Imperfect Harmony by Jay Northcote

BLURB

 Imperfect harmony can still be beautiful…

John Fletcher, a former musician, is stuck in limbo after losing his long-term partner two years ago. He’s shut himself off from everything that reminds him of what he’s lost. When his neighbour persuades him to join the local community choir, John rediscovers his love of music and finds a reason to start living again.

Rhys Callington, the talented and charismatic choir leader, captures John’s attention from the first moment they meet. He appears to be the polar opposite of John: young, vibrant, and full of life. But Rhys has darkness in his own past that is holding him back from following his dreams.

Despite the nineteen-year age gap, the two men grow close and a fragile relationship blossoms. Ghosts of the past and insecurities about the future threaten their newfound happiness. If they’re going to harmonise in life and love as they do in their music, they’ll need to start following the same score.

REVIEW

I have to admit, I'm making this book more personal to me. As if Jay wrote this for me.
The grieving, the losing someone named David. The thing with hard to move on, that not everyone will understand.
I do.
Because death sucks.

"Death sucked, losing people sucked. It was as simple as that."

It's like robbed you on the spot when you want to pay the cashier for your purchases. And all you can do is sad and angry. At first, you don't know what to do without it.
Jay made a better analogy about this kind of losing someone .

""It's as if you had a story and it was never finished. You never got to know the ending because a whole fucking chunk of the pages have been torn out of the back of the book. And it's so unfair""

So it what was happened with John and Rhys. Moving on when you're still grieving is never easy. Falling for another person while all you wanted is your dead partner's back, even harder.

""It's crap that you have to go on without him. It never goes away, even when it gets better... it never stops hurting completely""

I think this is what Jay's wants to tell us about the book. It;s about acceptance, moving on, and try to adjust with a new life and let someone else 'in'. It was never easy, but when you're finally met the right person, you need to embrace it, instead pushing it away.
That was what John's trying to do to Rhys, insecurity about the age differences and the doubt about their future together, haunted him. Even David's ghost keeps telling him to go on without him.

""You have to go on without me"

I'm glad that Rhys, lots younger than John in age, is way more mature than him. He's easily let his feeling for John developing, and waited for John to realized, it's worth it.
The same interest in music, probably is the best part that make them attracted to each other. Thing with music is, I need more of Rhys to explore his ability to sing at the club, or a little concert,maybe?
Or Jay,probably, I hope, saved it for a novella. I need more Rhys and John in the future !
Thanks for the story Jay Northcote.

* I received the ARC for my blog in exchange for a fair and unbiased review*

 

 

BUY LINKS 

Amazon US 

Amazon UK 

Amazon Global 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats. She comes from a family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content.

One day, she decided to try and write a short story—just to see if she could—and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing since.

Jay writes contemporary gay romance about men who fall in love with other men, usually set in or near her home town of Bristol. She enjoys the challenge of bringing the men in her head to life through her words. Jay has five books published by Dreamspinner Press, and she also publishes her own titles under the imprint Jaybird Press. Some of her books are now available as audiobooks.