Nocturne by Andrea Randall and Charles Sheehan-Miles

Title:  Nocturne

Author: Andrea Randall and Charles Sheehan-Miles

My Rating: 4 Stars

Purchase: Amazon Kindle   B&N Nook   Kobo

Synopsis:

From the bestselling authors of In The Stillness and The Last Hour, a new story of forbidden love and second chances.

Savannah Marshall is a gifted flutist and daughter of musical royalty when she enrolls in the elite New England Conservatory of Music. Brilliant, eclectic and passionate, she lives music, but struggles with her plans for the future.

Gregory Fitzgerald is one of the most renowned cellists of his generation. A member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and professor at the Conservatory, he is laser focused on his career to the exclusion of friends, family and especially romance.

When Gregory and Savannah's paths cross in the classroom, it threatens to challenge more than their wildly differing beliefs on music. Friendships, ethics, and careers are put on the line as Gregory and Savannah play a symphony of passion and heartbreak.

In the final movement, Gregory and Savannah are handed their greatest challenge, as the loss of absolutely everything they've held as truths hangs in the balance.

My thoughts:

I am a simple person.  I lead a simple life in a mid-sized Midwestern town.  I've never been to the opera or to a symphony or any classical arts performance for that matter.  However, after just finishing reading Nocturne by Andrea Randall and Charles Sheehan-Miles, I feel like I have just been on tour with The Big Five.

Nocturne is elegantly and beautifully written.  The novel clearly illustrates that the authors were well educated in the subject of symphony orchestras.  Either that, or they easily fooled me with big words like Rachmaninoff, arpeggios, and diminuendos.  (Thank you Kindle for your built-in dictionary.) And after I got over the deer-in-the-headlights look of a very unfamiliar subject to me, I was easily wrapped up in the story.

"I don't have time for this is not something you say to the love of your life."

Told from the dual viewpoint of the two main characters, Savannah and Gregory, Nocturne is a complex story of a taboo situation that pushes the boundaries of ethics.  While I can't agree with the choices that were made by the characters, the story was written in a way that I was able to understand why they made the choices they did.

I've read novels individually written by both Ms. Randall and Mr. Sheehan-Miles and they were both wonderful.  However, together they they have found a way to meld their voices into one incredibly written book.  The seamless way the book flowed together would not leave you guessing that the book was written by dual authors had you not seen their names on the cover.  

Nocturne is a book of forbidden love, heartbreak, bad decisions, emotions, and music.  Although I probably glossed over some of the more 'technical' music parts, it is a very satisfying and entertaining read. It is a standalone book with a happily-ever-after and I would recommend this book whether you are a fan of the classical arts or not.

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