Calloused & Scarred Hearts (Lonely Melodies 2) by Lexi Kingston-review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 13, 2026
What do you do when you run out of places to hide from yourself?
Lindsay Birmingham is exceptional at concealing her true feelings with sarcasm and a smile, but lately, her carefully crafted persona has begun to unravel.
She escaped her past in every way but in her head, and even a successful modeling career and five chaotic roommates can’t distract her from the memories she has spent her entire life running from.
Her impulse is to avoid anything that makes her feel.
Parker McClaren makes her feel too much.
He has been in love with the closed-off, prickly girl down the hall since they were teenagers, but after years apart, he can’t deny she’s different now.
When he sees an opportunity to breach the friend zone, he seizes it, rocking the already delicate foundation of their friendship.
Emotionally unavailable or not, Parker is determined to test her limits, and each time she pushes him away, he moves in closer.
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REVIEW:Calloused & Scarred Hearts is book two in the Lonely Melodies series by Lexi Kingston. As always I do recommend reading a series in order to get the most out of it, but like many other series this book too can be read as a standalone in an interconnected series. CSH is a friends to lovers, no spice on page romance.
The premise of this book is sweet and the characters are definitely likeable, but for a reader such as myself, I was missing the spice. Parker and Lindsay are roommates, but Parker has secret feelings for Lindsay. Lindsay however, is on this journey of self discovery and healing from her past, so Parker’s timing is never right for him to make his move. Lindsay struggles with her mental health and is slowly coming into her own, but trusting others is very hard for her. Parker is with her through all of it, the ups and the downs, he is never scared to help her. The guy truly is a walking green flag, but Lindsay being herself, has the hardest time coming to terms with the feelings that have slowly been building. Does she cave and finally learn to trust our walking, talking boy next store, or does Lindsay cut and run?
This was my first time reading this author and while I did not like the lack of spicy moments, the characters are good and the writing has a good groove to it that makes it easy to read. Lindsay and Parker and two people that clearly care for one another but struggle with finding the right moment and trusting one another. That I think can be related to by a lot of readers. I liked the book and would recommend it to other readers.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sarah
Contemporary romance author Lexi Kingston started writing when she was fifteen years old solely because she was obsessed with the idea of creating fictional worlds like the ones she lived through growing up. There was this thrilling allure to writing characters that you can relate to and find pieces of yourself within that she couldn’t shake, and this eventually drew her to fiction writing. She wanted to create a world people could get lost in–a fictional safe haven, if you will. A place filled with endless possibilities, where you can lose yourself, yet find yourself within the pages.
Connect with Lexi
Website | http://www.lkingstonbooks.com
Goodreads | http://goodreads.com/lkingstonbooks
Amazon | amazon.com/author/lexikingston
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/l.kingston.books
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/l.kingston.books/
Bookbub | https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lexi-kingston
Newsletter | https://www.lkingstonbooks.com/newsletter-page
