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Allegro Vivace #1
Allegro Vivace
Sparks fly when brash young violinist Matt Dugan strides into professor Aaron Parrish’s classroom. Aaron’s intrigued by the twenty-year-old virtuoso, and agrees to take him on for private lessons. Things get off to a rocky start that’s complicated by a growing mutual attraction.
But Aaron, still reeling from the loss of his partner two years earlier, resists—until the afternoon Matt seduces him in his office.
Teacher and student embark on a passionate affair. Matt wants to tell everyone, while Aaron fears their twenty-five-year age difference will make them objects of scorn and ridicule. Can Aaron conquer his doubts, or will he lose Matt forever?
But Aaron, still reeling from the loss of his partner two years earlier, resists—until the afternoon Matt seduces him in his office.
Teacher and student embark on a passionate affair. Matt wants to tell everyone, while Aaron fears their twenty-five-year age difference will make them objects of scorn and ridicule. Can Aaron conquer his doubts, or will he lose Matt forever?
143 pages, ebook
First published May 1, 2010
144 people want to read
About the author
Cat Grant
51 books463 followersIf you're looking for epic sci-fi, fantasy, or historicals, that's not me. Contemporary all the way, baby!
However, if you're looking for down to earth, complicated characters dealing with real-world problems (and the occasional comfort read!), I might just fit the bill. :)
My Books:
Courtland Chronicles (m/m & m/m/f)
By Chance
Strictly Business
Complications
The Arrangement
Triad
Allegro Vivace (m/m)
Sonata Appassionata (m/m)
Icon Men (all m/m)
The First Real Thing (2012 EPIC Award Winner - Erotica)
Appearing Nightly
A Fool for You
Habanera (Originally titled Entangled Trio - 2012 EPIC Award Finalist - Erotica) (m/m/f)
Once a Marine (m/m)
Power Play (with Rachel Haimowitz) (m/m BDSM)
Power Play: Resistance
Power Play: Awakening
Irresistible Attraction (all m/m)
Priceless
Doubtless
Fearless
Flawless (2014 EPIC Award Finalist - Short Fiction)
Forthcoming:
The Only One Who Knows (with LA Witt) - January 2014
The Only One Who Matters (with LA Witt) - March 2014
Black Dog (Bannon's Gym #1) - April 2014
Takedown (Bannon's Gym #2) - July 2014
Guarded (with LA Witt) (work in progress)
However, if you're looking for down to earth, complicated characters dealing with real-world problems (and the occasional comfort read!), I might just fit the bill. :)
My Books:
Courtland Chronicles (m/m & m/m/f)
By Chance
Strictly Business
Complications
The Arrangement
Triad
Allegro Vivace (m/m)
Sonata Appassionata (m/m)
Icon Men (all m/m)
The First Real Thing (2012 EPIC Award Winner - Erotica)
Appearing Nightly
A Fool for You
Habanera (Originally titled Entangled Trio - 2012 EPIC Award Finalist - Erotica) (m/m/f)
Once a Marine (m/m)
Power Play (with Rachel Haimowitz) (m/m BDSM)
Power Play: Resistance
Power Play: Awakening
Irresistible Attraction (all m/m)
Priceless
Doubtless
Fearless
Flawless (2014 EPIC Award Finalist - Short Fiction)
Forthcoming:
The Only One Who Knows (with LA Witt) - January 2014
The Only One Who Matters (with LA Witt) - March 2014
Black Dog (Bannon's Gym #1) - April 2014
Takedown (Bannon's Gym #2) - July 2014
Guarded (with LA Witt) (work in progress)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 19, 2010
When I do buy a May-December romance, I check first what the age difference is. In the case of Allegro Vivace, the 25-year gap stopped me from buying the book but Erotic Horizon's review was too tempting not to give it a go.
AV turned out to be the best May-Dec romance I've read and now I want to read Cat Grant's backlist which I bought some time back.
