The Treble with Men

The Treble With Men is the second book in the Scorned Women’s Society penned by Piper Sheldon. Like the first book, My Bare Lady, its loosely based on a musical play and explores themes on said musical.

For The Treble With Men, the play happens to be the famous Phantom of the Opera. And yes it’s set in the classical music world, there is a masked maestro, a talented female musician whose potential is being wasted and her beau waiting to rescue her from said maestro. In all honestly, The Phantom of the Opera is one of my least favorite musicals (and I adore musicals!) maybe because the female heroine, Christine, struck me as a character that let things happen to her, from how her talent is used, who she should be with or love. The men are no better with the Phantom being controlling without being emotionally available except for his obsession and the other guy who struck me as weak hence I can never remember him! But trust Ms. Sheldon to explore all of these weak points and make them what they are weak character points. She expounds so well on the whys that you might not be able to condone the behavior but you definitely understand better that makes the romance better understood.
Kim Dae aka Christine Day had potential as very talented Cellist when she was younger but falling in with the wrong crowd kind of dashed that all away. Now, she’s playing fourth seat in the her town’s symphonic orchestra. That all changes when the new conductor comes in to shake things up both with the orchestra and her life. Devlin aka the masked Maestro has taken his fifth job as conductor to try to change how he’s viewed by the musical world. He is not the easiest person to work with and his secret is not going to help at all. But Kim Dae is the one person who can change all of that, professionally and maybe personally as well. But first he has to get her away from all the distractions that are making her bury her talent rather than share it with world.
When they are alone, they explore the music that seems to explode with passion between them but along with the music is emotions that seem have been buried but is now coming to light. But will Devlin’s unwillingness to bare himself to the world sans mask for fear of rejection and Kim’s fear of her own talent being revealed also destroy what ever is growing between them? Ms. Sheldon has crafted her own version of The Phantom of the Opera, one where the happy ever after is only gotten when you learn to accept who you are, willing to bare all for the love of one person without fear of failure or rejection and to learn that there is no sacrifice if the gains are so much better than what you ever envisioned. I definitely recommend this if you live really hot slow burn romances with characters that grow emotionally and reveals their humanity, imperfect, flawed but when it comes to love nothing should get in the way.

*The Scorned Women’s Society series is part of the Green Valley World whose inception was started by Penny Reid in her Winston Brothers series and Knitting in the City series. The series can be considered a spin off but they are penned by a different author while remaining true to the theme and worldbuilding started by Ms. Reid*

I really enjoyed this book! I loved how you could see that Phantom of the Opera was an inspiration for this book. It grabbed my attention right away! I loved Devlin and Kim together. I also loved that there was no long drawn out drama!

Received an arc for an honest review

Highly entertaining, sexy and action packed journey filled with engaging charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and sweetly exciting second chance. Really enjoyed this journey!

The Treble With Men shows us that starting over can result in a beautiful symphony! Trying to overcome a past you’re not quite proud of, is hard to do when someone who knows your secrets comes back into your life. I just finished Grin and Beard It, so I was very excited to dive into Kim’s story after reading Jethro’s version of things. This story was so much deeper than I was expecting, bringing me to near tears several times. I was captivated from the first page and couldn’t put it down until I finished. I loved the back story and how the many webs that were strung, unraveled. A beautifully crafted tale of following your heart, especially not at the expense of your own happiness. This is definitely a must-read for any fan of the Winston Brothers!

Loved, loved, loved The Treble with Men! Piper Sheldon wrote a masterpiece in the second Scorned Women’s Society book in the Smartypants Romance universe.

There are strong parallels between The Treble with Men and Phantom of the Opera, so as a fan of the show and theater, this was a real treat to read.

Kim Dae, using a stage name of Christine Day, is a quiet orchestra member, currently the 4th chair cello. The new maestro, Devlin, is known as “the Devil of the Symphony” and he’s a ruthless task master when it comes to teaching and having his orchestra master their craft. Devlin asks Kim to work with her on a new composition, and she’s not sure why he would approach her since she just blends in rather than stands out.

