A Little Bit Country is the book version of this vine...

 

Today I’m talking about A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy, and I’m fairly certain that this is a book that I found out about because of Twitter. I don’t know who on Twitter I saw it from, but you know how Twitter is slowly showing you less and less from people you follow? I think seeing this book was a result of that. And also, I know the phrase, “a little bit country” is a phrase that is just out there in the world, but whenever I see the title of this book, I can’t help but think of that one Vine of the girl going, “Country boy, I love you!” So, that queen was on my mind.

Anyway, the country-fried blurb of this book says that Emmett Maguire wants to be country music’s biggest gay superstar—a far reach when you’re seventeen and living in Illinois. But for now, he’s happy to do the next best thing: stay with his aunt in Jackson Hollow, Tennessee, for the summer and perform at the amusement park owned by his idol, country legend, Wanda Jean Stubbs. Then, Luke Barnes hates country music. As the grandson of Verna Rose, the disgraced singer who had a falling out with Wanda Jean, Luke knows how much pain country music has caused his family. But when his mom’s medical bills start piling up, he takes a job at the last place he wants: a restaurant at Wanda World. Neither boy is looking for romance, but sparks fly when they meet—and soon they’re inseparable. Until a long-lost secret about Verna and Wanda comes to light, threatening to unravel everything.

I did skip the last paragraph of the blurb, but it was just the one questioning will they be able to overcome their tribulations. Still, with this book’s cover looking the way it did, I assumed that it was almost going to give Hallmark Movie vibes, you know? That’s what I was expecting. But from the blurb, it gave me very much the tease of opposites attract in a way. You’ve got Emmett wanting to live his Orville Peck fantasy, and then you’ve got Luke who is getting dragged into Wanda World (which gives very Dollywood tease, let’s be honest lol) because he has literally no other choice. To me, this was a solid set-up for a romance, and one that, in my head, they were obviously going to overcome what came their way. I will also say, since I went into this expecting Hallmark vibes, I assumed that secret between Wanda and Verna was going to maybe be a misunderstanding, or maybe it could have been that they had a fling that didn’t end well. Something like that.

Chapter one opens on Emmett just about to leave and contemplating how hard it is a write a good country song. Emphasis on good. He’s pondering that there are only so many things to write about, and if it’s something that already been written about, it needs to be done well. But he’s about to leave to head for his gig at Wanda World, and he’s very turbo mega slay mode excited to be leaving. Chapter two then hops over to Luke’s POV. Luke is making breakfast for his brother and sister, Amelia (or Bean) and Gabriel respectively, and is very mess mode for Luke. I say that because his siblings are on summer vacation and are apparently menaces. I will say, from the outset, I liked the dynamic Luke and his siblings had, they gave me a little chuckle in their first chapter. And we also find out that Luke’s mother was too sick to go out into her garden, so weeds have taken over. Page 10 mentions she has multiple sclerosis. Then, his mum says that she wishes he’d learn to have more fun, and we find out that she’s not the biggest of the old queer people, and Luke wishes that he didn’t have sneak around with boys behind her back. He then finishes his first chapter by saying country music ruined his nana’s life, so he’s not letting it into his. Oh, he also wants to go to culinary school and has an ex-girlfriend, Vanessa.

In talking to Vanessa, she ends up putting a good word in for Luke at one of the restaurants in Wanda World, and that’s where Emmett and Luke run into each other, literally, for the first time. They don’t get to exchange names or anything, bestie Luke is busy sprinting to this job interview after quitting his job at the factory he worked at. But he gets the restaurant job, like the blurb says, and we go from there. There’s a bit where Emmett and Luke run into each other again, it’s when Emmett is practicing one of his own songs, and Luke ends up hearing. I’ll skip a bit, but Emmett is horrendously awkward, love it, and he gives Luke his number, and then when it switches to Luke’s POV, Luke is equally as clueless and fully just says that Emmett was probably just being polite, and that’s why he gave him his number. Silent scream.

They both have their problems. Since Luke and his family are struggling with money, like Luke is using his paycheck to buy groceries at seventeen struggling with money, and Emmett’s problems are more how is he going to achieve his dreams and thinking more about his status with Luke. It felt very much like Luke’s problems were right there in front of him, whereas Emmett’s could go away if he stopped thinking about them. Although, in saying that, in Luke’s household, he doesn’t really get to express himself in the way he wants, and in this, there’s a whole scene where he goes to this vintage store with his ex, Vanessa, while he’s helping her with her styling career. While he’s doing this, she tells him that the whole thing about being a stylist is pushing people out of their comfort zones, and that was the line where I was like, “Oh, this is Luke’s whole character arc”. And I was correct in thinking that. I’m not going to spoil what happens, but that getting out of his comfort zone and comfortable with himself was Luke’s story.

I would say that this book is a bunch of small plots wrapped into one, because as you read through the book, there are, again, small plots that get started once the two leads meet, then as the story goes on, different ones get resolved at different times. I could describe this book as that thing of not being a human, but several raccoons in a trench coat. And I think that describes the book pretty well. I also think it works well for the Hallmark movie vibe the book had. You know it’s that the over arching thing is the romance, and it’s a bunch of little things that has to lead up to it.

One criticism I would have is that I would have liked a little more out of Emmett’s character. And when I say that, I don’t mean that in what happened through the course of the book, I don’t have a problem with that, but I would have liked to have known more about him. Like, who is he outside of country music? Because, and I’m not sure whether I mean this nicely or not, but Emmett did feel a little Rachel Berry from Glee coded in that he only had one thing on his mind – becoming a gay country star. I wanted something outside of that, and I could be wrong in saying this, I don’t remember him having anything else going on, like hobbies or anything. I thought Luke as a character was better, or deeper. He’s that character that because his family is struggling so much that he didn’t really get the chance to do anything, so I get that.

I felt like everything was wrapped up well, except for one thing to do with Emmett. It would be a spoiler for the plot if I mentioned what it was. I should mention, the book isn’t made worse by not having the one thing wrapped up. It’s just one of those things that when the book ended, I was left wanting to know what happened. I don’t know how better to explain it.

But overall, I liked this book. I did what it wanted to do well, and it’s one of those books that I’m going to put back on my shelf, not read for ages, and when I’m looking for something to read, I’ll see it and won’t remember what happened and then end up reading it again. It was solid. Not gaggy, but solid.

Okay, bye!