This one got me because of the student/teacher relationship, but I loved that she was a graduate student and the professor was no more than about 5 years older than her. Kate is in graduate school of the Arts in a little rinky dink town in NC. She is pursuing her passion being taught by one of the best. She is trying to live life the easiest way she can and stay out of everyone's way but she cant seem to get out of Dr. Drew Markham's.

Kate's father being a well known Senator doesn't help her trying to do things on her own. It doesn't help the unwanted attention she receives from students. It doesn't help with nosey reporters that linger around the campus. Kate just wants to graduate.

Dr. Drew Markham is at home getting ready for a blizzard when he finds Kate's car at the foot of his driveway. The time these two spend together is good for both of them. Being able to understand a person without assumptions is something both of them need.

Feelings change. Feelings move. Feelings are forgotten. Feelings are created.

I loved the progression of the hearts of these two. Drew brokenhearted by his fiance. Kate left alone by her father for years.

Drew is a stupid man though, for someone with such a high education, he couldn't figure out what was going on under his nose. I am glad he figured out who was working against him and make Kate see that he is the man for her.

Kate and Drew start out mutually hating each other, and it's made worse that he's her professor in the last class she needs for her graduate degree. They get stuck together during a major snowstorm, and all sorts of reasons for their mutual dislike start revealing themselves and getting chipped away. Lots of complexity with her relationship with her father, and his feelings toward his ex-fiancee. I enjoyed reading this, seeing how they both changed their minds about each other. And lots of good reminders not to make assumptions about people.

This review is of an ARC provided by Entangled Publishing.

I loved the book. The plot was full of passion,romance and intrigue with well developed characters and an amazing storyline. Can't wait to read more from the author

DNF.
I couldn't get into this book. It just wasn't working for me, unfortunately.

This read was so good! It was a bit forbidden with the professor/student relationship but it was also such a real read! We don't normally get a read that brings out the battles that couples have to deal with. So this was def a breath of fresh air.

Solo is the first book in the Symphony Hall series by Lauren E. Rico. I enjoyed these characters from the start. Even if Drew was a complete jerk a lot of the time, I knew there was a reason, and there was something about him that "drew" me in. With that being said, he made me quite mad a time or two. Katherine was a very lovable character, and it was easy to empathize with her. There were some unexpected twists along the way too. Just like the Reverie series, there was a lot of drama, and though we're not dealing with a sociopath, there's still some sinister behaviors. This was a very hard book to put down. I love slow growing, intense romances and forbidden romances. This had it all! I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning trying to finish it. There was no sleeping otherwise.

Hi, sweeties! Sorry to ya all for publishing late this review, but I’ve been very busy lately and my operation didn’t help to that, too. I started reading this book two weeks before going under the knife of my surgeon, but I had to stop me from reading it because I wasn’t feeling very well. Now that I’m back, I’m ready to talk about it. It was awesome, like all the books written by Lauren.

PREMISE
I love Lauren’s books, they are not the same of what I’ve read til now, they are original and they always involve music. As I said in the last review of Rhapsody, I love classical music, I love how it makes me feel, so it’s no surprise that I loved a lot this book. But this was a first time for me, because I’ve never read a forbidden romance, I knew by what elements they were composed, but I’ve never read one of them. I read also new adult books, so this mix of new adult and forbidden romance was awesome, marvelous!

SYNOPSIS (FROM NETGALLEY)
When graduate student Katherine Brenner walked into my class, I couldn’t stand her -- all perfect skin and big, blue eyes -- just like the woman who broke my heart.
If it wasn’t for that blizzard, if her car hadn’t broken down outside my house, if she hadn’t looked amazing by the firelight, I never would have kissed her. No matter how hard I try, every excuse I make not to see her comes up flat.

I can’t stop thinking of her lips. Or the way her curves fit perfectly in my hands. There’s a million reasons why this won’t work. I’m her professor. It’s against university policy.

And if this gets out, I could lose everything.

