Rhapsody: A Love Story

by Judith Gould

Misha...a world-famous pianist blessed with a devoted wife, an adoring son, and the adulation of millions. Then on a street in Vienna, he sees the woman he once loved with all his heart....

Serena...an internationally renowned photographer who lost Misha to her own ambitions. Now she's been given a second chance, and this time she's determined to make it last a lifetime....

Vera...elegant and charming, and hopelessly devoted to her husband. Now she must decide whether to fight for the man she loves--or surrender to the woman he desires most....

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

pseudonym of two authors: Nick Bienes and Rhea (pronounced “Ray”) Gallaher

Reviews

[Helen]

I loathe cheaters!

[Michele Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long, boring story. I just couldn’t really get into this book.

[ANTC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I inhaled this book - in the beginning, it really felt like an epic romance novel to me. We get the story of our main characters from when they were very young all the way to their adulthood, so the characters are very well fleshed out and you have time to grow attached to them. And my-oh-my did I grow attached to sweet Vera, in particular, who had such an unrequited and steadfast love for the hero, Misha.

The angst in this book is enough to cause palpitations. Misha, the hero, betrays Vera in incredibly significant ways, with passionate, on-page, very-explicit cheating. In fact, the sex Misha has with OW is better than that which he has with his wife - which is something I HATE to read.

By the halfway point, I thought this story would be 5 stars - I was that enamored with the story and the angst was through the roof. I was just waiting to see how the author would redeem the hero and how much I'd love to see Misha grovel. Because, truly, I did think Misha was redeemable, even though he had such extreme lust for the OW. Why? Since from the first half of the story, we really get to see the warm love that Misha and Vera share, even if its not quite as fiery as his feelings for the OW.

However, as I started to read to the end of the book, I realized that the execution of Misha's redemption was just not up to my standards. In fact, Misha never really even tried to redeem himself; really it was the other way around, with Vera continuing to fight for his affections. Vera fought so so hard for Misha's love in the first half of the book, so I truly thought the latter half would be about Misha fighting for Vera...but no, Vera fought all the way through. It was so unfair, and Vera became a complete doormat. After all, it was Misha who betrayed her time and time again.

The very end was just completely unsatisfying. I'm not really sure Misha, or even Vera, grew all that much: Misha needed to suffer from Vera's absence for a lot longer, and Vera needed to stick up for herself and learn not to be dependent upon Misha's love. Spoiler: Vera 'wins' Misha's love in terms of them staying together, but - from Misha's POV - we learn that he fears ever running into the OW again because he may not be able to stop himself from another affair. So did Vera even win at all if his affections for the OW are still that significant? What if he DOES run into her again? What if another woman causes him the same reactions? Ugh, the author just failed at this for me. I wish I could re-write the end.

PS: The author does resolve the "what if he does run into OW again?" question in a completely ridiculous and cop-out way. In the last few pages of the book, we learn that the OW died in a freak accident. Wow! How convenient! Still, that didn't make me any happier because there could still be another woman in the future.

[Karla Mallma Soriano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhmmmm... a ver. Esta novela es la típica historia de amor, recontra tradicional, donde tooodo se hace por amor, por el arte y donde compensas esas falencias con buen sexo. Literal.

Debo decir en defensa de Gould que la novela es atrapante y uno se la sopla, perdón, la acaba en pocos días. Se cumplen con varios clichés, el pianista guapo y genio perdido, la mujer que lo ama incondicionalmente y lo espera...y deja que la adornen -amiga ten dignidad- y la femme fatal que hace que nuestro guapo y bien dotado pianista piense con la entrepierna en casi todo momento....

Y es justamente esas partes tan explícitas las que hicieron que me de risa. Hay otros detalles interesantes, de crítica y bonitos, y probablemente muchas mujeres con chip anterior se sientan identificadas pues claro, antes la mujer debía ser la que sanara, rescatara, cuidara a ese pobre hombre, y claro, perdonara en nombre de la familia, del amor...

El final si es sorpresa, mas creo es una forma de darle una solución definitiva al problema...a mi me plantea la interrogante, que hubiese pasado si ese final no existiese...

Lectura ligera, la mención a tanta marca conocida -que a veces parece que estuviésemos leyendo los anuncios de Beverly Hill- es un poco sosa, mas teniendo presente que el libro me costó 1 sol en Amazonas, vale su precio.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Vera, however, felt certain that someday in the future, when the time was right, she would have what she wanted."

"I've decided that I don't really give a damn. If somebody gets hurt, too bad. This is my chance for love, and I'm going to take it. I blew it once before, and I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"Life's not fair. It's not a fair world. We must try to live as fairly as possible even so, and to remember to be grateful, no matter the circumstances, for the mystery and gift that is life itself."

[wrkatreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

wierd

May contain spoiler:


I didn’t like this take. The h was the number one doormat of all time. Quietly allowing her husband to with another woman throughout the book. We didn’t get to read the torment she was going through. She seemed like a robot. The H was an uncaring fool.

[Pat Raab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual settings. Interesting, intricate characterisation.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Tab · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s hard to give stars to a book where you both loathe and also are bored by all three main characters in a love triangle. Too bad only one of them died!

[Nadiatul · Rating 2 out of 5]

So basically it's about a jerk named Misha, a genius music prodigy who have a devoted wife Vera and an adoring son Nicky. but then involved in an affair with his ex-girlfriend Serena for a year (gosh!) after accidentally met her on a street in Vienna (double gosh!)
After read chapter 2, I wanted to put this book on hold but then decided to read it through because I'm really curious what Vera would do as she knew about the affair. Vera's decision to fight for the sake of her wedding and son showed how amazing a mother and wife she was. But then I wish there'll be someone to get revenge on Misha and someone did (sort of). I really like Carol and Manny characters. My fave parts were when Carol gave Misha a warning and when Manny smashed Misha's fingers with sledgehammer (he survive of course).

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, I didn't find much to feel good about in this book. I found the characters disgusting. One was selfish, another self-centered and a third just was plain too stupid to understand why she would want to play the brave strong wife.
Gould is a great author but I just couldn't feel any pleasures in this one.

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any easy read but very enjoyably delicious and not predicable as I though it was going to be.

Judith Gould does a wonderful job weaving romantic suspense...I'll be collecting more of her novels for those times I want to escape to a different place.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Judith Gould but this book was not one of my favorites It was slow moving and I felt like it was more of a history lesson. When character interaction was taking place, I enjoyed it a lot. It was worth reading just a bit slow for me.

[David DaSilva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t like much the main character “Misha” typical spoiled eventually he gets bored for being married to a gorgeous woman and when he sees his old “date” he starts cheating his wife. I force myself to like this book.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good steamy romance author. Her stories have some good meat to them, in addition to the romance factor. This story is about a musician.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring.

[Vien]

Misha Levine love me:)

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring

[Mary Frette]

GOOD BOOK

[Denise Link]

couldn't get into this.