Rhapsody by Judith Gould

From the Publisher

From love's intimate betrayals to its illicit pleasures...from the first kiss to the last embrace, Rhapsody captures the haunting refrains of passion as only Judith Gould can play them.

Praise for New York Times bestselling author Judith Gould and her sensational novels:

"A romp! A smash success." -New York Daily News

"Mouthwatering...Just the thing to chase the blues away."-Chicago Tribune

"A wedding of Judith Krantz and Sidney Sheldon. Judith Gould is a master!"-Kirkus Reviews

"Judith Gould's narrative is chock-full of resourceful women. The plot whisks from scandal to scheme, piling on the suspense."-Publishers Weekly

"All the right components: romance, a beautiful setting, deceit, and strong-willed, independent characters."-Booklist

"The perfect beach read."-Library Journal

"Superb...fantastic reading...put this one at the top of your must-read list."-Rendezvous

Publishers Weekly

A devastatingly handsome concert pianist and connoisseur of love, Misha Levin agonizes for several hundred pages of this predictable novel trying to choose between two gorgeous women. Davis (Till the End of Time) keeps her intricate plot moving, but the love triangle is so stereotypical it distances drama. Russian-Jewish babe-magnet Misha has been transplanted to New York via Israel. He's a phenomenal success as a musician and is blessed, moreover, with incomparable sexual prowess, insatiable desires and a body that defines masculine perfection. His only problem is that he owns the hearts of two dazzling women, both of whom will do whatever it takes to get him. Elegant, intelligent, blond angel Vera Bunim, daughter of his ultra-wealthy benefactors, is Misha's first sweetheart, but he dumps her to sow his wild oats when he meets dark-haired Florida-born seductress Serena Gibbons. But Serena is an ambitious photographer who won't give up her career to raise a family. On the rebound, dejected Misha marries Vera and fathers a son, Nicky. Despite Vera's total devotion to Misha and his career, when Misha and Serena meet again eight years after they parted, the erstwhile lovers can't resist a fiery affair. Meanwhile, villains close in. Misha's agent, Manny Cygelman, has a diabolical deal with Brighton Beach goons; if he can't persuade Misha to tour Russia, the pianist's hands will get broken. And Vera's old boyfriend, crazy-with-jealousy Simon Hampton, wants to kill Misha. Misha's unbelievably noble parents, Sonia and Dmitri, hover nearby, ready to rise or recede as their wunderkind demands. Serena's agent, Coral Randolphe, has her own agenda: she's a stick-thin, ghostly pale lesbian in Manolo Blahnik heels. The vivace-paced story swings by Vienna, London and Kyoto, while brand-names often substitute for description and locales are as one-dimensional as the characters. Readers may notice that Misha's craft is virtually ignored throughout. It seems he's a musician only to whip up clich d fantasies about his "great hands" that expertly play women like instruments. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

More music, this time from a concert pianist (complacently married) who reignites an old affair. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Once again, Gould (Till the End of Time, 1998, etc.) brokers soapy transactions among the very rich and gorgeous. Misha Levin, a six-foot-four-inch piano virtuoso with long black hair and a following like a rock star's, runs into an old flame in Vienna, where he's come to play a charity concert for the extraordinarily well-heeled. His ex-lover, Serena Gibbons, a superstar photographer with supermodel looks and long black hair as well, has also come to Vienna, in her case to shoot a group of European heads of state. Although Misha is married to stunningly beautiful, if blond-haired, Vera Bunim, the daughter of billionaire Russian émigrés, he and Serena rekindle an affair at Austria's best hotels while eating lots of rich food and pastries. What broke up the two buff bodies in the first place was Serena's inability to commit and her refusal to compromise her successful career. Serena, who was sexually molested by all the male members of her family, has had a tough emotional row to hoe. As has Misha's family. They suffered many hardships in Russia, before immigrating to Manhattan, yet they have always been very loving and supportive of their gifted son. Still, while the faithful Vera waits for Misha to give up his philandering—his mother tells her that Misha has always had trouble keeping his zipper up—the dark-haired beauties go at it like rabbits. In favor of the new romance is Misha's Russian-American agent, who's afraid the clearheaded Vera will twig to the fact that some pretty silly, pretty hairy Russian-American gangsters from Brighton Beach have been sponsoring Misha's career from the beginning. Slowly Misha realizes that Vera, with whom he shares a childand a love of antiques and good food, is still the one for him. Serena, conveniently, will have a fateful encounter with a land mine. Even with the dropping of some upscale labels you won't find in Jackie Collins, a fairly lackluster kitchen-sinker.

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