How do I love this book? Let me count the ways.

First and foremost, the protagonist's name is Laura, and she's constantly praised for being talented and stylish, so I'm already on board 😂

Second, I love a dual timeline, and the contrast between the late 90s at Irish college and then at Trinity, when Laura and Tahdg first meet and start making music together, and years later when they reconnect, he a famous musician and she a recently redundant, recently dumped freelancer, is so well handled. Normally I much prefer one timeline over another, but I absolutely loved both.

Third, the music! I was never in a band, but I grew up playing and loving music, and loving sharing that with friends. In many ways, this is a love letter to being in a band, and it's a love letter too to music and creativity and songwriting. Imagine how happy I was when I learned the author is recording the songs Laura and Tahdg work on in the book!

Fourth, the real heart, with characters I genuinely loved, and rooted for, and actually believed were really right for each other. It is a light read, and definitely a romcom rather than a romantic drama but I thought serious topics, especially infertility, were handled very well and never felt like a cliché or thrown in for drama.

Fifth, and actually most importantly, this book made me so happy. At the start of the book Laura says it's nice to have a crush to just add a little sparkle to your day to day life. That's what this book is. I looked forward to getting to pick it back up, and I was sad when I had to put it down. And isn't that the whole point?

I loved Our Sing! I love books especially that pertain to the music industry or involve music in some way and this was such a great book! It almost felt like a continuation of where Daisy Jones and the six left off and what would happen if they reunited to work on new music! Hugely enjoyed

Oh Laura. Oh Tadhg. From the moment I opened Our Song, the debut adult novel by Anna Carey, I knew I was in for a treat. It’s a dual timeline (yes), second-chance romance (yes) set in Dublin between the early 2000s and 2019 (yes, yes, yes!).

Laura is a talented ad copywriter in her late thirties, reeling from a bad breakup and losing her job in one fell swoop. So when her old flame, megastar Tadhg Hennessey (think Hozier, with glasses - I certainly did) gets in touch to ask if she wants to write music with him again, how can she say no? After all, Laura was magic on the guitar back in college, and thought about trying to make it big herself. But she didn’t - because that’s not possible, right? Tadhg, however, has pulled it off, and now he wants to finish a song they started writing together sixteen years ago. Right before everything fell apart between them…

I loved, loved, loved this: it’s everything a good romance novel should be. Sweet, sexy, funny and with just a little bit of cheese on top. The characters are great; messy, lived-in and consistent across the years and timelines.

Tadhg and Laura first meet as teenagers at Irish college, and Carey does a wonderful job of capturing the awkwardness of your first crush in her early chapters (as well as invoking the horrors and magic of a fortnight at The Gaeltacht beautifully). As their relationship grows when they reunite at college, the sparks between them are palpable, especially when they play music together on stage. There is more than a hint of Daisy Jones in the scenes between the two on stage and lemme tell you, I ate it up!
Sadly, it doesn’t work out for the band or for Laura and Tadhg. There is a certain amount of miscommunication here, a trope that people infamously have feelings about, but I always find it works best with young characters. Who amongst us, etc etc.

Tadhg and Laura make a hash of things in their twenties, and when they reunite in later years, they’re both older, wiser and more guarded. But sparks nonetheless fly - again! - when they make music together; their scenes are thick with chemistry and tension. It’s an absolute delight to read the two fall for one another, but even more of a delight to read Laura fall for music again, to remember what a big part of her life & personality it was. I was yelling “Go on girl, embrace your inner rockstar!” at her at multiple points.

Lesser romances usually focus mainly on the couple, but happily, Laura is surrounded by friends who are looking out for her, though, and the scenes involving them were lovely and never felt secondary to the main romance. Furthermore, Carey adds a serious thread by writing with honesty and beauty about childlessness and infertility, which was a gorgeous and importance strand of Laura’s story.

A magic little book; warm, funny and sexy, and perfect if you want a summery read to put a big smile on your face.

