

 The romance is a central part of the story, but it isn't the standard kind of romance - the attraction is there, but the leads enter a relationship both so hesitant to allow themselves to be vulnerable that its is more of a friends with benefits rather than an initial all consuming passion.  The realization and ability to admit to themselves and each other the depth of their feelings is hampered by Blair's internal struggles and Reagan's obsessive guarding of her privacy.  There's a realism of both character's insecurity as to whether the other person felt the same and whether to take the chance that I thought worked particularly well. At times they speak to one another more honestly through cover songs that they play during the concerts, hoping that the words will express what they can't seem to talk about.  It's kind of sweet (and cheesy) but effective and I found myself asking Alexa to play a few of the songs while I was reading.  There's a particularly heartwarming memory of Blair's when she asks her grandfather how he knew he was in love - he tells her a story about listening to Annie's Song which Blair thought was lame as a teenager but suddenly makes sense. ( I couldn't remember the song at first - but when Alexa played it, I was completely in agreement - lame, sappy and just totally gives you the feels.)

I ended up liking this book a lot more than I originally expected.  There's more going on than first appears and I was impressed that Ms. Miller won me over with a well written book  that deals with some more serious issues.

Hammers, Strings, and Beautiful Things

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