The Ballad by Ashley Pullo

 The Ballad is a Contemporary Romance designed to involve the reader in the authenticity of life, love, and all things in between.

Does love follow a formula?

Ever since Alanis Morissette’s awkward days on Nickelodeon, Canadian Chloe LeGrange has dreamt of the rock star life in New York City. She’s impulsive and honest, making for a confident musician—but her emotions are in constant need of balance. When Chloe settles into her city life during the summer of '03, she reluctantly offers to go on a blind date.


Enter fate—stepping in and disrupting the storyline. A flicker of light, an instant attraction, an undeniable connection—Adam Ford’s perceptive narrative launches their story.

But what if the ballad of Adam and Chloe starts with the end? The chorus before the verse…

Every once in a while you read a book that is incredibly striking in its originality.  The Ballad is definitely one of those books.  I’d heard a lot of buzz about it in book circles, so I snatched up the chance to read it.  It wasn’t what I was expecting at all, in a completely refreshing way.

The Ballad is told in reverse.  It starts out with a 30-something Chloe telling the reader how she and her husband Adam ended where they are today.  You’d think this would take away from the story, to get the ending first, right?  No way.  I kind of liked it.  Anyway, each chapter tells of a significant moment in their lives and relationship that has brought them to their ending and it is heartwarming and heart wrenching to read.

I was just really struck by the unique narrative of the story.  It’s mostly Chloe’s POV, but it really sucked me in to look back with Chloe and Adam and how they arrived at their end game.  I mean, think about telling someone your story in reverse and how significant things turned out to be that didn’t seem as significant at the time.  It just captured me.  Plus, the writing is so descriptive it’s almost as if you experience these things right along with the characters.  It’s not too much, this is a total goldilocks zone narrative and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

The characters in this book are also awesome.  Chloe and Adam just seemed like real people.  Flawed, but loveable.  Funny, witty, sexy, and just true.  I also have to mention that music plays a big part in this story, and I felt that the way in which it was incorporated made it another character in the story.  Another stroke of literary genius, here, people!

Overall, this is just a wonderful start to the series.  I have devoured the other two books in this series and will be writing up my glowing reviews of them ASAP!  5 stars.