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A review by jenibus
Sonata for a Scoundrel by Anthea Lawson
2.0
I debated for longer than was most likely necessary on whether or not I should even log that I read this book. I'm still trying to work past the embarrassment of reading what can easily just turn into written porn. But I will never get better at learning how to review romance novels if I don't actual review what I read, even if the cover and title makes me want to cringe (I'm working on it. Baby steps.)
Sonata for a Scoundrel's main hook is that the heroine of this romantic romp is a composer who has to hide her musical authorship behind her brother's name while they are traveling with the devilishly handsome violinist Darien Reynard, whom must not learn of her secret.
I have a massive weakness for this kind of secret identity trope. I also really enjoy stories of women having to pretend to be a man in some way because of societal expectations of what women can and can't do. Unfortunately the lusting of the two main characters overshadowed any potential theme exploration and to make matters worse, I didn't find their developing relationship that compelling.
The romantic feelings between Darien and Clara felt to be only on the surface level; their physical attraction to each other and their physical relationship was the driving force behind the book and did not delve too much deeper than that. Darien is extremely attractive and talented as a musician, Clara is attracted to him, they kiss in what I found to be very uncomfortable circumstances and after that one rapey kiss THE MAGIC IS KINDLED AND THEY WANT NOTHING MORE THAN EACH OTHER IN BED.
I would have liked more explorations of each other's personalities through the music Clara was composing. Darien is performing everything she writes, albeit secretly and with her brother's name attached to it, and she in turn is writing music specifically out of her emotions and feelings towards Darien. We somewhat explore the idea of Darien figuring out Clara's secret through the music itself, but it's more her playing ability than the emotions written in the music.
The sex scenes were alright out of context but I found the whole "OH TEH NOES I'M TAKING HER INNOCENCE :O" aspect of their joint seduction to be tiresome. Clara so yearns to be seen as an equal when it comes to her music, I don't understand why she was written to be so submissive in the bedroom. Lack of experience or no, she frequently went into bouts of meekness, allowing Darien complete and utter control of whatever he wants. Perhaps for some that is appealing but most definitely not for me. And her innocence was too unrealistic besides that. She has no idea what an orgasm even is and doesn't know that men can also feel pleasure?? Even in the historical context and her virgin state, I'm pretty certain every adult lady is aware of men's ability to become aroused and feel pleasure sexually.
The non romantic plot was fairly interesting although also simplistic. Darien is challenged to a musical duel with his formal student Varga. Upon finding Nicholas Becker's music (in actuality Clara's music) he is certain that he has found the key to winning the duel and goes on tour with Nicholas, having him "compose" new pieces in preparation for their joint performance (Nicholas is actually quite a skilled pianist and can play the pieces Clara is writing for him). However, for societal reasons that are not fully explained other than "silly ladies, you can't do things, that's men's work!" Clara cannot allow the public to know she is the one composing the music, and must travel with Nicholas, having him pretend to be the true author. Nicholas has some form of depression and there is great concern that he will not be able to handle the stress of everything in time for the performance.
Nicholas' depression or melancholy as it's referred to in the novel is alright as far as plot devices. It's not that well explored other than to say that he has this problem and will go into deep bouts of depression and lock himself away if stressed too much. I wish this also could have been explored a little more rather than just being a reason for Darien to discover that Clara is also a skilled musician (apparently it's fine for ladies to PLAY music, just not to write it. For… reasons….) We could have accomplished the same plot events without giving Nicholas this underdeveloped illness that turned him into a wilting flower, jealous and upset at every little thing.
I know it sounds like I'm being overly harsh on this book when one glance at the cover should tell me to expect nothing more than flimsy plot and lots of sex scenes. But this book did have an interesting set up! I was on board for the duplicate nature of Darien not realizing the musician he's idolizing is actually the woman he is so attracted to. I love the whole musical angle to the entire book. Just because it's a romance novel doesn't mean it can't adequately develop secondary themes while also giving the amount of smut that is to be expected. Further exploring these themes would have humanized the characters more, allowing me to better believe Darien and Clara's romance but as it stands, they're attraction seems nothing expect lust being paraded under the guise of love.
