I was absolutely desperate for a distraction when I picked up KEY CHANGE. Stuck in a foreign country while a family member underwent emergency surgery, I couldn't take reality anymore. The cover to this book looked like the exact book I needed and dove right in.
The premise is thus: Sara is dating a true treasure of a human, but is also not really a peach herself. Years of being in dysfunctional relationships has taught her to never really open up and to never really let anyone in. She's fine on her own, thank you very much, and so when she takes off on a long work trip and doesn't really bother to tell her live-in boyfriend or cover her half of the rent, he takes off. While she's on the trip, he donates her stuff to Goodwill and sublets the apartment to someone else. Now, that's a truly atrocious thing to do, but the way Valentin describes their relationship I can't say I'm super shocked he made that choice.
The someone else, for the record, is conscientious local church musician Andrew. When an exhausted Sara shows up on her/his doorstep late one night, he allows her to sleep on the couch for one night until she can find her own place. The twist comes when he hears her sing: she's incredible. He is desperate for a good voice in his church choir and so he proposes a deal. If she'll join his choir until Easter when there's a big service with the local bishop, then she can split the apartment with him.
Of course, opposites attract and Sara finds herself actually trusting someone for the first time in her life, allowing Andrew into her emotional nooks and crannies in ways that freak her out and give her comfort simultaneously.
An added bonus for me was the church aspect of the book. It doesn't deal with faith in an inspirational way, but in a way that would feel very normal to most folks. Church politics are a real part of the lives of anyone who works in churches and Valentin clearly knows her way around that arena. There were dynamics of the congregation that had me nodding and smiling along and as a former church professional, feeling real sympathy for what Andrew has to deal with! It was nice to read about religion in a way that I knew the author wasn't judging her characters - this is normal for them and therefore felt normal for readers.
Would definitely recommend KEY CHANGE to anyone looking for a sweet read about two people finding home in each other.
From bestselling romance author Barbara Valentin comes
the
next hilarious and heartwarming Assignment: Romance
novel...
The first thing Sara Cleff, a hard-edged, shower-singing
rock music critic, wants to do after following a band on
tour is crawl into her nice comfy bed in her well-
appointed,
optimally located vintage apartment. But before making it
home, she learns her roommate-slash-boyfriend has
apparently
broken up with her while she was away on assignment and
sublet their apartment out from underneath her. Ouch!
When
her key no longer fits in the lock, the last person she
expects to find on the other side of the door is Andrew
Benet, a wickedly gorgeous music director from a nearby
church.
Something about the brash music critic strikes a chord
with
Andrew, and he offers her the chance to stay on one
conditionβshe has to join the choir at his church. While
Andrew may hold the lease on Saraβs apartment, does he
have
the key to unlock her heart?
Up as usual at the crack of dawn, Andrew trudged to the
bathroom, almost forgetting to close the door behind him
before he spotted Sara's bangles on the counter next to
the sink. Reaching over, he shut the door and locked it.
Fifteen minutes later, he was showered, clean-shaven, and
ready to go, except he didn't have to be at the church
until four-thirty that afternoon. Unplugging his phone
from an outlet in his room, he brought it with him into
the kitchen, transferred Sara's clothes that she had
washed the night before into the dryer and poured himself
some coffee. He sat on a barstool, debated throwing a
sweatshirt on over his plain, blue, short-sleeved T-
shirt to ward off the chill, but started scrolling
through his email instead.
His eyes, however, kept drifting over to Sara, out like a
light on the sofa sleeper.
While most of her was wrapped in the blankets like a
human burrito, with the sun starting to break through the
bare branches of the ancient oak tree blocking the
expansive bay window, he could see her face quite
plainly.
Without all that the heavy dark makeup, he noted, she
looked younger.
And kinda sweet, actually.
But then again, she wasn't talking.
Still, he was glad he invited her to stay the night
before.
But what about tonight? And tomorrow night? And the night
after that?
While he mulled the possibilities, she rolled over and
stretched, arching her back and groaning as she did.
Resuming her curled-up burrito pose, she opened her eyes
and mumbled, "How long have you been sitting there?"
Looking at his watch, he admitted, "About a minute. Or
five. Maybe ten." His cheeks suddenly felt a lot warmer.
With a loud yawn, she sat up. "I slept so good." Patting
the thin mattress with her hand, she added, "So comfy."
The words hung in the air between them.
Sarcasm before coffee. Great.
Still, the sight of her in his pajama top seemed to
lobotomize him. All he could do by way of a reply was
nod.
With a shrug, she added, "Seriously, on a sleeper sofaβ
who knew?"
Snap out of it.
With no small amount of effort, he turned and glanced at
the dryer. "Your clothes should be ready in about twenty
minutes."
At that, Sara took a deep breath and yanked the covers
back, revealing two impossibly long bare legs as she
flung her feet to the floor.
Knowing full well that the sudden blast of heat he felt
was not delivered by way of the gilded vents along the
floorboards, Andrew got up to check the thermostat on the
wall next to the upright piano anyway, mumbling, "Gotta
love old buildings."
© 2003-2026