Welcome to my tour stop of Behind the Bars by Brittainy C. Cherry hosted by  Social Butterfly PR.

Title: Behind the Bars
Author: Brittainy C. Cherry
Series: Music Street, book 1 [Can be read as a standalone]
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, [New-Adult]
Heat Rating: Warm
Page Count and Format: 373, Ebook
Published:  December 7th, 2017
Source: I received an eARC of this book for the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.
My Rating: 

Oooooh my goodness! I didn’t expect this book to be so good! I mean, I had pretty high expectations since I have read mostly raving reviews of the author’s other books, so I didn’t let the chance of reading this one slip from my hands and now I can see where all those ravings come from. This book undoubtedly was one of the best New-Adult and second chance romance I have read this year.

Jasmine and Elliot were miles different from each other but music was the one thing that brought them together. But their romance was short lived since Jasmine’s mother had other plans for her “bright future”. After six years, she is finally back in town but nothing is the same anymore. Both of them have cracks in their life which could or couldn’t be fulfilled with new music.

This book was really beautiful, from the beginning until the very end. Elliot is a shy and bullied boy in school but with a saxophone in his hand, he becomes someone else. Whereas Jasmine’s love for soul music knows no bounds but her mother/manager won’t let her pursue something unrealistic as she believes pop will be the best for her career. Elliot didn’t believe that someone as smart and beautiful like Jasmine could like him but music was the one thing they both cherished and loved and it connected them together.

“Sometimes people don’t need words, Elliott. Sometimes they just need the space to feel what they need to feel, with someone present as a reminder that they’re not alone.”

I loved how their relationship built slowly but the music was always present. In their friendship, in their relationship, in every small moment. I loved Elliot’s habit of answering everything with a question and Jasmine personality, despite having that kind of a mother she still didn’t judge anyone with just one glance. Jasmine’s mother is the one who drags her overseas for her career. She just wanted to be loved and accepted by her mother and that’s why she kept listening to her without any complaint.

“Every person had lyrics in their life that were too painful to sing.”

But everything has a limit. Goooosh!! (I kept tying aigooo!) I hated her so much, she didn’t really care for Jasmine at all, I thought at some point she was going to be the mother Jasmine wanted, at least try but that woman was already gone far off the edge. In contrast, Jasmine’s step-dad Ray was absolutely wonderful. He cherished his princess and she was the only reason he stayed in the relationship with Jasmine’s mother although she ended up ruining that too but the father-daughter bond never disappeared. It was really sooooo sweet!

“You’re the music in a mute world, and my heart beats because you’re here.”

The romance between Jasmine and Elliot was heartwarming, there was the thrill of the anticipation and in the way, everything was executed made the romance even beautiful. Jasmine tried to stay in contact with Elliot but eventually, they lost touch without knowing that tragedy that swept away Elliot’s music. It was really heartbreaking to see the person whose life was music stay away from it. What Elliot had to go through broke my heart, I was really having a hard time reading through my blurry tear streaming eyes but that didn’t mean Jasmine had an easy time as well. After six whole years, Jasmine meets a different Elliot but it’s only with her, he finally starts opening up to.

After the year leap, both the characters have grown up and matured but somewhere despite not being able to stay connected with each other, the love still remained. It was absolutely wonderful to see the characters heal each other through their love and music, both of them were hurting but when they were together, everything hurt less. Also, TJ was the best ever music teacher, without him I don’t think they would have been able to find their way back to each other.

Overall, Behind the Bars was a fantastic read! It had all the elements I love in an NA book and so much more. The romance between Elliot and Jasmine was beautiful and I loved their character growth. I was definitely satisfied with how everything was wrapped up in the end but I didn’t want to let go of the characters! The writing was beautiful and smooth and the pace was even throughout the book. Brittainy C. Cherry has made it to my top romance authors list and I will definitely be checking out the rest of her books!!!

Recommend it?

Yes!

Author Bio:

Hi! I’m Brittainy! Join me as we travel through my mind as a Romance Author. This includes such things as my random thoughts, tricks, tips, things I’m learning, things I’m re-learning, things I’m forgetting, and my weird ways of crafting stories.

Author Links:

Facebook || Twitter || Newsletter || Blog

Purchase Links:

Amazon US || Amazon UK || Amazon CA || Amazon AU

So guys, have you read this book yet? What did you think about it? And if you haven’t, is it in your tbr? Have you read any other books by this author?