Second edition! Find out a modern love book, modern romance, that has broken the mould: “addictive and very fun”, “written with energy, clarity and sensitivity” (opinion extracts published on Amazon.es)

 Official webpage in english

Buy the English version on Amazon (modern romance).

Buy the Spanish version on Amazon.

Have you ever shared a song? It can contain feelings, emotions and even challenges, as the protagonists of this novel show. It revolves around very real and surprising stories and characters. A 36-year-old journalist fan of Depeche Mode, a 24-year-old kinesiologist that listens to Nickelback, a 37-year-old teacher who loves dancing to vallenatos or a 28-year-old guitarist in love with the French music of the sixties.

It all starts with the recall of a love failure… You never know what you can discover when you meet the right person! What will they find? Which one is true love? How is modern love? How is modern romance?

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 Why is it well-liked by such different audiences?

«With love and sex songs”. The adventure to look for real love has broken the mould because of its unclassifiable genre and original treatment. It is a very simple and naturally written book. However, it has a suggestive heart that sparks different readings… Will it depend on the age, gender or vital moment?

J.A. Ibañez proposes a relaxed and close work filled with fun anecdotes, stimulating talks, love reflections and intense emotions. All of them are surrounded by numerous references to pop culture, especially to songs!

Live the adventure to search for real love and sneak into the most intimate part: feelings, doubts, expectations…

Do you dare to play? Will you empathize? Which one is true love?

• Opinions, reviews and commentaries posted on Amazon.es and other digital retailers by readers of the original Spanish version (modern love, modern romance book with love songs).

• “Written with energy, clarity and sensitivity. A beautiful journey that encourages you to reflect about couple relationships, love, life…And full of songs that take you very far away”. Maria on Amazon

• “Spontaneous, curious and with a very good treatment. The plot theme and its treatment are very good, just like the end. The narration is internal and very interesting in order to get inside the feelings. I want to remark the use of the songs, which enrich highly the story on the emotional and even poetic level. The characters are well-defined and their evolution is clearly visible, which creates a very interesting three-dimensionality. It  is actually a characters novel with different ways to think and feel… and it all turns out to be very authentic and honest. It’s a novel with high potential. Don’t let yourself be fooled by its spontaneous, natural and colloquial style without artifices. It’s true that it is a fresh, easy-to-read and very short novel…But, it might deserve a second reading in order to notice those other aspects and to listen to the songs, of course. A very nice surprise. Highly recommendable.”  JM on Amazon

• “Snooping around relationships. The book is entertaining and easy to read. Some of its stories are really addictive and fun, leaving you wanting more”. Alonso on Amazon

• “A wonderful combination of sensory emotions. I seemed fantastic to me how the author has been able to perfectly match the feelings produced by the songs with the experiences reflected in the book. I was reluctant at first but I have to admit that it has achieved everything a first-person book must pursue: the reader empathizes with the protagonist and is able to live his very same feelings throughout the novel. I appreciate that the love encounters are told in a subtle way, despite the torridity of some of them. It’s very easy to read since it’s arranged like a CD track list. In fact, I have finished it right away since it’s so easy to read and catches you from the beginning. It has left me wanting more. I’ll probably reread it to relive moments or find surprises that I overlooked. Completely recommendable.” Drago on Amazon

• “A loving and honest novel, with a well-cared eroticism. It is always a pleasure to reach a book without knowing what you’re going to find and finish it with a smile…” Maria B.O. on Amazon

• “It actually gets you hooked; you always want to find out more…” Ana on Lulu

• “I loved discovering new artists. The story is entertaining and has several reflections. I found it interesting, fun and appropriate”. Ada on Goodreads.

