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The Whole Way Home
A ferocious talent on the brink of making it big in Nashville must confront her small town past and an old love she’s never forgotten in this engaging novel—a soulful ballad filled with romance, heartbreak, secrets, and scandal from the author of Season of the Dragonflies.
Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a big Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Sheryl. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs.
But the stage persona she’s built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD McCoy—her first love—back into her life. Long ago Jo played with JD’s band. Then something went wrong, they parted ways and took their own crooked roads to stardom. Now, Jo’s excited—and terrified—to see him again.
When the label reunites them for a show, the old sparks fly, the duet they sing goes viral, and fans begin clamoring for more—igniting the media’s interest in the compelling singer. Why is a small-town girl like Jo so quiet about her past? When did she and JD first meet? What split them apart? All too soon, the painful secret she's been hiding is uncovered; a shocking revelation that threatens to destroy her reputation and her dreams. To salvage her life and her career, Jo must finally face the past—and her feelings for JD—to become the true Nashville diva she was meant to be.
Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a big Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Sheryl. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs.
But the stage persona she’s built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD McCoy—her first love—back into her life. Long ago Jo played with JD’s band. Then something went wrong, they parted ways and took their own crooked roads to stardom. Now, Jo’s excited—and terrified—to see him again.
When the label reunites them for a show, the old sparks fly, the duet they sing goes viral, and fans begin clamoring for more—igniting the media’s interest in the compelling singer. Why is a small-town girl like Jo so quiet about her past? When did she and JD first meet? What split them apart? All too soon, the painful secret she's been hiding is uncovered; a shocking revelation that threatens to destroy her reputation and her dreams. To salvage her life and her career, Jo must finally face the past—and her feelings for JD—to become the true Nashville diva she was meant to be.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2017
40 people are currently reading
1858 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Creech
4 books124 followersBorn and raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sarah Creech grew up in a house full of women who told stories about black cloud visions and other premonitions. Her work has appeared in storySouth, Literary Mama, Aroostook Review, Glass, and Glimmer Train. She received an MFA in 2008 and now teaches English and creative writing at Queens University of Charlotte. She currently lives in North Carolina with her two children and her husband, a poet. This is her first novel.
Photo by Magen Portonova
Biography taken from HarperCollins
Photo by Magen Portonova
Biography taken from HarperCollins
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
May 30, 2017
Jo Lover is a country singer who is on her way to joining the other greats like Dolly and Reba. Her career is threatened when her label merges with a smaller one, bringing her ex JD McCoy onto the same label. Jo is already engaged but being reunited with her first love JD brings up old feelings. When a persistent journalist uncovers a secret from her past it only throws her and JD closer together. The writing was good, better than I was expecting though I don't expect too much when reading romance. I really loved Jo and appreciate the message the book is trying to get across about owning up to who one is and not being ashamed of the things that happen to us. Jo and JD are really sweet together also, and I thought their relationship was adorable. I just felt angry about the way Jo was treated especially by her parents, even after she tells the truth I feel like they could've done more. Parents are supposed to protect their kids and I think it's terrible that they didn't do more even in the beginning when it happened. What is a twelve year old supposed to do in that situation anyways I doubt that anyone had even told her anything that would have helped prevent it even if it had been on purpose. A heartening read with a good message, the romance isn't the only focus of the book though so if you're going to get mad about that then I would skip out.
May 18, 2017
Jo(anne) Lover is a successful country music artist--a talented singer and fiddler--who is making music her own way. She's well-known as a down-home singer from Virginia who writes her own songs and loves the music she makes. Jo plays to packed crowds across the U.S. who love her more traditional style of music, her fiery spirit, and her patented red cowboy boots. But when the popular country band J.D. Gunn and the Empty Shells joins Jo's label, Asphalt Records (who just happens to be run by her future father-in-law), things change. J.D. Gunn and Jo grew up together, and along with their friend, Rob, were in a band as children. But Jo is now in a very different place from her childhood friend. J.D. has embraced modern country music (and it he). He sings songs about girls and pickup trucks--none of which he writes himself anymore. And he's made a lot of money doing so. But Jo can't quite adopt what modern country radio embodies: her heroines are Dolly and Loretta and her music reflects that. Still, J.D. and Jo have a storied past together, one that Jo increasingly cannot forget the more time they spend together.
This is a really interesting story of three linked artists: Jo, J.D., and Denver, who plays in a band with an African American singer, Alan. It's told in a conversational style from their various viewpoints, covering the present day as well giving us more background when the characters think back on the past. It's a very effective technique.
I cannot remember exactly why I requested this ARC, but I'm glad I did. This book is basically tailor-made for me: I'm a gigantic country music fan (from Virginia), who adores 90s country music and a lot of Jo's various heroines. As a child, my idol was Mary Chapin Carpenter, I was obsessed with cataloguing every country song I heard on the radio, and I wanted to be a country music singer/songerwriter (slight problem: I can't carry a tune). Needless to say, I loved Jo immediately.
Creech's novel presents a realistic take on modern country music, especially its stance toward African Americans and women. Her portrayal of the old country versus new country dichotomy is spot-on, but could potentially offend those who do love their songs about girls in pickup trucks sung by a revolving door of carbon copy male singers. You probably have to appreciate older country music for this book to work best.
But, don't fear if you aren't a country music fan. At its core, this is a love story, and while it's sometimes predictable and things tend to resolve themselves a bit too easily, it's really a fun one. It's a story of falling in love over music, as well as love of music. It's a strong story, but also captures the essence of what makes music special and magical. It portrays how music can be a business, or music can be a salve for your soul. Jo and J.D. are interesting characters and the supporting cast is intriguing and fun. Along with J.D.'s bandmates, we have Jo's assistant, Marie, and Denver's bandmate, Alan. There's also Jo's fiance, Nick, who is no stock character. While it has most of the earmarks of a typical romance-type novel, there are plenty of surprises along the way. It's also surprisingly profound for a soap opera tale. I enjoyed how it was a saga of music and love, but also a story of changing times and a look into what is fake and what is real. Jo and J.D.'s stage personas and the images they create for the world versus their real selves is pretty fascinating. It's sort of a backstage pass into country music, which is fun.
Overall, this may be a 3.5 - 3.75 star book, but I'm rounding up to 4 stars because I enjoyed the plot so much and because it's one of Creech's earlier books. The plot was fun without being silly and it just offered a good escape. Honestly, I would love it if there was another book picking up where this one left off.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 06/06/2017.
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This is a really interesting story of three linked artists: Jo, J.D., and Denver, who plays in a band with an African American singer, Alan. It's told in a conversational style from their various viewpoints, covering the present day as well giving us more background when the characters think back on the past. It's a very effective technique.
I cannot remember exactly why I requested this ARC, but I'm glad I did. This book is basically tailor-made for me: I'm a gigantic country music fan (from Virginia), who adores 90s country music and a lot of Jo's various heroines. As a child, my idol was Mary Chapin Carpenter, I was obsessed with cataloguing every country song I heard on the radio, and I wanted to be a country music singer/songerwriter (slight problem: I can't carry a tune). Needless to say, I loved Jo immediately.
Creech's novel presents a realistic take on modern country music, especially its stance toward African Americans and women. Her portrayal of the old country versus new country dichotomy is spot-on, but could potentially offend those who do love their songs about girls in pickup trucks sung by a revolving door of carbon copy male singers. You probably have to appreciate older country music for this book to work best.
