Title: The Love Lyric
Series: The Greene Sisters, #3
Author: Kristina Forest
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: February 4, 2025
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:
An R&B singer and a corporate executive find love that hits the right notes in this romance by Kristina Forest, USA Today bestselling author of The Partner Plot.
Iris Greene used to be a woman with a plan. But all of that changed after she met the love of her life at twenty-four, got pregnant and married…and then became a widow and a single mother all within the span of a year and a half. Now, after years of hustling, Iris is the director of partnerships at a beauty company and raising spunky six-year-old Calla by herself. Despite her busy life, she still can’t help but feel lonely. She just needs to catch her breath—and one night, at her sister’s wedding, when she steps outside to do just that, she sees a certain singer who takes her breath away. . . .
By all accounts, pop R&B singer Angel Hughes has it made. He’s a successful musician and has just scored a brand ambassador deal with an emerging beauty company. But he’s still not fulfilled; he’s not producing songs he’s passionate about, and there’s a gaping hole in his love life. When he visits the Save Face Beauty office to kickstart his campaign, he’s delighted to see Iris, his stylist’s sister—the beautiful woman he’s secretly had a crush on for years.
Despite their obvious attraction to each other, they must stay professional throughout the campaign tour—which doesn’t quite pan out. But when it becomes clear their lives aren’t in sync, can they fall back in step to the same rhythm and beat?
The Love Lyric is the 3rd book in author Kristina Forest’s Greene Sisters trilogy, following The Neighbor Favor and The Partner Plot. The first two books focus on sisters Lily and Violet; here in The Love Lyric, their older sister Iris takes center stage.
Iris is an ambitious career woman, who juggles a successful corporate role with raising a six-year-old on her own, having been widowed when her daughter was still a baby. While still grieving for her beloved husband Terry, Iris has reached a point in her life where maybe, just maybe, she might consider trying to date again. If only the idea of getting on the apps wasn’t so awful.
A few years earlier, she’d crossed paths with Angel, who then was just starting on his rise to pop stardom. He’d made an impression, but Iris hasn’t seen him again until her sister Violet’s wedding. After sharing a moonlit dance with Angel, Iris pulls away, not wanting to risk taking things any further — because Angel is the brand ambassador for her company, and she needs to maintain professional boundaries… but also because he’s a huge celebrity with women practically throwing themselves at his feet. Why would someone like that ever be interested in someone like her?
There’s more to the story, of course. Angel is still adjusting to his own stardom, and while he achieves top of the chart success with each new track, his label pushes back when he tries to make the kind of music — true R&B — that he really cares about. Plus, having come from a strict, religious home, he faces constant criticism and insults from his mother, who sees his public persona as a disgrace, much too far from his gospel roots.
For Iris, there’s a combination of professional frustration, fear of making changes or taking big risks, and most especially, the fear of letting herself care for someone and risk getting hurt.
Still, Angel and Iris so clearly care about one another and have great physical chemistry too — so it’s inevitable that their resistance can only hold out so long. Factor in the intensity of a week-long business trip and the proximity that comes with it, and it’s only a matter of time before they give in to temptation.
Complications ensue — with a celebrity like Angel, things can’t remain a secret forever. Iris is fearful for her job and also very protective of her and her daughter’s privacy. When their secret relationship is exposed, Iris has some very hard choices to make, and must decide what kind of life and future she wants.
The Love Lyric is a very enjoyable wrap-up to the trilogy. We get time with the rest of the Greene family, and it’s lovely to see Lily and Violet both happy with their relationships and their careers. I appreciated seeing the turmoil Iris faces as a single working mother, trying to do the classic balancing act of being everything to everyone, without letting her daughter down or letting her work commitments slip. Iris’s loss and grief are handled respectfully, showing her love for her late husband and how she navigates the possibility of loving again.
Angel and Iris make a great couple, and despite their ups and downs, they’re able to communicate in a way that’s refreshing and honest. When the typical 3rd act breakup that seems standard in so many romance novels occurs here, it’s for reasons that make sense and that are actually discussed — it’s nice to see healthy conversations in a romance, when so many books rely on miscommunication as a plot device!
The Love Lyric is a great read all on its own, as well as a satisfying conclusion to a very good trilogy. What I especially appreciate about these books is the strong family dynamic and the close bond between the sisters, as well as the individual women themselves and how well-drawn their characters are. I just wish they had another sister so the series could continue!
As far as I understand, the Greene Sisters trilogy is author Kristina Forest’s first foray into adult books, after publishing several YA novels. I’ll look forward to reading whatever she writes next!
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