Devlin is a very mysterious, misunderstood man. As he and Kim get to know each other, the book really takes flight and soars. Their conversations are deep, soul-searching conversations that really let you get to know them. The narrative runs the gamut from funny and light to serious and deep, and there is a lot of heart, humor and connection.

A great read, and one that I will enjoy over and over again in the future.

Wow! Piper does it again with a killer of a book! This is such more than a romance its so full of characters and plot you just can’t wait for more of the story to happen. We get the Scorned Women’s society again and its nice to have the ladies back! Kim’s life went one way and she never got it fully back until an old friend comes back but he is masked, until he opens up.

This has so much depth of a plot and story lines, I just loved it all the hard parts and funny! You will fall in love with these two. I also really wish I could hear them play! Can’t wait for more of Piper in the future and more ladies of SWS to get their HEA!

Overall, 5 stars!!

If you’ve followed my reviews you will know that I love a good retelling, and this has its own Phantom of the Opera aspect that I really enjoyed. Of course you don’t know quite why the Maestro is wearing his mask for a while, and so I was imagining all kinds of things. Especially when Kim/Christine mentioned something terrible that had happened back at their band camp, (yes they get the jokes in the story too!). But what ended up being the actual event wasn’t quite what I’d been thinking, so when we got a real clue to who the Maestro was under the mask, I grabbed on that and was right! There was a lot of emotion on both sides of this relationship, and in a way, they both did some of the types of things that annoy me and make me wonder why they have to be so stubborn. But it all works out in the end, of course, and we get our HEA.

Another thing I loved was getting our time with the SWS members that we met in the first book, My Bare Lady. We got a bit of an update on Suzie from that book, and also more time with the others, who I assume will get their own books in future releases of this series. I know that they all probably have their own stories planned, but my idea of a story for this world could definitely be somewhat related to this group of women. Who knows!

Also, that cover! How can you not love the covers of this whole series! At the moment I don’t own them physically, but one day I will need physical copies of these beauties for my home library shelves.

I absolutely love Kim! Her strength and growth throughout was AH-MAZING. She’s talented, smart and when she finally faces her past head on everything just was perfect. Now let’s not forget Devlin and his moody mysterious self. His pushing and mood swings got on my nerves at times but the chemistry was smoking! Love the interaction with the rest of the SWS and of course the Winston cameo. I’m excited for the rest of the ladies stories! Great addition!

Gah!! This book was a brilliant read – so well-written with some stunning poetry-in-motion scenes. Often, when I’ve read an absolute gem of a book, it’s really hard to write a review that would do it justice – and this book is one of those! But, here goes.

“She’d played with light shining out of her. It was nothing like the reserved Christine in rehearsals. It was as if my life had returned to me.”

Devlin is shrouded in mystery. He’s keeping his true identity and his secrets close to his chest. He’s broody and moody and he’s not winning any popularity contests anytime soon! However, the moment he realises who Christine Day actually is, he knows that he needs her in his life professionally, and maybe even on a more personal level.

“This was a game-changer. This was genuine grown-woman-on-man, full-on, insane attraction.”

Kim Dae AKA Christine Day is living under the radar. In public, she keeps herself to herself, and shrinks into the background. When alone, she lets her true self out; she lets her talent and skill shine through. When the new masked Maestro of her orchestra singles her out, she struggles to step up. It doesn’t help that she’s attracted to him and curious about him, and also intimidated by him.

“The second his hands touched me again, a different sort of tension took over – sexy-man-proximity tension. His scent encompassed me.”

OH MY GOD! I just adored this story so much! It was so well-written and so lyrical in places.

Devlin was a tortured soul who didn’t care what people thought. He’s on a mission to prove something to the world. I loved his relationship with his brother and his family – I loved that he was close to them. Kim was a delightful character. She absolutely cracked me up with her quirky personality and her directness. She had her hang-ups and insecurities but, underneath it all, she was a wonderfully warm and opinionated person. I loved the energy and the understanding that built up between them. They were pretty electric and exciting together.