But, don't fear if you aren't a country music fan. At its core, this is a love story, and while it's sometimes predictable and things tend to resolve themselves a bit too easily, it's really a fun one. It's a story of falling in love over music, as well as love of music. It's a strong story, but also captures the essence of what makes music special and magical. It portrays how music can be a business, or music can be a salve for your soul. Jo and J.D. are interesting characters and the supporting cast is intriguing and fun. Along with J.D.'s bandmates, we have Jo's assistant, Marie, and Denver's bandmate, Alan. There's also Jo's fiance, Nick, who is no stock character. While it has most of the earmarks of a typical romance-type novel, there are plenty of surprises along the way. It's also surprisingly profound for a soap opera tale. I enjoyed how it was a saga of music and love, but also a story of changing times and a look into what is fake and what is real. Jo and J.D.'s stage personas and the images they create for the world versus their real selves is pretty fascinating. It's sort of a backstage pass into country music, which is fun.
Overall, this may be a 3.5 - 3.75 star book, but I'm rounding up to 4 stars because I enjoyed the plot so much and because it's one of Creech's earlier books. The plot was fun without being silly and it just offered a good escape. Honestly, I would love it if there was another book picking up where this one left off.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 06/06/2017.
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July 26, 2017
Maybe this comes because I just finished a succession of great books but I found this slow moving. Don't get me wrong: The story was entertaining but it did not grip me. I did not "have" to read the next chapter before falling asleep. I enjoyed the Nashville references, as it's one of my favorite cities and I recognized many parts. But I feel many characters were not fleshed out and several made unrealistic choices/decisions just to tie up the story and end the book.
Thank you to Goodreads and William Morrow for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Goodreads and William Morrow for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
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March 29, 2017Well-crafted and engaging. A literary version of "Nashville"!
July 19, 2017
This book is country in the greatest way. Ostensibly, it's about two country singers, Jo and JD, who have fallen out with each other as they left their hard scrabble lives and made it to success in the country music industry. They are each sympathetic, interesting characters and the book would be satisfying on that level alone,
What takes The Whole Way Home from good to great is the story of country music itself that is so smoothly intertwined within the narrative of Jo and JD's lives. One thing I loved best was that a central conflict of the characters is where they each have taken their music. JD songs about trucks and girls to great commercial success. Jo has stayed true to the story telling roots of country. What I know about country music would fill half a thimble- but whenever I hear a great country song, I thinkg I could really, really love country music only to be disappointed by a lot of what is currently played that seems so cliched and dated. I now feel inspired to do some digging.
The book travels from rural Appalachia, to the music scene at all levels in Nashville, to LA and back. There are jam sessions, dive bar performances, country fairs, and shows at sold out concert venues.
There is skeet shooting and poker parties and partying on the bus with the boys in the band. There is blueberry picking and playing in a creek and walking to school. It was a treat to step into the worn red boots of a bourbon drinking, fiddle playing, song writing Jo Lover.
What takes The Whole Way Home from good to great is the story of country music itself that is so smoothly intertwined within the narrative of Jo and JD's lives. One thing I loved best was that a central conflict of the characters is where they each have taken their music. JD songs about trucks and girls to great commercial success. Jo has stayed true to the story telling roots of country. What I know about country music would fill half a thimble- but whenever I hear a great country song, I thinkg I could really, really love country music only to be disappointed by a lot of what is currently played that seems so cliched and dated. I now feel inspired to do some digging.
The book travels from rural Appalachia, to the music scene at all levels in Nashville, to LA and back. There are jam sessions, dive bar performances, country fairs, and shows at sold out concert venues.
There is skeet shooting and poker parties and partying on the bus with the boys in the band. There is blueberry picking and playing in a creek and walking to school. It was a treat to step into the worn red boots of a bourbon drinking, fiddle playing, song writing Jo Lover.
July 19, 2017
Set amidst the Nashville scene The Whole Way home is a sweet easy read with a little romance and a lot of country music. Other than one disturbing part the story fully engaged me which was a surprise as typically this is not my kind of book! Being true to yourself and owning up to your past would take guts when surrounded by stardom and success. Sarah Creech does an excellent job in bringing to life the Honky Tonks of Nashville. This book was a win from LibraryThing.
August 31, 2017
I received this via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own.
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Nice story but couldn't fully get into it. I loved the setting in the country music world, something a bit different (for me anyway). As soon as a certain someone came on the scene, my mind said "this is where this'll end up. Not that was a bad thing, sometimes its nice to sit back and enjoy a familiar type of story. The other guy she was with felt like a bit of a throwaway character to me *shrugs*
All in all, not a bad read, just not for me I guess
*side eyes book slump looming in the distance* stay away
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Nice story but couldn't fully get into it. I loved the setting in the country music world, something a bit different (for me anyway). As soon as a certain someone came on the scene, my mind said "this is where this'll end up. Not that was a bad thing, sometimes its nice to sit back and enjoy a familiar type of story. The other guy she was with felt like a bit of a throwaway character to me *shrugs*
All in all, not a bad read, just not for me I guess
*side eyes book slump looming in the distance* stay away
November 7, 2017
I picked up this book because of it's Nashville setting and country music themes. And I loved that about it, but that's where my love for this book stopped. Every person in this book was stereotypical on the surface with nothing underneath. The moments in the book that should have been poignant and meaningful happened way too quickly, while other non-important parts were drawn out way too long. I could have forgiven all this if the romance-y part of the story made up for it, but it was lacking in that department as well.
December 2, 2021
This. Book. I’m surprised that no one has roasted this book properly, so let me take a moment to be the bad guy and tell you why this book sucks.
Two thirds of the way in and I was ready to say that this was a flawed book that I somehow still enjoyed. But after finishing it...this book is a straight up mess, y’all. How could a book start with such an easy premise and blow it so badly?
First, the setting. I visited Nashville once, and yes, it’s a great city. But this book literally just talks about how great Nashville is without actually describing WHAT IS IN NASHVILLE. Cue a country music singer in a dive bar saying “How ‘bout a round of applause for Music City?” And that’s supposed to be enough.
Second, these characters. I have no idea how old Jo is supposed to be, because she supposedly 32 but has the mindset of a 16 year old. don’t know WHY she likes JD, nor why he likes her other than that their stupid voices blend well. I don’t know any nuances of their characters. And lacking this, I didn’t feel anything when the inevitable happens. And Nick..don’t get me started.
Aside from this, it takes literally PAGES for anything to happen. Like we’ll have there straight pages of people getting drunk and making out at a bar and absolutely no plot. And the ending was so incredibly rushed and left so many plot holes that I wanted to douse this book with a pitcher of cheap beer and leave it on the streets of Broadway on a Friday night. Blech.
Two thirds of the way in and I was ready to say that this was a flawed book that I somehow still enjoyed. But after finishing it...this book is a straight up mess, y’all. How could a book start with such an easy premise and blow it so badly?
First, the setting. I visited Nashville once, and yes, it’s a great city. But this book literally just talks about how great Nashville is without actually describing WHAT IS IN NASHVILLE. Cue a country music singer in a dive bar saying “How ‘bout a round of applause for Music City?” And that’s supposed to be enough.
Second, these characters. I have no idea how old Jo is supposed to be, because she supposedly 32 but has the mindset of a 16 year old. don’t know WHY she likes JD, nor why he likes her other than that their stupid voices blend well. I don’t know any nuances of their characters. And lacking this, I didn’t feel anything when the inevitable happens. And Nick..don’t get me started.
Aside from this, it takes literally PAGES for anything to happen. Like we’ll have there straight pages of people getting drunk and making out at a bar and absolutely no plot. And the ending was so incredibly rushed and left so many plot holes that I wanted to douse this book with a pitcher of cheap beer and leave it on the streets of Broadway on a Friday night. Blech.
