Guest Review: After Midnight – Sarah Grimm

Thirteen years-that’s how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother’s life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar…

Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal-one that doesn’t include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won’t be easy, but he can’t get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.

Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?

Series:  Midnight #1
Release Date:  September 30, 2011
Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press
Source:  Provided by Author
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

I am in love.  This book was amazing.  I would even go as far as to say that it was one of the best books that I read this year.

Isabeau was a musical prodigy.  At the age of 5, her abilities as a concert pianist came in to play, and her mother made sure that she was given every opportunity in the world to advance her talents.  They would travel for the next five years, with Isabeau playing the piano to sold out concert halls, wowing audiences and making a name for herself.  When a car accident takes the life of her mother and leaves Isabeau critically injured and fighting for her life, however, Isabeau’s love for the piano dies as well.

At 25, Isabeau is living in New York City, running a small, yet popular bar.  She has established a daily routine to her life and keeping herself from getting close to anyone.   She is very guarded and determined to keep her life simple.  When Noah, the incredibly sexy lead singer of the famous Black Phoenix band walks into her bar, however, Isabeau finds her life turned upside down and her simple life of monotonous day to day living is shaken up beyond anything she could have ever imagined.  Noah fights to win Isabeau’s affection, and tries to prove to her that the music she left behind is the key to finally finding peace and happiness.

Oh my gosh, this romance is wonderful.  From the moment Isabeau and Noah meet, the sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.  Every single emotion that the characters feel is intense and felt deeply.  It’s powerful, beautiful, and raw.  The characters themselves are so exquisitely flawed.  The plot is played out wonderfully, and when the last page is read, you’ll want to start again, just so you don’t have to say goodbye.  I am not the type of person who rereads books often, but this is one I could and will probably read again and again. 

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