Sonata for a Scoundrel's main hook is that the heroine of this romantic romp is a composer who has to hide her musical authorship behind her brother's name while they are traveling with the devilishly handsome violinist Darien Reynard, whom must not learn of her secret.
I have a massive weakness for this kind of secret identity trope. I also really enjoy stories of women having to pretend to be a man in some way because of societal expectations of what women can and can't do. Unfortunately the lusting of the two main characters overshadowed any potential theme exploration and to make matters worse, I didn't find their developing relationship that compelling.
The romantic feelings between Darien and Clara felt to be only on the surface level; their physical attraction to each other and their physical relationship was the driving force behind the book and did not delve too much deeper than that. Darien is extremely attractive and talented as a musician, Clara is attracted to him, they kiss in what I found to be very uncomfortable circumstances and after that one rapey kiss THE MAGIC IS KINDLED AND THEY WANT NOTHING MORE THAN EACH OTHER IN BED.
I would have liked more explorations of each other's personalities through the music Clara was composing. Darien is performing everything she writes, albeit secretly and with her brother's name attached to it, and she in turn is writing music specifically out of her emotions and feelings towards Darien. We somewhat explore the idea of Darien figuring out Clara's secret through the music itself, but it's more her playing ability than the emotions written in the music.
The sex scenes were alright out of context but I found the whole "OH TEH NOES I'M TAKING HER INNOCENCE :O" aspect of their joint seduction to be tiresome. Clara so yearns to be seen as an equal when it comes to her music, I don't understand why she was written to be so submissive in the bedroom. Lack of experience or no, she frequently went into bouts of meekness, allowing Darien complete and utter control of whatever he wants. Perhaps for some that is appealing but most definitely not for me. And her innocence was too unrealistic besides that. She has no idea what an orgasm even is and doesn't know that men can also feel pleasure?? Even in the historical context and her virgin state, I'm pretty certain every adult lady is aware of men's ability to become aroused and feel pleasure sexually.
The non romantic plot was fairly interesting although also simplistic. Darien is challenged to a musical duel with his formal student Varga. Upon finding Nicholas Becker's music (in actuality Clara's music) he is certain that he has found the key to winning the duel and goes on tour with Nicholas, having him "compose" new pieces in preparation for their joint performance (Nicholas is actually quite a skilled pianist and can play the pieces Clara is writing for him). However, for societal reasons that are not fully explained other than "silly ladies, you can't do things, that's men's work!" Clara cannot allow the public to know she is the one composing the music, and must travel with Nicholas, having him pretend to be the true author. Nicholas has some form of depression and there is great concern that he will not be able to handle the stress of everything in time for the performance.
Nicholas' depression or melancholy as it's referred to in the novel is alright as far as plot devices. It's not that well explored other than to say that he has this problem and will go into deep bouts of depression and lock himself away if stressed too much. I wish this also could have been explored a little more rather than just being a reason for Darien to discover that Clara is also a skilled musician (apparently it's fine for ladies to PLAY music, just not to write it. For… reasons….) We could have accomplished the same plot events without giving Nicholas this underdeveloped illness that turned him into a wilting flower, jealous and upset at every little thing.
I know it sounds like I'm being overly harsh on this book when one glance at the cover should tell me to expect nothing more than flimsy plot and lots of sex scenes. But this book did have an interesting set up! I was on board for the duplicate nature of Darien not realizing the musician he's idolizing is actually the woman he is so attracted to. I love the whole musical angle to the entire book. Just because it's a romance novel doesn't mean it can't adequately develop secondary themes while also giving the amount of smut that is to be expected. Further exploring these themes would have humanized the characters more, allowing me to better believe Darien and Clara's romance but as it stands, they're attraction seems nothing expect lust being paraded under the guise of love.