June 8, 2017
See the full review at HarlequinJunkie.com
Told from multiple points of view and set in country music capital Nashville, The Whole Way Home was a touching standalone story of loss, heartache, love, and hope.
‘That was something she’d learned to do–dance despite the heartbreaks. She was practiced at the art of putting trouble aside.’
This was quite the emotional journey. One that had a bit more depth to it than I first expected after reading the book summary. And right away I should probably warn that it will likely have triggers for some readers, including assault, rape, recreational drug use, suicide, and cheating. That being said, Sarah Creech created a group of characters and described two communities in a way that felt whole and real to me. First was the mountain town that main characters Jo and J. D. grew up in, Gatesville, Virginia, and second of course was Nashville itself. I think the vibe of both locations was captured quite well and we got a good sense of what people were like there and what both towns were really about. Read More
Told from multiple points of view and set in country music capital Nashville, The Whole Way Home was a touching standalone story of loss, heartache, love, and hope.
‘That was something she’d learned to do–dance despite the heartbreaks. She was practiced at the art of putting trouble aside.’
This was quite the emotional journey. One that had a bit more depth to it than I first expected after reading the book summary. And right away I should probably warn that it will likely have triggers for some readers, including assault, rape, recreational drug use, suicide, and cheating. That being said, Sarah Creech created a group of characters and described two communities in a way that felt whole and real to me. First was the mountain town that main characters Jo and J. D. grew up in, Gatesville, Virginia, and second of course was Nashville itself. I think the vibe of both locations was captured quite well and we got a good sense of what people were like there and what both towns were really about. Read More
May 20, 2017
If you like the show Nashville you'll love this! Secrets, star crossed lovers and a great setting make this a quick summer read.
January 3, 2021
I was so excited to read this book when I picked it up for sale at Barnes and Noble, and then it just kind of continued to disappoint me. Now I know I am not the first reviewer for this book, but I might be one of the more recent ones you see, and all opinions are my own.
Be warned, there are some spoilers in this review.
I would first like to ask why the Flyaway Boys side story was in this book, it had zero connection to the main story and it just kind of took away from what was actually happening. I mean, yay for them for making a break and then deciding to go somewhere else. But the only role I see them playing is showing that Asphalt Records is racist. I mean, they wanted to remove the lead singer (a black man) and replace him in the deal, so....no go. It just...did not make sense to have that story in here.
As for the main story, there are seriously SO many content warnings I noticed throughout. Including: suicide, loss of a loved one, racism (n-word said 2x in the same sentence), assault, rape, infidelity.... my god. What I thought was going to be a Hallmark movie type book ended up with me being "what did I just read?!" type book. And then I got past that and I was like, oh...maybe the romance aspect will be good....right?
I love books with good romance and good southern charm, and this....was not it.
There is a sort of love triangle thing going on here, but none of it felt very realistic. There are two sex scenes in this book (two!) and I did not feel the spark, the steam, for either one of them. There was never actually an explanation for how Nick and Jo got together, it really seemed like a convenience relationship more than anything. And come on, why would you marry a guy if you don't truly love him? Nick came off like a jerk sometimes, but he did not deserve what cam to him. And then JD....that man is pure trouble. I understand still having feelings for your first love, I do, but there has to be a point in your life when you realize what you have now is better than "what could have been."
JD called Jo out on a lot of stuff and told her she was no longer tru to herself, no matter how much she tried to be, and she was able to look at her life objectively. But other than that, JD came into her life and literally wrecked it. I hope they are happy together, because I felt no spark and did not feel like rooting for anyone in this book. Except maybe Marie, she seemed to be doing okay.
Now, the book was not all bad (despite what you may think if you have read this far). I did like the writing and wanted to see where all the characters ended up. I liked the themes of this book, including staying true to yourself, second chances, love overcomes all obstacles, yada yada yada. For being a book about music, we don't actually see any lyrics until near the end, which I kind of missed out on. And I really just wanted there to be more spark between the characters.
So in the end....this book just fell short for me. The writing was good and I liked the overall story, but the characters did not have that spark you often see in romance novels and it just left me wanting for more. Some unnecessary parts in the book were dragged out where very important pieces were glazed over, and it felt a little off balance. Not a terrible book, but I cannot see myself reading through it a second time.
Be warned, there are some spoilers in this review.
I would first like to ask why the Flyaway Boys side story was in this book, it had zero connection to the main story and it just kind of took away from what was actually happening. I mean, yay for them for making a break and then deciding to go somewhere else. But the only role I see them playing is showing that Asphalt Records is racist. I mean, they wanted to remove the lead singer (a black man) and replace him in the deal, so....no go. It just...did not make sense to have that story in here.
As for the main story, there are seriously SO many content warnings I noticed throughout. Including: suicide, loss of a loved one, racism (n-word said 2x in the same sentence), assault, rape, infidelity.... my god. What I thought was going to be a Hallmark movie type book ended up with me being "what did I just read?!" type book. And then I got past that and I was like, oh...maybe the romance aspect will be good....right?
I love books with good romance and good southern charm, and this....was not it.
There is a sort of love triangle thing going on here, but none of it felt very realistic. There are two sex scenes in this book (two!) and I did not feel the spark, the steam, for either one of them. There was never actually an explanation for how Nick and Jo got together, it really seemed like a convenience relationship more than anything. And come on, why would you marry a guy if you don't truly love him? Nick came off like a jerk sometimes, but he did not deserve what cam to him. And then JD....that man is pure trouble. I understand still having feelings for your first love, I do, but there has to be a point in your life when you realize what you have now is better than "what could have been."
JD called Jo out on a lot of stuff and told her she was no longer tru to herself, no matter how much she tried to be, and she was able to look at her life objectively. But other than that, JD came into her life and literally wrecked it. I hope they are happy together, because I felt no spark and did not feel like rooting for anyone in this book. Except maybe Marie, she seemed to be doing okay.
Now, the book was not all bad (despite what you may think if you have read this far). I did like the writing and wanted to see where all the characters ended up. I liked the themes of this book, including staying true to yourself, second chances, love overcomes all obstacles, yada yada yada. For being a book about music, we don't actually see any lyrics until near the end, which I kind of missed out on. And I really just wanted there to be more spark between the characters.
So in the end....this book just fell short for me. The writing was good and I liked the overall story, but the characters did not have that spark you often see in romance novels and it just left me wanting for more. Some unnecessary parts in the book were dragged out where very important pieces were glazed over, and it felt a little off balance. Not a terrible book, but I cannot see myself reading through it a second time.
June 22, 2017
When I was a teen, one of my favorite movies was a movie called The Thing Called Love. It starred Samantha Mathis, Sandra Bullock, River Phoenix, and Dermot Mulroney, all trying to make it in the country music scene. At the time, I had little to no interest in country music at all, so that really wasn't my motivation for watching it or the reason I enjoyed it. It was the story, the characters, and the actors that did it for me.
The same can somewhat be said for Sarah Creech's latest, The Whole Way Home.
Jo Lover has made a name for herself as a brilliant young performer in the country industry. A singer known for her big, classic sound, she's made no bones about the fact that she finds the current trend of male driven pop-country focused on trucks and beer distasteful, to say the least. In fact, it's the kind of country music her old band and ex, J. D. Gunn and the the Empty Shells, are known for.
And then her label signs J. D., pushing the two of them to perform together.
Jo knows it's a great opportunity, but she's taken great pains to put her past far behind her. She's moved on, she's engaged, she's on the brink of hitting it big. Now, faced with J. D., the secrets she's tried so hard to keep hidden, threaten to ruin everything she's worked for.
