The power of a musical…

Synopsis

Harriet Adams was a West End rising star until a lapse in judgement cost her: her dream job, her boyfriend and so-called friends.

She packs up her life and moves back to Sunderland where she gets a rare second chance at a career she thrives in. As she’s about open a shiny new musical in front of a home audience, she vows that this time, nothing is going to get in her way. With everything riding on this, she’ll play it safe, work hard and most importantly, stay away from theatre guys.

Cue Liam Wright, Assistant Stage Manager.

Liam is everything Harriet didn’t know she needed in her life, but he also has a secret. One that could advance his own career if he cashes it in. The only catch? It will ruin any chance of happiness with Harriet if she finds out.

Harriet and Liam share a love like no other, but will that be enough to save their budding relationship when the time comes?

My review

After a terrible judgment call in the West End, Harriet Adams has returned back home in Sunderland with her parents and sister.
She is more than happy to be part of a new musical, and more important, it’s in the theatre that means so much to her and her family. With this unexpected second chance, she is determined to let nothing get in the way, making her lose her focus. And most important, she is determined to stay away from any man linked to theatre.
That is, until she meets Liam Wright, the assistant stage manager….
What started as literally bumping into each other, quickly becomes a friendship and despite their clear clauses in both their contracts, they cannot keep ignoring the sparks that keep flying around. But with Harriet’s own issues, and Liam’s secret, are their feelings enough to put everything they worked so hard for in jeopardy? 

I don’t even know where to start with this review… Because I just loved every tiny bit of it!!!
This book has the perfect combination of many things I love: lovely characters, a beautiful story, a dreamy setting and there is even room for musical! 

My heart truly went out Harriet, because she just has so much on her plate… she has returned with a career torn apart, heart – broken and with no one of her so – called friends in her corner. But while her parents and sister are very supportive of her, at home things aren’t all that better. And not because of terrible characters, but because a terrible, even more heart – breaking situation that concerns her father.
Seeing how things are falling apart, while the whole family just deserve to be a happy one, I felt that pain in my bones… 

Yet I also admired Harriet, as she has found the courage to start all over again, in her hometown, determined to make her family proud again, wanting them to forget all the misery around them.
She was also determined to show people that she isn’t a terrible person, despite the rumours. And we could clearly see that in fact, she is a marvellous, lovely, caring, amazing person! Harriet is a very emotional person, she feels everything and whatever she feels, sparks from the pages. So kudos to the author, as she managed perfectly to make all these emotions so visible! 

From the start I wanted Harriet to meet someone worthy of her love. And the literal clashing with Liam couldn’t be a better start of an amazing story about two people that couldn’t be more perfect to each other! 

Ooh Liam is, even if he is keeping something secret, just so perfect in all possible aspects! He is funny, kind, gentle, patient, but also understanding.
And even if he has to keep his background secret, he still wants to do a good job, show his abilities of being a great stage manager, and prove that he is ready to grow even further. 

But what I liked about him the most, was his eagerness to make Harriet smile, by small gestures but also great gestures, even when they were ‘just friends’. His actions just blew me away. And then also him being there for Harriet at her most difficult moments, even when things were not that great between them.
He is showing he cares about her, even if here is nothing in it for him.
to make it absolutely clear: Liam is swoon – worthy! 

Of course, no matter how lovely the characters are, they also need a good story… and luckily they did! Both of them are no in the easiest positions in their lives, and they want to prove their worth in their own situations.
I liked it how they both try to respect the given boundaries, but I also loved it how it turned out to be absolutely impossible! 😊 

Seeing Harriet and Liam together, with first just being friends, finding each other and being at ease with each other so quickly, was wonderful. I also enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve into more, and I even liked (okay, sounds weird saying it that like) those moments where they just had to give in! 

Even if sometimes the pace seemed to be a tiny bit hasted, it was just so easy to fall in love with both Harriet and Liam, but also all the other side characters. This book shows us that no matter what boundaries someone or something tries to give us, or no matter what difficulties we encounter, love in the end will always prevail. And even if things seem impossible, there is nothing that a musical cannot fix! 😊