I agree with everything in Erotic Horizon's review so no need to repeat them. However, unlike EH, I did not have a problem with Matt's issues over his Dad and I felt it was adequately covered. For me, the issues were addressed and though quickly resolved, I preferred it this way in this case. Any more and it would have detracted from the main story which was Aaron's issues with Matt - their age gap and their romance which was such a feel-good one despite a few hiccups.
I thought the pacing was just right and the story flowed flawlessly for me. I clicked off my reader utterly satisfied.
AV turned out to be the best May-Dec romance I've read and now I want to read Cat Grant's backlist which I bought some time back.
I agree with everything in Erotic Horizon's review so no need to repeat them. However, unlike EH, I did not have a problem with Matt's issues over his Dad and I felt it was adequately covered. For me, the issues were addressed and though quickly resolved, I preferred it this way in this case. Any more and it would have detracted from the main story which was Aaron's issues with Matt - their age gap and their romance which was such a feel-good one despite a few hiccups.
I thought the pacing was just right and the story flowed flawlessly for me. I clicked off my reader utterly satisfied.
June 2, 2010
I cried...Enough said!!
April 19, 2011
4.5 stars
I really liked this one. I found it rather sweet. While it is a short story, I felt it tackled the right amount of angst I feel May-Dec romances should have. Along with the age difference, Matt and Aaron have to deal with other issues like Aaron's sense of right and wrong when it comes to their teacher-student status, Matt's dad issues, and Aaron's constant thought he's just another peg on Matt's post. My only probably with the story was how long it took me to actually get sucked it. Not long but not until the twenty percent mark or so.
Still, they work through their issues and find a likable solution that makes this book a sweet one.
I really liked this one. I found it rather sweet. While it is a short story, I felt it tackled the right amount of angst I feel May-Dec romances should have. Along with the age difference, Matt and Aaron have to deal with other issues like Aaron's sense of right and wrong when it comes to their teacher-student status, Matt's dad issues, and Aaron's constant thought he's just another peg on Matt's post. My only probably with the story was how long it took me to actually get sucked it. Not long but not until the twenty percent mark or so.
Still, they work through their issues and find a likable solution that makes this book a sweet one.
December 25, 2010
This is a compelling, emotional book. I loved learning about the music and I especially loved the growing relationship between Aaron and Matt. Highly recommended!
Read
June 15, 2010Every year like clockwork professor Aaron Parrish’s has “one” – yes one, one student who thinks the world revolves around him or one who thinks one strum of his instrument and the whole music conservatory will be blown away by his gift.
This season the one is Matt Dugan, cocky, brash and with all the self confidence of someone who knows he is the best or could be the best at what he does. Aaron is a seasoned professor at the local Music Conservatory in the area and is most suitably not impressed as he has been in the business of music and teaching for too many years to be swayed by a new student trying to see how far he can get with platitudes.
Some things cannot be denied and Matt is something special and before long Aaron finds out just how special he is. They however both have baggage and while Aaron has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new world of a relationship, Matt embraces it and is always looking to make the most of every situation he find himself in.
Within all that they have the music and Aaron intends for Matt to be the best, but Matt has his heart on his sleeves and it will be a test of his maturity to step up and do the right thing even if he doesn’t want to.
When I read the blurb on ALLEGRO VIVACE I will admit it did not jump out at me, why - because it had two topics that I am not rushed to read in romance, especially m/m romance, music and a plotline of May/December romance. That said this book is written by an author that has consistently hit all the right buttons with me as a reader and as such I was willing to take a chance on reading this book.
By the time I was ten pages in I knew I was going to love this book, Ms. Grant uses her main protags core personalities to rub against each other and quickly build not only personal tension but a delicious sexual vibes that had me racing through these pages.
What worked for me
I really liked the characters Ms. Grant introduced me to and not only the main protags. The were suitably placed and brought their own drama and the right amount angst to move the book along.
