Review: Love in Three Quarter Time by Rachel McMillan

OHMYGOODNESS. I believe that, right there, was my exact thought once I turned the final pages of this delightful little story! To say that I'd been salivating over this book coming out would be putting it very, very mildly, reader friends. Having already read and loved Ms. McMillan's debut series, I positively knew that I was going to love this one! And I was right. In fact, I think it's her best book yet! I swooned, I grew frustrated, I shook my head, I melted, I sighed happily, and I simply adored every single aspect of Evelyn's journey. Why, you might ask? What was it that struck me so completely, you must be wondering? I have only one word for you and it's a who, not a what. Klaus. (ALL the heart-eyes for that man!! ;)

I love Klaus. You should totally read this story and fall in love with him yourself! Except not because I want Klaus to be only mine! (Well...and Evelyn's, of course. ;) Having been privy to too many a few gushing twitter convos about this particular man, I can now promise you that he's very worth meeting! But enough about how much I love him, you want to know why I love him, right? I can sum this up in one word, as well. He's a gentleman. (Okay, so maybe make that three words.)

There are not that many heroes in fiction who are true gentlemen, honestly. At least, to the same degree as Klaus! He completely embodies the kindness, gentleness, and loving care which a man should show a woman of his acquaintance. It's his "quiet steadiness" (as Courtney described it) that stands out upon meeting him. He doesn't necessarily make a great first impression (at least to Evelyn! :), but if you hang in there, his inherent goodness shines bright. As his tender heart begins to open just enough for the reader to begin understanding so much more than what he's actually telling us on the page, it invites us to take a deeper look. For so much of the beauty of this story is discovered by what isn't on the page than what is!

Paragraph by paragraph, the gentle weaving of kindred spirits discovering one another, the sights and sounds of Vienna (and Prague!) wafting through your senses, the entwining of music and feeling until one is indistinguishable from the other, and the sheer delight of being so utterly swept away into the story that your heart feels like it can barely take a breath. The very essence of classic literature and literariness that fills every chapter! All of these varied feelings and thoughts that come from Ms. McMillan's talented "way with words", especially when so much of it isn't even written in words. It's simply the emotions evoked through the writing. Gloriously and wondrously evocative writing!

In short, this story reads like a beautifully written fairytale! There is such warmth and care taken with these characters and their slow journey to discovering just what possibilities surprisingly lie ahead and the wonderful feeling of simply falling in love. Falling in love with the characters themselves, as well as the Viennese atmosphere, and the quiet delight of recognizing a kindred spirit. And aren't we always glad to know there are so many of those in the world? :)

**I received a complimentary copy from the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

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If Evelyn Watt's life were projected on a movie screen, it might look like the strand of Laura Linney's story in Love, Actually. not that she was far from home or responsible for an ill relative; rather, every time Rudy Moser walked by her cubicle, she touched up her lip glass and melted into a puddle of idiot.

She loved finding corners of the world that allowed her to see something beyond the ordinary, even as she stayed put.

Her heart ached for Klaus' kind of romance. The kind of romance that stretched beyond someone's lips on her neck or hand in the crook of her arm. The kind that trickled over the rooftops of an age-old city and spun it into a song. The kind that she found in dusty books and old stories. The kind she didn't find here: no matter the chime of the silver and the symphony of champagne, no matter the beautiful ambiance and lithe dancers, the silk and the glisten...