Jo is a big character with lots of heart. She's true to her roots, supporting businesses and artists from the area she comes from, but she wants to keep her past in the past. And it's not just reuniting with J. D. that threatens all of that. A stubborn reporter who rubs Jo the wrong way from the start, is digging into things she definitely doesn't want the public to know.
There are hints about this throughout. First, the way Jo handles questions about her hometown and childhood. Second, how easily she's ruffled by the reporter in the first place. And it is a bit predictable, to be honest, but I found I didn't care. This is what great characters can do - draw you into a story that becomes more than it's tropes.
And while this is, at heart, a bit of a romance, I have to note that the story is bigger than that. Bigger than Jo and J. D. and their past. Bigger even than the revelation about Jo's past. The story is also one of Nashville, the music industry (country in particular, yes), and the hurdles faced by those chasing their dreams. Creech doesn't cower from pointing out the prejudices of the industry, using Jo to illustrate its feelings about women and Alan of the Flyby Boys to illustrate the industry's racism as well. Nor does is she afraid to tackle the tension between old country and new country as a running theme.
I have a bit more appreciation for country music these days than I did as a teen. Bluegrass in particular. But as I inferred above, you don't have to have any interest in country music to fall in love with Creech's latest. And yet, a little country knowledge does add to the richness of the story as a whole.
The same can somewhat be said for Sarah Creech's latest, The Whole Way Home.
Jo Lover has made a name for herself as a brilliant young performer in the country industry. A singer known for her big, classic sound, she's made no bones about the fact that she finds the current trend of male driven pop-country focused on trucks and beer distasteful, to say the least. In fact, it's the kind of country music her old band and ex, J. D. Gunn and the the Empty Shells, are known for.
And then her label signs J. D., pushing the two of them to perform together.
Jo knows it's a great opportunity, but she's taken great pains to put her past far behind her. She's moved on, she's engaged, she's on the brink of hitting it big. Now, faced with J. D., the secrets she's tried so hard to keep hidden, threaten to ruin everything she's worked for.
Jo is a big character with lots of heart. She's true to her roots, supporting businesses and artists from the area she comes from, but she wants to keep her past in the past. And it's not just reuniting with J. D. that threatens all of that. A stubborn reporter who rubs Jo the wrong way from the start, is digging into things she definitely doesn't want the public to know.
There are hints about this throughout. First, the way Jo handles questions about her hometown and childhood. Second, how easily she's ruffled by the reporter in the first place. And it is a bit predictable, to be honest, but I found I didn't care. This is what great characters can do - draw you into a story that becomes more than it's tropes.
And while this is, at heart, a bit of a romance, I have to note that the story is bigger than that. Bigger than Jo and J. D. and their past. Bigger even than the revelation about Jo's past. The story is also one of Nashville, the music industry (country in particular, yes), and the hurdles faced by those chasing their dreams. Creech doesn't cower from pointing out the prejudices of the industry, using Jo to illustrate its feelings about women and Alan of the Flyby Boys to illustrate the industry's racism as well. Nor does is she afraid to tackle the tension between old country and new country as a running theme.
I have a bit more appreciation for country music these days than I did as a teen. Bluegrass in particular. But as I inferred above, you don't have to have any interest in country music to fall in love with Creech's latest. And yet, a little country knowledge does add to the richness of the story as a whole.
August 7, 2017
Oooh, this was sweet. I just loved it. To be fair, I'm always a sucker for a southern romance and I also love books about fake celebrities, so this was right up my street. It was atmospheric and calm, dramatic without being ridiculous. The writing is straightforward and never meandering, but the dialogue is just so realistic and fun to read; it sometimes sounds like overhearing conversations. There were a lot of ways this could have gone wrong, but it was instead just a nice, calm, not-too-corny book about love and country music and was a delight to read in the middle of summer.
December 31, 2019
I wanted to like this one, but I really couldn't. The idea is good. I just felt like they threw every single country stereotype into it. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for them. But it was forced. Disappointed in this one.
October 11, 2022
I’m not a fan of country music but enjoyed the details of the Nashville music scene. The main character, Joanne Lover, is a singer/songwriter and fiddler who has gained popularity around Nashville. I like her strength, independence and feminism. She grew up in West Virginia with J.D. Gunn who is a huge country music star that doesn’t write his own songs anymore and many people believe is a sellout. Well, they were once in a band together and in love and there’s a secret past. (spoiler: it involves rape and a pregnancy) They end up sharing a stage for a music event and singing a song together. The song goes viral and the public clamors for them to make an album together. Meanwhile, Jo is engaged to Nick Sullivan, a well-respected music producer whose father runs a major record label. Nick is described as “the most sought after producer in Nashville, maybe in the entire music industry…” He’s the suit, she’s the creative. It can work sometimes. The pull between Jo and J.D. is especially strong though due to their shared past.
Enjoyed the music part; the romance not as much. There’s another storyline involving a band called The Flyboys. Jo’s assistant, Marie, hooks up with the drummer one night. She starts dating him. Jo and Nick come to a show. There’s a bar that everyone plays at starting out- the Thirsty Baboon, I think.
Nick’s dad is interested in signing the band but wants the singer, who is black, to be replaced. The band ends up leaving Nashville to try things in New York.
I get tired of the secret pregnancy storylines but this one is different as Jo’s violently raped as a child, at 12 years old but an older classmate. Her mother raises her daughter as her sister.
Enjoyed the music part; the romance not as much. There’s another storyline involving a band called The Flyboys. Jo’s assistant, Marie, hooks up with the drummer one night. She starts dating him. Jo and Nick come to a show. There’s a bar that everyone plays at starting out- the Thirsty Baboon, I think.
Nick’s dad is interested in signing the band but wants the singer, who is black, to be replaced. The band ends up leaving Nashville to try things in New York.
I get tired of the secret pregnancy storylines but this one is different as Jo’s violently raped as a child, at 12 years old but an older classmate. Her mother raises her daughter as her sister.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2017
4 1/2 stars
Jo(anne) Lover is a country music musician who embodies the roots of traditional country music. She is an independent person, applauding a long line of strong women singers who have gone before and she is not very keen on the male country singers who sing about their trucks and the girls in their daisy dukes who sit in the passenger’s seat. And that’s one reason why she thinks J.D. Dunn, a boy she’s known since she was 10, is a sellout.
read more: https://saschadarlington.me/2017/06/0...
Jo(anne) Lover is a country music musician who embodies the roots of traditional country music. She is an independent person, applauding a long line of strong women singers who have gone before and she is not very keen on the male country singers who sing about their trucks and the girls in their daisy dukes who sit in the passenger’s seat. And that’s one reason why she thinks J.D. Dunn, a boy she’s known since she was 10, is a sellout.
read more: https://saschadarlington.me/2017/06/0...
June 22, 2018
Nashville's music scene and a great love story. What's not to like?
June 1, 2017
Triangular Love, Home, and Country Music (Nashville, present-day): The Whole Way Home sings like real country music. “A living heart in a song.” A “dance despite the heartaches.”
“Good country music” – in the straight-talking words of Floyd Masters, Sarah Creech’s old-time country music legend turned radio sage who graces our airwaves from Vanderbilt's station, 87.3 FM – “should make you feel something, should cover the entire territory of the heart.” Creech’s second novel surely does with prose that’s strong, tender, achy, spirited, sorrowful, angry, wary, honest.
Are you one of the two million fans of the country music TV show Nashville longing to relive the romantic chemistries and musicality between three country music stars before they killed off the female character centering them? Well, dazzling indie singer/songwriter Rayna Jaymes – that “rebel woman,” that “good-values kind of woman” – is back as Jo Lover! As magnetic and torn between “two different kinds of love” as Rayna was.
