Your Chorus (Sherbrooke Station #4)
Katia Rose
Publication date: May 1st 2019
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Spending three weeks on a bus with your boyfriend, his rock band, and their entire tour crew: possibly a bad idea.
Spending three weeks on a bus with your ex-boyfriend, his rock band, and their entire tour crew: definitely a bad idea.
But with the contract signed and the gigs all booked, Roxanne Nadeau finds herself heading out on the road as the accompanying violinist for reigning rock gods Sherbrooke Station, despite being on less than cordial terms with their bassist.
Not that the situation comes as a surprise. Roxanne and Cole’s near-constant on/off status has become a longstanding joke among their friends, and while the seven years of history between the two might suggest that resistance is futile, Roxanne’s determined to make this breakup their last.
Cole’s equally convinced he can use the opportunity to win her back for good.
Some conniving band-mates, way too many long drives, and the insanity of tour life all turn the bus into a pressure cooker that would detonate even the most stable of relationships. The explosion is inevitable; it’s how much of themselves they can salvage from the rubble that Roxanne and Cole will need to figure out.
REVIEW
When Katia Rose sent me an email asking me to review the last book in the Sherbrooke Station series, I jumped on it. I fell in love with the band when she approached me about reviewing Your Echo, the second in the series. It was no different when she asked about Your Sound. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t actually read the first, Your Rhythm. However, like any good finale, Your Chorus is a heartbreakingly beautiful story that eclipses the ones that came before. Cole and Roxy were always in the background of the other stories, their drama bubbling up periodically to remind you that not all romance is easy. However, the true story behind them is something that remained in the shadows. In Your Chorus, Rose brings it to light. In doing so, she shines a harsh light on something few people recognize or talk about: codependency.
Rose has looked hard at chemical dependency and invisible disabilities, but I think that the hurdle she chose for Roxy and Cole is one that is the hardest to acknowledge. While I knew that this would end happily (because it’s a romance, afterall), it was hard to see how it would get there. She did a fantastic job, once again, of showing that it’s not easy to overcome these things. That these are very real problems people face daily without even their best friends and families knowing.
The character development is amazing, as usual. This story not only lets you see the characters grow as the story happens, but also shows you how much they’ve grown in the past. Through smooth and flowing flashbacks, the reader gets a real feel for Roxy and Cole’s relationship…and also who they are and why their relationship is so problematic. Best of all, though, Rose shows that it is possible to change and break a cycle that is destructive, even when you think you can’t live outside of it. Cole’s turnabout seems a bit easy, but given the number of times he heard the solution to his issues and ignored it, that lightbulb going off in his brain was a long-time coming. And Roxy? Jesus. You want to grab her tight and tell her that she’s not the cause of everything while at the same time smacking her and saying, “GROW UP! You’re not sixteen anymore!” I think the fact that Rose gives the reader hope that not every dysfunctional relationship is doomed is probably the most uplifting part about this.
I remember Ace’s struggles and JP’s fight, but Cole and Roxy’s battle to have something real and solid is probably one of the most abrasive and soul-grabbing books I’ve read in a very long time. With every fight, every rejection, every kiss, Cole and Roxy scrub at the reader and bring about a new understanding to the people we know who fight and make-up over and over. And let me tell you, if you hang in there with them till the end and let yourself been battered by their emotions, there is a paragraph (no spoilers) that will make every last bit worth it. I’m re-reading it again, right now, because I’m pretty certain that it’s the one thing everybody wants to hear from the person they love. But that paragraph is right…”Love is a choice.” And Rose’s Sherbrooke Station series shows that as every single one of these characters chooses to keep fighting, to find a way that works, to make that choice to love and to keep loving, despite the odds. Pick up book 4 of Sherbrooke Station, Your Chorus, by clicking the link below.
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