Song Cycle

Warrender Saga #8

by Mary Burchell

After years of hard training Anna was ready to launch into a career in the world of music. Everything seemed to be going welt until family troubles forced her to turn down the chance of a lifetime to join a Canadian tour, organized by the dynamic Jonathan Keyne.

But now it seemed that Fate was giving her a second chance.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Clean Romance, Harlequin Romance

186 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1974

About the author

Ida Cook was born on 1904 at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland, England. With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook (1901), she attending the Duchess' School in Alnwick. Later the sisters took civil service jobs in London, and developed a passionate interest in opera. The sisters helped 29 jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.

As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 8th story in the Warrender saga and re-read. I didn't remember much of the story, but I did remember that cover.

Singer heroine is auditioning for a Canadian tour in front of Oscar Warrender and the conductor hero when she is told that her mother is dying in hospital and she must go home. Hero is annoyed with her for leaving abruptly, but she goes anyway. Mother pulls through, but the heroine has to stay behind to help her father, the church organist, who also composes.

The local gentry (new money) have a son and daughter. The daughter decides she wants to put on a music festival and presses the heroine to be her secretary as she organizes it. The daughter knows the hero, the Warrenders, the Bannister brothers (from book 6), and enlists their help in getting talent to the festival. She is jealous of the heroine and won't consider her singing or having the song cycle included in the festival.

The hero pursues the heroine, but she runs hot and then cold, trying to decide if he really likes her or if he just wants her talents or wants to make the daughter jealous. Girlfriend is very confused most of the time. Oscar Warrender drops in on a rehearsal of the song cycle and gives her father encouragement and pointers. He wants it in the festival, but the daughter is still getting her own way because no one is paying attentioin. When a newspaper reporter calls, the heroine lies and says the song cycle will be in the festival and the daughter is forced to include it. She suspects the heroine is behind it, but the hero covers her tracks.

The hero goes out of his way to help the heroine, but she keeps misinterpreting everything he does, including his absence at her first rehearsal of the song cycle in front of people. (His grandfather died) She got only half of the story, is mean to him on the phone, and later has to track him down and apologize.

Meanwhile, it seems the Canadian tour is in jeopardy because the hero has lost his financing because of his grandfather's death. But the show must go on. The Song Cycle is a hit. A music publisher wants to give her father a bunch of money for the rights and life is good except the Canadian tour is still in jeopardy (Or so heroine thinks)

Now she gets it in head that the hero's being nice to her because the brother will put up the money for the tour only if she is included. She gets that wrong, too. Oscar Warrender is putting up the money. She chases him down (after hearing the tenor from book 7) and apologizes. He eventually forgives her and HEA.

Honestly, the heroine created a lot of drama with her insecurities and her inadequate communication. Hero was a sweetheart and hopefully a tour through the wilds of Canada will cement their relationship so heroine can relax.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

One too many misunderstandings of motives, I think. But I really liked the negative side of patronage on display here, it's not all lucky breaks and things falling into laps.

[SS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing, lovely hero.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of vintage romance writer Mary Burchell - in her real life she rescued Jews from the Nazis using the proceeds from her writing - but this particular book features an annoying heroine who keeps causing misunderstandings with the hero and then overreacting. it's a wonder he wants to forgive her at the end.

It's mostly a set piece to continue the Warrender Saga. Not one of Burchell's best.

[Gerrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Burchell was a good writer, and I've been enjoying this series. However, the action propelling the romance here was based on one misunderstanding after another. I found the heroine to be quite immature. She'd do stupid things, and never explained the reasons for such behavior to the hero. And when she heard something second hand about him, she'd immediately think the worst, and berate him and treat him badly. All the misunderstandings could have been solved by a simple conversation. This conversation between the hero and heroine sums it up for me:

She: "I want to tell you...it was all a mistake...."
He: "Was it?" There was nothing encouraging about his tone.
She: "Yes. You see- Jonathan, please look at me. I can't just talk to a profile. It was a mistake-"
He: "You've said that before...and frankly there've been too many mistakes where you and I are concerned. I'm finally and absolutely sick of them. You're not the girl I thought you were...."

If only the hero had stuck to his guns - told the heroine he no longer cared, that the emotional merry-go-round she was on exhausted him, and he was finished. However, since this is a romance, the hero doesn't do that. It was hard to believe that he still loved her despite her childish behavior. So, I give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great plot. It consists entirely of misunderstandings, panic once said misunderstandings are realized, abject apologizing, and then repeat. Multiple times. Blah.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the father's story in this one, BUT the heroine falls into that "willful misunderstanding" category. I understood the first misunderstanding, but eventually you've got to trust in the hero A LITTLE.

[maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

mmm not her best work queen

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose it's quibbling to point out that the author builds her entire plot around silly misunderstandings rather than ever developing any real romantic conflict. After all, these Warrender Saga books are about the music and the performers and the world of opera and theater that is its backdrop. The romance is merely along for the ride. Even so, I didn't think it was a particularly good look for the heroine that after being upset that the hero didn't appreciate how devastated she was by the news of her mother's serious illness, that she then turns around and scoffs at his excuse of missing her rehearsal (not even a performance!) because he found out his grandfather died. To compound that level of self-involved shallowness, she then understands completely why he left when she finds out that there was money involved. So much for the sensitive artist! Regardless, it was a serviceably entertaining romance.

