The Last Verse #NewRelease @NetGalley @CaroFrostWrites @harpercollins

I received an early copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Nashville, 1977: A broken heart. A terrible crime. A song the world would sing.

MY REVIEW:

I received an early copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this author’s debut novel, Shadows of Pecan Hollow, and I loved the story so much I became an instant fan. So, when I saw this new release, I had to read it and was not disappointed. This author knows how to turn a phrase and puts the reader smack into the middle of the story.

First and foremost, I love the setting for the story. Nashville, Tennessee in the seventies, was the mecca, the launching pad for any new aspiring artist, and home of the country music industry. The author depicted each location in the historical setting with detailed accuracy.

Twyla Higgins is a character I could immediately relate to and root for. She is nineteen and stifled by her mother, who has turned into a religious zealot. But there is such an interesting backstory about Twyla’s father, who passed away when she was ten. He was a professional musician and songwriter, and he taught young Twyla things she embraced and never forgot. She adored her father. Twyla is a writer. It’s embedded in her DNA. I love the author’s description of how Twyla would sing in the church choir, all the while composing an entirely new song in her head. That is true talent and dedication.

This quote from the book describes it perfectly: “She was scared if she didn’t write them (songs) down, she would lose them forever. Daddy had often said every song is like a soul that wants to be born. If one came to her and she didn’t bear it forth, it would just go visit someone else.”

She loved everything about music and had lots of musical heroes, including Elvis Presley. It was the shocking news of his death that spurred Twyla into action. She had to get to Memphis to celebrate the King’s life. And she did. The way the story unfolds one delicious layer at a time shows Twyla’s naivete and innocence and her determination to break free from her mother’s strangling hold and experience life.

From Memphis to Nashville, her journey gets rocky and hair-raising and even includes her first love and a murder. I will not leave any spoilers here, but will say I was 100% invested in Twyla and her story. I wanted so desperately for her to succeed. Does she succeed, or does she wind up in a deeper hole than the one she left behind in Fort Worth, Texas? I won’t tell you. You’ll have to read the story to find out.

The author writes in such a descriptive way. Here’s an example that struck me as almost poetic: “…It never ceased to amaze her how money hung in the air here like a scent. In the flamboyant azaleas, the geometric boxwoods, the football field lawns and rambling driveways, and absence of eyesores—dumpsters, billboards, litter—reserved for the rest of humanity. Was the air cleaner here? She’d wager it was.”

I loved all the flawed characters in this story. Each one deals with their own deep psychological issues, and they intertwine with Twyla and her fate. It’s such a good story and I highly recommend it.

The novel is set for release on March 5, 2024.