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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1112404.Shadow_Music_A_Novel?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Shadow Music: A Novel" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NJR9TuEKL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1112404.Shadow_Music_A_Novel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Shadow Music: A Novel</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6251.Julie_Garwood">Julie Garwood</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14825111?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars I must admit, I had a really hard time finishing this book. The setup is way too long and tedious. There are so many characters, it's hard to keep straight who's who. The hero and heroine don't meet until around page 160. There is so much unimportant backstory in the first 100 or so pages that I found myself either setting it down after a page of tedium or choosing to pick up something else to read instead of this. 
 
 I used to be able to knock out a J.G. historical romance in one or two evenings--and usually stayed up until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't put the book down. I'm not emotionally invested in either of the main characters, nor do I care about the conflict that has brought them together. Then, once they do come together, their interactions are cliched *shadows* of the same dialogue, same physical reactions, same physical descriptions, same actions (of course he drags her onto his horse in front of him and his thighs are warm and rock-solid) as in every other historical romance out there. 
 
 As a professional editor and freelance critiquer, if this story had come across my desk as a manuscript, I would have lopped off the first 100 pages, suggested she condense the setup to about ten pages, get Colm and Gabrielle together much sooner, cut out the cliches, keep the story to just their Points of View, not name and give backstory to every single minor character who walks on stage, and focus on their relationship, not all of the "intrigue" that's not in the least intriguing. I also would have corrected the blatant and glaring copy-editing mistakes/slip-ups, such as using the present-tense "bid" when the past-tense "bade" was needed, or use of a homonym, such as "aid" (to give support)for "aide" (a person who supports).
 
 This book didn't deserve to be published, when there are so many other superbly written manuscripts languishing on publishers' desks simply because the authors don't have the name recognition of Julie Garwood. I was very disappointed in both Garwood and the publisher.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/885151?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Kaye's review
rating:
bookshelves: 2008-reading-list, aba, historical-romance

I must admit, I had a really hard time finishing this book. The setup is way too long and tedious. There are so many characters, it's hard to keep straight who's who. The hero and heroine don't meet until around page 160. There is so much unimportant backstory in the first 100 or so pages that I found myself either setting it down after a page of tedium or choosing to pick up something else to read instead of this.

I used to be able to knock out a J.G. historical romance in one or two evenings--and usually stayed up until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't put the book down. I'm not emotionally invested in either of the main characters, nor do I care about the conflict that has brought them together. Then, once they do come together, their interactions are cliched *shadows* of the same dialogue, same physical reactions, same physical descriptions, same actions (of course he drags her onto his horse in front of him and his thighs are warm and rock-solid) as in every oth...more I must admit, I had a really hard time finishing this book. The setup is way too long and tedious. There are so many characters, it's hard to keep straight who's who. The hero and heroine don't meet until around page 160. There is so much unimportant backstory in the first 100 or so pages that I found myself either setting it down after a page of tedium or choosing to pick up something else to read instead of this.

I used to be able to knock out a J.G. historical romance in one or two evenings--and usually stayed up until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't put the book down. I'm not emotionally invested in either of the main characters, nor do I care about the conflict that has brought them together. Then, once they do come together, their interactions are cliched *shadows* of the same dialogue, same physical reactions, same physical descriptions, same actions (of course he drags her onto his horse in front of him and his thighs are warm and rock-solid) as in every other historical romance out there.

As a professional editor and freelance critiquer, if this story had come across my desk as a manuscript, I would have lopped off the first 100 pages, suggested she condense the setup to about ten pages, get Colm and Gabrielle together much sooner, cut out the cliches, keep the story to just their Points of View, not name and give backstory to every single minor character who walks on stage, and focus on their relationship, not all of the "intrigue" that's not in the least intriguing. I also would have corrected the blatant and glaring copy-editing mistakes/slip-ups, such as using the present-tense "bid" when the past-tense "bade" was needed, or use of a homonym, such as "aid" (to give support)for "aide" (a person who supports).

This book didn't deserve to be published, when there are so many other superbly written manuscripts languishing on publishers' desks simply because the authors don't have the name recognition of Julie Garwood. I was very disappointed in both Garwood and the publisher....less

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