DARK NOTES by Pam Godwin - REVIEW

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If you've ever read a book by Pam Godwin you might expect this to be a dark and sexy read and you'd be right. This is dark, but it is also so sweet and hopeful.

Ivory has a terrible home life. Her mother is a druggie that stays away from home more often than not. Her older brother is a deadbeat druggie that physically abuses her at the drop of a hat and her brother's army friend that abuses her in terrible and cruel ways. The only thing that gets her through is the love for her cat and her dreams of attending a prestigious music university so she can study with the best of the best. She has spent the last four years of her life attending an exclusive music school thanks to her late fathers sacrifice. A sacrifice that has made her mother and brother very bitter.

Ivory hasn't had it easy at school because she doesn't have money like the other students. Like seriously! No money. Her tuition was paid in advance thanks to her father, but she is still responsible for everyday bills and her own needs like clothes and school supplies. She has had to device a plan to survive no matter how much she hates what she has to do. In addition to the abuse she is subjected to at home, she suffers at the hands of many of the boys at school. She's come to expect it since men take, take, and take.

Her life changes on the first day of her senior year. It's the day the new piano teacher starts at her school. Emeric Marceaux is a virtuoso and has a passion for teaching and when he finds out that he is going to be Ivory's teacher every afternoon for the entire school year he doesn't know if he'll be able to control himself. Emeric has a need to control. A need to claim Ivory and take care of her. When he finds out the kind of life Ivory endures he decides he'll do whatever it takes to make her safe and loved. Even though it risks his career and her education.

DARK NOTES is amazingly beautiful. You can feel the love between the two throughout the length of the novel. Even though there are obstacles (sometimes really BIG obstacles) Emeric and Ivory keep communication open and remain honesty with each other. They love each other in spite of their flaws and together they build a life. Ivory just has to decide what that life will be like. Does she really want the symphony or does she want something more?