Sonata Appassionata

Title: Sonata Appassionata
Author: Cat Grant
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M contemporary romance
Length: 35K
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review
This sequel to Allegro Vivace was an interesting continuation of Aaron and Matt’s relationship, but in the end the pointless jealousy and bickering became tiresome.

THE BLURB

Older man, younger man. Teacher and student. Love. Passion. Family drama. Jealousy. And music!

It’s not quite happily ever after when Aaron Parrish accompanies his young lover, violinist Matt Dugan, on his first European concert tour. Matt’s beauty and talent attract other men’s attention, sparking Aaron’s jealousy, while Matt’s stage fright and family problems only ramp up the tension.

Now, no longer teacher and student, Aaron and Matt struggle to redefine their relationship—before outside temptations tear them apart for good…

THE REVIEW

I’d read and liked Allegro Vivace, which was reviewed on this site by Alexi here, and I was looking forward to continuing the relationship between Aaron, who I had sympathised with a great deal in the first book, and Matt, whose mix of talent and charm was delightful.

Matt and Aaron met in the previous novel Allegro Vivace, which follows their relationship as it moves from being between a student and teacher into lovers. Matt’s talent has caught the eye of various important people and he’s now on his way to a small tour of Europe, playing with some impressive orchestras and conductors, and wowing audiences with his skill and passion on the violin. Aaron has taken some time out from his job as professor of music and is accompanying his lover. However, neither man anticipated how much the stresses and strains of touring would affect their relationship, nor how Aaron’s jealousy would cause so much tension.

One of the best parts of this book was seeing Matt increase in confidence as the book progresses. As the book is divided between the first person narratives of Aaron and Matt I was able to have a greater feel for Matt’s character. At the beginning, Matt still relies heavily on the guidance and physical support of Aaron. This led to a discussion between the heroes where Aaron tries to get Matt to stand on his own feet. Throughout the book Matt takes small steps into his future by making his own decisions, reconciling with his father, and generally becoming a mature young man by the end of the book. He’s come a long way from the brash, overly confident young man we see at the beginning of the 1st book, and that character growth was just wonderful to read. In contrast, I found myself starting to dislike Aaron’s increasingly baffling jealousy and immature behaviour. One minute he’s trying to build up Matt’s confidence and trying to help with Matt’s almost crippling stage-fright, and the next he’s storming off, misreading situations and generally behaving like a 20 year old, instead of the mature 40 year old he is supposed to be. I know that Aaron is a musician and therefore prone to an artistic temperament, but I still found it irritating.

This meant that for much of the book all Matt and Aaron do is argue and bicker and fall out. This is then resolved through sex rather than talking through their problems, something Aaron realises himself, but seems unable to do anything about. The tiny arguments build up until they lead to a separation between the men, again something which could have been resolved easily but was allowed to spiral out of control. I’m not the greatest fan of plots which rely heavily on a series of misunderstandings, so rather than being caught up in the drama, I was annoyed at the behaviour of the heroes and wished I could just bang their heads together to make them see sense.

So whilst I liked seeing the character development in Matt, and was happy with the way he took control of his life, the romance aspect failed to work for me. I just couldn’t see what Matt loved about the grumpy, paranoid, jealous older man that Aaron is in this book, other than the sex and the general ego-stroking that Aaron provides. I also couldn’t understand why he would want to tie himself down at such a young age, when his career is taking off and fame and fortune beckon. The way that they constantly argued in this book didn’t bode well for a secure future, and the too-quick way the book ended added to my uneasiness.

This book is a sequel and should be read after Allegro Vivace. Those readers who loved the first book, will probably like this one too. Whilst I thought this book was well written, with rounded characters (including the secondary characters), and sizzling sex scenes; the theme of constant misunderstanding didn’t work for me, making this book only an average read.  Having said that, if you’re the sort of reader who like ‘misunderstanding’ plots, then this book should work much better for you.