Major book hangover alert. I couldn’t put this love letter to music down; it was just SO heartfelt, funny, and deeply moving. I teared up quite a few times. Laura and Tadhg felt so real I nearly looked up a gig guide to see when they were playing! I just adored these two and especially how Tadhg championed Laura as a talented musician in her own right (oh the tears when he tells her that it’s her voice in his head while he’s writing songs). I felt like I was in the rehearsal space with them.

Anna Carey really captures the emotional truth of her characters. The flush of first locking eyes with each other, the pain having an intense crush but scared to say anything because it could ruin their friendship and their band, and relatable pushing the other away even though you end up in tears seeing them with someone else. Pace-wise, normally I find flashbacks mess with it, but in this case it was seamlessly woven in to mirror the present day action. Despite it being 16 years apart, I really believed they could make it work in present day. I also really appreciated that this book sensitively tackles infertility and that Laura was allowed to be at peace with it (more tears at Tadhg’s reaction).

An uplifting second chance love story that captures the magic of finding your musical soulmate, creating music and your way back to your person. All killer, no filler. More, more! *ear splitting whistle*

Thanks to Hachette Books Ireland and NetGalley for the ARC. I can't wait to get my hands on the audiobook and a paperback.

Our Song is a really beautiful, friends-to-lovers romance. I liked Laura and she was definitely more than Tadhg’s Cinderella, his ex-band mate that according to the tabloids, he supposedly “rescued.” I feel like she made the right decision for her mental health, based on the information she had available to her, when she originally broke off all contact with Tadhg. All these years later, she’s built a life for herself and it’s good even if it’s not the music career she dreamed of when she was younger. There were some scenes with Laura’s ex-boyfriend and why that particular relationship ended that might be triggering for certain readers but I feel like they were handled really sensitively.

I like Tadhg and despite all of his success, he’s still really respectful of Laura’s talent as a musician and songwriter. I really enjoyed reading the scenes where they’re writing and playing together because it’s obvious that there’s still chemistry between them and it’s great to see Laura rediscovering not just her feelings for Tadhg but also her love for music and performing.

I hadn’t read any of this author’s books before and I believe that she usually writes YA novels and this is her first one for adults. I’m pleased to say that this adult is hooked and can’t wait to read her next one! It’s a story that is set over two timelines; one when the characters were in their late teens/early twenties and the other one ten years later when they’re all grown up. The book is set in Ireland around Dublin and one of the characters has an unpronounceable Irish name, which the author deals with very well in the introduction and makes it quite a feature.
I loved this story and couldn’t put it down! Thoroughly enjoyable.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book – a bittersweet read about what happens when you find a way back onto the road not taken.

Laura, Lol to her friends, meets Tadhg when they are both still at school. They form a band and – having gone their separate ways, Laura taking the safe option – eventually get around to finishing a song they wrote together.

This novel has a breezy and accessible style. I really loved how the characters and settings were so subtly drawn. In fact, I’d say that after Laura and Tadhg, Trinity College (and the extended locations just outside its gates) is a strong third character!

This will be a lovely summer read – and a gorgeous addition to the modern Irish campus novel sub-genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books Ireland for the digital advance copy! Well done @urchinette!

This is a perfect book for Summer, or indeed all other seasons. Laura is complicated and easy to love and the interwoven narratives of past and present mean that Carey's flair for YA is still here, from Gaeltacht longing to the dynamics of being in a band. This love story feels lived in, layered and real, but more than that, I liked the pair of them and wanted good things to happen. Anna's career as a musician and her wit as a writer and podcast host are threaded through here, it's kind, funny and emotionally true. I was a little bit sad when it ended, though the ending was spot-on, and I am so excited for whatever she does next. One to read, re-read, and press into the hands of a friend who needs to escape reality for a while.

Full disclosure - I'm not really that keen on romances. I grew up on a diet of Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley, moved to Helen Fielding, Jill Mansell, and other 'chick lit' 90's fodder and then discovered crime fiction and never looked back. I prefer the darkness.

