Blue Notes by Shira Anthony
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have to fully disclose that I’ve met Shira Anthony and found her adorable and lovely. So in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to declare that I went into reading Blue Notes with her sparkling personality and wit in mind.
And oh the book did not disappoint.
I love Paris (for the most part). It’s not one of my deep loves like Venice or San Francisco but Paris has a certain flavour to it and Blue Notes captures that perfectly. Paris does love its music and certainly, has an intense love affair with jazz so it was nice to see this tendre serve as a backdrop for this novel.
For me the book really began in Paris. Certainly the back story in the beginning was necessary so you could see why Jason got to where he was but the richness of Anthony’s writing began to unfurl once he hit the streets of Paris. Jason’s engagement and overt push-me-pull-you interaction with Jules was sweet and conflicted in the beginning but then resolved into a lush entanglement.
There were a few conflicts…standard in this form of the M/M genre and a stumble or two, as is normal but it all works out.
Do I have a complaint? Only that I wish there’d been more of their relationship shown as it developed. That for me was the most satisfying aspect of this book. Jason and Jules slowly discovering one another was key to this book and I wanted much more of that. I’d have love to see them go through the Lourve or even try to figure out why there’s a damned glass pyramid in front of one of the most elegantly built buildings in the world. I’d have loved to see more of Jules’ discovery of the city he lived in as seen by someone who could open up doors that were previously closed to him. It was entrancing to see the tidbits Anthony gave us.
I wanted more.
The book was a satisfying meander through a relationship of seemingly impossible romance… impossible only if one stared at it from the outside but the characters within were suitably and admirably matched.
I look forward to more books from this author. Get back to the keyboard, Ms. Anthony.
Sonny James and Luki Vasquez are living proof that the course of love never runs smoothly. Ambushed by grief, Sonny listens to a voice singing the blues from beyond the grave. While revisiting the sorrows and failings of his past, in the here and now he puts up a wall against love. Just when Luki chips through that barricade, the couple becomes the target of a new threat from outside: an escalating and unexplainable rash of break-ins and assaults. Thoughts of infidelity rise between them, a threat that may strain their newly mended love past its limits. To come through the trials alive and together, Luki and Sonny will have to unite against enemies who were once friends and overcome crippling hatred and overwhelming fear. If they succeed, maybe then they can rekindle the twin flames of passion and love.
Rhys Ford 