Live Out Loud (Toronto Collection)

I love every book written by Heather Wardell. This one was a great journey and entertaining. I loved the growth of the main characters and the style of the writing makes it easy and interesting to read.

as always I can live vicariously through a great book!

Once again, Heather Wardell did not disappoint me. I just loved this story. I love the way she inserts characters from other books into new books, even if the stories arent connected. Theyre all Toronto residents. I do the same thing. I loved Misty, especially because she didnt let her fame taint her values (too much). Imagine becoming a pop star overnight, having people screaming when they hear your name, and crying when they see you because they are so desperate to touch you. Then imagine how great it must feel to know that your songs reach out and touch young people in a good way. Well done. Although I have never been to Toronto, I am in love with the city--thanks to Heather Wardell. Carole McKee, author

Excellent read. Fun, entertaining and I would totally recommend. I have now read most of Heathers Books and have not been disappointed in any of them. I even joined her facebook page and she replied back to my posts. I felt really appreciated as a customer, especially getting a personal reply. Love her.

Ah, another Heather Wardell book on the blog. Im happy to announce I have read and reviewed all of her books, and she is at the top of my Favorite Authors list. Live Out Loud captures the story of Amy, hobbyist songwriter with a heavy goal on her mind - honor the memory of her late childhood friend. Amy thinks the way to do this is to start a support center for teenage girls, but when Amy suddenly catapults to fame thanks to a video of her singings blows up the internet, Amy is faced to realize that maybe the center isnt meant to be. Amy - now posing as Misty Will, hit pop star - has fame at her door and teenage girls following her every move. Can Amy really give up being Misty - or is the call of fame too strong for her to ignore? Another book I highly enjoyed from Wardell. Amy is such a confused character, so sure that she knows what she wants just unsure how to reach it, but at the same time - shes hopelessly lost. She knows she wants to honor her friend, but its fairly obvious that she has no idea how to go about the center. I loved the pop culture twist in the book - how to become an overnight sensation with just an uploaded video, the pressures celebrities have on them when their considered to be role models, and the great content that gets delivered in each book from Wardell. There are some hard hitting topics discussed - from teen death to abortions - but the story is very touching and I would definitely recommend Live Out Loud.

this entire series is an incredibly fun, light read to put you into good spirits. i definitely recommend them all!

Ive read the whole Toronto series to date and have enjoyed them. They are fun, easy reads that have a good message of figuring out who you want to be and not who others expect you to be. And of course the predictable romance, but lets be honest thats why we really read these.

I love Heather Wardells writing so I jumped at the chance to read her latest novel. I was expecting a character-driven story about a woman trying to balance her dreams, a career, and love and I was not disappointed. Amy has been writing songs for years, and sets a goal for herself to create a CD of her music. She is discovered singing in a local bar in Toronto, and a music career as a bubble gum pop princess soon develops. Amy has trouble finding the balance between writing songs that mean something and writing pop music. She also receives a surprising amount of push-back from her boyfriend Jason. She and Jason start to grow apart as a result of his jealousy over her sudden fame. Amy has to decide whats really important to her: her glamorous life as Misty Will, or starting the support center she and her late friend Giselle always dreamed of. Like Wardells other books, the process of reconciling dreams and the real world is the bulk of the book. I just love that about Wardells writing. I always feel like I can really identify with her characters, and Amy was no exception. Something kept me from really loving this book as much as Ive loved Wardells other books. I think it was that there wasnt quite as much chemistry between the two main characters. By chemistry, I mean a slow build from friends to more than friends. I like reading about a slow-developing relationship---which was the case here; however, something felt missing as far as the attraction went. I love that Wardells womens fiction is not laden with a bunch of bedroom scenes like so many other adult fiction novels. That gets old for me and it cheapens the story (in my opinion). Id rather read about love in action than read bedroom scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed Live Out Loud and would recommend it to fans of womens fiction.

Have you ever started a book and just couldnt wait to find out what was going to happen to a character? With Live Out Loud by Heather Wardell, I fell in love with Amy/Misty our main character from the beginning and from chapter to chapter I became even more intrigued as to where she was going to go next. From the people that she was surrounded with to those who came in and out of her life, they were unique but shaped this character into the one she became at the end. I always look to the extra characters because I enjoy seeing how they affect a character in both positive and negative ways. I am never a spoiler, but I will say that she ended up with a great guy, but the book didnt just end there. As some girlie books do, once the main character gets the guy, the reader is to find complete happiness in this solution. Wardell didnt end there. She made her characters go through a little more angst before they found complete satisfaction in who they were and what they wanted in life. Isnt that true for all of us? Sure when we get the guy we are happy, but no one is complete with just a relationship, you need more than that to be a whole person. So off my self-motivating rant - this book is worth the read. If you enjoy following a character through self-exploration and being a sideline cheerleader as she finds what is truly important to her.

I read before I go to sleep at night and this book kept me reading way longer than i should have. It was just a fun little story.