Rye (Nashville Nights 2) by Heidi McLaughlin-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2025

She’s sworn off musicians. He’s a rock star trying to go country. What could go wrong?

Darian Mercer’s rock career crashed and burned with his band Reverend Sister. Now he’s hiding out in Nashville, playing dive bars and trying to forget everything that went wrong. The last place he expects to find his next song is at The Songbird, where venue owner Rye Hayes has spent three years keeping other people’s dreams alive while burying her own.

Rye doesn’t perform anymore. She books acts, pours drinks, and raises her ten-year-old daughter. When Darian takes her unfinished melody and turns it into something she couldn’t write herself, she’s pissed. She’s also intrigued.

Their collaboration starts as one song, one session. But music has a way of breaking down walls neither of them meant to build. When Darian’s past catches up and the industry comes knocking, they’ll have to decide what matters more: playing it safe or taking the risk that could destroy them both.

Some songs are worth the fight. Some aren’t.

••••••

REVIEW:RYE is the second instalment in Heidi McLaughlin’s contemporary, adult NASHVILLE NIGHTS romance series. This is musician and singer Darian Mercer, and single mother, and former song writer and venue manager Rye Hayes’ story line. RYE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Darian Mercer is the sister of Zara Phillips-Austin (Sangria #1)

SOME BACKGROUND: Having formed the rock band Reverend Sister in their teens, Rye Hayes, his sister Zara and their band went on to fame and infamy when the brother-sister duo were betrayed by the people they trusted. Zara moved to Nashville, and with quite a bit of prodding, Darian Mercer would eventually follow.

Told from dual first person perspective (Darian and Rye) RYE follows Darian Mercer’s arrival in Nashville, and a need to find himself, and the muse he no longer trusted. An open mic night at a local bar catches the eye of Rye Hayes, former singer and song-writer but a woman who was burned by another musician, years before. Dancing around one another, Darian was struggling to get past the walls Rye Hayes built around her heart, walls that threaten any chance for happiness with someone else but once a musician, always a musician, and the allure of the song called both back into the world they left behind.

The world building follows Darian as he struggles to move on from the betrayal by the people he trusted, and the members of his band. Having lost his desire to sing and write, an open mic night will become the catalyst to a new career, and a possible future with the woman that would call to his heart.

The relationship between Darian and Rye is one of immediate attraction but Rye’s first priority is her ten year old daughter Lily, a young child whose interest in music is sparked with the help of our story line hero. Convincing Rye to give him a chance, give their relationship a chance, Darian often finds himself on the outside looking in as Rye struggles to get past a previous betrayal. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are energetic and entertaining including the return of Darian’s sister Zara, and her husband Levi Austin. We are introduced to music shop owner Benny; Rye’s daughter Lily, and bar manager Jovie.

RYE is a story of second chances, betrayal and determination, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is edgy and captivating; the characters are animated, sassy and determined; the romance is spirited yet emotional.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Heidi McLaughlin: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Newsletter /Instagram /Pinterest

Originally from Portland, Oregon and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup and a Highland Westie/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL and her brother, Racicot.

Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018, and is now available on DVD & Digital.

To stay connected with Heidi visit www.facebook.com/authorheidimclaughlin or heidimclaughlin.com