Review: The Treble With Men by Piper Sheldon

The Treble With Men by Piper Sheldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you are a fan of The Phantom of the Opera (the musical) you will love this!  I've seen the Broadway production several times and listened to the music on repeat about a zillion times.  I even played the Music of the Night as a flute solo in 8th grade.  I wanted to be Christine when I listened to the music, and I secretly kind of always wanted Christine to pick the Phantom.

This is sort of a retelling of Phantom, and I found it hard to put down.  It follows Kim Dae/Christine Day, a fourth chair cellist at the local symphony and Devlin, the iintimidating masked Maestro known for his anger management problems.  When Devlin personally asks Kim to help him with his latest composition she is utterly confused.  First, she isn't quite sure how he knows her real name, she has been going by Christine Day since she put her wild days of running around with Jethro Winston behind her.  Second, she isn't the first chair, aka the best cellist in the symphony, she could be but she lets her demons of her past hold her back.  Devlin has his own secrets and demons but he isn't ready to let Kim know them yet, what he does know is that she is better than she is and he only accepts 150% from all of his musicians.  He pushes her and all of the musicians at the SOOK to their limits.  His methods aren't exactly the most endearing, but he's extremely talented.  As he lets his guard down with Kim, she is able to let go of some of her past and let the music in.

I loved this!!!  Kim and Devlin were amazing together.  Their relationship was as slow burn as it gets.  They are both stubborn, vulnerable, and the moments between them sizzle and burn.  I also loved that both of them had great sounding boards when they needed support.  Kim had the women of the SWS to help her and Devlin had the most wonderful family.  They may not have taken their advice, but they had people who loved them as they were and not for what they could do for them, and they would call them out for being ridiculous.  I loved watching these characters develop as individuals and as a couple.  There are great side characters as well.  The pace was great, when I wasn't reading this I was trying to find ways to get back to this book. 

Piper Sheldon's writing keeps getting better and better and I can't wait to see what she has in story for the rest of the Scorned Women Society. 

I was provided and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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