"Concerto follows Catriona, a young music therapist, who must honour an opera diva’s dying request to help her son, Umberto Rolando Monteverdi, recover his musical gift after a car accident robbed him of his sight. Ten years previously, Catriona shared a night of passion with the handsome musician that led to unexpected circumstances. Arriving at Umberto’s mansion in Lake Como, she finds him resistant to her every effort. Catriona discovers her feelings toward the blind musician are as strong as ever while battling her own secrets and the dark forces that threaten Umberto’s life – for the second time."
This gorgeous romance novel is a sumptuous read - there's really not another word for it. It's set against the backdrops of Nice and Italy, with classical music serving as the main vehicle for the plot.
Catriona, aged eighteen, has the world at her feet. She's on course to win a competition that will give her a place at the most prestigious of music conservatoires, when she meets a composer and pianist whose fame is quickly rising. She meets him and they spend a single, passionate night together before he unexpectedly leaves for a tour in America. He leaves her with something else unexpected, too - a pregnancy with which she follows through. Ten years later, Umberto's mother begs Catriona to help her son after he loses his sight.
It takes some persuasion, but Catriona finally agrees. When she reaches Umberto in Lake Como, however, she has to decide whether or not she will reveal the truth about herself and her son - Umberto's son. He is not the only factor at play, though. Umberto's cousin and a childhood friend/ex-lover, makes things even more tense and awkward.
Umberto finally figures out who Catriona is, though, and they pick up exactly where they left off ten years previously. Catriona, however, still cannot figure out a way to reveal the truth about the son. Meanwhile, the stakes are only getting higher and higher.
This book was a passionate, sweeping love story from start to finish, full of hedonism, romance, and gorgeous descriptions of some of the world's most luxurious and beautiful places. If you enjoy romance novels, then this book will appeal and then some. It's a long read, but it doesn't feel that way. Every chapter, the author introduces some new intrigue or plot twist that makes the larger story even more of a mystery with satisfying payoffs.
An exceptionally beautiful and heart-touching read which will stay with you long after you finish.
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