“My want for her was a real presence between us. The closer I inched, the more it saturated into my skin.”

There was one particular scene where I was half-holding my breath – it was charged with sexual tension and intimacy and made for a very erotic scene without even being an actual love scene!
Such a gorgeous, beautifully-written novel. I vacillated between swooning and laughing and sighing. I loved it so much! #TopRead2020

1. Our protagonist Kim Dae who now goes by Christine Day is a sweet, shy, strong, emotional and beautiful fourth chair cellist in the symphony of Knoxwille. She loves her job as it allows her to do the one thing she cherishes most that is playing music. She is super passionate regarding it yet not overly ambitious as she doesn’t want to become a first chair cellist, doesn’t want any spotlight, just wants to play music without taking anyone’s notice. She has a past of which she isn’t proud and she still has great regret for her actions in the past and would give anything to change it. It still haunts her and if she has to change her name and hide to get away from it, so be it. She is also highly indecisive. After making a series of bad decisions she feels like she shouldn’t be trusted with the job anymore and therefore depends on others in her life to do it for her. This weakness of hers was well implored and I could relate with this trait of hers as it is sometimes easy to not make decisions and blame others for it when they decide for you rather than decide and live in constant regret and hate for yourself.
2. Despite Kim’s best attempt to hide, the new mysterious Maestro finds her easily in the crowd. When Devlin listens to Kim play her cello, he is instantly mesmerised and he knows immediately she is what he is looking for and what he wants and needs to compose his symphony and have Kim play it at the fall showcase. Devlin is your average grumpy, stoic and ill tempered hero who likes perfection and isn’t afraid to show people their place when they aren’t respecting him. He is notorious for being fired from all his previous job and he is sure it’s only a matter of time till he leaves Green Valley. But before he does he wants to perform the show of his lifetime and for which he needs Kim’s help.
3. Soon the two find common ground and start working to help Devlin compose his symphony. Music has always meant something important for me. There are people whose lives have never been affected by it which didn’t make sense to me as music holds a great power over me to drown me in it. Other than reading, it is the one thing that gets me high. I loved the way it was described in the book giving you the feel of listening to it while reading about it. Kim’s passion for her music and Devlin’s ambitions were all very well defined and gave a beautiful depth to the story as well as the characters.
4. Their relationship quickly goes from being of a cellist and Maestro to that of a friendship. They connect over their love for music and their past in a profound way. Devlin makes an effort to know and understand Kim and Kim wants to peel all his layers and get to know him too. Devlin does make the decision for Kim to help him as she couldn’t do it herself but also giving her a way out so she doesn’t feel forced. He made sure she didn’t miss her time with SWS while Kim made an effort to get to know Devlin’s family as they mattered so much to him.
5. The important issues were treated with utmost care with just enough attention that they needed. The scene where Kim talks about how women are generally categorised into groups and how WRONG that is really spoke to me. I loved how she spoke in favour of not disrespecting Devlin’s ex and respecting them for being separate people with good and bad both. Trash talking is really overrated and Piper Sheldon is having none of it.
6. The side characters were all so varied and played a good role in the book. Kim and Devlin’s relationship with their respective parents was narrated with beauty showing the eminence of parent’s role in one’s life. Both of their relationships with their parents were completely different yet same in the way as they both were full of affection and support for their children. I loved how Kim’s parents went on from being distant part of her life to one that was important and amiable. And how Devlin’s parents were a part of his but at the same time didn’t impose themselves in his life and gave him advice and guidance when he needed it most.
7. Overall I enjoyed it a lot and Piper Sheldon has done a beautiful job of writing a book with small town feels, passion and heartwarming relationships. The plot has a steady pace and things played out very well in the end. There were parts I laughed out loud (the Devlin’s house corridor scene) and parts where I cried from happiness (at Jethro’s cameo because I love him). Will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series while binge reading all the other books from the author.