Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Key to My Heart
SERIES: Play With Me
AUTHOR: Brittany Cournoyer
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 180 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 22, 2021
BLURB:
Music, teaching, family.
For Maverick Wheeler, the only thing more important to him than his family is music. During the day, he’s a professor of Music Theory, and by night, he plays the piano in a jazz band. Between work and his father’s care, that doesn’t leave much time for a personal life. When fate keeps throwing the insufferable Christopher Bishop his way, Chris is the one to lend Maverick a helping hand when he needs one. And even though Maverick is starting to like Christopher the more time they spend together, Maverick knows he’s far too old for him.
Work, school, service.
If Christopher Bishop isn’t busy working at his family’s tow truck business, he’s filling his free time with visiting his grandfather or arguing with Maverick Wheeler. Sparks fly the first time they lay eyes on each other after a misunderstanding, and instead of fizzling out, they burn brighter with every encounter. After a fateful encounter, Christopher begins to realize the stuffy, yet tasty, professor isn’t such a bad guy after all. If only Christopher could convince him to get over their age difference.
Key to my Heart is a medium-heat, low-angst, story featuring an age gap and adult situations. It’s intended for an audience of eighteen years or older.
REVIEW:
Chris Bishop is busy with his family business, but he always makes time for his grandfather who is in a nursing home following a stroke. His roommate is one Quincy Wheeler, father of Maverick Wheeler, pianist for a popular local jazz group and music professor at the local college. When Chris tries to do something nice for Quincy that could have ultimately been dangerous, Maverick flies in his face with anger. Chris apologizes, but Maverick chalks him up to an unreliable and flaky younger guy.
When they next meet, Chris is helping Maverick out with his car – which has died yet again. Maverick resents having to ask anyone for help – he’s the one who takes care of everything. But the stress of finances, taking care of his father who soon will not remember him, managing his teaching duties and organizing his jazz ensemble are taking a toll. And so he gives in.
Chris is attracted to the older man, but he’s noticed that Maverick is keeping him at arms length. He tries to be helpful and non-intrusive, but he’d really like to see Maverick loosen up a bit. When Maverick’s car breaks down again, Chris comes to the rescue and offers to drive Maverick around until he can get a new car. As the week goes on, they get closer and Maverick does share a bit more about what he’s trying to manage. Chris really does want to help and he finds the more he knows about the stuffy professor the more he likes him. But Maverick is concerned about their age difference 🙂 Chris is not 😉
When Maverick has a particularly bad day, he ends up turning to Chris for comfort and Chris is more than willing to give it. This sets their relationship on a whole new path. Turns out that Chris is pretty smart and mature for a young guy 😀 He helps Maverick see the possibilities while still acknowledging the situation with his father. He also manages to help Maverick see that there is something real between them and it’s not defined or determined by their ages.
This is a very sweet story. Maverick is pretty set in his ways and he’s kind of letting life pass him by while he spends the majority of his time worrying. He only seems to be free when playing the piano – either t home or with his jazz group. Chris is a guy who knows he will take over the family business, which he’s fine with, but he knows he needs more education and so he’s working on that too. His parents and the rest of his family are really important to him and he makes the time to see them. This is a quality that Maverick admires, but he’s caught up in the age difference. But Chris proves over and over that he’s a mature and level headed guy and that he knows what he wants – and that’s Maverick. When Maverick decides to finally take a chance, he gets more than he bargained for – but in the best possible way. Yes, there are some bittersweet moments in this story particularly around the elderly relatives, but frankly this is how life works in most cases if people are lucky enough to get old. I really appreciated how much Chris cared for Maverick and did his best to support him and help him see that yes, things were changing, but that he could still make memories to hold onto. They were very good together once Maverick accepted that Chris was the one for him. Definitely recommended for fans of age-gap and hurt/comfort stories. Can’t wait for the next one -which I hope is Ezra’s story 😀
RATING: 
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