Love Song (2026) is an new adult romance by Elle Kennedy. It is a standalone novel set in the author’s popular Briar universe, which began with the Off-Campus series. This book focuses on the next generation of characters: Its female protagonist Blake Logan is the daughter of John Logan from The Mistake, and its male protagonist Wyatt Graham is the son of Garrett Graham from The Deal. After a public and humiliating breakup, Blake escapes to her family’s shared lake house in Tahoe for a summer of self-discovery, only to find that Wyatt, her childhood crush, is already there trying to cure his writer’s block. Forced into close proximity, the two must navigate their complicated past and undeniable attraction while grappling with their own insecurities and the pressures of their interconnected families.

Elle Kennedy is a Canadian author and a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of more than 50 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels. She is best known for her interconnected series of new adult hockey romances set at the fictional Briar University, which includes the internationally bestselling Off-Campus series and its spinoffs, Briar U and Campus Diaries. Love Song explores themes such as The Lingering Power of Past Humiliation, as the protagonists work through the emotional baggage of their shared history. The novel also examines Self-Imposed Isolation as a Defense Mechanism and The Weight of Family Legacies and Expectations, as both Blake and Wyatt struggle to define themselves outside the shadow of their famous NHL-player fathers.

This guide is based on the 2026 Bloom Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of suicide, substance use, pregnancy loss or termination, sexual content, bullying, and cursing.

Plot Summary

A prologue set two years before the main story establishes the tension between Blake Logan and Wyatt Graham, whose families have been intertwined since their fathers became best friends in college. At 18, Blake is drawn to 23-year-old Wyatt during a Christmas Eve gathering at the Graham home near Boston. She recalls confessing her crush to him at 16, only for him to laugh and call her “kid.” Now, despite Blake’s tentative relationship with Isaac Grant, a Briar University football star, Wyatt cannot stop watching her. Late that night, they briefly share an intense physical encounter in the kitchen, but Wyatt pulls away. The next morning, he claims he was too drunk to remember and tells her to give Isaac a chance, establishing his pattern of pursuing Blake and then retreating.

In the present day, 20-year-old Blake is reeling from discovering that Isaac has carried on a year-long affair, becoming public when a sex tape leaked online. After six weeks, she flies to Lake Tahoe, where the Logans and Grahams co-own a lakeside compound. Blake’s mother, Grace, encourages her to spend the summer on self-discovery, calling it “the summer of Blake” (27) because Blake has switched college majors three times and dreads graduating with no sense of direction.

Blake expects solitude but discovers Wyatt already there. He has left Nashville on impulse to combat a year of writer’s block, hoping new surroundings will help him compose music. Their reunion is chaotic: Startled by him on the dock at night, Blake hurls a beer can at his face and kicks him, and they both tumble into the freezing lake. Their argument over who should leave intensifies until Blake, who has not cried since her breakup, breaks down sobbing and confesses Isaac’s betrayal. Wyatt comforts her, and they agree to ground rules to stay out of each other’s way.

The arrangement proves difficult. Their fathers pressure Wyatt via group chat to watch over Blake, and Wyatt oscillates between gruff dismissiveness and reluctant tenderness. He reveals he has been celibate for six months on the advice of his former bandmate Cole Tanner, a rising country star who swore that abstaining from sex would restart Wyatt’s creativity. Blake throws herself into researching the local legend of Darlie Gallagher, a woman who supposedly drowned herself in the lake 50 years ago after her fiancé left her for her younger sister.

As weeks pass, their companionship deepens. Blake discovers Wyatt secretly plays hockey at a local rink, a talent he hides from his father, Garrett Graham, a former professional hockey player, because he does not want to reignite Garrett’s hope that Wyatt will become a professional player. She also learns about Wyatt’s lifelong insomnia. When she confronts him about cruel remarks he once made at a bar, Wyatt apologizes and begins opening up about his fear of never measuring up to his parents: His mother, Hannah, is a Grammy-winning songwriter, and Garrett is a Stanley Cup champion. Blake’s unguarded smile one afternoon inspires Wyatt to write a lyric for the first time in a year. Word arrives that producer Tobey Dodson wants to hear new material, giving Wyatt urgent motivation to keep composing. He privately acknowledges what Cole warned him about: Blake has become his muse.

