I have had the privilege of reading all three books in Tamera Alexander’s Belmont Mansion series.  This last book, A Note Yet Unsung is without a question my favorite of the three! It was a fantastic ending to a fabulous series!! While this book is third in the series, you could absolutely read it as a stand alone. Tamera Alexander does include characters from the previous books, but in a fun flashback sort of way. 

A Note Yet Unsung, is a charming story about a tenacious woman before her time. Rebekah Carrington has arrived home to Nashville from Vienna without money or a safe place to live. She is an extremely talented musician living in a time when women are not invited to participate in symphonies. She soon finds that the city has acquired its own philharmonic with a promising conductor, Nathaniel T. Whitcomb. The war is over and times are changing… perhaps Mr. Whitcomb will offer her an opportunity to live her dream. Her hope for her future rests in hands. 

I love the way Tamera Alexander develops this story. There is no love at first sight or unbelievable relationship created. Page by page, Rebekah and Nathaniel get to know one another. I love the amount of page time dedicated to the development of their story. This story is perfection, an easy five stars. I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Netgalley. I was not required to give it a positive review. To be perfectly honest, I was patiently waiting for this book’s release so I could request it. I would have purchased a copy for myself because Tamera Alexander is in my top three must read authors!!

A Note Yet Unsung is the 3rd book in the Belmont Mansion series by Tamera Alexander. It can, however, stand alone.  In this book we read  the story of a young gifted musician who happens to be a woman in post civil war  settled in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon the death of her beloved grandmother, Rebekah returns from being abroad in Vienna where she has been studying music from a composer. Her dream is to play with a symphony. At this time, women were not admitted at all, but she is determined to try. Meeting with the Nashville Conductor, Tate, she auditions by playing the oboe. She is also proficient in the violin and the piano. Things do not go well and she is still determined to find employment due to her cruel stepfather. She meets Mrs. Adelicia Cheatham, the mistress of Belmont, who in turns offers her the position of violin tutor to her daughter. Mr. Whitcomb, who turned her down for the symphony, wants to help her so he hires her as a transcriber for the music. From here, Rebekah and Tate build a friendship that soon turns into attraction. 
I love the banter between them. They love to argue! I love how Tamera Alexander weaves the beauty of music into something amazing. I had the hardest time stepping away from Rebekah and Tate’s story. I felt drawn to find out what would happen next. There are so many situations that I had no idea would happen. Like Tate’s background for example and so much more. I would definitely recommend this, along with any of the authors books. Tamera Alexander is a gift author. 4.5 stars

It is hard not to pass up any novel by Tamera Alexander and if you never have read one you might just want to pick them up. Not only do you get an exceptional novel, but also a bit of a history lesson as well. In her latest novel in the Belmont Mansion series, A Note Yet Unsung takes readers into the heart of a passion of Rebekah Carrington who has spent the last few years in Vienna pursuing her love of music under one of the great conductors there. She was sent there by her grandmother because for women in the United States, society isn't ready to accept a woman's role in any seat in an orchestra even in private performances. They simply believe they don't have the discipline necessary to be good enough, and while Rebekah would love to prove them wrong, she is about to face her biggest challenge yet.

Coming home on the news of her grandmother's death, she isn't anticipating seeing her step father Barton anytime soon. She remembers the night that he tried to have his way with her but was stopped by one of the families slaves, Demetrius. She longs for a relationship with her mother, but it seems like she is more concerned with abiding by Barton's wishes over the her own daughters. She just hopes to catch her mother home alone. When she learns that her long lost friend, Demetrius has died, she believes she has been dealt more grief than anyone can handle. She also finds out that all of her grandmother's belongings have been sold or given away by Barton because her mother couldn't handle dealing with it.

Rebekah knows she can't stay under the same roof as Barton, and vows to find a job in the city that might provide room and board, even though she dreams of working with an orchestra one day, this will not be the day. When she finds an ad in the local paper as an assistant to the conductor, Maestro Nathaniel Tate Whitcomb, in the local orchestra house, she believes God might just grant her prayers. But as Rebekah will soon learn, a woman's place is not in a man's world and it will have far-reaching implications.