This time around Nashville’s Deacon Claybourne, the fiery guitar-strumming character wrapped up in Rayna’s history, returns as J. D. Gunn, Jo’s Appalachian childhood soulmate who, along with his band brothers the Empty Shells, is now a “multiplatinum-selling country music megastar;” and Luke Wheeler, Rayna’s calmer, more conservative heartthrob is now Nick Sullivan. Privileged, yet he earned his reputation as the “most sought after producer in Nashville, maybe in the entire music industry – he could play bass, guitar, pedal steel, accordion, harp, mandolin, piano, percussion, horns.”
J. D. is from Jo’s past: she hasn’t seen him in five years. Nick is her future. Until things change, in Chapter 1, The Wrong Chord.
That’s when country music’s latest inductee into the Grand Old Opry – Jo – walks onto the stage of the “mother church of country music,” the Ryman Auditorium, and becomes so unnerved seeing J. D. she misses an easy chord. Noticeable to anyone who knows the music.
Picture the set-up: Imagine Jo as a “young Emmylou Harris” (long black hair, tall, slender), strutting her signature red Ariat cowgirl boots, singing in her “trembling, lilting, Southern-accented voice.” She’s thirty-two, from a small mountain town in fictional Gatesville, Virginia, where “mountains and music make memories.” Her female fans – the ones she writes for – are screaming for her “mountain-girl style,” for the sweet sounds of her fiddle and mandolin, for her healing music.
Hear Jo’s down-home Appalachian twang as she rouses the crowd: “Always been a lot of guessing about who I write my songs about,” she eggs them on. “But I think what really matters is heartbreak. Anyone ever experienced one of those?”
Observe she’s not a folksy Jo when she steps onto that historic stage all made-up in her hot dress and even hotter seven-carat, Assher-cut diamond. She’s engaged to three-time Grammy winner Nick, whose father owns Asphalt Records, the indie label that’s nurtured her.
Look whose sitting in that wild-for-Jo audience! Jo didn’t expect to see him, but you can’t miss his Elvis-looks: black wavy hair and “blue eyes lit up with innocent joy like paper lanterns.” Their estrangement seems to be about Jo feeling he’s sold-out to a corporate label. Once poor as “pickup sticks,” but she hasn’t forgotten what “her mama always said … don’t get above your raising.” That musical mistake is the first sign something is still there between them. If only J. D. could get her to smile at him, “that look that always did him in like the full moon over the mountaintop.” But Jo loves Nick, he's good for her; she wants no part of J. D. Right?
Romantic tension skips through the pages. Jo’s country music men deeply love her in their own ways, which is why the novel sings. It’s not until you’re halfway through that Jo and J.D.’s backstory becomes acutely clear; it’s not until the novel’s end that the romantic triangle reshapes to two.
Like Rayna and Deacon, Jo and J. D. have a past they can’t seem to get over. But Nick’s a really decent guy, lower-key, gracious, and he offers her a love that's purer and safer. Like Rayna and Luke, Jo and Nick are to be married on his magnificent estate (in eyeshot of J. D.’s) in an over-the-top wedding scheduled around their tour dates.
Whomever you’re rooting for, whoever wins Jo’s uncertain heart, with the TV visuals and sounds running through your head, the whole reading experience is even more immersive and satisfying.
The plot does bubble with some “thinking like a businessman” bumping up against “thinking with his heart.” How else could this be a candid look inside the country music industry from the standpoint of the singer/songwriter/musician as well as the business executive’s?
The authentic thread continues with storylines about up-and-coming young talent like the Flyby Boys band, amplifying what it’s like to get noticed, picked up, make it in Nashville. It feels like the whole gamut: from the local “dive bar circuits” such as the imaginary Thirsty Baboon, to yearning for a gig at the legendary Bluebird Café where dreams can come true, to the heavy drinking and lusting on tour, to hearing your songs on the radio, to going viral, to the make-or-break publicity in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, American Songwriter, the tabloids, paparazzi, to 360 contracts, to the “post-Napster world” of digital streaming. The author’s research hums like she’s from this world.
The Whole Way Home also pays tribute to country music greats, names we all know and some we may not: Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Reba McEntire, Gillian Welch, Alison Kraus, Kitty Wells, Bessie Smith, Phil Dolby, Ernest Tubb, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Deford-Bailey, Charly Pride.
Don’t be fooled by the list of female artists or the sole black virtuoso who made it big. The author also doesn’t shy away from the industry’s prejudices. It’s far more profound than “country music was still a man’s world,” that it still sees women as “one-dimensional.” It doesn’t embrace a whole lot of diversity.
Racially, discrimination is illuminated in the stories of two black artists. The one that affects the plot the most involves Alan, a member of J. D’s band, who works at the Black Country Music Association, founded to address the inequities. He hails from the Bahamas but his “songs felt so true to country.” Creech invents contract deals to bring home the shame of racism, yet she imbues a moral conscience in her writing and has a poet’s way of easing the pain.
One of my favorite evocative lines recalls memories of Home, a major theme. Jo, as we’ve established, has ambivalent feelings about J. D. In one poignant scene, she:
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
PS Could the novel’s release be timed any better? Tonight at 9PM on the cable channel CMT, Nashville returns with some new characters. Will they be as good as Creech’s?
“Good country music” – in the straight-talking words of Floyd Masters, Sarah Creech’s old-time country music legend turned radio sage who graces our airwaves from Vanderbilt's station, 87.3 FM – “should make you feel something, should cover the entire territory of the heart.” Creech’s second novel surely does with prose that’s strong, tender, achy, spirited, sorrowful, angry, wary, honest.
Are you one of the two million fans of the country music TV show Nashville longing to relive the romantic chemistries and musicality between three country music stars before they killed off the female character centering them? Well, dazzling indie singer/songwriter Rayna Jaymes – that “rebel woman,” that “good-values kind of woman” – is back as Jo Lover! As magnetic and torn between “two different kinds of love” as Rayna was.
This time around Nashville’s Deacon Claybourne, the fiery guitar-strumming character wrapped up in Rayna’s history, returns as J. D. Gunn, Jo’s Appalachian childhood soulmate who, along with his band brothers the Empty Shells, is now a “multiplatinum-selling country music megastar;” and Luke Wheeler, Rayna’s calmer, more conservative heartthrob is now Nick Sullivan. Privileged, yet he earned his reputation as the “most sought after producer in Nashville, maybe in the entire music industry – he could play bass, guitar, pedal steel, accordion, harp, mandolin, piano, percussion, horns.”
J. D. is from Jo’s past: she hasn’t seen him in five years. Nick is her future. Until things change, in Chapter 1, The Wrong Chord.
That’s when country music’s latest inductee into the Grand Old Opry – Jo – walks onto the stage of the “mother church of country music,” the Ryman Auditorium, and becomes so unnerved seeing J. D. she misses an easy chord. Noticeable to anyone who knows the music.
Picture the set-up: Imagine Jo as a “young Emmylou Harris” (long black hair, tall, slender), strutting her signature red Ariat cowgirl boots, singing in her “trembling, lilting, Southern-accented voice.” She’s thirty-two, from a small mountain town in fictional Gatesville, Virginia, where “mountains and music make memories.” Her female fans – the ones she writes for – are screaming for her “mountain-girl style,” for the sweet sounds of her fiddle and mandolin, for her healing music.
Hear Jo’s down-home Appalachian twang as she rouses the crowd: “Always been a lot of guessing about who I write my songs about,” she eggs them on. “But I think what really matters is heartbreak. Anyone ever experienced one of those?”
