Review: Frankie and Johnny: Let the Music Play by Xio Axelrod

Title: Frankie and Johnny: Let the Music Play

Author: Xio Axelrod

Length: 131 Pages

Category: Contemporary Romance

At a Glance: Let the Music Play is the sequel I didn’t realize Frankie and Johnny needed, but it’s absolutely the sequel they deserved.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: John Burton has Franklin Llewellyn humming a new tune.

After a messy break-up, Frankie thought he’d never find someone that really got him, especially his unique relationship with music. His ex called it an obsession, but it goes well beyond that. Music is Frankie’s lifeblood, and he’s always struggled to explain it.

Then John Burton crash-landed into Frankie’s world. Attentive, curious, and supportive, he’s everything Frankie’s ever wanted.

Frankie doesn’t know what it is about Johnny, but that he can’t stay away. Being with him is like listening to his favorite album on repeat. Johnny becomes as much of an addiction as Frankie’s beloved vinyl collection, but their budding relationship proves to be just as fragile.

When things between the pair shift from friendship into something more, Frankie finds himself overwhelmed by emotions he’s never experienced. He worries he’s in over his head, but it doesn’t stop him from taking whatever Johnny is willing to give.

As wonderful as Johnny is, he’s clearly hiding something. It’s an errant note in an otherwise perfect melody. The late-night texts and phone calls that Johnny won’t fully explain leave Frankie feeling adrift. Alone in an emotional freefall.

When Frankie discovers a secret from Johnny’s past, it’s a record-scratch moment. Can Frankie look past it and continue their duet? Or is he destined to go solo?

Review: Author Xio Axelrod has said that she wrote her novella When Frankie Meets Johnny “in a vacuum” and didn’t anticipate the book to garner the attention it so obviously has. I was stunned that she believed she could write a story so lovely, put it out in the world, and then think it wouldn’t be read. When I discovered a sequel had been published, I didn’t realize I even needed it—I assumed the happily ever after and let that be the end—but now I can’t imagine Let the Music Play not existing, because there was much more to discover, things that needed to be worked through, before Frankie and Johnny were solid.

Axelrod has an obvious passion for music, and that translates into her writing in both obvious and subtle ways. And, it’s possible this story might have drawn inspiration from a Broadway play, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, in which “Johnny calls the radio station to request the most beautiful music ever written…” Xio Axelrod has adapted that concept into this story and the relationship that grows between her own Frankie and Johnny. Frankie is composed of music, it informs him in ways that allow him to translate his moods and emotions into sound and rhythm, which is what makes his late-night radio show so popular. His listeners tune in to find their own expression and communion in music, and it’s through song and Johnny’s fascination with Frankie’s talent for interpreting and then creating an atmosphere in harmony with his feelings that draws them together.

But there are things that Johnny still doesn’t trust Frankie with, and it leaves Frankie wondering where he stands. It’s obvious he’s more than a friend, but it’s also clear he’s less than a boyfriend. Johnny’s secretive texts and phone calls make it clear he doesn’t trust Frankie. When those secrets are discovered, Xio Axelrod makes sure her readers feel not only the agony and heartache of what Johnny carries from his past, but the sorrow Frankie feels that he doesn’t really know John Burton at all, as well.

Let the Music Play is the sequel I didn’t realize Frankie and Johnny needed, but it’s absolutely the sequel they deserved. Now their happily ever after has begun, and Xio Axelrod delivered it beautifully in an homage to love and romance and the power of song as a means of expression.

You can buy Frankie and Johnny: Let the Music Play here:
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