REVIEW
Katherine Brenner, “Kate”, is a graduate student of a public conservatory in North Carolina. She is a beautiful and smart lady who only aim is to become a conductor, since four years ago she was discovered by the Ghost of the Conservatory, Russell Atherton, an important conductor who has an eye on the most promising young conductor of the school. Drew Markham is her teacher of Music Theory, a handsome and cruel man that likes to make things difficult for his students, like asking a theme that they hadn’t to study or by asking them difficult questions. Drew seems to hate Kate, he does everything he can to make her life a true hell, and what makes him mad every time is that her aces every difficult theme he gives her. Kate is the daughter of Tucker Brenner, a famous politician that now it’s running for the White House, in order to become the next Potus. The relationship between the two is very rough, because her father cut her off from the day she decided she wanted to study music, that is because he wants to cut the funds to support arts. After a long week of studying hard, Kate gets a terrible fever but manages to get to Drew’s house on the top of the hill, but she falls asleep after putting her project into the tube in which the students that finish their projects later put the exams. Thanks to a blizzard, they are forced to live together for a couple of days, and these days will change their relationship forever.
From that moment on, we understand both behaviours: Kate has two jobs and that’s the reason why she is always late to Drew’s lessons in the morning, Drew is a man who suffered the loss of his-to-be- wife Casey, who committed suicide after losing their baby. Slowly, they will fall in love for each other, perfectly conscious that their relationship is forbidden by the university policy and that if someone catch them, their lives will be over. Kate has to do with Kevin Kilpatrick, or better known as Stalkerazzi Kevin, the bad and jackass reporter that will do everything in his power to get the news about Kate’s life and her relationship with her father. Because Kate doesn’t see and doesn’t talk with her father since four years.
A story about love and forgiveness.
A story about loss and reconciliation.
A story about being true to yourself in spite of what people think of you and hard work.
A story that shows that maybe you won’t find true love at the first tentative, but this doesn’t mean you won’t find it. You will try to build a wall against the person whom do feel something, but that person will destroy it. Because it’s this that love does: it heals you. Like Kate’s love heals the wounds of Drew, love will heal Kate’s wounds.
I strongly counsel this book if you’re looking for an original NA forbidden romance. This book made me fall in love even more with Lauren’s writing and style, not to mention her beautiful and deep characters.
xoxo,
Giada

PS: This review can be found in my blog both in Italian and English.

Loved it! I'm a big fan of forbidden romance and this one was so good! I loved the tension and dynamics between the main characters. A bit more angsty than I was expecting but well worth it! I can't wait to read more by this author!

4.5 stars

Solo by Lauren E. Rico was such a good read.

I seriously couldn't put it down, so many feels.

This was my first read by Lauren E. Rico and it won't be my last.
I enjoyed her writing and her characters were complex, passionate, frustrating and very entertaining.

I loved Solo and I highly recommend this book.

*Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy.*

Solo is the first book that I have ever read by Lauren E. Rico, but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this story and didn't want to put it down. Not only was this one an enemies to lovers story, but it was also student/teacher so it was right up my alley. While this one could be considered NA as Kate is still in school, the characters were on the older side so don't let that stop you from giving this one a shot.

Katherine Brenner knows that her teacher Drew Markham hates her. But when she finds herself stranded outside his house in bad weather with a car that won't start, she would rather wait it out in her car than ask him for help. Drew knows that he needs to help her, even if it is the last thing he wants to do, but he never expects to want her the way he does. But their relationship has more obstacles than just Drew being her teacher, and if it gets out it could ruin both of them.

I really liked these two. They each had a lot going on that you might not see at first, but I was so glad that they got the opportunity to hear each other out and get to know each other better. Each of them had so much to learn about the other, and I loved seeing that relationship start to develop as they got to see beneath the surface. I loved that Drew started to see just what she was going through in her life and how his protective side came out with her. They were really sweet together and there was such a strong connection that felt really genuine. I will say though that there were some things that Drew did though that were really hard for me to get over and for him to come back from, I did feel like he was sorry though and that went a long way for me.

