Synopsis from Amazon
An R&B singer and a corporate executive find love that hits the right notes in this USA Today best-selling romance by Kristina Forest.
Iris Greene used to be a woman with a plan. But all of that changed after she met the love of her life at twenty-five, got pregnant and married…and then became a widow and a single mother all in a little over two years.
By all accounts, pop R&B singer Angel Hughes has it made. He’s a successful musician and has just scored a brand ambassador deal with an emerging beauty company. But he’s still not fulfilled; he’s not producing songs he’s passionate about, and there’s a gaping hole in his love life.
Most people don’t end up with their soulmates. They settled for whoever was there at the right time. Or they ended up alone. – Iris Greene, Love Lyric
Whew.
Sometimes we confuse proximity for connection and attraction. I am the one who would rather be alone because one thing I have learned about myself is that I need to care and be willing to risk it. Settling won’t work for me.
I know that I enjoyed this book because I read it in a day. Love Lyric is the third book in the Greene sisters series. I did not read any of the other books, and I don’t think I will, because I really identified with Iris, the oldest of the three sisters. Iris felt that she always had to do the right thing because she was the oldest sister. She was always super professional and on the corporate fast track. Iris was your typical overachiever, but when love showed up in an unexpected package, she wasn’t sure what to do. What happens when the most impractical romantic connection shows up in your life, and it could cost you everything?
Angel, the R&B singer, struggled with the confinement of religion, and his overly judgmental mama also sounded very familiar. Going against the way you were taught to become the person you are supposed to be isn’t easy. It is a struggle that I am currently engaged with now in my forties, and I am shedding pieces of my identity that no longer fit. From the outside, Angel appears to be living the “good life” and has it all, but he is missing something that money can’t buy: being authentically seen and authentically loved. One thing I have learned in this life is that people can appear to have it all — a booming career, financial success, and beautiful people in their lives — yet they may still be longing for an authentic connection. That’s why it is so important not to judge people based on such superficial elements as career, income, and material items. We must see people for who they truly are, not the image they may be presenting to the world.
This book felt serendipitous for me because it is everything that is calling to me in this season of life: a second-chance love story, a tale of a woman who begins to find her work unfulfilling and is open to new opportunities. Iris is working through the grief of losing her husband, and now the most impractical romantic suitor shows up (a singer? Come on now!), throwing her life off course. One thing about grief is that it prompts us to start questioning our rigid beliefs and the formula we thought was right for success in life. Then we have Angel, the singer, who is trying to move past his religious conditioning, and he is also fighting for his creative freedom.
The book strongly resonated with me and inspired me in many ways. I loved how Iris began to move toward the impractical and allowed herself to surrender to her new chapter of life, and I loved how patient Angel was with Iris and himself., It is always refreshing to see male characters express vulnerability and emotional availability. Angel was willing to take a risk with his music and Iris.Again, I love how romance stories these days are about regular Black people finding love. Black authors don’t have to write books for the white liberal gaze, which is primarily focused on suffering, trauma, and oppression. These books are about regular, degular Black people falling in love, and I am here for it.
One day, I hope to join the ranks of these authors!
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