Hammers & Heartstrings

LPD Records #1

by Elle Bennett

“I pressed down on the keys and heard the notes resonate from inside the piano, the hammers and strings straining to work after years of sitting in dust.”

April O’Connell never expected to be on tour with a band. After all, she’s not a musician anymore. Her piano is in the past, and her future is listening to music, not making it. When she runs into Andrew Washington at a show, she finds herself doing two things she swore she’d never do - dating a musician and going on tour. But his band is local, small, unsigned. She doesn’t think that dating him could possibly turn her past into her present, let alone into her future.

But April’s heart will forever belong to the piano, whether or not she likes it.


Note: Hammers & Heartstrings is not a romance, but it is new adult.

194 pages, ebook

First published April 3, 2018

About the author

Elle Bennett lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband. She can often be found with a cup of tea and a good book.

Reviews

[Emmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book about expectations and childhood scars. While it can seem infuriating at times, and you might just scream to April to like talk to someone, maybe especially Andrew, about why she is so hesitant, she never stops being real. The style of the book is gorgeous and I can’t wait for the sequel.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. Love. This. Book. It somehow manages to balance being fun and light with being painfully real, in the best way. I love April and her journey in this book, even if I simultaneously wanna hug her and slap her. I’m a huge sucker for self discovery journeys and this is a damn good one. Plus, the way Elle Bennett writes about music is amazing. You can really feel the music as you read, and her lyrics make you wish the songs were actually recorded.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

April sucked me in from page one, I enjoyed the relationship between April and her love of music. I felt for her and wanted to punch a few characters along the way. 100% would recommend to anyone and have.

[Louise Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hammers and Heartstrings is a fun, well written debut. There was something about the narrator, April, that should make her come across as unlikeable, but the story is so tied to her character development, and the exploration of the things from the past that still haunt her, that I couldn’t help but want to carry on with her story. She’s developed as a character determined not to get hurt by those around her.

I’m glad the book isn’t being pitched as a romance because I definitely think the story has a lot of value as one about a woman learning to put herself first. Some parts are a little uneven as April struggles with her past and present, but it comes to satisfying conclusion!

I loved the use of music in the book. I could completely picture April playing her piano, and Peristerophobia leapt to life as a small town band hoping to make it big.