• “A different story. I identified myself with the emotional situations. It made me laugh, reflect and be moved at some point. More than recommendable. The book’s soundtrack is spectacular. I hadn’t read a book that involves as many music as this one. Music gives a special touch to the whole story. I appreciate that it features one of the biggest groups (also one of my favourites): Depeche Mode. I actually felt like I have lived every type of love described. And I, of course, want a love like that of the protagonists.” Laura G. on Amazon

• “Highly recommendable. I decided to read the book after listening to an author’s interview on Radio Nacional. And it actually doesn’t disappoint you. It’s a very current novel about the new ways to relate and about how some people can change your life. The book dismantles many clichés about the “romantic love” that can hurt our couple relationships so badly. A love away from submission, sacrifice, dependence or sorrow. I love its philosophy about ‘freelove’…a love that has nothing to do with that of the hippies… It’s very entertaining to read, with constant musical references that serve as a plot common thread. The songs become an authentic literary soundtrack. The book shows how tunes and lyrics can shape our personal vision of reality and our emotional attitude towards others. Thanks again to the author for showing me Françoise Hardy’s sweetness and melancholy. I’m a new fan of her songs.” Mgr23 on Amazon.

• “It’s a very descriptive and honest story that makes you empathize with the characters. It allows you to get to know different ways to think, interact, relate, feel, etc… which makes the reader reflect.” Maite by email.

• “I could see some parts of the story!” Rfin by email.

• “A good story about personal relationships where, as in real live, music plays a key role. This “emotional diary” is arranged in tracks, like it was a music CD”. Jr on Amazon.

• “I finished it right away because of its easy reading and the fact that it catches you from the first pages. It encourages the reader to keep reading it. Time flied by while reading it” Ana on Amazon.

• “I loved that touch of musical eroticism” Estefania on Amazon

• “The story of an inner journey through your heart. A necessary story with which it’s easy to identify yourself. After a tough break-up, who hasn’t feel like there is no more way to go, like nothing would be like before, like every illusion has suddenly turned off? This book is about that, about how a person is capable of facing his fears, regaining his illusion and embarking on an inner journey where nothing will be the same. Sometimes drastic changes are for the best. This book has indeed a lot of eroticism but it goes beyond that; it’s above all a story of human relations that talks about the heart nooks” David Andrés on Amazon

• “I also loved that it’s direct and very easy to read. I’d love to be that girl :D” Lucia by email

• “I got a pleasant impression many times. It’s very good when it’s direct, I really like that. (…) The book is a love singing.” Cotton candy.

• “Profound but for everybody. The book is fantastic. You can identify yourself with the characters although you haven’t gone through their experiences. Highly recommendable and written in a way that makes everybody understand and enjoy it”. Samanta on Amazon.

• “Very attractive, it pushes you to do things in your real live. It takes me to imagination”. Javiet on web.

• “I made Luis my own from the beginning”. Lucia on Amazon

• “Interesting. It turns out to be a very entertaining and enjoyable book that gets you to identify with the stories that it tells. Quite recommendable” Jorge Aldana on Amazon

• “ A different book, from the point of view of men and written for everybody… because we can all identify ourselves with the protagonist at some point” CQC on Amazon

• “Interesting and fresh. If you like books that tell autobiographical and romantic stories, this novel is very interesting; if it catches you, you can read it quickly. Its movies and songs references are from different ages but they are all definitely linked to a single topic: love.” Erika Brotons on Amazon

• “The book ends with a bittersweet end, but at the same time, necessary and hopeful. It was meant to end like that; it couldn’t have done so otherwise.” Verónica on Amazon

• Recommendations and reviews by experts and the Spanish media

• “Aimed at every audience. That is, at men, at women, at young people, at adult people, at the thirtysomethings, etc. We recommend it because it will keep you entertained and you will have a lot of fun with the adventure” (Onda Madrid)

• “A relaxed and easy-to-read text, told through music tracks instead of chapters. Each song accompanies experiences, through which Ibañez has kind of wanted to stir people’s consciences.”… “They are actually several characters since all of them share their different points of view about love” (Diario ABC).

