This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @‌thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job.

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Kristina Forest’s contemporary romances have that fun, unique sparkle to them that heavily build upon the slow-burning chemistry between her leads. The Love Lyric is no exception to that rule and it proves to be a fine novel, though not an outstanding one. But while it’s not Squee material, it definitely comes recommended and is an enjoyable, sweet-natured novel.

Angel Harrison recently moved from Georgia to Los Angeles, where he knows no one and absolutely doesn’t feel at home. At an anti-wedding party thrown by his stylist, Violet Greene, he meets Violet’s sister Lily, who introduces him to another of their sisters, Iris Greene. Angel is instantly captivated by the talented Iris, but after the party, they won’t see each other again for three whole years.

Iris is the classic older sister, forever in charge of cleaning up the messes her siblings have left behind. She is responsible, controlled, and always there for everyone in her life. When she meets Angel again, he’s a rising music star and she is director of partnerships at Save Face Beauty. They’ve both been living full lives; Iris got married and pregnant before she met Angel, but lost her husband in a car accident, leaving her a single mom raising her six-year-old daughter, Calla, alone.

Angel is enjoying the spoils of fame, but while he’s been dating pretty famous women in the meantime, he’s never quite forgotten Iris. Angel is also caught between his strong Christian faith and his very secular career as a soul singer. It’s clear from the very first that they have great chemistry, but they have to keep things cool – Angel is now Save Face’s new brand ambassador.

Angel and Iris depart on a publicity campaign for Save Face, which keeps throwing them together and into romantic situations. But can Iris ever relax and see Angel as a romantic prospect — and can Angel ever reconcile his newfound fame with his faith?

The Love Lyric is a pleasant experience, though it’s not as outstanding as The Neighbor Favor, which opened the Greene Sisters Trilogy. Poor Iris definitely deserves play time and definitely deserves a nice, flirtatious, kind guy like Angel in her life. Angel’s a great, supportive hero who clearly loves and believes in her.

Uneven writing is my big problem with this one. There are scenes where Iris and Angel pop out as interesting, complex characters – and the occasional credulity stretch where they feel like toys of the plot. Iris’ daughter and her sisters in particular feel underwritten and underused; while the focus understandably stays on the tour and the romance between Iris and Angel, I could’ve used more time with Calla especially.

Who doesn’t feel underused? Angel’s mother, a woman of faith who knows which end is up. I definitely enjoyed her presence. A worthy note – while this isn’t marketed as an inspy, there’s definitely a ton of talk about faith and God in here, so your enjoyment of the book may be stymied or enhanced by this part of the plot.

The book also does quite a good job depicting Iris’ anger and sadness in the wake of her husband’s death. She likes Angel but is afraid about supplanting her memories. Naturally, she slowly but surely comes to realize that she won’t lose those memories if she ends up with Angel, but it’s quite a well-done struggle in the meantime.

It’s easy to enjoy The Love Lyric – well-meaning, sweet-tempered, and smooth as butter. It doesn’t reach greatness, but it’s a perfectly decent way to wind up the summer in an agreeable fashion.