August Lane by Regina Black

 August Lane by Regina Black is a second chance romance. When they were teens, August and Luke wrote a song together. When Luke hit it big with that song, he didn't give her any credit. Meanwhile, August stays at home to care for her grandmother while Luke and August's famous country star mother Jojo become famous. But since Jojo and Luke are black country musicians from the same hometown, eventually all three of them come back.  (Regina Black was an episode of Sarah's Bookshelves recently. Now that I've read the book, I might listen.)

I was sold on this because I heard it was part oral history. That's sort of true, in that there are occasional interviews of Jojo with a podcaster, but it's not the majority of the book. The book hits on things that are very much not my jam, including addiction, people talking about how hard it is to be rich and famous, and things that could be sorted out with a conversation. 

I do think some of the parts that are sort of Wikipedia entries spoken about black musicians in country music (it's not just Charley Pride and Darius Rucker!) were interesting, but maybe I would rather have read those parts in a non-fiction book. However, the author has something to say and I appreciate it when romance novels deal with an issue head-on instead of sugarcoating them. If you like your romances with a little bit of substance and lecture, this might work for you. 

Turns out that I don't have a lot to say about this book, now that I'm typing this. 3/5 stars

Line of note:

...her expression had shifted from mild irritation at Luke to a sour snarl when she spotted August, to a bland smile that was supposed to hide her anger but only made her look like a demonic American Girl doll. (page 94)

Here's what happened in my brain. Demonic American Girl doll? Wouldn't the whole Child's Play franchise have been funnier if instead of Chucky it was an American Girl? Which American Girl doll is the most wholesome? The easy way is to say Addy because she's the only black doll, but that seems like leaning into the black people are evil stereotype. What about Molly with her cute little wire rim glasses? Soon I'm laughing my head off and the line wasn't even that funny. 

Person I looked up:

Linda Martell - Martell is a country music singer (she's 84!). Martell was the first black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry and she was featured on two tracks on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album. She was blacklisted after she started performing better than white label mates and eventually left the industry. 

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

His cattleman hat, however, was pristine, blinding white against his ebony skin. (page 20)
He snatched the hat from his head...(page 21)
wide-brimmed hat (page 46)
wore cowboy hats and used to yodel in beauty pageants (page 96)
teal cowboy hat that matched her boots (page 100)
silly hats and lots of airplay (page 107)
There was a streak of bird shit on Jojo's hat. (page 107)
a photograph of a Black man in a bowler hat holding a harmonica (page 146)
"Bring a hat." (page 181)
tipped his hat (page 209)
He tugged his hat down over his ears. (page 288)

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Did you know who Linda Martell is? Do you know black country artists outside of Charley Pride and Darius Rucker?