A Symphony of Echoes by Cecilia Ryan

This short novella was utterly beautiful. One of THE best tender romance novels I've EVER read. I have to say, from the first page, it was a 5 star rating for me. Even though the general story seems not only cliche but "wrong" - a professor falling for his student? 

But hold your horses here! It's not what you think! It's everything else! It's a love story between a man that is hungry to love and a younger man who doesn't even know what a warm and loving gesture is. Both main characters were so beautifully portrayed, though we only get Eric's POV (the professor). Arthur is very insecure about himself, surely about his sexuality and what he actually wants from Eric, but as Eric only wants to give what Arthur is willing to get the progression of their relationship is heart warming, tender and just, perfect! 


Though Arthur attends ALL Eric's lectures he isn't a student of the university he just comes because he wants to learn and he loves Eric's history lectures (and well, Eric is the only professor who hasn't kicked him out of class because he isn't enrolled..) so for all of you out there feeling annoyed with this sort of relationship, it's different here. The age differences is quite big.. (~25 years) and is not something that one can miss (in experience but very much in insecurities and "general" innocence"), but for me, it worked. I got what they found in one another and how special it was. 

I also really liked Eric's "family" and friends and how committed they are to each other. Though Eric is quite isolated when you look at his general schedule he is a good friend and truly a good person. 

Yes, the love story is the most tender I've read but it's not mushy or sticky, it's just sweet and endearing but also this book is LOL funny. The first few pages were a total giveaway on Eric's sense of humor and later on the interaction between him and Arthur was fun but also hilarious at times. 

The main issue in this one is the progression of their relationship but there is also someone who wants to hurt Eric and destroy his happiness which puts a strain on their relationship but as romance novels go - there's a beautiful happy ending. For me, though it was a bit less than 100 pages, I got everything I could ask for. 

For anyone who is a romantic at heart (who knew I'd fall in this category!) this is THE perfect love story. 

This is my second read by Cecilia and since most of her work is very short I intend on reading most of them this month. 

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 96 pages, 31 May 2015 / On GoodReads