You’d Be Mine

This satisfying romance about two teens in country music offers a glamorous backdrop of music and stardom. After a bar fight and some embarrassing publicity in Nashville, 18-year-old heartthrob Clay Coolidge needs to win his way back into his record label’s good graces by persuading 18-year-old Annie Mathers, a YouTube sensation and daughter of country music royalty, to join him on tour. Alternating between Clay and Annie’s first-person accounts, the chapters chronicle the teens’ shared love of music, initial spats, mounting attraction, and struggles with personal demons as they tour the country. While Annie confronts the memory of finding her famous musician parents dead after a double suicide, Clay (whose real name is Jefferson, a name only Annie earns the right to call him) drinks in order to forget his deceased brother. A magazine feature casts the stars as Johnny Cash and June Carter, and their story mimics that one—Clay crashes from fame just as Annie’s career begins to ascend. Though the plot follows familiar and somewhat predictable lines, the talented duo proves winning as Hahn depicts the highs and lows of life on the road. Fans of country music and romance will find much to cheer for in this bighearted debut. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary. (July) [/em]