His Sweetest Song

by Victoria H. Smith

A single dad seeking a fresh start. A woman, a house, and the town that never truly left her.

After I receive word of an inheritance, I end up back in Kansas, red bottom heels and all to take ownership of a house and property I haven’t set foot on in over a decade. My aunt Josephine chose me, the last of her living relatives, and now I’m left to discover what she wants done with her legacy. It’s a feat I’m willing to take on.

But the man I find in her bathroom is another story.

Grayden claims to be a handyman, previous help to my aunt in his well-worn jeans and smart attitude and as it turns out, he has a daughter who wants even less to do with me than I do with her father. She says absolutely nothing to me—zero words, which only slightly surpasses her elusive dad.

The man known as Gray is guarded beyond anything else. He’s cold and I’m left wondering the reasons why. How did a man like that come to be such an important element to my late aunt’s life?

And why did my aunt Jo leave him, this house, and this town for me?

His Sweetest Song is a standalone contemporary romance by Victoria H. Smith. If you like emotionally-charged romances set in small towns, this 78,000 word novel featuring a single dad looking for a second chance at love and the city-girl he attempts to wrangle is for you!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Forced Proximity, Ebooks, Enemies To Lovers, Friends To Lovers, Interracial Romance

242 pages, ebook

Published May 25, 2018

About the author

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, reading, watching Scandal, and general geekery in the form of Sherlock and DC Comics. She’s a bestselling author and the 2014 Swirl Award winner for Best New Adult Romance, as well as the recipient of the 2015 AMB Ovation Award for her new adult romance FOUND BY YOU. She writes both new adult and adult fiction in many genres, but mainly focuses in contemporary interracial and multicultural romances.


To be notified about my latest releases, sign up for my newsletter! - http://eepurl.com/MxQMj

Reviews

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slow burn romance and I felt that Gray and Alicia's confession of love came too soon before we were allowed to see them together as a couple. Telling vs. Showing. As the story progressed I began to believe it.

When a pivotal moment happened with Alicia's childhood friend Ava I didn't see what the fuss was all about. Ava was a very strange (but genuine) character to me though I didn't know quite what to make of her. Having said that, I didn't think for a second she had a mean, malicious bone in her body.

Lastly, given a shocking and major reveal I didn't understand how Gray could make plans for the future under the circumstances.

ARC.

On Sale through Monday, May 28 for .99 cents or FREE to Read via KU.

[Daisy S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️✨️ 1.5 stars

Did we all read the same book?? Another booktok disappointment.

I didn't like it. I didn't like the writing. There was so much summarizing, like there was plenty of telling but not nearly enough showing, I hated it. Also how the hell did Alicia and Gray fall in love when they barely interact? One minute he's avoiding her like the plague, quickly talking to her in passing and the next they're professing their love for one another? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. Also the whole on the run shit was bogus, the breakup shit was stupid.

I also didn't absolutely love Alicia and Gray. I didn't really feel any chemistry between them. I didn't think their love story was cute, like IS IT EVEN A LOVE STORY? It was however, a let down.

Also the whole Laura being mute. One minute she's not talking and ignoring everyone and everything except the music being played on the piano and the next she's talking and laughing - that part of the storyline went 0 to 100 real fucking quick, it gave me whiplash. Most of the book gave me whiplash.

[Fashionista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pure awesomeness!

[Anne Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very cute book!. Near the 3/4 mark I was wondering where this book was going and almost gave up once or twice, but it always brought me back. The author didn't spoon feed their audience, which was nice. Their was constant talk of their love for each other sometimes got too repetitive, but the fluff and mussy moments were my favorite! What a lovely story about finding family in the loved ones around you, not just through blood.

[Briony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sobbing 😭 I love Alicia, Gray and Laura, the family they built together and love they shared was beautiful. And the ending was so sweet!

[aaliyah˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute and wholesome! was moving kinda fast for me moreso in the last 20% of the book. and they were dropping L bombs way before then 💀 but yeah i was getting whiplash at the end. cute tho HAHA

[Karen's Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alicia, a prominent attorney from the city, only intended to spend as long as it took to handle her deceased aunts affairs and immediately get out of the small town in Kansas that her aunt called home . But her plans changed when she met Gray and his daughter Laura. Once Alicia and Gray, along with Laura, spend some time getting to know each other, Alicia decides that maybe small town living isn’t so bad , that is until her recent past collides with her possible future, and who she thought she knew may not be whom she thought he was at all.
If you’re looking for a romance that really pulls on your heartstrings, I think you’ll love His Sweetest Love Song. Neither Alicia or Gray are looking for love, but we usually find things we aren’t looking for. This story was a sweet, passionate, attention grabber that kept me invested until the very end and I really enjoyed the journey with these two.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

