Love in Crescendo

He was the maestro. She was his brightest student. Their love affair was forbidden, and eleven years later the music is bringing it back.

In Vienna, celebrated conductor Gabriel Marchetti broke the one rule he had always kept. Charlene Falk was twenty, a violinist of rare fire. He was forty-one, careful and admired across Europe. Their affair burned in late-night rehearsal rooms and quiet hotel corridors, until one night Gabriel ended it, sent her to Berlin, called it honour, and never told her why.

Now Charlene joins his London orchestra at the Barbican as associate leader, seated an arm's length below his rostrum. She no longer needs his approval. Every rehearsal becomes a conversation only they can hear. When he tells her that her playing is too private, they both know he is not talking about Mahler.

The desire they buried in Vienna returns, and it is harder to resist because this time they meet as equals. But an orchestra is a village in evening dress, and a conductor's private life is never truly private. Each stolen night risks a fresh scandal and raises the question of whether she earned her chair or was given it.

Then a warning arrives: Charlene was told the wrong version of Vienna. A journalist with a scandal to sell, a London debut that quietly vanished, and a man named Viktor Saranov are all part of the secret Gabriel has carried for eleven years. Now Saranov is in London, and the truth will not wait for the final bar.

Love in Crescendo is a passionate second-chance romance set in the glamorous, demanding world of the symphony orchestra. It is perfect for readers who love forbidden romance, slow-burn tension and stories steeped in classical music. It includes a full guide to the music behind every chapter, so you can listen as you read.