Minerva Spencer - The Music of Love

Finding out that her husband was a bigamist didn’t devastate Portia Stefani; she held her head high when she forced him out of her life. But losing her beloved music school as a result of the traitorous bastard's gambling debts almost destroyed her. The only way she’ll be able to make ends meet is to accept a lucrative tutoring position in remote Cornwall. What Portia hasn't anticipated is the life-altering impact that her mesmerizing new employer has on her.
Stacy Harrington learned the hard way to keep people at a distance. Playing the piano is the only thing that makes his solitary life enjoyable these days, and he’ll be damned if he allows his albinism to keep him from everything he loves. Bringing a private music tutor into his home is disruptive, but it’s the only solution. Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming attraction he feels toward his fiery new employee.
It’s not long before a shared passion for music develops into something infinitely deeper. But when ghosts from the past—along with some very dark secrets—emerge to threaten everything they’ve built, can Stacy and Portia continue to make beautiful music together? Or will their happily ever after end on a painful, discordant note?

Comment: I got this book because the trope would be about a woman in a difficult financial situation working for a wealthy man and I really thought this would be a sweet, romantic tale of them falling in love despite the differences.

Portia Stefani is a woman without many resources, especially since her husband died and there are too many debts to pay. In desperation, she replies to accept a position as a music teacher at a distant estate in Cornwall, but she is fully aware the man hiring her is expecting her husband, not her. Against the odds, Eustace "Stacy" Harrington understands her situation and employs her, for Portia is as talented as her husband in the piano. Falling in love was not in the plans, but it seems it is what is happening between them, which feels doomed when a heated encounter makes Portia forget herself and she thinks Stacy will not like her, much less love her, now he's seen her vulgar manners. The problem, though, is that surprises are coming and everything might not be on the positive side...

I was truly seduced by the possibilities of this story. The trope is incredibly predictable but I didn't want to read this for originality, I was aiming for a sweet romance between people from different stations. Sadly to me, this book had a lot of elements and went from what seemed to promise a steady but sweet romance into... well, into a lot of things going on at the same time.

It's true this started off well. I was eager to see how Portia's employer would react to her presence instead of a man, how the dynamics between them would develop and how naturally the relationship would progress from a work interaction into emotions and feelings. I got the feeling the author had a plan for the beginning but the more she wrote, the more things she thought of that could be interesting to add, and in the end there were too many things which resulted in a lack of cohesion. I think the author could have developed things in a better way.

The first element used that made this story stand out is the original detail of the male protagonist being an albino. Apparently his eyes are red and this scares most people but not the heroine, of course. I could see a vibe of beauty in the best here, which I liked because I like that trope a lot. It was also cute how Portia is amazing playing the piano and this brings them closer, since both like music and playing. From the early chapters where they were assessing each other at a distance to hot mess was like... instantaneous and I was caught by surprise. In only a few days of Portia being there, of them thinking about one another, you know, with longing, to Stacy asking Portia to see his stud mate with the mare.... I mean.... this is an historical novel, at least let's try to pretend to keep up some kind of social norms.

From this moment on, lots and lots of things happened, and why would I feel bothered with historical accuracy - unless it's glaring, as was what I mentioned above, I don't think I'm rigid in expecting historical romances to be as proper as historical novels or fiction - when the author introduced so many other elements to create a very confusing plot which took effort to keep track of? I'd love to share some, but that would be a spoiler... let it simply be sad there is a twin sibling coming out of nowhere, it felt, and a dramatic killer no one expected. 

I will be honest, however, and confess that in terms of writing narrative, this was a very easy and fluid writing, and I was turning the pages as easily as one breathes. Like not being able to avoid the fact something wrong but kind of silly is about to happen and one needs to know what anyway. I had not read anything by the author yet and I've seen many readers like her work, so it was quite a surprise what I felt while reading this book. I liked a few elements, I liked how easy it was to read, but I cannot say it was the most rewarding experience to me, in the end. Things were too cluttered.

I also disliked how it gets to a point where the protagonists don't really talk to one another and, as expected, this leads to misunderstandings that didn't need to take so long to be solved. And it's not even a matter of plot need, after all there were plenty of things ongoing at the same time. I think that, in the end, it was a pity how some elements were used or how much drama was added as the chapters went by, and the author clearly has the talent to offer something more consistent. I might try another book by her one day, to compare... but as for now, not as impressed as I wished.

Grade: 4/10