About the Book
Book: Finding Harmony
Authors: Alyssa Roat and Hope Bolinger
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Release date: July 5, 2022
Can two people-pleasing musicians win the grand prize, or will they be forced to give up music for good?
Newly hired worship leader Elijah Peterson can’t seem to catch a break with his church’s congregation. With conflicting demands from congregants, he struggles to find a way to make everyone happy, especially Don, a man who’s rumored to have driven out the last worship leader.
Music teacher Olivia “Liv” Wilson says yes to everything—piano lessons, church volunteering, extra shifts—all while struggling to help pay her dad’s medical bills. As jobs fall through, she’s hit with even worse news—with bills piling up, they could lose her childhood home.
When their meddling roommates force Elijah and Liv into a cooking class together, the two come up with a plan. They’ll enter an indie songwriting competition—with a cash prize that could be enough to save Liv’s house. And maybe if Elijah can win, his musical family and congregation will finally take him seriously.
But winning the competition might mean losing themselves in the process. Can they find a way to strike harmony between writing songs they love and songs the audience wants to hear?
About the Authors
Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat are the authors of nearly twenty books both independently and co-authored. They have worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as agents, editors, writers, journalists, and publicists. When not writing, Hope is a theater nerd who loves to hike, and Alyssa is a history nerd and game enthusiast. Both are proud cat moms. You can learn more about them on social media @hopekbolinger and @alyssawrote.
More from Alyssa
In college, Hope and I (Alyssa) didn’t know the word “no.” After all, our professors, advisors, and chapel speakers all told us, “Say yes to every opportunity. Volunteer for everything. If you don’t do it now, it will be too late. Your career will fail. You won’t please God. Etc. Etc.”
So we followed that advice, and we well-nigh burned ourselves out. Faced with a litany of health issues caused by overworking, we realized after college that maybe we had taken things too far. So we began to work on unlearning this mindset.
To this day, we have to call each other and ask, “Is it okay if I turn down this unpaid opportunity? If I don’t have time for this volunteer work? Will people be mad at me?”
We channeled a lot of this people-pleasing into Finding Harmony. As we recovered from overworking ourselves, our characters Elijah and Liv learned that they didn’t need to do everything. As we fell back in love with writing for the sake of the art, not for the A+, our characters discovered how to remain true to their music.
We hope you enjoy reading Finding Harmony as much as we enjoyed writing it—and we encourage you to follow God’s call on your life, regardless of expectations.
Blog Stops
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 20
Spoken from the Heart, July 21 (Author Interview)
The Sacred Line, July 21
Texas Book-aholic, July 22
Inklings and notions, July 23
For Him and My Family, July 24
For the Love of Literature, July 25 (Author Interview)
Mypreciousbitsandmusings, July 25
deb’s Book Review, July 26
Locks, Hooks and Books, July 27
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, July 28
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, July 29
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 30
Splashes of Joy, July 31 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 1
Blogging With Carol, August 2
Giveaway
To celebrate their tour, Hope and Alyssa are giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and Picture Imperfect and Finding Harmony, in preferred format (paperback U.S. only)!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
My Review
This book is about two talented musicians who are trying to make a living using their gifts. Roommates are involved. So is family. I really enjoyed this book.
Harmony is not easy to achieve. Either in music or in life. I love how the title played into the storyline. This concept was an important element of the story.
I think partially why this storyline works so well is the fact that the authors based the plot on their experiences. Both main characters struggle with keeping boundaries. I could relate a little too well to wanting to say yes to good things even though I do not have time.
This one has an almost villain in it. Complaints were not handled in a proper way. This was a reminder that sometimes kindness is not really best for anyone if there is unnecessary, overt criticism. Churches should not be expected to apply every suggestion when it interferes with calling.
This is the second book in the Roseville Romances series. While a reader could certainly follow along if only this title was read, I think it is more enjoyable to read the books in order. They are definitely connected in both characters and content.
Not only did I enjoy the book, but I really love the cover. And it fits in with the storyline. The music festival happens at the fair. An enjoyable read with a depth that causes a person to ponder expectations as well as how gifts should be used.
This book sounds like a really great read.
This sounds very good, the cover is cute