Their physical tension escalates through a series of charged encounters. After spending a night on the dock sharing their deepest fears, Blake admits she is terrified of being truly known, while Wyatt confesses that the chaos inside his head never quiets. When Isaac sends Blake a message calling her passionless, she declares she wants “to be someone’s passion, not their safe place” (229), and kisses Wyatt. He kisses her back fiercely but pulls away, calling it a mistake. Blake accuses him of being trapped in self-imposed stories about who he is, unable to see other paths.

Days later, after Wyatt admits to jealousy when Blake brings another man home, they agree to a summer fling. They negotiate rules: It will end when the summer ends, friendship comes first, and either can walk away at any time. They have sex for the first time in a lighthouse during a rainstorm, an experience that inspires Wyatt’s song “Lightkeeper.” Wyatt’s insomnia vanishes whenever Blake sleeps beside him, and his songwriting flourishes. Blake records a guest episode on a local paranormal podcast about Darlie and begins to envision a future in podcasting and research rather than her broadcasting major.

When the extended families arrive for their annual gathering, Blake and Wyatt hide their relationship. Wyatt’s twin sister, Gigi, deduces the truth and promises secrecy but warns Wyatt he cannot discard Blake as he does with other women, because she will always be part of his life. The secret is revealed when Blake is accidentally injured during a swim. Wyatt rescues her and calls her “baby” in front of everyone. Their fathers argue about the relationship until Wyatt lists things he likes about Blake, revealing the depth of his feelings.

Blake realizes her period is late. A test confirms her fear that she is pregnant, the result of unprotected sex on her 21st birthday, after which emergency contraception failed. Wyatt responds with unexpected calm, telling her he is terrified but present, and says he loves her for the first time. Blake does not say it back, fearing his declaration is motivated by the pregnancy. Before a scheduled ultrasound, Blake collapses with severe pain. Emergency surgery reveals an ectopic pregnancy, a dangerous condition in which the embryo implants inside the fallopian tube. Doctors repair the tube, but the pregnancy is lost. Blake tells Wyatt she wanted the baby, a realization made only after losing it, then pushes him away, unable to trust that his love existed before the pregnancy. She returns to Briar for her senior year, insisting they honor their summer-only rule.

Wyatt channels his heartbreak into recording his debut album. He visits Blake once, returning a beloved appliance Isaac refused to give back, and they share an emotional night together, but Blake, overwhelmed by grief she cannot yet share, asks him to leave. At a Nashville gala weeks later, pop star Mollie May kisses Wyatt; he stops her, confessing he loves someone else. Tabloids photograph them together. Mollie offers Wyatt the opening act slot on her world tour, and he accepts. Meanwhile, Blake tracks down Dolly Gallagher Loughlin, Darlie’s sister, in New Jersey and learns the truth: Darlie did not drown herself but died of a brain tumor, surrounded by family. There was no betrayal. Blake decides to let the legend stand, realizing she loves the research process more than any particular ending. Outside Dolly’s house, she encounters Wyatt by coincidence. He invites her on tour, calling her “the fucking spotlight” (500). She hedges, but considers Dolly’s parting advice not to squander life.

Days later, during a live Boston radio interview promoting “Lightkeeper,” Wyatt confirms the song is about someone he lost. Blake calls in, tells him and the listening audience she loves him, and reveals she is waiting in the station lobby. Wyatt races downstairs and they embrace. Blake confirms she is coming on tour, having arranged to graduate early and record her podcast remotely. An epilogue of family group chat messages shows the annual Tahoe summers continuing across the network of families.