Dark Notes- Pam Goodwin

About this book: 

They call me a slut. Maybe I am.
Sometimes I do things I despise.
Sometimes men take without asking.

But I have a musical gift, only a year left of high school, and a plan.
With one obstacle.

Emeric Marceaux doesn’t just take.
He seizes my will power and bangs it like a dark note.
When he commands me to play, I want to give him everything.
I kneel for his punishments, tremble for his touch, and risk it all for our stolen moments.

He’s my obsession, my master, my music.
And my teacher.

Release Date: 6th April, 2016.

What I think?

Oh this book was good alright. 

Wanna know the last teacher/student romance that I’d read? The Unrequited by Saffron A. Kent last year around this time, and then promptly never reviewed- which sucks for me because I love this trope.

Yes. It has been just that long since I’ve read this sub-genre. You think that’s too long? Well hell babe, I think so too! Because there was legit a time there when I used to only read this genre because seriously #IWantAHotTeacher.

Which got me thinking, why do we crave this trope so much, since in a real life the male teacher would be burned at the stake instead of being put on an altar of wet panties. Now before I delve into this review, I’d like to talk a little about whys of that—

1. We’re romance readers, meaning we’re already looking to fill our hearts with strong knights in shining white armor, or if you’re like me, then with bad bad men with dirty dirty mouths.
2. There’s a reason we want that.
3. Taboo is hot- what you’re mother or church says is immaterial to your fantasies.
4. We’ve all had a too-hot-to-be-a-teacher teacher whom we crushed on. I might probably be the only exception to that, but my friend convinces me that it’s true for everyone, so I’ll just believe her on that.
5. We want to feel like we pursued that taboo relationship, because real life is boring af.

Anyways, if you’re wondering why I typed out all that bullshit psychological mumbo-jumbo then to that the only thing I can say is that I’m bored. No, I’m definitely not saying that this book was boring- the complete opposite actually- but now that I’m done with it, I don’t know which book to pick up next because my TBR list is currently very huge, and I’m feeling very aimless lol. #BookwormProblems

But moving on to what we’re actually here for- Dark Notes by Pam Goodwin. Thing is, for someone who is always keeping an eye out on the dark-romance writers (especially those I’d read before), and new books that they release, this is not the first time I’m seeing this book. I had the front row seat in 2016, when all the romance blogs were raving about this new forbidden teacher/student romance that was about to hit the markets, and.. I was just never that intrigued you know. Then in 2017 Saffron released The Unrequited, and I completely fell in love with that and nothing before it ever came close.

Moral of the story- I had completely forgotten about this book.

Until yesterday, when I received 2 credits on Audible and saw it, and some fierce need to read it took hold of me. Don’t question those weird needs though. But see, this is where a problem arises with audio books. I’m an Indian okay, so sometimes some accents are more difficult for me to understand on the get go. Turns out the narrator has one of those accents. So I thought what the hell, I got the audio-book, and it might be easier to understand the story if I’d read it once before.

And that is how I actually finally picked up this book, and since you’re all caught up now we can finally talk about this book! Yay me!

I died somewhere between my release and his. And now I know how it feels to be alive.

As you might’ve already gleaned by my writing so far, this is a forbidden romance between a 17 year old music virtuoso- Ivory, and her music professor- Emeric.

And so this tale goes as so many before it- little miss Ivory is a poor poor baby, trying to better her life by going to a fancy ass college by her piano playing skills. But the one problem is the dreaded letter of recommendation. That is where the new, scandalous piano teacher comes into the picture. Emeric was running away from a bad situation he got into by getting his dick out at the completely inappropriate time, when the dean of Ivory’s high school- Le Moyne- bribes him with a job position in exchange for her son’s admission to Leopold (the best music college in the country..?). And naturally, he’s Ivory’s teacher.

Cue instant fireworks.

Honestly though, the chemistry between Ivory and Emeric was really fucking explosive. Right from the very beginning, their dynamic establishes their connection- even when romance isn’t a part of their relationship yet. Obviously I had a short pang because of the insta nature of their attraction, but because it was attraction and not love, I totally overlooked it.

“I feel your notes. Here.” I touch my breastbone, my voice shaking. “They’re dark and hypnotic, like your breaths and your heartbeats.”

Ivory lost her father at the age of 13, and since then her entire life spiraled out of control as the rape began. Naturally, as a victim of sexual abuse, her trust in men was very precarious when Emeric enters the picture.

I found that I really liked Emeric Marceux’s character. He was a complete asshole, dominating bastard, hot as Hades’ horns, and a total sweet heart; and I will have you know that I do not say that “sweet heart” comment lightly. I loved how quickly he swept into Ivory’s life and immediately began removing the trash from it, and how despite being burned from his previous intimate relationship, he doesn’t think twice before claiming Ivory as his, even when the ramifications this time were infinitely more dangerous.

I know I’m being very vague about the plot, but trust me, this isn’t the kind of story that I would just say a few choice words about and completely spoil for you; it was one of those stories that you need to experience to appreciate.

One of the reasons I found this book so compelling was the character development of both- Ivory and Emeric. Like I said, Ivory is heavily traumatized from her past, and has a very broken sense of self-respect, so naturally her fight to become a woman that could stand on her own was the biggest, loudest and the most commendable. It was the very little details to her daily mannerisms that gradually changed, so much so that that the Ivory at the final chapter feels decades away from the Ivory of the first chapter, when it couldn’t have been longer than 8 months. As for Emeric, the change is quite subtle, but it too, is there. And by the final chapter I couldn’t help but feel fulfilled by the story they journeyed through.

All I have to say about this book is that it is right up there with my top teacher/student romances, and that Pam is a really fucking talented author. The way she developed both- Ivory and Emeric was an absolute thing of beauty- I love such well written characters. At no point throughout the novel do you feel like she’s swerving- she had a story to tell, and she. Fucking. Told. It.

‘Nuff said.

“Sometimes you love people you shouldn’t, and in the endless space of that love, nothing else matters.”

—Get this book—

About this author:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.