While the May/December romance is not a plotline that normally works with me – I must say Aaron and Matt were perfect for each other. I got to know Aaron and right from the outset I liked his personality and his down to earth attitude. Matt was a very mature lad, brought up in a lifestyle not known by many - coupled that with a natural gift plus he has a tendency to run away with himself, yet was still a young man prone to mood swings and little bouts of pouting – I ended up liking him alot.
The Classical music backdrop and the Music Conservatory was a good setting for this book – this is a world that I understand and I thought Ms. Grant captured the day to day niggles of a music teacher as well as the mercenary attitude of people who only mean well, pretty well. Along side that she explored some of the in-house politics of student/teacher relationships and the day to day struggle of keeping such an institution going.
The fact that the author did not cloud the path of these two making a go of a relationship with past lovers or unnecessary angst was a plus in my opinion. There was the age thing of course and they both had some realistic issues on their plate to deal with and I thought those were handles in-time and tied up by the end of the book.
This book took place over a period of quite a few months and the author took the time to slowly build up the smex and even when they were getting their groove on – it was a timely amount and just a few scenes – which is always a good change.
The book flowed and flowed well and as much as I liked the main setting of the conservatory, I was also liking the fact that Ms Grant moved them around a bit, so I got the chance to see Aaron and Matt at their best and their worst with and without the formality of the music school in the background.
I wont lie and say I was happy with the age thing – but I thought they worked through a pretty decent amount of issues in regards to that point and as I said before they compliment each other and this is one of those relationship that will work work because of the age difference.
There was talking – I use the word talk rather than dialogue because it was spontaneous, they didn’t sweep anything under the carpet nor did they let anything build up that could lead to any misunderstanding. There was avoidance especially on Aaron’s part on certain issues but it was not from not saying what was on their minds and I really really liked that about these two.
I like the little touch of humour present in this book. It was not ha-ha funny, but more a biting sarcasm that had me smiling a time or two.
What didn’t work for me
Matt had issues with his dad and his entire home life hinges on what is father did in the past. That point I thought was mentioned too often and as much as I appreciated the fact the man himself made an appearance in the book eventually – I would have liked to have had a chance to get his point of view about some of the thing alluded to in the book.
There is a rather mercenary attitude to some aspect of the music conservatory that may not sit well with some reader, it didn’t with me, That said these things do happen in these sort of institution and over all it is an area that will give readers a better insight into how much sacrifice or undercutting takes place to get some of the most gifted through the system.
Some of the plotline was tied up too quickly and that really let the book down at the end for me. A few more pages or a cliff hanger for a future book would have sit a bit better with me than this sense of things being swept under the carpet – too rushed.
Bottom Line
From the moment I opened the first page on this book I started knit picking, while I had some niggles here and there Ms Grant did not let me down. She took a plotline that I am the first one to rubbish and made me see how a relationship between two people who are quarter of a decade apart could/can work.
Aaron brought to the relationship his maturity, his patience, his willingness to not look back and more over his musical ear – because lets be realistic the music brought them together. Matt is so much older than his years, he has travelled, he has been exposed to quite a bit of life’s realities and has known a way of life that would make a younger man seem pretty tame to him.
The authors investment in the working of a conservatory school year could be seen, she delivered the info in layman's terms and she made it quite attractive, but at no time did she trivialize the fact that “getting there” needs hard work and dedication.
Other issues of privacy, disappointment, moving on from a loss are all dealt with in this book. while some were just touched on other were suitably fleshed out and they made a difference to my overall enjoyment of ALLEGRO VIVACE.
All in all I ended up liking this book alot and am already looking forward to Ms Grant next production.
This season the one is Matt Dugan, cocky, brash and with all the self confidence of someone who knows he is the best or could be the best at what he does. Aaron is a seasoned professor at the local Music Conservatory in the area and is most suitably not impressed as he has been in the business of music and teaching for too many years to be swayed by a new student trying to see how far he can get with platitudes.