[Barbara Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Song Cycle

Once again a lovely story from Mary Burchell - I have loved them all so far and can't wait to start no. 9.
I think I enjoy them so much because they're written without the bad language and overt sex of many modern stories. Also they are set in a time when I was young and they make me nostalgic for those days of sweet innocence.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warrender #8. Thoroughly enjoying this one, the family dynamics and the pleasure at the father's triumph was touching.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, it looks like this is the last of the series available through Kindle Unlimited. Hopefully they'll add the remaining others later. I'd really like to read them.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I finished this book, I thought how good it would be if these characters could be brought to life in a movie or TV show, IF the casting of them were PERFECT. I'm referring to Oscar Warrender and his lovely Anthea. As an American, I can't read their voices exactly as the author meant them to sound because my own accent gets in the way while reading their lines. I'd like to hear them exactly as she imagined them to be.
Our heroine is Anna, a talented singing student. Her father is a church organist, wanna-be composer, and all-around wonderful man, whose talent had not been recognized as he hoped it would be. Anna auditions for Oscar Warrender and our hero, Jonathan Keyne, but due to a family crisis, she blows the audition. She goes home to take care of her father while her mother is recovering from surgery. She is hijacked by a local rich girl, who is unaware of Anna's talents, to do secretarial organizing "dogsbody" work for a music festival she is arranging. The planning of the festival is how our hero is reintroduced into her story. Many misunderstandings occur, as well as triumphs.
I enjoy the author's character development. She gets into the emotions without being soppy, and overly-dramatic.
I do wonder how Mary Burchell managed to write over 100 stories in approx. 50 years. It is easy to assume a formula is used for romance stories and the characters are just changed and perhaps a few circumstances, but that would be unfair to assume was the reason for her prolific writing. She had TALENT. Her characters and plots are varied. In the Warrender books, there are recurring characters, of course, being a series, but her other books have great plot differences, as they are not all centered around the musical world. She was a gifted writer, and is one of my favorites in this genre. It's been such a treat for me to be marathoning her books almost exclusively for the past 4 months.
This is the second time I've read this book since October. I'm reading the paperbacks after having read many of them online.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infuriating Heroine

I love Mary Burchell’s books, and I’m still going to read the rest of the series and every other Mary Burchell book until I finish them all, but I just couldn’t stand the heroine in this book. Somebody needed to smack her or at least give her a good stern talking to. As usual, I couldn’t get enough of the knowledgeable, original and evocative musical passages, which would warm the heart of any classical music fans. As in all Mary Burchell books, the characters actually fall in love, rather than lust, which always makes them more moving than more modern romances.

However, this time I got really tired of the heroine jumping to erroneous conclusions and throwing fits at the lovely, patient and reasonable hero. There was no reason she couldn’t have explained briefly at the very beginning as she ran away from her audition that she just got word her mother may be dying. The hero would have told her to go ahead and call him back as soon as convenient (like any reasonable human) and resumed contract negotiations later. Even if he didn’t, it was ridiculous not to tell him that much. Instead, out of the blue she treated him like he was making unwelcome advances. He forgave her immediately when she met him again and finally explained. Then for the rest of the story, he was much more patient and understanding than she deserved as she alternated between being sweet and loving and then jumping to one hair-brained conclusion after another, serving up devastating set-downs and repeatedly breaking his heart. He deserved SO much better.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea who Jonathan Keyne is supposed to be in this world, and here too are dropped threads, and yet the whole thing is so charmingly written - clear-eyed and caustic and funny and devastating in turns - that it sings regardless.

And it’s so British:

‘… Elsa Marburger is your teacher, I believe?’

‘Yes, Mr Warrender.’

‘You do her credit,’ was the brief reply, and Anna thought she knew how people must feel when they were knighted.

And this:

‘Anthea Warrender - she was Anthea Benton then - once faced a decision very similar to yours. Her mother was ill and she wanted to drop everything and rush home. But Warrender… insisted on her staying - and that was the start of her great career.’

’The point of this cautionary tale being, I suppose, that the masterful male must always be listened to,’ said Anna drily. ‘What did Warrender do - pat her on the head?’

‘No. He married her,’ replied Jonathan Keyne with a grin, as he stopped the car in front of the house.

‘Would vou call that reward or punishment?’ said Anna rather pertly. ‘Thanks for the lift.’

Everything about that is hilariously perfect.

[Nightwitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fully confess that the Warrender novels are getting a little repetitive, and yet somehow I'm still consuming them like popcorn and enjoying (almost) every one. Burchell has a light touch with humor and rewards her heroines for being assertive, and while Anna is more than a usual dingbat, there was also a nice preponderance of evidence that a potential love interest was a jerkface, leading to a few heart-stopping moments when I thought, "is the handsome, distinguished musical genius the other man in this one????"

[Bea Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful Mary Burchell as per usual - although not quite a 5 star for me simply because I dislike it when the heroine is the one fucking up and having to crawl to the h for forgiveness - no no nonononoooo you see when I read romance fiction I want my leading ladies to be right all of the time and the men groveling.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm strangely addicted to this Warrender series. The romances are silly and superficial but the parts about what it means to be a professional classical musician (usually a singer) and the intricacies of the music world are fantastic.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Mary Burchell

Utterly refreshing romances with a really interesting understanding of the classical music world and of a time in history when many towns had courses and music makers.

[Susan Drago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

Another triumph for Mary Burchell's thoroughly engaging series!

If you have any interest at all in the world of music - as a singer, musician, composer, or simply as a lover of breathtaking artistry - you should love these books!

[Antonella Gagliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Titolo in lingua italiana Amore in si bemolle

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second book I read in the Warrender saga as a young lass going through my aunt's collection. I remember the names of the couple, loving the story, and being thrilled that it was in the same world as Remembered Serenade. Would love to re-read to see how much of it holds up.

[Mellanie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13136783