Observe she’s not a folksy Jo when she steps onto that historic stage all made-up in her hot dress and even hotter seven-carat, Assher-cut diamond. She’s engaged to three-time Grammy winner Nick, whose father owns Asphalt Records, the indie label that’s nurtured her.
Look whose sitting in that wild-for-Jo audience! Jo didn’t expect to see him, but you can’t miss his Elvis-looks: black wavy hair and “blue eyes lit up with innocent joy like paper lanterns.” Their estrangement seems to be about Jo feeling he’s sold-out to a corporate label. Once poor as “pickup sticks,” but she hasn’t forgotten what “her mama always said … don’t get above your raising.” That musical mistake is the first sign something is still there between them. If only J. D. could get her to smile at him, “that look that always did him in like the full moon over the mountaintop.” But Jo loves Nick, he's good for her; she wants no part of J. D. Right?
Romantic tension skips through the pages. Jo’s country music men deeply love her in their own ways, which is why the novel sings. It’s not until you’re halfway through that Jo and J.D.’s backstory becomes acutely clear; it’s not until the novel’s end that the romantic triangle reshapes to two.
Like Rayna and Deacon, Jo and J. D. have a past they can’t seem to get over. But Nick’s a really decent guy, lower-key, gracious, and he offers her a love that's purer and safer. Like Rayna and Luke, Jo and Nick are to be married on his magnificent estate (in eyeshot of J. D.’s) in an over-the-top wedding scheduled around their tour dates.
Whomever you’re rooting for, whoever wins Jo’s uncertain heart, with the TV visuals and sounds running through your head, the whole reading experience is even more immersive and satisfying.
The plot does bubble with some “thinking like a businessman” bumping up against “thinking with his heart.” How else could this be a candid look inside the country music industry from the standpoint of the singer/songwriter/musician as well as the business executive’s?
The authentic thread continues with storylines about up-and-coming young talent like the Flyby Boys band, amplifying what it’s like to get noticed, picked up, make it in Nashville. It feels like the whole gamut: from the local “dive bar circuits” such as the imaginary Thirsty Baboon, to yearning for a gig at the legendary Bluebird Café where dreams can come true, to the heavy drinking and lusting on tour, to hearing your songs on the radio, to going viral, to the make-or-break publicity in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, American Songwriter, the tabloids, paparazzi, to 360 contracts, to the “post-Napster world” of digital streaming. The author’s research hums like she’s from this world.
The Whole Way Home also pays tribute to country music greats, names we all know and some we may not: Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Reba McEntire, Gillian Welch, Alison Kraus, Kitty Wells, Bessie Smith, Phil Dolby, Ernest Tubb, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Deford-Bailey, Charly Pride.
Don’t be fooled by the list of female artists or the sole black virtuoso who made it big. The author also doesn’t shy away from the industry’s prejudices. It’s far more profound than “country music was still a man’s world,” that it still sees women as “one-dimensional.” It doesn’t embrace a whole lot of diversity.
Racially, discrimination is illuminated in the stories of two black artists. The one that affects the plot the most involves Alan, a member of J. D’s band, who works at the Black Country Music Association, founded to address the inequities. He hails from the Bahamas but his “songs felt so true to country.” Creech invents contract deals to bring home the shame of racism, yet she imbues a moral conscience in her writing and has a poet’s way of easing the pain.
One of my favorite evocative lines recalls memories of Home, a major theme. Jo, as we’ve established, has ambivalent feelings about J. D. In one poignant scene, she:
“felt time fold in like an accordion. J. D. smelled like red clay earth, like composing leaves on the floor, like the honeysuckle vines and Confederate jasmine blooming in June, like wild roses growing on the side of the road and fresh honey from the hive and barn straw and his daddy’s cow pasture after a spring rain, like the metallic air before the storm. He smelled like home.”Another moving scene takes place on stage, when Jo and J. D. are pressured to play together for the good of the record label. They choose an old song they wrote and sang a long time ago called “Glass Hearts.” It’s a beautiful title, one that epitomizes the novel. “Great songs don’t lose their power with age.” Neither should The Whole Way Home.
Lorraine (EnchantedProse.com)
PS Could the novel’s release be timed any better? Tonight at 9PM on the cable channel CMT, Nashville returns with some new characters. Will they be as good as Creech’s?
May 7, 2017
Thank you to Sarah Creech and Goodreads.com I won this book in a Giveaway.
Very slow easy story about being true to who you really are. Your life may require changes but it will always lead you back to your true character and choices that you made. I like how the story isn't rushed but it keeps you interested.
Very slow easy story about being true to who you really are. Your life may require changes but it will always lead you back to your true character and choices that you made. I like how the story isn't rushed but it keeps you interested.
June 7, 2017
Readers get ready for an author that will blow you away with beautiful music, Nashville coming to life and best part of it all is that this is an author that you will not forget. We have The Whole Way Home by Sarah Creech who at first you think this is your usual singer making it big in Nashville but it much more. There is Joanne Lover aka Jo yes that is her last name and her partner in crime JD Gunn unbeknown to them they are like peanut butter and jelly. Two people whose only dream is to make it big but didn't think about the obstacles and lies they have to overcome. JD knows his music has changed but the young singer at heart has never forgotten his roots unlike his best friend. In some case she is the one that got away and now that they are both in the same record he is determined to win her back. Music is what brought them together but it also teared them apart. Jo is opposite of JD and her fans know it but still dream of them singing together. She has never forgotten where she has come but in some way her dreams have matured to just making it big. She wants to be the next big thing like Dolly, Loretta Lynn and yet in her world she is lost. The love she had for JD seems like from another universe yet he is the only one who is making her feel sane.
Have to say Sarah Creech is an author I am keeping up to date with just by reading this fantastic novel. I love seeing a rags to riches story but this is much more than between these two. What I loved the most about this one is that it is clean, pure and refreshing in a way we don't see many books now. It wasn't about sex but about a girl and a boy's first love and the regrets they go through in life. In a way it is like seeing two people finding out what they have dreamed of having someday is not really the dream they were looking for all their lives. Hard to explain to readers without saying a lot about the book for you just have to get it by Sarah Creech. If you looking for hot sex pass along but if you looking for a book about true love, two people fighting to get back what they lost then Sarah Creech is the author you have to get right now. Loved it.
"I received an eBook copy from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own."
Have to say Sarah Creech is an author I am keeping up to date with just by reading this fantastic novel. I love seeing a rags to riches story but this is much more than between these two. What I loved the most about this one is that it is clean, pure and refreshing in a way we don't see many books now. It wasn't about sex but about a girl and a boy's first love and the regrets they go through in life. In a way it is like seeing two people finding out what they have dreamed of having someday is not really the dream they were looking for all their lives. Hard to explain to readers without saying a lot about the book for you just have to get it by Sarah Creech. If you looking for hot sex pass along but if you looking for a book about true love, two people fighting to get back what they lost then Sarah Creech is the author you have to get right now. Loved it.
"I received an eBook copy from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own."
September 25, 2017
It has been a while since I attempted to read this book -- so this review is going to short and sweet --just hitting the high spots.
First off, I was really surprised that I didn't love it. Reunited lovers is one of my favorite tropes.
My main issue with the novel is that it was too busy . . . too many secondary characters, too many plot lines, too much of an issue book, and I didn't think the infidelity issue was handled quite right.
Secondary characters -- by the time I got to the second or third chapter where some of the characters meet at a club I felt like I needed a piece of paper to write down all their names. I started losing interest around there.