Well, I say never. There's been a few that broke through my twisted soul. So when I heard that half of my favourite podcaster duo had a book on the way, I had to give it a go. And I'm so glad I did.

Laura and Tadhg are the best types of characters - likeable, funny, relatable, and, best of all, not thick as shite! Yes, there are the misunderstandings required for any romance story but not the contrived nonsense many rely on.

Whilst this is an uplifting and sweet story, the moments it really hits are Laura's moments of heartbreak. I actually felt them viscerally. I was transported back to my own teen years and witnessing my crush asking my best friend to dance and the absolute devastation. I did indeed run off crying. I'd forgotten that until I read this. I should remove a star for the trauma.

But I won't because despite my love of all things 'there' been a murrrrdeeerrr' this romance softened me up. It's absolutely my favourite book of the year so far.

Thanks to Hachette Books Ireland and Netgalley for the eARC of Our Song!

In their teens and early twenties, Laura and Tadhg were in a band together. Their connection was magic - until a fight broke them apart, separating them for 16 years. In that time, Tadhg shoots to superstardom while Laura puts her music dreams aside for a safer, more stable career.

Then Tadhg’s team reaches out to Laura, asking her to help Tadhg finish Our Song, a song Tadhg and Laura worked on together in their heyday. Though Laura is initially hesitant, the arrangement is just for two weeks. No harm done - right?

This book was such a breath of fresh air! I’m not a massive romance reader but I really enjoyed this. I imagine the fact that it’s set in Ireland, with Irish characters and a lot of Irish references, helped me enjoy it more. It had the right amount of will-they-won’t-they without getting too overwrought.

The timeline jumps between the early 2000s and 2019 and it really helps to solidify Laura and Tadhg’s backstory.

If you liked Romantic Comedy (Curtis Sittenfeld) - or any romance at all really - this book is right up your street! A perfect summer read

A lot of people dream of fame when they are young. Laura, for example, thought her band could have what it takes but she’s since hung up her guitar and moved on with her life. Most people, however, don’t hear their ex-bandmate on the radio every day. When he reaches out to finally finish writing the song they began 16 years previously, is Laura willing to give everything another chance?

I loved Our Song. It had so many elements I enjoy in a romance - second-chance, one person being famous etc. The story is told in alternating timelines between the present day and years earlier, when Laura and Tadhg first knew each other. The characters felt three-dimensional and you understood Laura’s hesitancy.

It was also so Irish, which made it such a joy to read. Show me another romance that includes one character blurting out ‘Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile’ to one another! Laura and Tadhg initially meet in the Gaeltacht (Irish college), a rite of passage for so many Irish school students (I went to Coláiste Lurgan). Laura studies at Trinity and DCU for her Master’s and I did the same. Though that is where the similarities end, as I haven’t a musical bone in my body. I haven’t been home since Christmas, so I greatly enjoyed visiting Dublin via the characters.

Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable, lovely and heartfelt read. I would highly recommend it!

A true and absolute delight that was impossible to put down - Anna Carey might just be Ireland's response to Emily Henry.

Our Song is a romance with a refreshing natural confidence and charm, making for a fun and heartfelt read.

I loved the main characters, Laura and Tadgh. Laura is smart, grounded, and genuinely warm. There’s a particular thread in her personal journey that’s handled with real care, striking a balance between vulnerability and resilience in a way that feels both refreshing and deeply human. Tadhg is, of course, a heartthrob, but also disarmingly sincere, and sometimes awkwardly human.

I enjoyed the imperfect rhythm of their relationship as it developed - they both get in their own way, miss opportunities, and fumble along the way. The story very much plays on the concept of right person, wrong time. It makes for a slow burn, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the pieces click into place and their story unfold through flashbacks.

The Irish setting brings it all together - the culture, banter, warmth and sense of nostalgia is richly woven throughout the story. I’d highly recommend for anyone looking for a sharp, earnest, and playful read.

Thank you Hachette Books Ireland for this ARC. Opinions expressed are my own.