Music in the City

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 5 Stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 3/4 Stars

This is very much a character piece and most of the action is internal. The story concerns a moment in Lana's life when she has to decide who she wants to be - if she wants to cling to her small town, conservative upbringing or if she wants to embrace love and passion in the city, not to mention a little ambiguity.

There are no car crashes and nothing blows up.

Characters: 5 Stars

One character was a bit of a mystery, but I get the impression that was intentional. At the heart of this story is Lana's friendship with Colin. It's one of those relationships that people wouldn't predict. Unfashionable wallflower and gay extrovert. However, the fact of their relationship and its enduring nature hints from the beginning that Lana might not be quite the church mouse that even she's convinced she is and in the story there's a solid reason, several actually, for why she's been afraid to feel or, at least, unclench. I understood and felt for Lana, and I felt as if I too was friends with Colin. And then there's Sin...

Writing Style. 4 3/4 Stars

I was entranced with the language in this story, the lovely use of Lana's relationship with her violin as a metaphor for who she was and who she wanted to be. Early on, she accepted a man's advances – “He took my violin from my submissive hands...” and then shortly after that, “As I lay there, letting him pull of my jeans, I imagined my violin on the carpet, exposed. It rested there, sweetly docile, waiting for someone to lift it, use it, and put it in its place.” The author, simply, had a wonderful, near perfect, way with words. Every once in a while a line felt awkward or not quite right, but I have to say that I was charmed and touched by Lana's story, and moved by the ending.