Some things cannot be denied and Matt is something special and before long Aaron finds out just how special he is. They however both have baggage and while Aaron has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new world of a relationship, Matt embraces it and is always looking to make the most of every situation he find himself in.
Within all that they have the music and Aaron intends for Matt to be the best, but Matt has his heart on his sleeves and it will be a test of his maturity to step up and do the right thing even if he doesn’t want to.
When I read the blurb on ALLEGRO VIVACE I will admit it did not jump out at me, why - because it had two topics that I am not rushed to read in romance, especially m/m romance, music and a plotline of May/December romance. That said this book is written by an author that has consistently hit all the right buttons with me as a reader and as such I was willing to take a chance on reading this book.
By the time I was ten pages in I knew I was going to love this book, Ms. Grant uses her main protags core personalities to rub against each other and quickly build not only personal tension but a delicious sexual vibes that had me racing through these pages.
What worked for me
I really liked the characters Ms. Grant introduced me to and not only the main protags. The were suitably placed and brought their own drama and the right amount angst to move the book along.
While the May/December romance is not a plotline that normally works with me – I must say Aaron and Matt were perfect for each other. I got to know Aaron and right from the outset I liked his personality and his down to earth attitude. Matt was a very mature lad, brought up in a lifestyle not known by many - coupled that with a natural gift plus he has a tendency to run away with himself, yet was still a young man prone to mood swings and little bouts of pouting – I ended up liking him alot.
The Classical music backdrop and the Music Conservatory was a good setting for this book – this is a world that I understand and I thought Ms. Grant captured the day to day niggles of a music teacher as well as the mercenary attitude of people who only mean well, pretty well. Along side that she explored some of the in-house politics of student/teacher relationships and the day to day struggle of keeping such an institution going.
The fact that the author did not cloud the path of these two making a go of a relationship with past lovers or unnecessary angst was a plus in my opinion. There was the age thing of course and they both had some realistic issues on their plate to deal with and I thought those were handles in-time and tied up by the end of the book.
This book took place over a period of quite a few months and the author took the time to slowly build up the smex and even when they were getting their groove on – it was a timely amount and just a few scenes – which is always a good change.
The book flowed and flowed well and as much as I liked the main setting of the conservatory, I was also liking the fact that Ms Grant moved them around a bit, so I got the chance to see Aaron and Matt at their best and their worst with and without the formality of the music school in the background.
I wont lie and say I was happy with the age thing – but I thought they worked through a pretty decent amount of issues in regards to that point and as I said before they compliment each other and this is one of those relationship that will work work because of the age difference.
There was talking – I use the word talk rather than dialogue because it was spontaneous, they didn’t sweep anything under the carpet nor did they let anything build up that could lead to any misunderstanding. There was avoidance especially on Aaron’s part on certain issues but it was not from not saying what was on their minds and I really really liked that about these two.
I like the little touch of humour present in this book. It was not ha-ha funny, but more a biting sarcasm that had me smiling a time or two.
What didn’t work for me
Matt had issues with his dad and his entire home life hinges on what is father did in the past. That point I thought was mentioned too often and as much as I appreciated the fact the man himself made an appearance in the book eventually – I would have liked to have had a chance to get his point of view about some of the thing alluded to in the book.
There is a rather mercenary attitude to some aspect of the music conservatory that may not sit well with some reader, it didn’t with me, That said these things do happen in these sort of institution and over all it is an area that will give readers a better insight into how much sacrifice or undercutting takes place to get some of the most gifted through the system.
Some of the plotline was tied up too quickly and that really let the book down at the end for me. A few more pages or a cliff hanger for a future book would have sit a bit better with me than this sense of things being swept under the carpet – too rushed.
Bottom Line
From the moment I opened the first page on this book I started knit picking, while I had some niggles here and there Ms Grant did not let me down. She took a plotline that I am the first one to rubbish and made me see how a relationship between two people who are quarter of a decade apart could/can work.