I saw all the 4/5 star reviews and maybe I got another edition of this book than everyone else, or maybe things picked up from where I decided to throw in the towel, but I wasn't connecting with this. The pace was molasses slow, and I found myself having to reread sentences because the way they were structured didn't make any sense. I had an example I had written down (and now I can't find it) but the gist of it was "...her foot broke through my thoughts" and I was left scratching my head, like what? Did she drop kick you in the head or something? Then there was a lot of times where the writing wasn't straightforward. It was like taking the scenic route to describe what was happening, which I don't mind every now and again, but it was happening almost every paragraph. Simplifying can be a real treasure sometimes. I've tried another book but this author and didn't finish that title either. I just don't think this author's writing style is for me.

[Disgusted Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing style irritated the shit out of me

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a sweet book, I guess. A little too slow for me, I really struggled to continue in the beginning. Parts of the story felt very unnecessarily drawn out, and other parts that I felt were more essential, felt rushed.

[eri (moni) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grayden, Laura and Alicia are very special to me.

Grayden might’ve not have been super smart with his choices but he just wanted to keep his baby safe the best way he could and I can’t fault him for that. Their father daughter relationship was the CUTEST MOST PURE thing to me and I just love them bad omfg. The lil moments where she would look at him for approval melted my heart. My sweet beans from the start till end, who was just a lil damaged but our girl alicia got all that sorted real quick 😩🤞🏾.

Alicia (mi gente latino) like that’s family. Firstly she was goofy as hell being involved with bastian like…. But alas.
Pero like super baddie b who was running her world and wasn’t gonna let nothing get in her way (except love) which we love to see. (Olivia Wilde nodding) Her and Laura???? Like that’s HER child. Laura’s trust building with her over time was amazing to witness as well as Gray’s like they’re all my lil pookie Omfg. And she had to clear that nasty lady real quick cause she really had her away from her family for MONTHS and babygirl was regressing again like I was SCARED but we got right back to schedule and LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Joseph🥺😩🫡


Ps. I hope Laura’s womb carrier chokes and burns in the deepest pits of hell!! Nasty ass specimen. Like what she did broke my heart. I can’t imagine ever resorting to such lengths for something so insignificant at the expense of my child.

[Reem · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf’d…the beginning was so boring I couldn’t go on

[Amina Cherki · Rating 2 out of 5]

they went from strangers in one chapter to saying i love you in the next. also there was maybe max 5 dialogues in the whole book 🙃

[valeria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story but wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. it feels like the relationship went from 0 to 100 in between chapters that the audience doesn’t even get to see. for example, we see the inner monologue of the two characters saying they love the other person, but we had barely seen them together in the book, which also made the ‘I love you’ scenes where they verbalized it seem like it came out of nowhere. the only person I loved from beginning to end was the kid, she was adorable.

quick facts & tropes
* dual POV
* small town romance
* single dad

dislikes
* don’t like the MC’s voice
* refers to the facial hair as whiskers in inner monologue (ik this is minor but it irked me)
* writing style ex: “I said a lot to her, Alicia” and “She always believe in me, josephine”

ratings
3/5 🌟
spice scale: 3/5 🌶

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little slow, but a great ending!!

I thought Grayden and Alicia would never get together, but they finally did. Alicia fell so in love, and finally brought peace for him and Laura. This was a good book, a little slow, but had a great ending!

[Giselle · Rating 1 out of 5]

that’s time I will never get back

I got 50% in and wanted to DNF but I also needed to know what happened so I skimmed it. The whole romance lacked chemistry and build up. It was just declarations of love without trust or communication. It was a total No from me.

[Sherry Molock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a sweet love story between a man with a lot of baggage (I mean tons) named Gray and the unexpected love of his life, Alicia. Alicia's aunt leaves all of her worldly possessions to Alicia and Alicia comes to the small town the aunt lived in to settle the estate. Alicia feels a little guilty inheriting everything because she hasn't seen her aunt in years, not since Alicia's mother died many years ago. While there, Alicia runs into Gray, a local handyman who is handsome but standoffish. He also has an 8-year-old daughter who is mute; Alicia thinks she is autistic. Alicia gets Gray to do some repairs around the house and because he doesn't have childcare, he brings his daughter with him. His daughter loves coming to the house because the daughter felt very close to the aunt and they connected thru music. Slowly, but surely, Alicia starts connecting to the daughter thru music as well and then Alicia and Gray begin to fall in love as well.

This is really the sweetest love story as you watch Gray's daughter, Alicia, and Gray all fall in love with each other. Alicia and Gray are an interracial couple, but not much is made of that fact; in previous books, that was more of a focal theme in some of the author's work but I thought it was fine that it wasn't highlighted in this story. There aren't a lot of steamy love scenes but the story doesn't need them - this is an old fashion, feel it in your bones love story and its refreshing to read it because you don't see many of these on the market anymore.

Gray has a LOT of secrets and baggage that he has to overcome, and at times I was ticked with both of them for making decisions because they were scared to be hurt, but they also both recognized when they were wrong and were humble enough to go to the other person to try to fix it. There is this really tender scene where Gray realizes he messed up and he's trying to figure out how to fix it and when you hear the things he's saying to himself to win Alicia back - OMG!!!! That is what true love is about when you apologize and you don't even know or care who was right or wrong, you just want to be together.
I am a big fan of Victoria Smith's books, this one is a little different - I guess you could say the love in this book is crock-pot love - it's a slow cook and the ingredients are marinating, but the product is out of this world yummy!

I received this book as an ARC for an honest review

[aida · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sooo… who wants to explain to me why Grayden Davenport, CEO & one of the richest men in the US, took his daughter and went on the run when her mother sold her for drugs, instead of using his overwhelming resources and power to properly take his daughter?

Not to mention that the book literally says he committed fraud/embezzlement, but now that Alicia’s solved that pesky warrant surrounding his daughter, he no longer has to be in hiding?

This book was not good.
Decent concept with a single dad doing his best to help his struggling & traumatized daughter. Abhorrent execution of said concept.
The writing felt stilted and the overall pacing of the plot was off. It’s difficult to gauge exactly how much time passes in most of the book, and we clumsily jump from scene to scene like a newborn giraffe.
Our main conflicts in this story are (1) Alicia selling the land, (2) Laura being mute, and (3) Gray being on the run with his daughter. But all of these conflicts are resolved at the speed of light in this book, so you really don’t get any of the necessary angst or tension.

I don’t care for Alicia & Gray as a couple because we have absolutely zero relationship development and ZERO romance. Also, Noah fence, but Gray running after telling Alicia the truth and disappearing on her for months? Absolutely pathetic & he never apologizes or grovels.

Alicia’s dad speaks to her at the start of the book, but then we literally never hear about or speak of her family again…

The second page of this book has a typo where instead of “divine” it says “Devine.” Page TWO. That was my first clue at where this book was headed, and with that clear lack of proper proof-reading & editing, I should have known not to expect anything immediately after that.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

***** ARC Received for an Honest Review *****

I'll just cut to the chase. I loved this story. I love how the story flowed. I didn't feel that the story was rushed or slowed; I felt that the pacing of the story was perfect. I loved the emotions that were drawn out of me from the story. I could feel the deep connection that Gray and Alicia had for one another. While they may have had immediate attraction to one another, I felt that their romance was appropriately paced and I could really feel that connection that they had with one another. I loved the way their love developed, as well as the relationship between Gray, Alicia, and Laura. It wasn't perfect, no relationship is, but it felt genuine for all three of them.

I loved Laura's growth and how she came to her own very gradually and, although she faced a traumatic experience, that she was able to heal. I especially loved Gray and Laura. I could really see a father who was in pain over the struggles his daughter was going through and his desire to do right by his daughter. while all three of them deserved a happy ending I especially, especially wanted it for Laura, and for Laura and Gray.

I even loved the small town of Mayfield. While I did not grow up in a small town, I could perfectly picture the small community and even understand where they came from in terms of a city girl coming in potentially disrupting the town's flow.

I highly, highly recommend this story and, as always, I cannot wait to read what's next from Victoria H. Smith!

[Kait · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying, normally even if I’m 75% or more through the book, I’ll continue. This one, I wanted to but I just couldn’t.

I’m a SUCKER for the single dad books, but this one put me in a slump.

I saw all of the reviews and some hype on tiktok when I looked it up. I have never DNF’d a book. Not once. Never. I just couldn’t keep reading this one.

The pacing was extremely slow, which normally, I don’t mind slow pacing because the build up is usually worth it. I just lost interest so many times.

I loved the aspect of the girl and her dad. Loved that part of the book. There was too much narration and too much telling in it. There wasn’t enough actual interaction between the characters.

