The Music of Us

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

A fun and flirty contemporary YA novel between a cat café barista and a boy band pop star that hits all the right notes! The Music of Us is a laugh-out-loud friends-to-more romance perfect for fans of Kasie West, Beth Reekles, and Lynn Painter.

If life came with a playlist, Lucy's current era would be "stressed girl summer." While her friends are out enjoying the last summer before college, Lucy has her hands full managing her mom's quirky cat café. But with the fancy new coffee shop across the street, how will she attract enough customers to adopt the cats--or even pay the rent?

In a desperate moment, Lucy emails her ex-best friend (and first crush) Jake Moody, who's now the resident bad boy in the massively popular boy band the Usual Suspects. Lucy hasn't spoken to him in years--not since he kissed her and left for auditions without a backward glance. Which she's totally not holding a grudge about, thanks for asking.

To her surprise, Jake is all in on hosting a livestream performance to raise support for the café--and salvage his image after his most recent scandal. As Jake and Lucy work together to corral his bandmates and plan the livestream, she finds her old feelings resurfacing despite her firm intentions to keep her distance. Is it possible the old Jake she knew is still hiding under his new rebellious image?

Emerald Alexandrea believes in the power of love, music, and happy endings. You're most likely to find her getting lost in a good book or a great song. She lives in California with her beloved packed bookshelves, vinyl collection, way too many coffee mugs, and the world's best developmental editor, Midnight, who accepts payment in the form of tuna flakes. She's currently working on her next novel, and is probably talking about plot points out loud to herself while her cat ignores her.