Love Me Like a Rock Song

Delilah is a lyricist looking for a muse. Emmett is a golem ready to be unmade.

From the bestselling author of Rules for Ghosting comes a soul-stirring, romantic novel about a jilted singer-songwriter, her unexpected passenger, and the road trip of a lifetime, hailed as "a beautiful exploration of queerness, Jewishness, and full-throated love" (TJ Alexander, author of A Gentleman's Gentleman).

When Delilah Cohen's much more famous fiancée leaves her at the altar right before Delilah is supposed to start recording her first solo album, she's left with a notebook of unusable love songs and a honeymoon road trip that's now a last-chance search for new inspiration. She doesn't expect to fall for the mysterious passenger she picks up two hours in, but what's more inspiring than a rebound with a built-in expiration date?

But there's more to Emmett than meets the eye. Emmett is a golem, a human-ish being of Jewish folklore, created from clay to serve a now-deceased master, who gave them one final, fatal task. Road-tripping with Delilah is the first thing they've ever chosen for themself. It's not supposed to change their destination . . . but the longer Emmett spends with Delilah, who has plenty of secrets of her own, the more their ending feels like something to fight, rather than something set in stone.

As the California coast brings Delilah's writing deadline--and Emmett's fate--closer with every passing mile, Delilah has to decide whether making an unforgettable album is worth losing a love she never expected to find.

Author: Shelly Jay Shore
Publisher: Dell
Published: 08/25/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.59lbs
Size: 7.96h x 5.31w x 0.83d
ISBN: 9798217301034


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/01/2026 pg. 49

About the Author
Shelly Jay Shore is a writer, digital strategist, and nonprofit fundraiser. She writes for anxious queer millennials, sufferers of Eldest Daughter Syndrome, recovering summer camp counselors, and anyone struggling with the enormity of being a person trying to make the world kinder, softer, and more tender. Her debut novel, Rules for Ghosting, was a national bestseller and was named one of the New York Times Book Review's Best Romances of the Year.