The only other criticism I had is that the ending to me was a little rushed. I began to worry that this one would end with a cliffhanger as it continued without wrapping up, but then suddenly it did and it just felt a bit abrupt. I wish it had more of a solid ending rather than feeling as though it was all wrapped up so quickly. Otherwise though, I really enjoyed this one and it won't be the last I read from Lauren E. Rico. This is one I would recommend, especially if you are like me and a fan of these tropes. This was really well done, and I enjoyed it a lot.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

What a book! This is completely not what I was expecting but I wouldn't change a thing! This is by no means your typical forbidden romance, it's so much more. My heart completely went out to Katherine and what she's had to endure. She's a lot more forgiving to Dr Drew Markham than I would be that's for sure. What a douche!
This couple really had to fight for their happiness and the consequences of their love was real, raw and not sugar coated in any way. It was definitely an emotional read that's well written and flowed smoothly. A great read.

Whoa. I feel a little bit like I'm coming out of a fog right now. I just completely lost an entire day to this book -- and I loved every minute of it. I'm actually not really ready to be done with it yet. This was a case of taking a chance on a new-to-me author based on an intriguing blurb (and hot hot cover) - and being 100% thrilled with what I found on these pages.

I was sucked in immediately - the writing is engaging and the storytelling is on point - and so I sank effortlessly into Kate and Drew's world. I loved the slight forbidden nature of the story, and the fact that this is essentially an enemies to lovers story that never made me cringe or resent either the hero or the heroine. I never felt like one was overly cruel or the other overly meek. It was perfectly balanced while remaining biting and somewhat hostile...until it wasn't.

The transition from enemies to lovers felt organic. I was glued to my Kindle as Drew and Kate opened up to each other, sharing their stories and eventually their hearts. I loved the gradual shift in their relationship, the protective tendencies Drew developed, and the softer side he drew out of Kate. Gah! It was so satisfying. It was so addictive. And while I did spend a bit of time worrying about when the other shoe was going to drop - it didn't distract me from the story. The story had drawn me so completely inside of it that I invested even knowing that my heart was probably going to receive a few hefty kicks.

And it did.

The story didn't play out exactly the way I thought it was going to, and the conflict was resolved pretty quickly - but -- oof. I hurt -- mostly for Kate whose issues hit a little closer to home for me, but ultimately for both of them while they dealt with the way their life (and love) imploded and worked to find a way to put everything back together again.

While it resolved quickly - it somehow didn't feel like it was too quickly. Would I have liked to have seen a little more groveling? Maybe. Maybe it should have taken longer to work through all of the damage that was done. But I actually felt really good about the way it played out. It tugged at my heartstrings and felt so good to see these two come to terms with the way their worlds had shifted, and embrace their future together.

Seriously. This whole book was so good! I was so pleasantly surprised! If you're looking for something scintillating and just a smidge forbidden without sacrificing heartfelt emotion and some snappy banter -- do not pass Solo by! I'm so thrilled that I didn't - and will definitely be back for more from this author! ~ 4.5 Stars

3 “Music & Doppelgangers” Stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you, Entangled (Embrace)!

I know this was published by Embrace and not Brazen, but I was still hoping for a little more heat in this one. The story of a grad student and her hot professor ended up being a little less hot than I would've liked it to be.

Solo is a story heavily focused on music, so if you're into that, you'll probably enjoy the atmosphere here. It takes place in a university music department and it follows music professor Drew and music graduate student Katherine--two people who hate each other.

Well, to be fair, Katherine has bigger things to worry about than hating Drew. He's tougher on her than on any other student in his class, but he's just one of her problems. Katherine also has to deal with the inconvenience of being the daughter of a Senator who's thinking of running for President; malicious journalists who never even learned what ethics mean; and the fact that she's so broke she doesn't have money to buy a new coat for the ruthless winter coming. Bottom line, Katherine makes it easy to relate to her and feel for her.

She has no support system—her father has practically kicked her out because she didn’t want to follow a “traditional” path and chose music over letting him mold her. She doesn’t have any friends, because she’s afraid people only want to be near her to get information on her father. She’s practically alone, but she doesn’t stop living. She goes to classes (even when she’s late), she works hard and she tries to follow her dreams. So, yeah, she doesn’t deserve how poorly Drew treats her.

And here’s where the weird part comes in… I love, LOVE the “enemies to lovers” trope, and I was truly interested in the forbidden romance aspect of this, but unfortunately I couldn’t connect with how these two elements were treated here.

Like I said, Katherine already had too much going on in her life. She didn’t need Drew treating her the way he did for no logical reason. Sure, there’s a reason he doesn’t like her, but it wasn’t strong enough to justify his actions, in my opinion.