• “A book about the search for happiness, emotions, music…in short, about life”, “You’ll identify yourself with the characters, whether you’re a man or a woman” (Radio Nacional de España)

• “Stories as intense as bizarre”, “[It is] set in an exceptional soundtrack” (Enfemenino.com)

• “Getting to know the others means getting to know yourself”, “you can lose your virginity repeated times at different ages”, “a language very devoted to this realism” (Onda Cero)

• “A story imbued with a touch of pop and music, series and movies evocations” (Revista Quo)

• “It conveys feelings and it’s able to do so through songs as well” (Ondamujer)

• “We recommend it. It’s very curious to read” (Cadena SER)

• “The author’s intentions aim at tangling pop culture with couple stories” (La Voz de Galicia)

• “The protagonists send each other love and sex songs, and through them they say a lot of things…You know, that kind of things that are embarrassing to say out loud; those things that can’t be heard in a bar, not even at the top of your voice…” (Cosmopolitan)

• “ We need the kind of passion we can find in this book” (Cadena COPE)

• “It has renovated a genre, although you don’t think so. It’s a matter of style, it reaches very directly to many types of reader. His character illustrates the modern male-female’s doubts”. M. Díaz, journalist and culture consultant.

• “Women will of course verify that ‘not every man is the same’. Men can be reflected and even be helped. (…) It’s a reflection and I think you will love it. Especially if you are a music lover because the text is filled with lyrics and music recommendations.” Nayara Malnero, sexologist and psychologist. Creator of Sexperimentando and director of Psic & Corps.

•  Quotes and extracts from interviews in the Spanish media

Read the full interviews here

La Voz de Galicia

“A deliberately distorted concept appears on the different chapters of With love and sex songs: losing your virginity. « I use it in the personal discovery sense- [the author] explains-. It seemed very suggestive to me to link that idea of dealing with new things, discovering oneself, enjoying from scratch and starting a new life… with the lost of someone’s virginity, taking into account that sex is fundamental part of the story ».

Gente Despierta (RNE)

•  “The novel is not as much about sex but about emotions. Although there is sex… and bit of eroticism too”
•  “We aren’t all equal, but we’re all very similar, men and women included”
•  “[Luis] is delighted to feel like a ‘virgin’ again… He has that curiosity, that mood and many times that madness…”
•  “Luis tells many anecdotes, some of then are fun and others surprising”
•  “What happens… isn’t what was actually expected…”
•  “The concept of “freelove” is a critcism against individualism and consumerism”

Hoy por Hoy (Cadena SER Madrid Sur)

•  “Each character provides the story with something new, whether it’s a man or a woman”
•  “The idealization of love and expecting something from your couple, or from outside when you’re looking for one, doesn’t make you happy”
•  “In love and relationships it’s very important to distinguish between fantasy and myth”.
•  “[Luis] discovers many songs that a person shows him…and that have a meaning that goes far beyond music and sex…”
•  “Although it can suggest those reflections that we were talking about… it’s a very direct and close book”
•  “There are no chapters, there are tracks, like a CD”

 Cadena COPE

•  “Although it has obvious links to that novel, it isn’t an erotic book like Fifty Shades of  Grey”
•  “It’s a romantic novel because it talks about love and relationships”
•  “Many experts claim that romantic love myths lead us to unhappiness”
•  “The novel has the shape of an intimate diary and it is said that it gives the sensation of honesty”
•  “[He] feels like he’s discovering things that he didn’t know that existed, which are making him very happy”
•  “It seems curious to me that some female readers identify themselves with Luis apart from other characters”.
•  “There are different people, different characters that also have their own discoveries in the novel”
•  “By exchanging songs, the characters share feelings that wouldn’t be so clear face to face”
•  “The female protagonist, who I think is more protagonist than Luis, plays the guitar and recommends songs to him…”
•  “I recommend that you listen to the full songs and try to read the lyrics”.
•  “I’ve got a little profound but the book is simple, light, easy-to-read, entertaining, fun, and has adventures…”
•  “Passion is not just for love but for so many other things”.

Julia en la Onda en verano (Onda Cero)

•  “The novel presents love and human relationships at present; with different aspects from the romantic myths”.
•  “[Luis] starts living unusual experiences… That’s the funniest part of the novel”.
•  “Throughout the novel you don’t really know who is approaching whom”.
•  “Between [two characters] things arise that surprise and hook them, as much to him as to her”.
•  “In the book there isn’t only Luis’ character, nor is there only one love relationship.”
•  “It’s a very entertaining novel for everybody, which can also make you think”.
•  “It’s our turn to reflect and face life and relationships in a less individualistic way”

 Madrid Norte en la Onda (Onda Cero)

