The Vinyl Frontier by Lola WestMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was provided an ARC of this book via the author and Smartypants Romance, as always all opinions are my own. This is the 4th book set in same world as the other books in the Lessons Learned series; however, it is a complete standalone. It does features characters from the other books in the larger Universe, but you don't need to read them prior to diving in here. I do recommend the other books in the series as well as the Hypothesis series by Penny Reid which introduced us to the university setting.
This was such a sweet opposites attract college romance. It does have some steamy bits but for the most part it is pretty slow burn and on the tame side. We have preppy and perfectly poised Zach who is trying to live up to the expectations of his senator father, but it is all an act. Zach is miserable and lost on the inside. Then there is Molly, she lives her life out loud despite being deaf. She knows who she is and what she wants despite it being "unconventional" for her. She is an aspiring and talented drummer, and she isn't going to let being deaf define her worth or stop her from achieving her dreams. Zach on the other hand is always playing the part so his father doesn't get upset, until he meets Molly. Molly makes him want to let loose and be the person no one gets to see.
I really loved this. I attended RIT which Molly mentions in the book and I grew up with a neighbor who was deaf. I don't sign very well anymore, but I have the utmost respect for the deaf and deaf culture. Because RIT houses the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, interpreters, note takers, and other accommodations were common place in our classes and Rochester has a very large deaf community because of the university. Much like anyone else with a disability or impairment, deaf people aren't any less because they can't hear, they just do things a little differently and they are some of the best people you will ever have the pleasure of getting to know. That being said I really enjoyed the character development in this book. Both Molly and Zach go through a self worth and self discovery journey as they navigate their budding romance. They both have preconceived notions of how things are supposed to work in the world, but as they spend time together they realize that life is messy and things don't fit in neat boxes all the time.
I thought Molly and Zach had great banter as they learned to communicate with each other. I especially liked the pop culture references to some of my favorite movie quotes. It made my nerd heart happy!
This is my first book by the author, but it certainly won't be my last!
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