I received A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander compliments of Bethany House Publishers and Net Galley. I absolutely LOVED this final novel in the Belmont Mansion series, and didn't know how difficult it was as a woman to be accepted by society no matter how talented you were to play in a private or public performance. The term one size fits all does not apply when discussing the vast number of styles of music in this time-treasured art form. Hard to believe that society would consider women too delicate natured for the rigors of practice and dedication required to master a musical instrument in the 19th century considering how they insisted that women play such instruments as the pianoforte as a form of entertaining guests at a party or ball. I even found myself clicking on various websites to listen to the particular music pieces referred to in this novel as a backdrop while reading the novel. This is by far one my favorite novels that Tamera Alexander has written and worthy of 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing flowed nicely and I was pulled into the narrative immediately. I really enjoyed Rebekah and Adelicia. Tate annoyed me a little. But overall I enjoyed their story. At times I thought the story was a little slow moving and predictable, but overall it was very interesting and moving.

I received an ARC of A Note Yet Unsung from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, well, it's been quite a while since I've read the previous books in this series. (I checked. The one before this came out in 2014...) But it was okay! While there are some things in the book that happened in previous books that were alluded to, even if I hadn't read the others, I still would have gotten everything. Sometimes I love those kinds of books, sometimes I don't. With that much time between books, though, I will say that I appreciated the separation of the books.

That totally wasn't important, but I needed to get it off my chest. On to the actual review!

I definitely enjoyed A Note Yet Unsung. I think that Tate's growth as a character was probably the best part of the story. He kind of comes off as a jerk for most of the first half of the story and even as he's changing, he definitely has his jerky moments. But he really does get better, and making someone go from undesirable to desirable in the course of a story (believably, no less) is a masterful feat that Ms. Alexander pulled off beautifully.

I have a bit of a secret/not so secret love of historical romances. I don't like romances nor do I enjoy history, but stick them together and I can't seem to get enough of them. I think it's the fact that I'm learning all of these historical tidbits without feeling like I'm actually learning them, that is, if the author wrote it that way. And this book was written that way. And it's not just the references, it also has to do with the setting. Everything was described in such a way that I had no trouble picturing Nashville in the 1870's. The details were rich, lending themselves to be painted with their clarity.

Endings are a hard thing to master, and I believe that the ending didn't quite do the book justice, which is the reason for the loss of a star. I've noticed in some of the other Tamera Alexander books that I've read that the ending seems to come almost too fast and is wrapped up too quickly for my liking. I was looking for more closure about Tate's hearing issue and Rebekah's stepfather situation. One of these was just kind of left open-ended, interpret it as you will. The other was tied in a neat little bow that didn't feel right for all the lead-up it had. I also really wanted to know what happened to Rebekah's grandma, but it was also left open-ended. "Maybe she died of natural causes, maybe she didn't, I guess we'll never know, but that's okay." ... No, I kind of need to know.

On that note, though, I really liked A Note Yet Unsung. The plot moved along at a nice pace and the characters were engaging, keeping me reading to the end to see how their stories would end. Anyone who's looking for a sweet historical romance need look no further.

This is the third, and final, book of the Belmont Mansion series.  The first two books are called A Lasting Impression and A Beauty So Rare.

Rebekah has come home from Vienna because her grandmother has passed away.  She’s been gone for years, and doesn’t relish coming back to the home her mother shares with her stepfather.  Wishing to avoid the man, Rebekah decides she’s going to try out for the orchestra.  She pretends that she’s applying for an assistant’s job, but the stuffy maestro refuses to allow a woman in his orchestra.

Tate is under time constraints to finish his own masterpiece, a symphony for the upcoming opening of the new opera house.  He’s pulled in a few different directions, and his current “assistant,” a patron’s daughter, isn’t helping matters with her flirting and lack of knowledge.  Tate ends up on Rebekah’s bad side, but she ends up being his other assistant.

Time passes, and these two learn that they’re more alike than they first thought.  Feeling start to emerge, but Rebekah sees hope for her career in New York, and Tate has secrets that he feels would definitely pull them apart.

I liked this book for the most part, but there were some instances where it dragged on a bit too much.  I deducted a star for those moments, the ending being one of them.  There are a few glimpses of the characters from the first two books, but you can read this as a stand-alone and not be lost.