The main character, Alicia, wasn’t very likable to me. She narrated so much of the story, some of the time I lost what was even happening. There wasn’t enough dialogue to keep my interest going.

I felt that it lacked chemistry. There were a lot of sentencing problems in the book. It was like I was reading such complexed sentences that I had to read the lines two or three times for the words to even make sense. I noticed a few spelling errors, not a big deal there.

When I picked this out to read, I expected it to be more emotional and heart driven, but I was honestly so shocked and let down because I’ve never DNF’d a book before.

Her writing style may be amazing in others and I won’t shy away from the author, but this book wasn’t worth the time to read for me. No matter how badly I wanted it to be.

[Shaneice · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

In Victoria H. Smith’s latest, “His Sweetest Song”, we meet Alicia, a big city professional who suddenly finds herself in small-town Kansas after inheriting property from a recently deceased aunt. There she meets Gray, a local handy man and single dad with a mountain of secrets and an unwavering devotion to his shy and skittish daughter, Laura.

When I started reading this, I felt like this story was vaguely familiar. Then it hit me: ‘Corrina, Corrina’, the Whoopie Goldberg/Ray Liota movie, where Liota plays the recently widowed father trying to get his daughter to come out of her shell. He is largely unsuccessful, as he is fighting his own grief, until Corrina comes along. Obviously Smith’s story differs, but the connection between Alicia and Laura warmed me just the same. And the growing love between Alicia and Gray felt genuine, as their feelings slowly evolved during the time they spent together.

My only gripe with the story comes in the little nitpicky details, one of them being the constant reference to Chicago as “Chicagoland”. As a Chicago native, this made me wince every time. “Chicagoland area” I could get down with…but I’ve never heard it called “Chicagoland” on its own. But, again, it’s a petty detail, so don’t mind me.

All in all, it’s a cute love story about renewal and redemption and letting go. 4/5 would recommend.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy from the author.

His Sweetest Song is a big that has a few of my favorite romance tropes, small town romances, single parents, opposites attract. After learning that her aunt passed away and left her a house in a small town, Alicia plans to make a quick visit to tie up loose ends and sell the house. When she arrives, she meets Grayden, Gray, the handyman her aunt had hired to fix up the house. Gray is a quiet man who recently moved to the town with his eight year old daughter, Laura. They mostly keep to themselves and Alicia's aunt was special to them. Once Alicia realizes her love of the house, she hires Gray to finish the renovations. She and Gray soon find themselves drawn to each other and also Alicia to the precious Laura. When Gray's past comes to light, will they be able to weather the issues that come about?

Like I said earlier, I love single parent and small town romances. I loved the pace of the romance and story. Laura was adorable and I loved her relationship with Gray and Alicia. I also loved learning about Gray and Laura's past at the same time Alicia learned it. I enjoyed this story, but I was a little disappointed with the ending. There were some major developments that happened off page and I would have loved to actually read and live the moments with the characters. Other than that one thing, I liked this book and thought the epilogue was cute.

[Sybil Pun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet yet tasty

This was such a sweet and tasty story. Albeit, I must say that it started out very slowwww, but it was worth it and at the end it was simply cute. I believe the POV was the best and the worst of the story, just like a sweet and sour, or sweet and salty treat etc...
Alicia, was so nice, and naive, a little bit confusing but seemed to be portrayed as a wonderful person. Grayden on the other end, was really cute, sexy and all but extremely confused yet very wholesome. The running, giving up and all did not really make sense and it fell through the understanding of non reality but every now and then, you can have that....
Now, I do think this story would have been better if there were more definitions such as: more explanation of Josephine, does the season ever change in this town? At one point, it was summer then fall since Laura started school but never Christmas or anything like that... And finally Bastian, what's up with that? At least develop him a little. It's like all communication had seized with Alicia yet at one point, the author explain that they were texting, confusing much...
With that said, go ahead grab a beverage, preferably tea and enjoy a some trail mix (sweet, salty and tasty) and start reading!

[Lorice DeBlanc-Brim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended!!!!

Alicia is a corporate lawyer from Chicago in Mayfield, Kansas to handle an inheritance from her deceased Aunt Josephine. Alicia seemed a little uppity and cold to me. She already had the idea in her head to sell her aunt's house. After meeting Gray, it seems things does get a little challenging and also change for the good. Mr. Gray is on the run with his daughter Laura. After what his daughter been through, I would be on the run too. Laura's birth-mother is an animal who is the main reason her daughter is the way she is. She will make your heart melt to pieces. Bastian arrogant butt make an unannounced visit to see Alicia only to bring some shade to Alicia and Gray relationship. I wanted to punch Bastian. He didn't know what baby girl had gone through. All I can say is Alicia is my shero. Take the tissues out. By the time Gray finish telling his accounts to how he found his daughter, you would want to punch the daylight out of Laura's mother. Ms. Smith you have outdone yourself. I enjoyed Alicia and Gray story.