•  “And those women are as protagonists as him, because their points of views about life and love are different”.
•  “E.L. James plays in the field of erotic fantasy in Fifty Shades of Grey  and it seems great to me.”
•  “The book is written in a very direct and clear way and it’s easy to sneak into the character’s story and live it”.
•  “After analyzing [the book], I can say that each of the woman that appear in the book also lose their “virginity”.”
•  “The love and sex songs that appear in the book reflect feelings, yearnings; they are evocations to situations…Many times music can reach where words can’t”

 Aqui no hay playa (Onda Madrid)

•  “Love is a broad term to designate or define different realities”.
•  “Some time later I found out that there were people who thought that the book title was ‘With love songs”… and then “sex”…”
•  “With fun anecdotes and stories, you look into how relationships are nowadays”
•   “You can experiment to make literature by including pop elements”
•  “No doubt in this book there is that eternal curiosity that I have wanted to give expression to”
•  “Are people still going to clubs to pick up?”
•  “One of the most entertaining and fun things in the book are the conversations that they have, those challenges that they throw at one another”
•  “The girl from the picture in the book appears naked in the book…”
•  “Different types of relationships appear, some involve Luis and others not!”
•  “This book no doubt intends to break clichés and go beyond reality”

 Onda Mujer

• “[Luis] tells a fun story with odd adventures, etc. but he does so from his heart, from his excitement”
•  “I don’t think men and women are so different when it comes to being romantic, getting excited, falling in love or suffering for love”
•  “When we think about an emotional diary we think about introspection, about something brainy, very poetic or sad and tormented…But in this case it’s the whole opposite”
•  “I radically dismiss the idea of soul mates. We don’t need to be completed”
• “The protagonist is not a dominant man that ‘controls everything’, but he is linked to Grey in that the book has eroticism, he isn’t prudish either, and he also has a part of fantasy and romanticism…”
•  “I demand passion in men and women and in couples”
•  “Domination leads to an insane couple relationship and to unhappiness and worse things…”
•  “A passionate love arises, which, besides, defines a special way to understand love…”
•  “There is a way through which the characters communicate very well, that is, through songs”
•  “A song’s lyrics are poetry, but music in itself is poetry as well”

 Radio Libertad

•  “The book tells a story that starts from a break-up, but there is no sorrow nor does it talk about divorce or separation”
•  “[Luis] starts feeling like he was losing his virginity”
•  “We associate feelings with songs, with movie scenes…The book is also about that”
•  “Including old songs has to do with a series of discoveries of the own character. He hadn’t heard of those songs by Françoise Hardy…”
•  “The cover girl’s expression is that of both the female protagonist and the male one”
•  “Apart from telling a fun story full of music and anecdotes, etc. it also makes you think”
•  “I don’t think it’s easy to identify yourself with one character, but with parts of each of the characters that appear in the novel…”

 Some love and sex songs mentioned and evoked in the book

Mi fantasía eres tú,
un recuerdo lejano
que guarde en algún lugar.
Mi teatro eres tú,
actuando sin público, ni aplausos, sin ficción.
La verdad no encontré,
donde creí que estaba.
Y en los sueños la vida
siempre fue tan real.You are my fantasy,

You are my fantasy,

A distant memory

that I kept somewhere.

You are my theatre,

acting without audience, applause nor fiction.

I didn’t find the truth,

where I thought it was.

And in dreams, life

was always so real.

Fantasia (Fantasy) by Mercedes Ferrer

Cuando llegó la noche, apareció la Luna,
y entró por tu ventana
que cosa más bonita cuando la luz del cielo,
iluminó tu cara

Yo me volví a meter
entre tus brazos,
tu me querías decir
no se qué cosas,
pero callé tu boca
con mis besos
y así pasaron muchas
muchas horas…

When night fell, the Moon appeared,

And came in through the window,

What a beautiful thing when the moonlight

Lit up your face

I got back into your arms,

You wanted to tell me something,

But I shut up your lips with my kisses,

And many hours went by,

Many hours…

Amanecí en tus brazos (“I woke up in your arms”). Jose Alfredo Jimenez

Cuando pase el tiempo no podré contarlas veces que hemos hecho el amor.

Cuando pase el tiempo sabré cocinarlo que nos gusta a los dos.