All in all, it’s not my favorite of the series, but a decent read on its own.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, Yes, and Yes. This was such a satisfying read. I was worried before I started because the only other Tamera Alexander book that I've read, I didn't finish because of content. But I tried again because this author comes highly recommend by a friend of mine. Oh it was a winner. Totally clean and really really great characters. I have this thing for music books, and it just kills be how music was thought of as unfeminine and too rigorous. I knew this from previous regency reads, but I didn't ever equate it with American culture (which was stupid, I should have, but all my regency books are in England...so it never occurred to me).


Sometimes I wanted the story to go faster, but it could have been that I was reading it on my kindle and not a hard copy. I like actual books so I know and can anticipate length and where I'm at in the story. I have a harder time doing that on e-books. It also could have been that I really liked the story and wanted to get to it (I'm weird that way....I like to hurry through a book and get the meat of it, and then go back and reread and enjoy all the little things about it).

Anyway, I would completely recommend this book, and I can't wait to read it again :)

I have something to confess.

You know the old saying, don’t judge a book by its cover?

Well….I judged. I judged hard. I mean, just look at how absolutely GORGEOUS Tamara Alexander’s latest cover is!! How anyone could not judge this book to be delightful based on the cover is beyond me. Truth be told, I was completely unprepared for how perfectly exquisite of a story A Note Yet Unsung held.

Born to play the violin, Rebekah Carrington has spent years under the tutelage of a famous maestro in Vienna, thanks to her benevolent and beloved grandmother. But when her grandmother suddenly passes away, Rebekah finds herself called home by her distasteful step-father, who has squandered away all the family inheritance. Accepting that she must lower her social status to find a job, Rebekah hopes to addition for the newly opened violinist rule in the Nashville Philharmonic. There’s a catch though -only men are allowed in the Nashville Philharmonic. But surely she can change the maestro’s mind when she auditions…or so she hopes.

Nathaniel Whitcomb, the Nashville Philharmonic’s newest, and also youngest, maestro is quickly reaching his deadline for the grand opening of the city’s new opera hall. A deadline that mandates he have a new symphony ready for the masses to listen in awe of. But Nathaniel’s composing is not going as well as he would have hoped and the strange buzzing and blurring of his senses is not helping matters. Not to mention the added pressure being placed on him by his benefactor and the stress of his sickly father who is on his deathbed. What Nathaniel needs is an assistant, someone who can help him finish his symphony before opening night. When Rebekah shows up on his doorstep, is this the miracle he was hoping for?

A Note Yet Unsung is a melodious masterpiece that merges together the traditional societal constraints with the exciting, new freedom of woman’s rights beginning to unfold. While this is the third and final book in the Belmont Mansion series, A Note Yet Unsung works amazing as a stand-alone novel. This novel is set to release on January 31, 2017. Pre-order your copy now on Amazon or CBD!

I was graciously provided a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

A beautiful story with well-developed characters. Rebekah Carrington possesses incredible talent as a musician in a time period when women had no practical outlet for their musical talents. Along the way, readers come to understand the fact that if God gifts us with a talent, we have a responsibility to use it to glorify HIM, not ourselves—even if it means stepping outside of our comfort zone.

There are so many ways that I could go with this review, but I'm just going to be completely up front and honest. I cried with this book. You made me cry, Tamara Alexander. 
It was so breathtaking. The rhythm of it all flowed together to produce a beautiful, symphonic harmony. 
Every book I've ever read by Tamara Alexander has held me completely spellbound; A Note Yet Unsung was no different.
Rebekah Carrington was sent abroad at a very tender age. Her grandmother sent her away so that she could escape her abusive step-father. Rebekah comes home at her mother's insistence when her grandmother dies. Rebekah decides she cannot live in the house with her stepfather and attempts to secure a job with the symphony. She is refused, because she is a woman. 
The Maestro is not what she expected at all, and as life would have it she is found to be working closely with him. 
I'm not going to ruin the story for anyone, because I loved it so much. This is definitely one of those books that you could read over and over again and it would get better each time you read it. 
A Note Yet Unsung  is about finding out who your true friends are, being loyal, and taking chances.  
I would recommend this book to anyone! Just don't get it and expect to be a quick read. It was something that I couldn't put down, it was that good. It didn't have explicit content, or any cringe moments. 
The cover is also exquisite. It makes you want to just delve right into the story.
Five star review for this masterpiece. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.