[Crystal Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the "sweetest" book so far that I've ready by Victoria Smith. I thought Grayden was just the best dad ever, you can tell that he loved his daughter very much and wanted to make everything better for her. He had secrets and was very tight lipped but he was also very caring. Alicia, who is a city girl through and through, met Grayden by happenstance when she went to go about the inheritance that she received from her aunt Jo, who she hadn't seen since she was very young. At first I thought that Alicia didn't like kids but what I found out is that she had the biggest heart that I've seen for someone that knew nothing about children. She was a godsend to Grayden as was her aunt Jo. The love that Alicia and Gray found in each was really the sweetest and in the simplest of forms. I was rooting for the couple even when Gray's secret came out. If you want to read and emotionally charge, sexy and a truly sweet romance hit the 1-click option to read about Grayden and Alicia's great romance.

[Romancing the Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

📚 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲: Single Dad, small-town romance, interracial romance

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Alicia heads to a small town in Kansas when her aunt passes and she inherits her estate. There she meets Gray, a grumpy handyman with an equally broken daughter.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I learned my lesson. Never take a Tiktok teaser at face value. But hey, in my defense the GR rating is higher than I would have thought, too.

This was a painful read. It had all of the makings of a good story, but was missing so many key elements. The characters were saying they loved eachother before they even knew eachother's last name.

Beyond the story issues, it was absolutely poorly written. Who important conversations were relegated into non-dialogue text. The punctuation and sentence structure throughout the entire book was off and painful to read.

I was begging for this to be over at about 25 percent. Makes me want to revise my "no DNF" rule.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 2/5 ⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 3/5 🌶🌶🌶

[Irum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 stars

This was cute except I had a issue with how they fell in love with each other. Like one chapter they were chill the next chapter they are professing there love for each other. Like babe you guys legit only know each other for 2 weeks. I think the issue was only telling not showing thing. We skipped so many part on how they fell in love it doesn’t even seem believable. I don’t even understand what she saw in him. Like ya he was nice but he barely did anything it’s like he had no personality. The ending was super abrupt like huh. Honestly I wasn’t a fan of Gray. They way he sort of wasn’t part of his daughters life until only recently and caused her to go through trauma. Like I understand he understood his mistake and became better for her but he really made her go through so much. His daughter deserves the world poor girl went through a lot.

[BBG · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Ch.3 -Ch.19 was great, slow paced but really good I wanted to give it a 4.5 but everything after such a disappointment. From Laura talking like she hadn’t been mute for 3 yrs. or the implication that she was autistic when she was catatonic due trauma really took away from her character and the story. Gray & Alicia’s I love you’s for this to be slow burn it gave insta-love without actually showing them falling. I def agree there was a lot of telling and not showing overall but especially on Gray’s part. Bastian popping up and Alicia & Gray acting like their not together was the most oddest thing about this bc they said I love you’s not even 20 mins before. The Gray situation/secret was over complicated as well as unnecessary and under cutted the entire book. If the book had ended after Ch. 28, they getting back and then epilogue I would’ve like this book more.

[frombooktoaesthetic · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book... yeah it was honestly everything.

grayden is a single dad that has a lot of baggage and secrecy surrounding him. he is the father to the cutest little girl who doesn't speak. as you go through the book you learn about both of them and the events and experiences that led them to where & who they are at the moment.

alicia walks into their lives as the relative of someone that was very special to grayden and laura and changes everything. through small actions, she worms her way in their lives and reminds grayden he is deserving of love.

it is a bit of a slowburn and I really wish we got to see more of the two main characters connecting more. still such a good read and I'm glad all three of them got their happy ending <3

[Rainey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very cute! Not a whole bunch of spice per se but there are a couple of scenes. The book revolves around the plot line of a disabled young girl..

Alicia is a new home owner who inherited in the middle of nowhere.

Greyson is a single dad trying to run from the world with his daughter.

They slowly start to fall in love, very quickly and with very little talking for my liking. They know next to nothing about each other except for their shared love for the little girl Laura and the house that’s being renovated. The biggest plot twist in the end is Greyson secretly of why he and Laura are off the grid. It was unexpected.

A very sweet short story on an unexpected love and found family.