This novel started with the interesting premise of it being based on the No.1 hit song Hey There Delilah by the Plain Whites T’s about a guy falling for a girl who lives on the other side of the country.
In this novel, it’s 1996 (about a decade before Delilah was actually released) and journalist and music lover Cecilia is trying to get her start at Rolling Stone magazine.
She’s about to head off on a cruise with her photographer boyfriend Pete when she overhears a woman saying that she’s the reason behind the hit What You Do To Me.
The singer of that song, Eddie Vee, has disappeared from public life after a tragedy and no one has ever uncovered who his muse was.
The story then backtracks to the late ’70s, when Eddie was an immigrant from Argentina, living with his grandfather. He fell in love with Sara during her Jewish family’s vacations at Miami Beach but they needed to keep their relationship a secret.
The star-crossed lovers’ story and Cecelia’s hunt for the mystery woman dovetails with her reunion with her father and a revelation about her own past.
This is a beautifully told and nostalgic tear-jerker about love and redemption, with plenty of details to keep music fans happy.
When an explicit video of Zoe Ross goes viral the night of her fifteenth birthday party, the charmed life that the tight-knit Ross family enjoys in Miami Beach is threatened by the public and humiliating scandal that ensues.
Zoe, her twin sister Lily, and their parents, Emma and Bobby, are all thrust into the spotlight as they try to determine who is responsible for the video.
As they really begin to understand what the law dictates when it comes to the unfamiliar territory of cybersex crimes, the stress of the situation takes its toll and the strong bonds of the family are tested.
For Emma, the scandal brings up memories of a long-ago secret she has kept from Bobby for the entirety of their marriage, while Bobby tries to deny the fact that his daughters are growing up and will make mistakes he can’t always protect them from.
Emotions run high as they try to weather the storm, for better or for worse.
This powerful story of mistakes, secrets, love, and forgiveness is very relevant in today’s social media society. While I found some of the plot overly dramatic at times on the part of the characters, the author has done a great job of researching and relaying to the reader the legal implications and seriousness of posting any type of material online; especially material one might think is relatively harmless but instead is really considered a crime. This one will keep you engaged until the very end. (LEK)