Cuando pase el tiempo seremos la mezclade sabores opuestos,de virtudes y vicio,de sonrisa y suspiro,de lágrima y beso.

Cuando pase el tiempo ya sabré lo que piensasen cada momento

Y poquito a poco nos iremos pareciendo, cuando pase el tiempo.

Estaremos muy juntos para no darnos cuenta de cómo el tiempo nos cambia.Y seremos los reyes de un país en el queno existe el mañana

Y cuando pase el tiempo… te seguiré queriendo.

When time goes by, I’ll know how to cook what we both like

When time goes by, we’ll be the mixture of opposed flavours, of virtues and vice, of smile and sight, of tear and kiss.

When times goes by, I’ll now what you think every moment

And little by little we’ll resemble each other, when time goes by

We’ll be very close so as not to realize how time changes us. And we’ll be king and queen of a country in which tomorrow doesn’t exist.

And when time goes by… I’ll keep loving you.

Cuando pase el tiempo (When time goes by)  by Mac Parrot.

I want you now
tomorrow won’t do
there’s a yearning inside
and it’s showing through
reach out your hands
and accept my love
we’ve waited for too long
enough is enough
I want you now

I want you now . Depeche Mode.

Tal vez, lo que te hace grande
no entienda de cómo y por qué.
Tal vez, lo que me hace grande
es tenerte delante otra vez.

Y en el vaivén de planes sin marcar
cae sobre ti la bomba universal;
pero no hay colisión, ni ley, ni gravedad
que te pueda hacer caer, aunque tiren a dar.

Suena un tambor, retumba en el umbral .
viene hacia aquí, me atrae como un imán.

Maybe, what makes you big

Doesn’t know about how and why.

Maybe, what makes me big

Is having you in front of me once again.

And in the ups and downs of the not arranged plans,

The universal pump falls over you,

But there is no collision, no law, no gravity,

That can make you fall, even though they shoot to hit

A drum sounds, it resounds in the threshold,

It is coming over here, it pulls me like a magnet

Lo que te hace grande (What makes you big). Vetusta Morla.

Qué habrá tras tu mirada,
que tanto oculta y tanto da
vuelve a la cama a soñar,
que amor que mucho piensa
verás como comienza,
y entonces pronto acabará.
la flor de la mañana hoy,
sembraste en mi ventana
fingiendo que fingías,
que me amabas.

What there will be behind your look,

That so much hides and so much gives.

Come back to bead to dream

Because love that thinks too much

You’ll see how it starts

And then soon it will end.

You sowed the flower of tomorrow,

Today on my window,

Pretending to pretend

That you loved me.

La flor de la mañana (The flower of tomorrow). Presuntos Implicados

 

Car le temps de l’amour ça vous met au coeur
Beaucoup de chaleur et de bonheur

Un beau jour c’est l’amour
Et le coeur bat plus vite
Car la vie suit son cours
Et l’on est tout heureux d’être amoureux

The time of love will leave your hearts

With much heat and happiness

Love in a beautiful day

And your heart beats faster

Because life takes its course

And being in love makes us happy

Le temps de l’amour  (The time of love). Françoise Hardy

Comienza el espectáculo, imaginando
las partes más privadas de tu anatomía,
rogando ofertas a los dioses de rodillas.

Continúas con miradas asesinas
de felina ofendida,
encantada de conocerte,
elevando la frente.

La química en peligro
y el vestido, de pecadora profesional…

The show begins, imagining

Your anatomy’s most private parts,

Begging the gods for offers on my knees

You go on with murderous looks,

Of a offended feline

Nice to have met yourself

Rising your forehead.

Chemistry at risk

And a professional sinner’s dress

Anidando liendres (Nesting nits). Bunbury.

Tu sei bellissima
Sei come l’acqua límpida

You are so beautiful.

You look like clean water.

Bellisima. (Beautiful). Adriano Celentano.

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

Dare you to move. Switchfoot

Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that’s so hard to bear
You give me fever when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the mornin’
A fever all through the night

Fever. Elvis Presley/ Peggy Lee

 

Buy the English version on Amazon.

Buy the Spanish version on Amazon.