So I ended up having problems with Drew, which meant I ended up having problems with the romance in itself.

Drew simply didn’t win me over. I felt sorry for what happened in his past and I understood he dilemma once he started developing feelings for Katherine, but I still didn’t love him. I still had problems with the way he treated Katherine at first and especially with his reaction toward the end. I didn’t think it was believable and, worse yet, made him look good. He turned on Katherine way too quickly without any logical reason and he didn’t do anything big enough to earn her forgiveness.

The chemistry between those two also lacked something. Maybe I needed more awareness in the beginning—something more than Drew’s hatred for Katherine or Katherine’s annoyance at how he treated her. I needed there to be something showing me that their animosity was a way for both of them to ignore their real attraction. But that wasn’t how it felt at all. So when they started falling for each other, it felt a little too fast.

Having said that, I liked seeing Katherine happy after they started spending some quality time together. And because I liked Katherine, her being happy made me happy, too.

I also liked the music theme. It felt different and original because of the academic angle, and I had the feeling the author knew what she was talking about. I wonder if she has music background or if he did her research. Either way, it worked well.

Overall, I enjoyed getting to know Katherine and following a small part of her life. I wish I had liked Drew, too, but he didn’t win me over.

Solo is a journey. A journey for Kate, a grad student. A journey for her professor, Drew, and a journey for the two of them together. Kate is a senator's daughter, who has picked up an enemy in Drew, for reasons she's never known. He never fails to call her out in front of class, in front of other faculty, in front of whomever he wants. He belittles her, he insults her, he basically treats her as if she's something under his shoe to be stepped upon. And she has absolutely no idea what she did to deserve his anger and his insults.

One day Kate gets sick, wakes up late and realizes she has to rush to her professor's house to turn in an assignment on time or he won't accept it and she'll fail his course. While there, her car gets stuck and she falls asleep in her car, while still sick. When Drew finds her, he brings her inside his home and it's there that the course of their relationship turns the tide. They talk and it all comes out. Why he's treated her like s**t for so long. How she was thrown out of her father's house at a young age and has fended for herself ever since. How she feels alone in the world, and yet, she's so incredibly strong. And finally, finally, Drew sees her for who she really is, and not just a carbon copy lookalike of the ex-fiancée he despises. When things turn heated, they know their relationship has changed, permanently. But, how will they deal with it once the snow has melted and he's back to being her professor, and their relationship won't be tolerated?

Things seem fine for awhile, but when the inevitable fallout happened, Drew took the easy way out and blamed Kate without ever getting her side of things. Just another reason for me to dislike him. I never warmed up to him, even at the end when he came and groveled at her feet when he realized she hadn't been the one to bring their relationship to light, when her father, of all people, gave him some good advice to look elsewhere at who might stand to gain when their relationship was revealed. No, Drew was entirely too ready to once again fall back on his old standby of disliking Kate and not trusting her. Honestly, the man acted like a teenager, rather than the adult he supposedly was. Kate was far more mature and stable than he ever was. Ugh.

But yet, I can't help but really like Solo. It's well written and features interesting, realistic characters. It's a struggle for these two to find their way through to the other side, and their struggle makes for entertaining reading. Yes, frustrating reading, too, but still entertaining. It's not the typical hot, steamy taboo professor/student romance (it's fairly low on the heat index), but it's all the more interesting because it relies more on their struggle and their emotions, rather than time spent between the sheets. If you're looking for a more emotional, less steamy, more thoughtful romance, you will do well to read Solo.

High Five for Solo by Lauren E Rico. This book was fantastic. It was so emotional, funny, sexy, sweet and intriguing. Kate is studying to be a conductor and is on the verge of graduation if she can pass Professor Markham's class. Drew Markham has made Kate's existence in his class room a night mare. He was so caught up in anger and grief from his ex-fiance that when he saw Kate he took it it on her. I don't want to give to much away because you really need to read to understand the relationship between them. I can't wait to read more books from this author. I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book.

