His Every Kiss by Laura Lee Guhrke

The first book I read by Guhrke was Guilty Pleasure and I fell in love with her work. When I picked up this one which takes place among the same characters from that first book, I thought maybe Guhrke might have been a one hit wonder but I kept reading despite the VERY slow start. It picked up after 100 pages.

Dylan Moore was a composer who after suffering an accident (fell off his horse) he can no longer hear music to compose. He is suffering from migraines that block out his muse. He is about to take his life when a destitute violinist interupts him and chastises him for attempting the suicide. To his surprise he finally hears music in her presence but she runs away from him before he discovers who she is... He looks for her over 5 years but has no luck until he runs into her again when he is at a ball and she is a musician playing.

Grace has had her share of being a muse when as a young girl she ran off with a painter destroying her reputation. She eventually married the lout but when his inspiration drained he turned to drink and eventually made her life miserable. She refuses to go through that again but Dylan offers to hire her to be a governess to his daughter Isabel (who he has just met) and in the process also serve as his muse. She wants to refuse but she is down to her last shilling and so her finances don't allow her to be picky so she accepts the position as governess.

When things got difficult, I found that Dylan was too fast to judge. But I think he did a good bit of groveling and his efforts in using his influence to repair her reputation and her relationship with her brother made him deserving of her.

Grade: B-