Love Lyrics & Lies

By: L.M. Carr

Narrated by: Laurie West

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Living modestly in a quiet suburb with her grandmother, Caterina Ryan vows to have no connection with her former life in the spotlight. The door to her past has been locked and the key thrown away.

When a home renovation project brings the irresistibly charming and gorgeous Mateo Cruz into her life, she finds herself drawn back to a dark place. A place where dreams were shattered and hearts betrayed. Encouraged to accept a “once in a lifetime” opportunity in the music industry, Mateo seeks to make a name for himself while remaining true to the woman he loves.

Their shared love of music brings them closer than ever, but will the temptations of fame and fortune threaten to tear them apart?

©2017 L.M. Carr (P)2020 L.M. Carr

Love, Lyrics & Lies

Sexy musicians with raspy voices are my weakness, so of course Mateo Cruz was an easy BBF to fall for. He meets Cat while working construction on her grandmother’s house and their attraction is immediate but of course there is a bit of a chase. Cat hasn’t had an easy past and she doesn’t trust easily. There is a bit of slow pace between once they get together and when the storyline shifts to his music opportunity. Maybe it was just me because I could tell where the storyline was gong and I was anxious for it to get there. The second half of the book definitely picked up though. I don’t want to give too much away but there were some little twists that kept it interesting and moving along. I enjoyed the subplot with her grandmother. It’s not an easy thing to see a loved one slipping away and the author put in the right amount of emotion to make me misty eyed. Her books are always angsty which is another one of my weaknesses so this won’t be the last L.M. Carr book I read.

The emotions just poor.....WOW!

So, right from the start, you are drawn in to the world of Cat and her Grams and shown the strong relationship that they have. Emotions start already when we find out about grams health. Then the mystery starts as to what is going on with Cat and what she wants to do with her life and why she is where she is right now. However, when anyone brings it up, she halts the conversation, gets upset, and doesn't want to talk about it. Then this singing star Chloe comes to one of her bars and it's all everyone talks but Cat, she could care less. She wants to work and hopefully get into continuing grad school, but she wasn't planning on falling in love with the lead forman working the construction on her grams house, Matteo Cruz. She tries so hard not to fall in love with him but she does and OMG the sexual tension is there. Both Matteo and Cat are into music, Matteo sings and Cat just likes the write lyrics on how she feels. However there's the mystery of what happened to her that she doesn't talk about. Then one night Cat catches Matteo in the last place she ever wanted to, the emotions get higher here with all the trust problems. Throughout the whole book, they go back and forth fighting over trust and each time they end up in the sack as a way of resolving it. For these two, love wins in the end, and Cat being the underdog, comes out on top.

My emotions were all over the place with this one. The author did an amazing job really making me feel it in more than one place in the book. The ending gave a shock reveal that I had to listen to over again to make sure I heard it correctly but it was a great surprise. But the narrator was the best. No matter how much emotion was put in the book, she did fantastic getting it through to the listener. This was a new narrator for me but I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Music, love and family

I was expecting a rocker romance but the story was much than music. The author gave us family, romance, music, betrayal, debilitating disease and redemption.

In the beginning, we met Cat who just returned from a trip from Africa (okay, this is the one area that annoyed me. A Village in Africa is like saying a Village in North America) and she came to care for a grandmother who was "forgetting" things and needed consistent watching and care. She met the lead contractor on her grandmother's home renovations, a hot Puerto Rican man named Mateo, whom she nicknamed Senor Delicioso. While she was attracted to him, Cat and Mateo were more enemies than friends, but it eventually grew into more.

I thought this book was just a simple musician meets a contractor but the characters were very rich and complex. The family situation added another layer because sacrifices had to be made to make sure Grandmother was cared for and watched constantly. It felt so realistic because the stress of watching a grandparent with Alzheimer disease can crush a relationship. There was so many obstacles to their relationship but the strongest was Cat's immense distrust of people after a very deep betrayal by those who were supposed to love and protect her. But for Cat and Mateo to both follow their dreams and maintain their relationship, there had to some healing that both characters had to undergo.

It was a like peeling layers back and getting to the heart of both Mateo and Cat but one thing I can say was they were both such good people that I was rooting for them. I wanted them to win individually and together. It was such a good story and the final twist that was the redemption made this story feel complete. I got more than I was expecting so I will be checking out more of this author's work.

Exciting and absolutely wonderful narration!

Romance, deceit and lies spun spectacularly into this amazing story! This narrator made this book come to life with so much heart and emotion. I could feel every word of this story!

Perfectly titled

Walking away from the music industry and living with her ailing grandmother, Caterina is walking through her life but not truly living. When Mateo, the contractor hired to put on an addition on her grandmothers house, starts getting her out of her shell, sparks instantly fly. But will his pursuit of a music career put the brakes on their HEA or will the two find a way to get past the heartbreak? Once again, L.M. Carr does not disappoint. Her mastery of telling an emotional journey with such honesty and compassion is what makes everything she writes a journey that stays with the listener long after the audio-book is over. Laurie West was the perfect narrator for the story. Five stars are not enough and this is an audio-book I will recommend time and time again. Absolutely loved it.

Devastatingly beautiful

This story killed me in so many ways. Cat is a beautiful soul who was put through some very rough situations at a very young age. She is a musical protege but felt it wasn’t the path for her. She lives quietly with her grandmother that is until there is work being done on the house. She’s woken by one of the most beautiful men she’s ever seen. Mateo has a dream that he desires above everything else. It’s within his reach but his instant love for Cat might be more important. The road they travel is so full of pot holes the car may never make it out. I was emotional listening to the narration even more so than when I read the written word.