Small Town Harmony is a second-chance romance featuring Ezra Falconer, one of three brothers who are part of a well-known British contemporary Christian music band. It’s the sequel to Home Town Melody, which was Levi’s story.
Ezra and Martha married years ago, when the family band was doing well. It’s not doing so well now, but Martha’s career has taken off, transforming her into the sultry Morgan, international superstar. As a result, the couple have grown apart, and it’s difficult to see how they’re going to get back together.
Romances featuring a married couple aren’t common, and it can be a difficult plot for an author to set up. Sure, everyone likes the reunion aspect of the romance, but the challenge is always setting up two people who moved apart or broke up, while still giving them a good reason to get back together and a compelling happy-ever-after.
Milla Holt does a great job with this.
(If married couple romance is a genre you enjoy, look out for First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer,coming later this year.)
Parts of the story are hard to read because it’s easy to see (and think of) couples who have broken up because of what seem like equally irreconcilable differences. It’s therefore hard to see how Ezra and Morgan/Martha are going to reconcile and reunite.
But the journey is worth the effort, even in the hard parts (and isn’t that a metaphor for life?)
Ezra and Morgan are both excellent characters. As the reader, it’s easy to see the valid arguments in each of their points of view … and easy to see where they’ve possibly gone wrong. But, as in real life, it can be easy to see the problem. Finding the answer is a lot harder. Because it’s a hard topic, Small Town Harmony isn’t necessarily the regular easy-to-read peppy Christian romance. But, as in life, the payoff is more than worth the effort.
Recommended for Christian romance fans, especially those looking for married couple or rock star romance.
About Milla Holt
I write inspirational romance with an international twist, with stories that uplift and encourage. Heroes with honor and integrity and strong, can-do heroines are my thing. And the good guys always get their happy ending. My fiction reflects my Christian faith.
I’m not a fan of writing about myself, but here goes. I used to be a lot of things: a journalist, a communications manager for a health activist group, and a freelance copywriter.
Before all that, I was a diplomatic brat, trailing along as my mother’s job took us to various diverse locations around the world.
Now, I’m homeschooling my children in the east of England and devoting every spare moment to writing.
Find Milla Holt online at:
Website | Facebook | Instagram
About Small Town Harmony
Faith, fame, and family collide as a Christian music power couple hides a secret discord.
Ezra Falconer’s career with his brothers’ band always took center stage while his shy wife Martha was content to play a supporting role in the background. That all changed when Martha’s hidden talent was discovered and she became a breakout singing star. Shedding her frumpy image, her old-timey name, and 100 extra pounds, she transformed into the sultry and sophisticated “Morgan.”
Ezra, grappling with his own career setbacks, struggles to reconcile the confident superstar with the unassuming woman he married.
Martha returns from a sell-out international tour to a marriage on shaky ground. Unprepared for the pressures of fame, she navigates new opportunities that threaten to pull her and her husband even further apart.
As they hide their crumbling marriage from family, friends and fans, Ezra and Martha are asked to collaborate on a charity album, forcing them to confront the growing silence between them. How can they rediscover harmony while they’re singing in different keys?
Thank you so much for this thoughtful review!