This is a sweet and a bit bitter-sweet story. David is brilliant and a bit of a mess. Alex is amazing and has overcome so much and on his way to the top of the music field. The story isn’t perfect but then neither are the men. There are some coincidences that are a little hard to buy and David is too brooding and uncertain at times…actually I wanted to shake him most of the time. Alex is just too good to be true. Putting all that aside this series is a lot of fun to read and the characters are worth caring about. ( )

A Hearts On Fire Review

FOUR & A HALF STARS-- "Prelude", book 4 of the Blue Notes series by Shira Anthony and Venona Keyes features musician orphan main characters, violinist Alex Bishop and conductor David Somers. They were introduced in book #1 as a couple and we finally get their story in this book. Thankfully this series does not need to be read in order, each book can be read as standalones. I only read book #1 of the Blue Notes series.

But I can say "Prelude" skates perfect figure eights compared to the first book. It might be my favorite but trust me, I'll read books #2-3 sooner than later. The words from this book, they were beautiful. I heard its music the entire time, a literary symphony played through each chapter. And Alex and David, they were instruments, their music fine as solos but together...just necessary to make the music complete as was their love.

Tattooed, rock star-like Alex Bishop, to me, he was like a violin, the instrument that he played. But the violin can cross so many genres and can be a great accompaniment. Such as Alex. I enjoyed him but all his interactions with David from their first glance to their last words, he's great!

He could have let all of the hurt and pain of his life (being an orphan, being abused, being homeless, etc) change him into someone bitter or worse a statistic. But he persevered and accomplished so much. He was a good man but not touching the fantastical white knight vibe. He was a good man but an even better man with David.

David, somber David, he reminded me of the string bass - deep, resonating and touching. So lonely David was. Just imaging how he was raised, how cold his only parental figure was, not even being able to outright grieve *shakes head* His pain touched me. Don't get me wrong, at times, he could be downright cold and mean. Even knowing why he's so messed up and antisocial did not excuse his ways when he used them to hurt others. But he's such a well written character with great depth. I want to shake and embrace him.

David is a maestro of music but Alex is a maestro of David. And David is one difficult piece to attempt to play. Both men are equals in a number of ways - they're orphans, had rough childhoods (economically different), share a passion for music. The adults they became and they way they perceived the world was vastly different.

Insecurity is a harmful emotion for David. It picked away at any semblance of self esteem he has. He tried so hard to be void any emotions that when he began to feel, I felt along with him. (And those insecure, loner main characters, when they fall in love, oh man, you're pretty much guaranteed an excellent love story when written right...and this was!) Visibly these men were opposites, wild child Alex and staid David but I enjoyed how they made it work.

The authors include great backgrounds (Chicago, Paris, anyone?), supportive non-bitchy, strong women in both men's lives and great characters. The writing was on par, saturated with emotion. The romance between Alex and David, thoroughly believable and wonderfully paced (no insta-love here, it's a slow burner). I devoured these words and was sad to see it end. But it ended at the right spot and delivered a well deserved HEA.

This quote sums the feeling of this book:

"Slow, plaintive, utterly romantic, and full of angst."

I recommend this book for lovers of words, great music appreciation, and delicious, adult main characters." ( )

I can't decide how to rate this book. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't really good either. I felt like the characters were all over the place, and so I felt all over the place while reading it, and even after finishing it. At times I felt such a strong connection between Alex and David, but at other times, I felt almost no connection at all. It seemed to take a long time for them to get together even though they were both interested from the moment they met, but then it didn't even seem like they dated before ending up in a relationship. David seemed very moody, and Alex was always quick to change the subject or pretend nothing was really wrong to avoid a fight or break up, and that is not how a relationship should work. I felt some parts dragged and were boring, while other parts were fine, but what really bothered me about the book was I felt the "fight" was maybe dragged out longer than necessary for added drama. All it really did was make me hate David. It seemed like he was leading Alex on. They'd bump into each other and talk, but as soon as anything to do with their relationship came up or they kissed, David would just push Alex away again. And while I get that David was scared, why didn't he just talk to Alex? That frustrated me to no end. Alex was all too understanding and nice about everything too. I think he needed to push David a little more. This is one book where I may have been ok with a non-HEA ending.

I can't decide how to rate this book. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't really good either. I felt like the characters were all over the place, and so I felt all over the place while reading it, and even after finishing it. At times I felt such a strong connection between Alex and David, but at other times, I felt almost no connection at all. It seemed to take a long time for them to get together even though they were both interested from the moment they met, but then it didn't even seem like they dated before ending up in a relationship. David seemed very moody, and Alex was always quick to change the subject or pretend nothing was really wrong to avoid a fight or break up, and that is not how a relationship should work. I felt some parts dragged and were boring, while other parts were fine, but what really bothered me about the book was I felt the "fight" was maybe dragged out longer than necessary for added drama. All it really did was make me hate David. It seemed like he was leading Alex on. They'd bump into each other and talk, but as soon as anything to do with their relationship came up or they kissed, David would just push Alex away again. And while I get that David was scared, why didn't he just talk to Alex? That frustrated me to no end. Alex was all too understanding and nice about everything too. I think he needed to push David a little more. This is one book where I may have been ok with a non-HEA ending.

I can't decide how to rate this book. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't really good either. I felt like the characters were all over the place, and so I felt all over the place while reading it, and even after finishing it. At times I felt such a strong connection between Alex and David, but at other times, I felt almost no connection at all. It seemed to take a long time for them to get together even though they were both interested from the moment they met, but then it didn't even seem like they dated before ending up in a relationship. David seemed very moody, and Alex was always quick to change the subject or pretend nothing was really wrong to avoid a fight or break up, and that is not how a relationship should work. I felt some parts dragged and were boring, while other parts were fine, but what really bothered me about the book was I felt the "fight" was maybe dragged out longer than necessary for added drama. All it really did was make me hate David. It seemed like he was leading Alex on. They'd bump into each other and talk, but as soon as anything to do with their relationship came up or they kissed, David would just push Alex away again. And while I get that David was scared, why didn't he just talk to Alex? That frustrated me to no end. Alex was all too understanding and nice about everything too. I think he needed to push David a little more. This is one book where I may have been ok with a non-HEA ending.