Please Don't Stop the Music

by Jane Lovering

[Leah]

Jemima Hutton is a talented jewellery designer with a dark past, but after being dumped by her only buyer, she has no idea how she’s going to carry on making money. Until she walks into Ben Davies’ guitar shop and her offers to carry her belt buckles as long as they sell. Jemima is intrigued by Ben, who shies away from people, and when she learns he was once part of uber-successful band Willow Down, she can’t help but wonder why he quit in the middle of their American tour. But if Jemima wants Ben to open up to her, she’s going to have to open up about her secrets, too. As they tiptoe around each other, could they finally have each met someone they’re able to fully open up to or will it be over before it’s even begun?

When I first heard of Please Don’t Stop The Music I was very intrigued to read the book. I liked the cover, I thought it sounded great and I’d already reviewed and enjoyed a couple of books with the Choc Lit publishing imprint. I was thrilled to receive a copy to review but because I’ve been very so-so about Chick Lit recently, I’ve let it sit on my shelf for a couple of weeks, only browsing the first page before putting it back again. The publication date is finally coming around, though, and I thought it was high time I read the book, and I’m pleased that I did.

As soon as I started the book, I was pulled in right from the off and we’re introduced to Jemima and those who inhabit her world: Saskia, who buys Jemima’s jewellery, Rosie her best friend along with her son Harry and Jason, who Jemima shares a studio with. I was transported instantly into Jemima’s story as she struggles to find someone to show off her belt buckles, until she happens on Ben Davies’ guitar shop, down a York side street. The sparks fly off the two since they first meet and I found their interactions very entertaining as they took the Mickey out of each other constantly. It made for amusing reading, and when I learnt that they both were keeping secrets, I was dying to know what they were and it definitely kept me turning the pages as they both kept almost blurting it all out.

I loved all of the characters. Jemima is a very intriguing character right from the off. I knew she had a secret, as the synopsis says so, and I was desperate to find out what it was. Despite her secrets, I loved Jemima, she’s very sarcastic, and she’s someone I could definitely see myself being friends with. She’s exactly what I look for in a main character and she carried the book with aplomb. At first, I wasn’t completely taken by Ben. He interested me, but the description Jemima gives of him makes him sound very skinny and a bit scruffy, but as Jemima changes her opinion of him, I did too and by the end of it, I loved him. I also really liked Rosie and Jason, Jason in particular were hilarious and they were such good friends to Jemima despite not knowing her as well as they might have liked.

Please Don’t Stop The Music is really well written, and I flew through the pages and the book just seemed to pick up steam the more I got into it. It’s told entirely from Jemima’s point of view with regular diary entries from Ben and I liked that small addition, because it gave us a bit of an insight into Ben’s head. As I’ve mentioned, both characters have big secrets and while I eventually guessed Ben’s, I had no idea of Jemima’s. We’re told a little bit about Jemima during the book, just snippets, so while I was expecting something a bit different to what you normally find in a Chick Lit book, I wasn’t expecting what I got! It was very much a surprise. I absolutely loved reading Please Don’t Stop The Music, I loved the writing style, I adored the characters and I loved the humour within the pages but most of all, I loved the romance. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, and I was rooting for Jemima and Ben throughout, practically from their very first meeting. Jane Lovering is definitely an author on my radar and I really hope she’s working on a new novel. I hugely recommend you pick up this book, it’s really great.