As she's done in her previous novels, Ashley Poston combines romance and just a sprinkle or two of magic in her latest outing, SOUNDS LIKE LOVE. Her prior work, however, has all been focused in some way on the publishing industry. This time around, she shifts gears somewhat and pens a tender love story set in the world of popular music.

Joni Lark has worked really hard to become one of the most respected pop songwriters in Los Angeles. She finally may have hit the big time with her song "If You Stayed," which is performed by one of the world's biggest pop stars, Willa Grey. But Joni also has a secret. Ever since learning of her mother's diagnosis with early-onset dementia, she's been utterly unable to write either music or lyrics.

"[T]his music-infused novel...is a wonderfully evocative summer romance, imbued with all the effervescent feelings of long, hot days in a beachy tourist town."

Discouraged and more than a little stressed, Joni spends one of her last evenings before her annual summer trip back home to the Outer Banks of North Carolina at one of Willa's huge concerts, where she retreats to a private box to escape the crowd. Much to her dismay, she realizes that someone else is in the box with her: Sebastian Fell, one-time boy band member and son of multiplatinum rock star Roman Fell, with whom Joni's mom once performed. To put it bluntly, Sebastian does not make a good first impression on Joni.

When Willa starts singing "If You Stayed" and playfully directs the venue’s "kiss cam" toward the secluded box, Sebastian and Joni reluctantly kiss to appease their shared acquaintance. The results are surprisingly electric and set in motion an unexplainable series of events that is about to transform both of their summers, if not their entire lives.

Back in Vienna Shores, Joni is bracing herself for a bittersweet "last good summer" with her mom, who even early in her decline has both good and bad days. She's also realizing just how much space has grown between her and her best friend, Gigi, a talented singer who gave up her own chance at stardom to stay home in North Carolina while Joni chased her dreams in LA. The Revelry, the music venue that Joni's parents own, has fallen on hard times, and given the family's health challenges and the venue's financial struggles, they've decided to sell the Revelry at the end of the summer.

Joni's relaxing summer at home is not off to a great start. And to cap it all off, she's plagued by hearing a fragment of a melody she can't identify. Compounding things, the melody is soon accompanied by a man's voice, one that seems to be able to hear all of her innermost thoughts. Once she starts listening, she realizes she can hear his too.

It's a leisurely and lovely road from this setup to the conclusion of SOUNDS LIKE LOVE. Joni not only finds her way back to songwriting but also clears up some of the mistakes of her past and charts a new course into the future. And she does so with the most surprising companion not only in her head but also at her side. The book raises questions both fanciful (Would you actually want a love interest to hear your thoughts all the time?) and somber (How would you want to spend the "last good summer" with someone you loved entering dementia?) And if that wasn't enough, this music-infused novel (all the chapter headings come from song titles) is a wonderfully evocative summer romance, imbued with all the effervescent feelings of long, hot days in a beachy tourist town.

Pack this one, and maybe a nostalgic playlist, in your beach bag for a vacation this summer. You won't regret it.