Holy goodness for a book not that long, it took me quite a while to finish it. And why not? It was so tempting to fly through it in one go. I honestly had to ration out the readings so that I could stretch them over a few days rather than having all the fun in one sitting. [Thank you so much, Brianna, for being so kind to offer me the arc and saving me from waiting for the book! <3]

I'm personally not a fan of huge age gap in relationships (they generally have a non-consensual power imbalance which I hate and at worse, the younger partner is groomed by the older partner which makes me want to puke in their coffee) But...I always seem to like the age gap relationships portrayed by Brianna Hale. She just writes them so beautifully while also addressing the issues that might and do crop up because of the said age gap. What I love the most is that she presents a warm, nurturing and above all, a healthy relationship between two consenting individuals and I can totally get behind that. (except for her Midnight Hunter which is ten degrees of fucked up with some good old Stockholm Syndrome on the side but I have always been trash for transgressive stuff...so there's that)

So the story begins when Lazlo takes a cello prodigy under his wings and basically rescues her from a harsh life with a deadbeat dad and crippling poverty. He raises her as his ward and being a rising star in the world of classical music, trains her to be a cellist. That is pretty altruistic in my opinion and raising a child (much less someone else's) made me like Lazlo right off the bat. He's a warm and an indulgent guardian who knows when to be strict and when to be loving.

Things fall apart when Isabeau (the ward) realises that she's in love with her guardian. The story is told between alternating PoVs going back and forth between the present time and the past when Isabeau was living with Lazlo and I could feel the genuine affection and adoration they have for each other.

The novel primarily revolves around a DD/lg dynamic between the two (which I understand might put off some of the readers) but I personally like it a lot. One thing about such TPE (total power exchange) relationships that a lot of people don't understand is that the power exchange isn't just some giggity giggity ubermensch controlling alpha shtick (yes, there are a lot of trash people who use BDSM as a crutch to abuse their victims) but at the core of the relationship, it's about guiding the other person so that they're their best person. It's about putting their needs above yours. That's what domination is about and I absolutely loved how Laslo was the embodiment of that.

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So wow...this book turned out to be significantly better and had way more depth than I thought it would. I've never read anything by this author before, and honestly, the blurb made me think this was going to be one of those insta love, daddy kink type of books (nothing wrong with those). What I actually got was a bloody fantastic, beautifully written, and complex love story. I can't think of a single negative thing to say about it. As I said, the writing was amazing. The pace was perfect. The plot was engaging. Angsty. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Sexy. The classical music angle was just so well done. Last, it was all wrapped up in a very sweet, and perfect way.


~HERO~
LASZLO...Laszlo was a great hero. He was complex. He was frustrating at times. He was sweet. He was sexy. He was domineering. He was kind. He was stubborn. The author did a fantastic job creating a complex character that as a reader you couldn't help but fall in love with.


~HEROINE~
ISABEAU...I enjoyed Isabeau's character just as much as I did Laszlo's. Again the author did a great job of creating a multi-layered character in Isabeau. My heart broke for her on several occasions. You could figuratively feel her pain rising from the pages. Her love for Laszlo. Her pain at being rejected. But she was also a very strong character. She was sweet. Wise beyond her years. She knew what she wanted and needed. I loved her.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book was pretty light on secondary characters. We see Isabeau's father a tiny bit. He BFF makes a couple brief appearances, along with some members of the orchestra. Mainly the book focuses the majority of its time on the two main characters.


~HEAT LEVEL~
LOW...for the first 70%. MEDIUM TO HIGH for the last 30%. This turned out to be (surprisingly to me) a slow burn type of romance. I was expecting for us to dive head first in the kink very early on. That isn't what happens though. This couple dances around each other for 70% of the book. But when they finally get to doing the deed, we get some deliciously kinky sex scenes. Isabeau and Laszlo were smokin' hot together and had amazing on page chemistry. Obviously (if you read the blurb) there is "daddy kink" and BDSM elements. Spanking. Belting. Choking. I guess if I HAD to think of something I would have liked different about the book, I would have loved to have seen more sex scenes between those two. 


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
HIGH...this one was fairly angsty, but the angst came from the two main characters and their feelings for each other, and not outside sources. There was no OW drama or OM drama. Isabeau wasn't a virgin, but she had only had sex once (and it wasn't good

~IN THE END~
-- I loved it!
-- Was it perfect? Pretty much.
-- Will I read this author again? For sure!
-- Would I recommend it? Completely!

I’m trying to read the latest Mariana Zapata but I’m at 10% and it’s moving at a glacial pace, so I need something extra melodramatic to spice things up a bit. This book definitely fit the bill. It has to be read as a fantasy, because I think it’d be a little icky in real life (sorry but the power differential is too much).
The heroine is naive, yet oddly worldly about the exact things she needs to be in order for the sexual relationship to progress. She doesn’t have much personality except cello and pinning for the hero. Oh the pining.
The hero is exactly the type he needs to be for this type of book - a stern, caretaking alpha. But he’s also kind of bland.
The whole backstory with the heroine’s father felt forced. How did she think he was a heroin addict for 10+ years without some sort of financial support. And the reveal at the end left more questions than answers.
But, I also couldn’t put it down.

a bit rushed at the end but that’s okay because I wanted it to be over

5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟🌟🌟⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was the most beautiful books I have read, that has an element of erotica incorporated into it.
First of all I loved the base plot of the book. Lit some of my absolute fave tropes (Age difference, authority figure and DD/lg). Then the musical element. Ah. The music pieces were beautiful and I listened to them whilst reading and it significantly contributed to my reading experience and complemented the book wonderfully.
The relationship and it’s development were so well paced and beautifully conveyed and I fell in love with both MCs and felt the love and passion they had for music and each other. This was such a gratifying read and I purposefully took breaks whilst reading this book so I could savour it. I’m sad to see it end. There is only one point of criticism imo and that is that imo the secret at the end was not a big deal. But I understand that it could be for someone else so no biggie. And it does not detract from my overall experience of the book which if you haven’t already clocked in on, was magnificent.