Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: The Music of Love
AUTHOR: Sandine Tomas
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 19, 2018
BLURB:
Sometimes the music of love skips a beat….
Paralegal by day, musician by night, Julian has an expiration date stamped on his forehead when it comes to love. No relationship has made it past a year, so Julian avoids romance like the plague and concentrates on his music instead.
Which works fine until gorgeous, smart, and funny Zachary joins Julian’s firm. One look at the man and Julian knows he’s dangerous. No matter what, he can’t fall for Zachary. He has to spare Zachary the pain of dumping Julian at the one-year mark. His brilliant plan? Ask a straight friend to pose as his significant other to keep Zachary away. Not surprisingly, his scheme does little to dampen the attraction—on either side.
When Zachary gives Julian a second chance despite his deception, Julian thinks his curse might be broken. But then he’s faced with the impossible choice between a life with Zachary and living his dream of touring with the band….
REVIEW:
Wow what a story. So full of emotion. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or what half the time. I wanted to shake both the MCs and at the same time hug them or something. Shew. It was up and down.
Julian has been leary of relationships for a while. Each ex has told him he’s either not worth it, lied to him about other stuff or just plain left him…for a woman. It’s been one thing after another. So when Zachary shows up to his house to go over paperwork for the law firm they work for, Julian is determined not to like him. He always falls fast and hard and it gets him in trouble. He even went so far as to have his best straight friend to play his boyfriend to keep Zachary at bay. And it did for a bit. But the guilt was too much for Julian and he confessed. These two end up in a relationship but it’s tumultuous. Between Julian’s doubts and fear, Zachary’s own insecurities, Zachary’s best friend, and the job, it’s all getting too much. There are fights, miscommunications, lack of trust and so forth. The one thing neither can deny is how much they love the other. But can love be enough to get past what they are dealing with?
I don’t know how Julian can date again, to be honest. It takes a lot. When you’ve suffered that much abuse and insults by exes, it tends to leave you very low. And for Julian to survive, he has to have his music. He sees music in everything around him. But with everything overwhelming him, he’s lost it. And it’s leaving him on a edge that’s not good. He feels like everything that happens is his fault and unfortunately, Zachary’s best friend and douche, Marc, doesn’t help things. His is constantly nitpicking at Julian and making him feel lower than dirt.
That’s my one complaint about Zachary. He was willing to give up family that didn’t like the fact that he was gay or had a boyfriend, but he wouldn’t tell Marc to just fuck off. He did stand up to him several times and defended Julian, but with what was said and what Julian heard, it was almost too little too late. I have no doubts he loves Julian. They have this chemistry that is unbelievable. And being apart is devastating to both of them. But sometimes, you’ve just got to nip certain things in the bud.
This is a good book, though. There’s lots of angst and points that will make you cry or want to slap someone. But in the end, it’s worth it. Like life, it has it’s ups and downs and will sometimes just go too far. But the end results can be well worth the risks.
RATING: 
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