Allegro Vivace

Title: Allegro Vivace
Author: Cat Grant
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: Extended Novella (143 pages)
Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Summary Review: A solidly written and extremely satisfying May to December romance with a musical twist.

THE BLURB:

Sparks fly when brash young violinist Matt Dugan strides into professor Aaron Parrish’s classroom. Aaron’s intrigued by the twenty-year-old virtuoso, and agrees to take him on for private lessons. Things get off to a rocky start that’s complicated by a growing mutual attraction.

But Aaron, still reeling from the loss of his partner two years earlier, resists—until the afternoon Matt seduces him in his office.

Teacher and student embark on a passionate affair. Matt wants to tell everyone, while Aaron fears their twenty-five-year age difference will make them objects of scorn and ridicule. Can Aaron conquer his doubts, or will he lose Matt forever?

THE REVIEW:

I have to admit that after a recent string of unsatisfying M/M reads, I approached Cat Grant’s extended novella with a feeling of trepidation. I’ve never read anything by her before, and this book deals with two of my favourite themes – May to December and Classical music – which gave it the potential to be spectacularly disappointing if not handled well. But I needn’t have worried. Within the first few pages I realised that I was in talented and competent hands, and found myself absorbed in this well written tale.

Ms Grant sets up a compelling conflict between main the characters straight away, by having them meet at their worst. It’s immediately clear that Aaron is like the most hated professor or teacher you ever had – overly demanding, often unreasonable, and motivated not by love of teaching but by longing to clear his paperwork. Matt, on the other hand, is like the most annoying younger brother or student – cocky, entitled, convinced that the rules don’t apply to him, fully aware of how hot he is. When Matt turns up in Aaron’s class one morning, demanding that Aaron give him personal violin tuition (although Aaron held auditions and assigned all the slots for this the week before) it’s safe to say that they don’t hit it off.

But despite their behaving in thoroughly unsympathetic fashion, in this author’s skilled hands, you find yourself sympathising with both characters anyway. Aaron (the viewpoint character throughout the entire story) is lost in a deep fog of depression and unresolved grief over the death of his partner. His life and heart are so empty that he doesn’t even notice how miserable he is. And once Matt realises that his show of superficial confidence hasn’t gone over well with Aaron, cracks begin to show in his armour, revealing a vulnerable, passionate young man with immense depths – and a huge case of hero-worship for Aaron – which makes him very disarming.

Inevitably, Matt does get his way and the two do begin their individual violin coaching sessions, meeting up in the college early in the morning, before anyone but the janitor is in the building. After a fairly short amount of time Matt also gets his way in their personal life as well, and they begin an affair. To begin with, this consists mostly of hurried, furtive blowjobs in Aaron’s office, with Aaron terrified all the time that someone might hear, see, or suspect something. The two aren’t breaking any rules in having a relationship – Matt is over eighteen, and Aaron is only his professor in those personal lessons – but Aaron is convinced everyone he knows will laugh at him for being involved with a student so much younger than himself, and he’s adamant that they must keep it a secret.

Even under this constraint, Matt and Aaron’s feelings for each other rapidly deepen, and the tenderness and care they display with each other is really touching. Hurdles and mishaps crop up to test them, but these are firmly based in the character’s personalities and the situation which the author has already set up. They don’t feel like the same old ‘Big Misunderstanding’ which plagues M/M, but rather the sorts of problems that might occur in any relationship with such different people involved.

My one niggle with this series of relationship blips is that, despite such an obviously strong bond, each time they have an argument both Matt and Aaron seem prepared to walk away from the other forever in a big dramatic gesture. In Aaron’s case this makes sense, but Matt seemed to me like a more tenacious type, and his readiness to abandon a relationship that obviously meant the world to him seemed a little unrealistic.

However, by the end of the story the couple have overcome these problems. Matt (displaying that tenacity I mentioned) pokes and prods at Aaron until he finally breaks down and confesses the fears and insecurities that losing his partner have left behind. Following this they begin again, making plans for a future together. The tale ends on a very strong HFN which shows a strong possibility of becoming a HEA, and I shut the file down with a contented sigh, extremely glad that I got this book to review. Thank you, Cat Grant, for restoring my faith!