Some of you are probably saying issue book??? While I do understand artist integrity and the concept. . and believe it is important that artist are allow to make music that is important to them --I don't have a problem with commercial music either. Most of the time it is fun, and catchy. So much of the book was about how wrong that was -- and how this person sold out, or they had to make a record a certain way. . .So one of the main conflicts didn't really capture my interest.
Infidelity issue -- While I'm not totally anti-infidelity -- there had better be a good reason for it. It is common decency not to cheat on someone with another person. There wasn't a good enough reason. . .
After about chapter four I skimmed the book -- It just didn't hold my interest.
First off, I was really surprised that I didn't love it. Reunited lovers is one of my favorite tropes.
My main issue with the novel is that it was too busy . . . too many secondary characters, too many plot lines, too much of an issue book, and I didn't think the infidelity issue was handled quite right.
Secondary characters -- by the time I got to the second or third chapter where some of the characters meet at a club I felt like I needed a piece of paper to write down all their names. I started losing interest around there.
Some of you are probably saying issue book??? While I do understand artist integrity and the concept. . and believe it is important that artist are allow to make music that is important to them --I don't have a problem with commercial music either. Most of the time it is fun, and catchy. So much of the book was about how wrong that was -- and how this person sold out, or they had to make a record a certain way. . .So one of the main conflicts didn't really capture my interest.
Infidelity issue -- While I'm not totally anti-infidelity -- there had better be a good reason for it. It is common decency not to cheat on someone with another person. There wasn't a good enough reason. . .
After about chapter four I skimmed the book -- It just didn't hold my interest.
February 28, 2017
A romance set in the world of big time country music with a feisty leading lady that plays the fiddle and wears red boots! Jo Lover is engaged to a successful music producer when her former music partner and boyfriend comes to her concert. Jo's past collides with her future forcing her to make tough decisions. Jo's assistant Marie and her boyfriend Denver experience love at first sight while Denver and his band are trying to make it in Nashville. I enjoyed this novel, loved Jo and gained insight to the world of country music stars!
October 21, 2022
Truly a boring story. So many characters with no development and growth. I hate that reunited lovers get back together at the expense of a fiancé. Jo was so bland and her character seemed exhausted and checked out.
August 30, 2017
Nashville's country music scene and a great love story. I enjoyed it!
July 15, 2017
I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
I want to start by saying that this book was not at all what I was expecting; not even close. To be honest, I entered the giveaway on the first day, and then it took so long for it to arrive in the mail that I forgot what it was about when I got it. So... I read a small amount of the summary; just enough to get an idea of what the book was. It totally surprised me in the best way possible.
I had so much fun reading this. It was a light, easy read that kept me wanting more. The story was fast paced and really interesting.
The romance between Jo and J.D. was very cute. I was very disappointed in how Jo treated Nick, but it made the book more exciting.
One thing I did not enjoy was J.D.'s attitude throughout the novel. He was very immature about his feelings for Jo and he handled it poorly. When she refused his advances, he acres like a child whose toy was taken from him. It got quite annoying. Other than that, the book was absolutely amazing.
[This last paragraph contains a major spoiler!!]
I try not to include spoilers in my reviews, but I felt that this one was important and something that should be mentioned. There is a rape scene in this novel. This was the last thing I was expecting to see in this book and I found it very difficult to read. It was not a very detailed or explicit rape scene, but it is still there. I feel like if I had known it was there, I would have been able to prepare myself for it. I would have been able to read through it better and wouldn't have had to stop reading in the middle of it to prepare. If you have difficulty reading things involving rape or find it triggering, the scene where it happens is very easy to skip and you won't miss any important details from skipping a page or two!!
I want to start by saying that this book was not at all what I was expecting; not even close. To be honest, I entered the giveaway on the first day, and then it took so long for it to arrive in the mail that I forgot what it was about when I got it. So... I read a small amount of the summary; just enough to get an idea of what the book was. It totally surprised me in the best way possible.
I had so much fun reading this. It was a light, easy read that kept me wanting more. The story was fast paced and really interesting.
The romance between Jo and J.D. was very cute. I was very disappointed in how Jo treated Nick, but it made the book more exciting.
One thing I did not enjoy was J.D.'s attitude throughout the novel. He was very immature about his feelings for Jo and he handled it poorly. When she refused his advances, he acres like a child whose toy was taken from him. It got quite annoying. Other than that, the book was absolutely amazing.
[This last paragraph contains a major spoiler!!]
I try not to include spoilers in my reviews, but I felt that this one was important and something that should be mentioned. There is a rape scene in this novel. This was the last thing I was expecting to see in this book and I found it very difficult to read. It was not a very detailed or explicit rape scene, but it is still there. I feel like if I had known it was there, I would have been able to prepare myself for it. I would have been able to read through it better and wouldn't have had to stop reading in the middle of it to prepare. If you have difficulty reading things involving rape or find it triggering, the scene where it happens is very easy to skip and you won't miss any important details from skipping a page or two!!
June 5, 2017
4.5 stars.
The Whole Way Home by Sarah Creech is a compelling novel set against the backdrop of the country music scene.
Joanne "Jo" Lover has remained true to the country music she began playing as an up and coming star. Signed with independent label, Asphalt Record, she has retained creative control over her music and she is definitely on track for hitting it big. Engaged to marry her music producer, Nick Sullivan, she is dismayed to learn that her future father-in-law who also owns Asphalt, has just signed a deal with her childhood friend, first musical collaborator-and her first love-J.D. Gunn. Their parting of ways was less than amicable and Jo has been extremely vocal in her belief that J.D. sold out when he stopped writing his own songs in order to churn out the typical beer drinking, pick-up truck and girl chasing songs that are so popular in country music today. After they perform a duet at an event, the video goes viral and now Asphalt Record wants them to collaborate on a new album together. In the midst of this professional turmoil, Jo cannot forget what J.D. once meant to her and a reporter is trying to dig up dirt on her long ago past.
Jo is an extremely talented singer/songwriter and she has amassed an incredibly loyal fan base. She has never compromised her musical integrity in order to fill Nashville's vision of today's country music. She is an ardent champion of female country artists and she is quite outspoken in her belief that women singers deserve equal airtime with their male counterparts. Jo has never regretted her decision to sign with Asphalt Record and she is grateful for Nick's assistance in helping shape her career. Despite their long standing acquaintance and her admiration for her new fiancé, she has not confided certain aspects of her past to him. With utterly disparate backgrounds, Jo has no doubt there is no way he can understand certain aspects of her life before she moved to Nashville.
J.D. and his band the Empty Shells are wildly popular but he is at the point where he wants to regain creative control over his career. Ready to return to his roots, he is eager to begin working on their next album. It has been several years since his path last crossed with Jo but he is well aware of her opinion that he is a sellout. He is surprised when his old feelings for Jo immediately rise to the surface and while he would not deliberately sabotage her relationship with Nick, he does not hesitate to bring up memories of their time together as children and their early years together in Nashville. He is quick to take advantage of an opportunity for them to perform together but J.D. is disappointed when their first attempts to write new material do not go well.
The Whole Way Home is a captivating novel with wonderful cast of eclectic characters and an engaging storyline. Sarah Creech provides readers with an intriguing behind the scenes peek into the country music industry that is quite fascinating and very illuminating. Jo's relationship with J.D. is heartwarming yet troubled due to their complicated history. A shocking plot twist late in the story threatens to destroy everything Jo holds dear and the future of her career hangs in the balance.
A thoroughly engrossing, feel good story that will to appeal to music lovers of all types.
The Whole Way Home by Sarah Creech is a compelling novel set against the backdrop of the country music scene.
