Review of A Diva in Manhattan by Aubrie Dionne

A Diva in Manhattan

Aubrie Dionne
A Date with the Diva

Fresh off a successful Italian tour, soprano soloist Alaina Amaldi returns to America on cloud nine. The Metropolitan Opera has invited her to guest star in their performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute, and she’s singing at the top of her game. But, to act the part of the sweet, young Pamina in love, she has to be likeable; something that has never come easily to her. On a quest to soften her diva-like image, she volunteers at an arts school for underprivileged children. Too bad the kids call her the opera witch…

Brett Robinson has moved to Manhattan to start afresh. Used to living on his own as a logger, he finds a job with a construction company repairing the sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Opera House. What he didn’t count on was for one of those hoity-toity divas to strut straight past him and into his heart!

However, Brett knows that a guy like him doesn’t have a chance with a woman like Alaina. That is until an older woman asks him to attend a fundraiser, posing as her Wall Street stockbroker son. Before he knows it, Brett’s drinking cocktails with the gorgeous diva! Trouble is, she thinks he’s quite a few billion dollars richer. Is she as shallow as everyone claims, or will she still love what she sees when the tux comes off?

Don’t you just love the cover? There is so much to love about Ms. Dionne’s book. First of all, the characters are richly drawn and even though Alaina is an opera singer, I could still identify with her. Not being able to be herself; always having to be “on” and worse, not ever finding true love.

Brett is one of those heroes that you just want to hug so tightly and never let go. Plus the fact that he is roped in to the schemes of a lonely old woman. What’s endearing is that he knows what he is doing is wrong but on the other hand, he thinks this is his only shot with Alaina.

What really drew me to the story and kept me there was not only the romance but the friendship that developed between Brett and Alaina. Of yes, the sexual tension is there but what was better for me was the give and take between them and that their differences only enhanced the romance.

Oh and don’t skip the scenes at the school nor the nasty diva that Alaina has had to deal with since high school. Those were great sub plots and just added to the journey that Brett and Alaina had to take to get to their HEA.

Ms. Dionne never disappoints in her writing. Whether its instrumental music and now the opera, she does her research and it shows. I actually like the opera so the behind the scenes were a bonus for me. Plus, who doesn’t know about Carmen? Okay…my husband but that’s beside the point.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Diva-Manhattan-HarperImpulse-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B00O7CM7GW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1413293123&sr=1-1&keywords=a+diva+in+manhattan

Bio: Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her books have received the highest ratings from Romance Times Magazine and BTS Magazine, as well as Night Owl Reviews and Readers’ Favorite Reviews. She has guest blogged on the USA Today Happy Ever After Blog and the Dear Teen Me blog and signed books at the Boston Book Festival, Barnes and Noble, and the Romance Writers of America conference. Her books are published by HarperImpulse, Entangled Publishing, Astraea Press, Spencer Hill Press, Inkspell Publishing, and Lyrical Press. When she’s not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras.