Book review- Playing the Maestro by Aubrie Dionne

Melody Mires has sworn off dating musicians, but when the sexy European conductor Wolf Braun takes over her struggling symphony, her hesitation almost flies out the window with the notes of her flute—until he opens his mouth. Wolf is arrogant, haughty, and seems to have a personal vendetta against Melody. Oh, and he’s her boss. If she wants to keep her job as principal flutist, she’ll have to impress Wolf while simultaneously keeping her undeniable attraction to herself.

Wolf came to America to get as far away from his past as possible, and to recover some of the swagger he had as one of the world’s best maestros. He never imagined being forced to reassess the entire orchestra’s talent—and potentially fire anyone who doesn’t make his cut. Dating the attractive flutist is out of the question, but as their feelings reach a fever pitch, can they risk both their careers for a chance at love? (from goodreads)

The heroine has quite an unusual name. This romance is a typical modern love story but with a musical twist. However, I did not find that the music aspect of it was featured often enough, for example as a tool to deepen or develop their feelings for each other or someone else. There are many scenes involving music, obviously, as both of them work for an orchestra and there are other sub-plots involving music as well, but it all boils down to just description of music and what is being performed, rather than taking it to a deeper level. This wasn't necessarily a negative thing, but just that it annoyed me that the music aspect, which was so interesting, is used just like a job, like in other novels the characters who are lawyers, accountants, ceos etc. have their jobs and events happening  in their job featured prominently but it acts as a secondary plot rather than a force for bringing the characters together.

Other than that, the hero was interesting and a strong character in the novel, because he was the perfect balance of good looks, hurtful past and caring personality. Although there's a lot in his past, he never falls into the brooding hero stereotype.

The novel was quite interesting and a quick and breezy read. If you're looking for a good contemporary romance novel with a little unique twist, Playing the Maestro would be a good choice.

Ratings
Story-4/5
Characters-4.5/5
Style-4.6/5

Pros
A musical romance
Hero and heroine are not very stereotyped or annoying

Cons
The music aspect could have been used better

NOTE- I received a copy of this book from the publisher but my opinions are not biased and the review is in no way influenced by this