Lilo Moore, douze points!

Synopsis

The song contest is hotting up, on and off the stage!

Rose writes twee pop, smiles a lot, and believes in magic and rainbows. When the cheesy love song she wrote is chosen for the European Song Contest, her luck seems to be turning around – especially when a chance encounter leads to the hottest one-night stand of her life. It’s almost too bad she’ll never see him again.
But then Rose discovers it wasn’t a chance encounter. The hot German DJ with the sexy deep voice is her rival for song contest glory.
Grumpy Emil is incredibly talented and the song he spins with his sister could be a winner, even if he doesn’t appreciate the playful spirit of the contest. As the continent falls in love with Rose and Emil’s competitive banter on social media, they must hide their history from the press or risk losing credibility – and a future songwriting career.
With an anonymous gossip out to ridicule the colourful contestants and a plot to undermine European public broadcasting bubbling under the shiny surface, Rose must be strong in the face of criticism and stand up for everything the contest means to her.
If this Canadian girl can save the contest, maybe she can believe that her feelings for Emil are the real deal.

My review

Canadian Rose has her dream come true: her song has been selected as the British entry for the European Song Contest!
She feels that it’s finally her time, especially after the most amazing one – night – stand with Emil.
However not much later she realizes that Emil is not just someone, but he is the entry for Germany, together with his sister. And his act may be the winning one.
Emil is everything that Rose is not. Where Rose is sunshine and rainbows, Emil is grumpy and wary. Yet Rose cannot stop bantering Emil on social media, while also hiding their brief history together.
But there are more darks clouds surrounding the Contest, and it’s up to Rose to save the Contest, and think about her feelings for Emil… 

So, there are a few thing sacred to me… Like never putting up a Christmas tree before Sinterklaas has come, or any occasion, how ridiculous it may be, is a great reason to eat cake. And those three special days where Eurovision is on.
Yes, I am the kind of person that watches both semi – finals, the final and even afterwards keeps listening to all the songs I loved on Spotify (and, yes, I still listen to last year’s songs now!). Especially now that it’s again more about the song and the act, and not as much about neighbourly favouritism.  

Thus it makes perfect sense to read a book about a Contest that I adore! And I can proudly say that I D – E – V – O – U – R – E – D this book!
The author grasped perfectly what the Contest is about, and even added some great drama in it. 

If I would ever be so lucky to be part of the whole concept of the Contest, I would expect it to be just as described in this wonderful story.
I not only felt the sense of a close community in it, but it was more one big (sometimes not so) happy family. All the contestants were there to enjoy the moment, absorb the magic of the whole event, and that sparked from each page. And even the drama that surrounded the event was something I could actually see happening for real (although I really hope it won’t!!!) 

And Rose is just the perfect character. I think that if I were in the Contest, I would be the Rose of the gang. She is just a happy, joyful, warm character. She loves every other contestant, and tries to befriend them all. But she also respects them. And I loved it how she ‘tributes’ each entry on her own ‘Rose-esque’ way. 

We also see a growth in Rose the more the story evolves. Because Rose realizes that not everyone always has the best intentions. And she is determined to find out who the saboteur is, to protect who and what she loves.
She is also realizing how deep her feelings are and how quickly they are growing. And she slowly learns that yes, love is worth the risk and yes, she deserves to be completely loved too! 

And the sparks that fly between her and Emil, pfeew! While at the start I didn’t really like her behaviour by not giving Emil her real number, I somehow understood her too. Sometimes it’s better to cut all ties and not getting a bigger disappointment later.
But what I loved even more was how despite her constant online teasing, in real life they just couldn’t keep their hands off each other! And that while they couldn’t be more different. These two lovely people show us that opposites absolutely attract! 

It would be easy to just see Emil as a grumpy man, but the more I got to learn him, the more I started to fall in love with him myself! He has his reasons for seeing things not as amazing as Rose does. And then there is his protectiveness towards his sister Daisy, that just turned me into a complete a puddle!  

Now that I addressed Daisy, I just have to say how much I admired her strength and her courage. It was not easy what she has been through, but her resilience and how she turned her situation into something that works for her, just respect! 

This story is perfect for the lovers of Eurovision, but also for those who don’t. it’s the perfect occasion for people who don’t actual follow it, to understand the magic around this wonderful event. And the author managed marvellously to capture all the aspects of the event, but also major subjects that matter in the real world. 

I fell in love with every bit of this story and its characters, I just finished it one long session, regretting nothing at all, having a big smile on my face with each page!