Joanne "Jo" Lover has remained true to the country music she began playing as an up and coming star. Signed with independent label, Asphalt Record, she has retained creative control over her music and she is definitely on track for hitting it big. Engaged to marry her music producer, Nick Sullivan, she is dismayed to learn that her future father-in-law who also owns Asphalt, has just signed a deal with her childhood friend, first musical collaborator-and her first love-J.D. Gunn. Their parting of ways was less than amicable and Jo has been extremely vocal in her belief that J.D. sold out when he stopped writing his own songs in order to churn out the typical beer drinking, pick-up truck and girl chasing songs that are so popular in country music today. After they perform a duet at an event, the video goes viral and now Asphalt Record wants them to collaborate on a new album together. In the midst of this professional turmoil, Jo cannot forget what J.D. once meant to her and a reporter is trying to dig up dirt on her long ago past.
Jo is an extremely talented singer/songwriter and she has amassed an incredibly loyal fan base. She has never compromised her musical integrity in order to fill Nashville's vision of today's country music. She is an ardent champion of female country artists and she is quite outspoken in her belief that women singers deserve equal airtime with their male counterparts. Jo has never regretted her decision to sign with Asphalt Record and she is grateful for Nick's assistance in helping shape her career. Despite their long standing acquaintance and her admiration for her new fiancé, she has not confided certain aspects of her past to him. With utterly disparate backgrounds, Jo has no doubt there is no way he can understand certain aspects of her life before she moved to Nashville.
J.D. and his band the Empty Shells are wildly popular but he is at the point where he wants to regain creative control over his career. Ready to return to his roots, he is eager to begin working on their next album. It has been several years since his path last crossed with Jo but he is well aware of her opinion that he is a sellout. He is surprised when his old feelings for Jo immediately rise to the surface and while he would not deliberately sabotage her relationship with Nick, he does not hesitate to bring up memories of their time together as children and their early years together in Nashville. He is quick to take advantage of an opportunity for them to perform together but J.D. is disappointed when their first attempts to write new material do not go well.
The Whole Way Home is a captivating novel with wonderful cast of eclectic characters and an engaging storyline. Sarah Creech provides readers with an intriguing behind the scenes peek into the country music industry that is quite fascinating and very illuminating. Jo's relationship with J.D. is heartwarming yet troubled due to their complicated history. A shocking plot twist late in the story threatens to destroy everything Jo holds dear and the future of her career hangs in the balance.
A thoroughly engrossing, feel good story that will to appeal to music lovers of all types.
February 14, 2020
This. Book. I’m surprised that no one has roasted this book properly, so let me take a moment to be the bad guy and tell you why this book sucks.
Two thirds of the way in and I was ready to say that this was a flawed book that I somehow still enjoyed. But after finishing it...this book is a straight up mess, y’all. How could a book start with such an easy premise and blow it so badly?
First, the setting. I visited Nashville once, and yes, it’s a great city. But this book literally just talks about how great Nashville is without actually describing WHAT IS IN NASHVILLE. Cue a country music singer in a dive bar saying “How ‘bout a round of applause for Music City?” And that’s supposed to be enough.
Second, these characters. I have no idea how old Jo is supposed to be, because she supposedly 32 but has the mindset of a 16 year old. don’t know WHY she likes JD, nor why he likes her other than that their stupid voices blend well. I don’t know any nuances of their characters. And lacking this, I didn’t feel anything when the inevitable happens. And Nick..don’t get me started.
Aside from this, it takes literally PAGES for anything to happen. Like we’ll have there straight pages of people getting drunk and making out at a bar and absolutely no plot. And the ending was so incredibly rushed and left so many plot holes that I wanted to douse this book with a pitcher of cheap beer and leave it on the streets of Broadway on a Friday night. Blech.
Two thirds of the way in and I was ready to say that this was a flawed book that I somehow still enjoyed. But after finishing it...this book is a straight up mess, y’all. How could a book start with such an easy premise and blow it so badly?
First, the setting. I visited Nashville once, and yes, it’s a great city. But this book literally just talks about how great Nashville is without actually describing WHAT IS IN NASHVILLE. Cue a country music singer in a dive bar saying “How ‘bout a round of applause for Music City?” And that’s supposed to be enough.
Second, these characters. I have no idea how old Jo is supposed to be, because she supposedly 32 but has the mindset of a 16 year old. don’t know WHY she likes JD, nor why he likes her other than that their stupid voices blend well. I don’t know any nuances of their characters. And lacking this, I didn’t feel anything when the inevitable happens. And Nick..don’t get me started.
Aside from this, it takes literally PAGES for anything to happen. Like we’ll have there straight pages of people getting drunk and making out at a bar and absolutely no plot. And the ending was so incredibly rushed and left so many plot holes that I wanted to douse this book with a pitcher of cheap beer and leave it on the streets of Broadway on a Friday night. Blech.
July 29, 2017
Like the heroine of author Sarah Creech's "The Whole Way Home", I was born and raised in the mountains of Virginia. My home is still there, and I greatly looked forward to the tale of the mountain girl with an innate, undeniable gift of music who rises to the ranks of the country music greats. Joanne "Jo" Lover is a beautiful woman blessed with a voice of an angel and a magical touch on the fiddle. At a pivotal point in her life and career, she is suddenly reunited with J.D. Gunn, the first love who broke her heart when he left her behind on his own rocket ride to fame. Despite the heartaches, the bond of the soul and the pure musical harmony between Jo and J.D. is more powerful than ever--and so is the physical attraction. However, Jo is engaged to a music industry power broker who is also the son of big-time Nashville mover and shaker. To change everything and follow her heart could mean giving up all she has worked so hard to obtain--but will the heart have its way? The characters are memorable, and the story line is compelling, but the real star of this story is the rich detail of the history of country music and the Grand Old Opry and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The author provides such a flavorful taste of the past and present of country music that you will definitely savor the flavor of this "Americana Pie".
Book Copy Gratis Library Thing
Book Copy Gratis Library Thing
August 29, 2017
I simply love when a book surprises me, when it takes twists and turns I didn't see coming, when it builds in such a way that without realizing it slowly is far more then I'd anticipated. The Whole Way Home, by Sarah Creech, fits this description. I was really thrilled to have been selected by Library Thing and William Morrow as an Early Reviewer and I'd like to thank them for the opportunity.
Jo Lover is a rising star of the Nashville country music world when her label merges with the label of her first love, JD Gunn. Seeing an opportunity the label reunites them. Sarah Creech is a master story teller and she really shines in this genre, the messy relationships, heartache, history, love and loss, moments that can haunt us, baggage we carry. She excels at relating real life, the human experience we all can relate to. Clearly, I'm a fan. There are elements of all of these as we learn why these two didn't make it, what happened so long ago, how it made them who they are now, and if they can reconcile that in present day to find a way together.
I throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend to anyone who loves romance, stories that present location as key element, country music, and relationships. There is a plot element that may be triggering to those that are highly sensitive to sexual violence. It is short, not extreme, but it does exists. If this is a concern be aware.
Jo Lover is a rising star of the Nashville country music world when her label merges with the label of her first love, JD Gunn. Seeing an opportunity the label reunites them. Sarah Creech is a master story teller and she really shines in this genre, the messy relationships, heartache, history, love and loss, moments that can haunt us, baggage we carry. She excels at relating real life, the human experience we all can relate to. Clearly, I'm a fan. There are elements of all of these as we learn why these two didn't make it, what happened so long ago, how it made them who they are now, and if they can reconcile that in present day to find a way together.
I throughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend to anyone who loves romance, stories that present location as key element, country music, and relationships. There is a plot element that may be triggering to those that are highly sensitive to sexual violence. It is short, not extreme, but it does exists. If this is a concern be aware.
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