Aaron brought to the relationship his maturity, his patience, his willingness to not look back and more over his musical ear – because lets be realistic the music brought them together. Matt is so much older than his years, he has travelled, he has been exposed to quite a bit of life’s realities and has known a way of life that would make a younger man seem pretty tame to him.
The authors investment in the working of a conservatory school year could be seen, she delivered the info in layman's terms and she made it quite attractive, but at no time did she trivialize the fact that “getting there” needs hard work and dedication.
Other issues of privacy, disappointment, moving on from a loss are all dealt with in this book. while some were just touched on other were suitably fleshed out and they made a difference to my overall enjoyment of ALLEGRO VIVACE.
All in all I ended up liking this book alot and am already looking forward to Ms Grant next production.
December 7, 2010
I love the way she writes about music. I wished for a listing at the end of the text so I could track some of the pieces down that the characters talk about.
I'd like to read about these guys 10-15 years in their future to see if they made it or if the hangups Aaron has about age have overwhelmed them.
I'd like to read about these guys 10-15 years in their future to see if they made it or if the hangups Aaron has about age have overwhelmed them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2011
Cat Grant manages to make you laugh, gasp, tear-up and smile all in this quick read. I'm always in awe of the authors that can pull this off. I couldn't put it down and because it's a quick read I was able to do so in a few hours. The characters stayed with me long after reading this and being a music geek, I loved the whole setting. Don't miss this one!
April 19, 2012
This was a nice book.
My favourite character is definitely Matt, even being the younger he seemed to be the one more in control and sure of what he wanted/needed.
I think this pair it's a very good match and I enjoyed the fact that the difference of age isn't seen as something that matters, or that changes things.
My favourite character is definitely Matt, even being the younger he seemed to be the one more in control and sure of what he wanted/needed.
I think this pair it's a very good match and I enjoyed the fact that the difference of age isn't seen as something that matters, or that changes things.
November 20, 2019
I love May-December romances and this one definitely goes on my keeper shelf. Although it's written from Aaron's POV, Matt's character was equally well developed and together they had such great chemistry that made me totally fall for them.
I loved this book and highly recommend it!
I loved this book and highly recommend it!
Read
July 3, 2010Really enjoyed this - I was sent this to beta, and all I found was a bunch of typos. Grrr.
February 19, 2013
Loved it! Pretty age gap, buy hey they are in love...
June 5, 2010
May and December romance between a gifted young music student and his professor. The story runs in a smooth and crisp pace, readers get to know the characters quickly, know where they are coming from and it has very valid conflicts in it. If I can ever use the word "effective" to describe a story, this is it. I enjoyed it immensely but I don't LOVED it. But still a very nice book to spend an afternoon with.
April 6, 2014
I enjoy books that involve the performing arts, so this one connected with me because of the musical talent. I’m always a tiny bit skeptical of significant age gaps between the MC’s , but I think this one seemed to work better than some I’ve read. I’m glad to see that the second book has a continuation of the story between Aaron and Matt since much was left open at the end of this book. Enjoyed it!
May 4, 2011
3.5 stars
September 13, 2011
3.5 Ravens. I found Allegro Vivace entertaining with genuine characters to root for. To read this review in its entirety, please visit http://www.blackravensreviews.com/?p=...
September 15, 2011
3.5
I really enjoyed it but the ending was too abrupt, or something. Rather than HFN, it seemed more like S(omewhat)HFN, which makes it harder to believe that HEA might ever happen.
I really enjoyed it but the ending was too abrupt, or something. Rather than HFN, it seemed more like S(omewhat)HFN, which makes it harder to believe that HEA might ever happen.
February 21, 2013
It was a great book. I would have given it five stars, except, the ending was so forced and unreal.
August 26, 2013
not bad but the age difference was a problem - just not convincing as anything other than daddy issues. maybe if it had been written from the younger guys perspective
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews