In her final year of graduate school, Iris Eliot’s dreams are within reach. She’s ready to put the past behind her and embrace whatever the future brings.Until the future brings him.Professor James Beckett, bestselling author and award-winning poet, is the new head of the Creative Writing Department at her university. Brilliant and obnoxiously sexy, he’s more dangerous than Iris knows.When … than Iris knows.
When Beckett sets his sights on Iris, it’s not just her heart on the line or her academic and professional careers. Surrendering to the way he makes her feel will rewrite her past.
Standalone. HEA. 18+
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A beautiful love story, well-developed characters, and a tragic past. This book will make you laugh, cry and most of all smile when love conquers all.
“He’s playing me like chess. I’m going to lose.”
Where do I begin? I am a huge fan of LM Halloran, and book after book reiterates why. Her writing is so lyrical, her characters so life-like with such depth and relativity. You feel what they feel – every ecstatic, humorous, and gut-wrenching part. Every page of The Muse will keep you turning to read the next. It’s a story that will pull you in and won’t release its hold until the very last page.
I can wholeheartedly give this book 5 stars and tell any contemporary romance lover to give it a chance. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
For me, the student/teacher trope tends to be blah. Too much emphasis is on the sneaking around and the sex for me to really get into the book. I get bored midway through. Not so with The Muse. L.M. Halloran’s story of Iris, the graduate student and teaching assistant and Beckett the professor and famous writer focuses on the emotions that bind these two people, difficulties the face not only because of the inappropriateness of their relationship but by being in different places in their lives.
I found that L.M. Halloran writes complex characters. Broken, damaged people who face life with a strength that comes from being forged in the fire. This is true of the leads, Iris and Beckett. Each have their crosses to bear, though Iris’s is more apparent, and these weights make them clash as much as it binds them.
The story itself goes way beyond their time together at college, spanning several years and much growth, especially on Iris’s part. There are plot twists and surprising revelations that I didn’t see coming but that made for a richer, deeper read. This is not a simple fling but a love of a lifetime that takes time to grow and sprout then blossom.
If you want more than a simple romance, if you are looking for a story that sucks you in, makes you laugh and cry and rage with its characters, then The Muse is the way to go.
You know how when you start a book and you just know it is going to be epic? Well, that’s the way I feel about this book. I literally couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. It deserves quadruple stars, not just five! These characters have completely dug deep into my very heart and soul. Iris is a young woman with such potential to be a author, but things from her past keep popping up to make her doubt herself. Then she meets James and her whole world is upended. He is an arrogant yet at times very witty person who just happens to be a best selling author and her Professor. Can these two complex characters have a shot at a relationship? Will Iris be able to let go of her past so she can have a future? These two belong together in every sense, but sometimes it’s just not meant to be…or is it? I am in complete awe of this author. She made me feel so many emotions while reading this brilliant story. Please do yourself a favor and read this unreal story of lust and forbidden love. Everyone needs this book in their life.
Man I was not ready for this story. I should have been seeing who the author is but yeah it’s all on me. This author has a tendency to write books that are so much more than a romance and so much more than sex. This one is more about the growth and yeah the metamorphosis of Iris. She doesn’t have a perfect past at all and the darkness and actions of the night that changed her life is only one of the things that plague her. James on the other hand has his own part in her re-birth, in her acceptance of love, in her awakening. It’s a beautiful story which to be honest left me at times wanting to shake Iris and have her get her butt in gear. Of course it only strengthened the love/hate relationship I have with this author. I mean come on she takes me from one emotion to the other and yeah until Iris grew up and grew a pair I was about sick of her too but love. Love can make you crazy, it can tear you down, or it can bring clarity and backbone. It isn’t pretty, I mean if you read this author you have to be used to it but it is real. The real is why I continue to torture and dig deep and read her books.
So, L.M. Halloran is becoming a fave of mine. After reading and reviewing her The Fall Before Flight, I’ve become mildly obsessed, so here goes another from her backlist. The Muse fascinated me because I’ve always been rather enamored by professor/student romances. In fact, I wrote one myself years ago, which has never seen the light of day, but this story kinda makes me want to dust it off and take it for a spin. So, Iris Eliot, graduate student is nearing the end of her fellowship. Professor James Beckett, an author whom she’s admired from afar becomes up close and personal when she is assigned as his TA. Instant chemistry between them becomes so much more when buried secrets from her past and his are uncovered. Then betrayal becomes the emotion that cannot be overcome. By either of them. Halloran is a master at evoking emotion in her characters. The Muse did not disappoint.
Wow, this is one truly talented, and hugely underrated, author. The Muse was yet another beautifully written story and I loved it!!!
When the synopsis mentioned the words “physical scars and victim” I knew this was going to be an emotionally challenging story but these simple words couldn’t go far enough to express the pain and suffering experienced by Iris during her short life to date. Despite her past, Iris is pushing on towards a positive future as her dreams of becoming as successful a writer as her father start to be realised.
Iris is estranged from her father for reasons which become clear in the story but she still lives in the shadow of his success, especially when she starts working for Professor James Beckett. Assigned to him as a graduate TA, Iris knows from their first introduction to each other that her life is going to become complicated but little does she know how much.
Beck or Beckett, as he wants to be known, has a brilliant mind, swoon worthy good looks and is frustratingly egotistical. A womaniser of the highest calibre, Beck is known to leave a trail of broken hearts but satisfied souls behind him. Now fixated on Iris, he is determined to make her life a misery both in and out of the classroom.
As Iris and James’ story progresses their lives become unexpectedly intertwined as Iris’ past finally unlocks its many secrets. They find happiness together only to lose themselves again, and again. Iris’ path to happiness is dogged by shocking revelations and her future is once again uncertain as her past tries its hardest to break her once again.
This story is more than a second chance romance, it’s the romance equivalent of scaling Everest. Whilst it is clear that Iris and James are destined to be together, their love is not without its own pain, trials and tribulations. This story is definitely one that will rock your world. Whilst not part of the Breaking Giants story, reference to the band and Rose’s cafe does play a small cameo part, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
This story progresses at both an unhurried but hectic pace as Iris’ life takes two steps forward and one step back as she tries to find both herself and a future that she can cherish without the demons and ghosts which have been her constant companions to date. Iris’ character is emotionally battered but yet she still portrays an inner strength which you can’t help but admire. Despite being one of the most frustrating men that you will ever read about, James is also perfect, both for readers and Iris alike.
If you like books that work hard for their HEAs then you will love LM Halloran’s writing style but be prepared to have your heart ripped out before being tenderly put back together again.
Fantastic book!! This book dragged me through the ringer again and again and still made me love it. This writer can really bring her characters to life. I loved Iris.
If you haven’t read anything by this author I strongly recommend this book, Breaking Giants, Double Vision, and Perfect Vision. All fabulous reads. Excellent storylines that will pull you in and want to read more.
Poignant, passionate, stormy, mesmermizing love
This book is a complex, twisty path to happiness. Iris is talented, driven, slightly broken, strong, stubborn, independant, funny, beautiful, smart, and searching for a clarity she eventually finds. James is brilliant, sexy, British (sorry, always a weakness), a bit of a prick, that hot professor we all had a weakness for, successful, and searching for happiness with his muse. This book has many facets. There are aspects of the student/teacher, the artist/muse, insta heat, past trauma, family issues, apparent womanizer,…so many things but they eventually find their time and place to be each others muse. Love, love, love!