If you loved the Hannah Montana movie, and are looking for a grown up version with great Native American representation then you'll love this. A popstar not knowing her roots heading to her family hometown of Broken Arrow Oklahoma after a scandal, and falling in love with a cowboy hat wearing local, whilst also learning about her heritage. chefs kiss

✨4 stars✨

After a scandal threatens to derail her whole career, Native American pop star Avery Fox is sent to her grandmother’s ranch in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This not only offers her the opportunity to lay low where she won’t be recognised, but also provides the chance for Avery to reconnect with family that she has never met before, and her Native American heritage.

I really liked this book, especially as it made me feel nostalgic for the Hannah Montana Movie. In the author’s note, Danica names this movie as one of a group that inspired this book, and I can definitely see the influences. From the scandal, all the way to their being a fundraiser to save her grandmother’s ranch, and the fact that she falls in love with a local who works on the ranch. The MMC’s name is also Lucas (like the name of the actor who plays Travis in the Hannah Montana Movie which is a funny coincidence). There’s even a bar dance/line dancing scene like the “Hoedown Throwdown”.😂

Overall, I really liked the Native American representation in this book as well as the similarities to the Hannah Montana Movie, so if you like that movie I definitely think that you’ll enjoy this book. I really want to read Danica’s other book now.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I understand what this book was trying to do, and I love the idea of it. Cowboys, small town romance, a girl wanting to reconnect with her roots. Like yes please sign me up for it.

But Avery is just so unbelievably naive. We know she’s chronically online from the amount of pop culture references that are stuffed in this book. But we’re also supposed to believe that she has never done any research on native Americans and her background? I get that the plot was about her mother hiding that from her, we never exactly find out why but oh well, but she’s grown. She has a phone. She wants to be the representation. Do the damn research. Everyone on the internet has seen discussions about representation and how important it is that it’s done well. If Avery didn’t realise she was being harmful, it’s all on her.

Besides all of that, it felt like the whole book just lacked some depth or time. Her relationship with her mother and grandmother are never really explored in a satisfying way. The romance is also kinda lacking and just rushed. A lot of the plot points were solved by how her mother shielded her for her entire life and that just felt kinda lazy.

I really was so excited about this book and I find it such a shame that it didn’t live up to my expectations at all.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book early!

I had no idea what to expect from this book as it was my first Danica Nava book but I enjoyed it so much! I'm never usually a fan of music/popstars in romance books but I thought with the cowboy element added I would probably enjoy it and I was not wrong! This book was so much fun! You don't see enough romance books with Native American representation, so it was really cool to be able to learn more and see different stereotypes broken down in this book.

I loved Avery and Lucas as a couple and loved watching them fall in love over the course of this book. I adore the city girl on a ranch trope in books and this one was so much fun, especially when Avery was learning more about horses! In books I tend to lean towards the ones that have a great cast of side characters in them because I find it makes them 100x better and I loved the side characters in this book, from Grandma Lottie to Red and Davey these characters are what makes this book complete.

This will definitely not be my last book from this author and I am now going to go and find a copy of The Truth According to Ember so I can read that next!

I think this book was about more than just Avery understanding her Native American heritage. It was about what it means to be family and what true love, human connection, and community look like.

This one is definitely one you’ll want to pick up, preorder, or request from your library this summer!

This story felt so real and relatable - the author does a phenomenal job at making you feel things; embarrassment, disappointment, heart-break, sorrow - I felt the full gambit of emotions while reading this! The amount of cringing and second-hand embarrassment I felt is reason enough to recommend this book.

This was a quick and easy read for me. This was my first book by the author and I did enjoy it. It just felt a bit too fast paced for me. Avery (pop star) gets cancelled, then sent to live with someone she has never met and BAM is in love with Lucas.

I would have enjoy this had it slowed down a bit more and let you actually get to know the characters more. Avery is supposed to have this big breakthrough as a person, but to be honest, she just annoyed me through out the majority of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. A gorgeous 4 star read book from me. What an exciting plot, vivid storytelling and relatable, rich characters. I couldn't put this book down – absolutely loved it.

Avery & Lucas
Pop Star
Cowboys
Slow burn
Forced Proximity

This one is such a good book!

Avery is a pop singer who runs away to her estranged Grandma in Oklahoma, after a bad decision leaves her fans turning against her.

I love seeing Avery discover more about her Native American roots and the development journey that we go on with her!

Lucas is such a great character! I love him and the banter! This one had me laughing so many times!

if you love small town x pop single, this one is for you!!

I would never say I'm not susceptible to book trends, but so far, I've struggled getting into cowboy romances. But with Danica Nava's new book, I've finally found one I loved! I can honestly say I think all of the cowboy romance fans need to pick this one up.

First off, I loved the combination of a cowboy and celebrity romance. There's an element of grumpy x sunshine present at first when Avery and Lucas meet, but one of my favourite things about this book was how easily and naturally Lucas adjusted his initial opinion of Avery once he actually got to know her. Avery is someone who's messed up but trying to learn and do better, and I loved seeing how much space she was given to grow and explore. Rather than judging her and writing her off as a bad person, her new-found community, including Lucas and her grandmother, always saw her as a flawed human being capable of growth.

This was such a great cowboy romance. I loved the initial set up and immediately fell in love with Avery and as rooting for her to find her voice from the get go. The banter between her and Lucas was amazing, I laughed out loud at multiple points throughout this book and it was almost always during the interactions between those two. The slow burn of their romance was so beautifully done and I loved the way that it all came together. The side characters were also great and you really got a sense of the community in Broken Arrow. Bonus, there were sassy horses.

This was a lovely story, and I especially loved the Native American representation which we don't often see. I enjoyed the setting and plot however, the writing often told the story rather than showed it (a lot of: this happened and then this, and then this). This took my head out of the story and prevented me from fully enjoying it.

Thank you so much to Headline for the arc via NetGalley and for giving me the opportunity to share my honest thoughts on the book.

Love is a War Song follows Avery Fox who is a pop star who gets cancelled following a photoshoot. She escapes to her estranged grandmother, Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma. Avery is Muscogee and she meets Lucas Iron Eyes at the ranch. Lucas takes an instant dislike to Avery but they are forced to work together to save the ranch.

This was okay. The beginning was intriguing and I think this is such an important romance novel simply due to it being by an indigenous author and being about Native American characters. I liked the musical element although I do think the cancelling came about a bit too quick. The romance was fine. I will say I’m not the biggest fan of this authors writing but I do appreciate this simply due to it being about Muscogee culture and it did have some interesting things to say on what it means to be native.

A Muscogee pop star goes back to her roots in Oklahoma and falls in love with a cowboy who works at her grandmothers ranch. This was so cute and I thought Lucas and Avery were so good together in the end.