Rating:
Published: 1983
Illustrator: George H. Jones
Imprint or Line: Silhouette Intimate Moments #2
Published by: Silhouette
Genres: Category Romance, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 250
Format: eBook, Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader
The Book
Once More With Feeling is the second outing from the Silhouette Intimate Moments line. Nora Roberts‘ category romance tells the love story between two musicians, one a rising star and the other an established musician, who previously knew each other.
Now they must try to make beautiful music together again–literally. Only later does the situation take a turn for the metaphorical.
The Plot
Five years prior to the opening of Once More With Feeling, a teenaged, black-haired Raven Williams was a fledgling artist. (Just once, I’d like to read a book where a blonde or redhead has that name. Or a brunette or a blonde named Flame to subvert expectations.) Raven and a seasoned Irish-British musician named Brandon Carstairs garnered great success together before her star went on the ascendency.
Their working relationship had made it to the front pages of the gossip columns. Was there more to the two beautiful musicians than music? There was, but alas, it came to an abrupt end. Raven had kept herself at a distance from Brandon, and he was unwilling to put up with her reticence.
Heartbroken, Raven immersed herself in music, putting her career above love. Now Brandon has a gig to score a potential blockbuster musical film—and he wants Raven to co-write it with him.
I enjoyed watching Raven and Brandon’s new relationship unfold. Now in her mid-twenties, Raven was still a young woman but more sure of herself, although just as close-guarded. Brandon is a sexy character with longish back hair, blue-green eyes, and Irish-British charm (it seems Roberts has a type). However, he runs roughshod over Raven, vowing to break through her inner resolve.
Before these two can have their happy ending, there are big misunderstandings–because the characters refuse to say what they have to!–and the heroine has to rush to her dying mother’s bedside in a dramatic scene.
Final Analysis of Once More With Feeling
Five years before the start of Once More with Feeling Brandon broke Raven’s heart when he left her. Now Brandon is back and asks her to co-write the music for an upcoming, much-anticipated movie. Can these two learn to trust and love again?
Written in the early 1980s, this book feels like part of that era, especially with how cruel Brandon can be to Raven. Other readers may be more discriminating and have difficulty digesting the caveman antics of the “hero,” but not me.
One of my favorite moments in the book is near the conclusion when our couple finally reveals their feelings for one another, and they have this exchange:
“You can’t own me Brandon.”
A quick flash of fury shot into his eyes. “Damn it, I don’t want to own you, but I want you to belong to me. Don’t you know there’s a difference?”
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by NORA ROBERTS
Once More With Feeling was a solid romance, although Nora Roberts is capable of much better. This was only Robert’s 13th book, which sounds like a big deal. Considering that she’s written hundreds, it’s obviously created in the formative years of her career. Roberts’ writing has gotten sharper with age.
I had a fun time with Once More With Feeling, even if it was flawed in some respects. The heroine was a tad weak-willed, and the hero was too bossy.
This could have been lackluster in the hands of a less skillful author. One never knows how the wind will blow with a new series or writer.
Ultimately, I was satisfied with Raven and Brandon’s love story. Roberts always had the instinct to be a superb writer. She simply needed time to perfect her craft.
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| Overall: | 3.9 |
Synopsis:
THEIR SONGS AND THEIR PASSION WOULD ELECTRIFY A WAITING WORLD.
RAVEN WILLIAMS was a singer who had an overwhelming need to love and be loved, and whose voice had catapulted her to fame.
BRANDON CARSTAIRS was a musician in whom the charming Irish dreamer warred with a practical British reserve.
The music they made together was exciting, disturbing, erotic. Soon it would reach a dangerous crescendo.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by NORA ROBERTS
Thanks, Introvert Reader. I bought and read this read this romance when it was first published in 1983. But I can’t remember anything about it, except for two things.
One is the title. Very appropriate for a novel about musical artists. And a second-chance romance.
The second is the cover art. Yes, it looks like the chick holding the microphone is singing with all her heart and soul. But in a different context, her facial expression and thrown-back head might indicate she’s doing something else entirely!