This is the first time I have read any of this authors work, and goodness, it will not be the last! Kate is a senator’s daughter, who tries to remain incognito, as she does not want reporters following her around as asking questions. She works at varies jobs in order to pay her way through college. Drew is one of her teachers, but he is extremely hard on Kate for being privileged, and her likeness to an ex fiancée. While handing in an assignment at Drew’s house, Kate is very ill, and they end up stuck together due to the snow. Will Drew overcome his feelings? Will Kate be able to prove she is not what he thinks she is? No spoilers, please read this for yourself, you will not regret it!!
This is a beautiful story and this author has done a wonderful job in writing this storyline. I was hooked and intrigued throughout. Looking forward to reading more of this authors work, and I recommend for all readers.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book!

When graduate student Katherine Brenner walked into my class, I couldn’t stand her -- all perfect skin and big, blue eyes -- just like the woman who broke my heart.

If it wasn’t for that blizzard, if her car hadn’t broken down outside my house, if she hadn’t looked amazing by the firelight, I never would have kissed her. No matter how hard I try, every excuse I make not to see her comes up flat.

I can’t stop thinking of her lips. Or the way her curves fit perfectly in my hands. There’s a million reasons why this won’t work. I’m her professor. It’s against university policy.

And if this gets out, I could lose everything.




Review:




I so loved this story!




I really was hooked on the first page. I have not read this author before and she wrote a book that I loved and hated the characters and felt all their emotions with them. I mean come I know he is hurting but Drew is a world class jerk in the first part of the book. I did come to love him, but the antagonism between him and Kate is such a living breathing thing at first. Kate, that girl is strong, the crap she goes through every day and add to that she has been basically disowned and has to make her own way. When they come together, they are so good together, but of course things get in their way. I do not want to give away too much, lets just say these two have obstacles from everywhere trying to get in the way of their love. I will say have some tissues ready, there were parts were I was crying.




One last thing. This Author knows her music or at least did a lot of research. The back drop of music and music schools was wonderful. I cannot think of another book off the top of my head that used music in this way, very unique.




5Stars




*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

When I saw this book I knew Instantly I just had to read it . The Synopsis just drew me in and made me want to know more , so when I got the chance I dived into this story and It was fantastic. When we meet Katherine and Drew , It is quite clear that they do not like each other and then the fact she is his student and He is her professor in away makes it worse . Katherine is always perceived as this person she is not mainly because she is a senators daughter and the senator is not well liked by her peers because of his stance of many things especially the Arts , and that is ironically what Katherine is perusing a degree in an art , music and she is doing this all without her fathers help, but no one really knows that , everyone just sees her as a rich entitled girl because of what they think they know , Including Drew. However when these two get snowed in together and get closer, they realize not all is what it seems and of course face the attraction that is brewing between and this really where this story takes off.

I loved the romance in this book , It was swoon worth , sexy and fun , one of the things I loved is the way they opened up to each other in this book . I felt that Lauren E.Rico wrote the perfect romance for these two characters . But besides the romance there was so much more going on in this book , the reporter , everything with Katherine's dad and so much more constantly kept me on my toes because there was never a dull moment . I loved this story , nothing felt rushed . I love a good Teacher- student romance and if you are looking for a new one to read you should definitely pick up Solo.

Solo is the first book in the Symphony Hall series and it was a good start to a series that has the potential of being great if done right. I enjoyed Solo overall, the storyline kept me engaged and I love an enemies to lovers plot like no tomorrow, add in the teacher/student aspect and it is taken to a new level. Was it executed perfectly? Honestly no, but it was close enough for me to say that even though there were some minor things that I didn’t like, I did like this book a great deal.

Katherine and Drew will at times make you a bit crazy but it’s that tension, that fine line between love and hate that is what makes it so much more intense. Neither of them are perfect and I think that makes them more relatable, well to me at least. There are these moments that will have your emotions going crazy, but it just adds to the story.

Overall, Solo is a book that I enjoyed and I plan on reading more from this author and this series in the future. I think most will enjoy this book so I will say add it to your TBR lists and get to reading!

Five stars was not enough to give this book. I found this story a breath of fresh air. It was so much more than e lead, but I didn't find her to be annoying. Drew's anger along with the walls he has constructed made fointeresting twist. I would recommend this story and am interested in reading other books from this author.

Note, I did receive an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.