Guarding His Melody by Victoria Sue

Narrated by Iggy Toma

Victoria Sue’s Enhanced World series features a group of characters with special abilities known as (surprise, surprise!) the Enhanced. Most of the books in the series centre around a specially created Florida-based FBI unit that partners an Enhanced with a regular human, but Guarding His Melody (book four) is an offshoot of the main series which means it’s perfectly possible to listen to it as a standalone. The author does a good job of making it possible for new listeners to jump in here, giving all the necessary backstory without info-dumping, but for the purposes of this review, here’s a quick rundown. The Enhanced are humans who, in childhood or adolescence, suddenly develop special abilities, which range from super strength to the ability to become invisible, walk through walls, destroy metal, x-ray vision … it’s a long list and there’s no way of knowing beforehand who will transform, let alone what their powers might be. The only things all Enhanced have in common are 1) an identifying facial mark or scar which appears literally overnight when they undergo their transformation; 2) when they transform, their parents are given the choice to keep them in their households or send them away – a disturbing number take the latter option; 3) they are feared and viewed with suspicion, distrust and even hatred by the ‘normal’ public, and 4) they don’t have the same rights as everyone else.

Heir to a fortune in electronics manufacturing, Sebastian Armitage has been profoundly deaf since the age of three as the result of a childhood illness. A talented musician from a very young age, Sebastian was able to continue his musical studies after he lost his hearing, and had the prospect of a glittering career ahead of him until he transformed when he was twelve, but he doesn’t appear to have developed any special abilities. Now, aged twenty, he’s all but a recluse, rarely leaving home unless it’s to attend his music lessons or the medical treatments and tests arranged by his father, who is determined to find a way for Sebastian to hear again.

Grayson Darling – Gray – is ex-military and now works for a small but elite security company based in Atlanta, and he’s not happy when he’s told that his next job is to work protection detail for “some snot-nosed rich kid”. But on learning that Sebastian Armitage’s music teacher was attacked and badly beaten, that his previous bodyguard appears to have committed suicide less than a week earlier, and that Quinn Armitage fears for his son’s safety – Gray has to admit that maybe there is cause for concern, and agrees to take the job.

When Gray arrives at the Armitage home, it doesn’t take him very long to figure out that something isn’t right. The security at the house is incredibly lax for one thing, and for another Sebastian – Seb – appears to be quite unwell. He hardly eats or drinks; he suffers debilitating vertigo attacks, especially after undergoing the frequent medical procedures his father insists upon, and Gray decides to make it his business to help Seb to learn to look after himself better as well as to protect him from whatever danger he may face.

Guarding His Melody is a pretty standard protector/protectee romance, but I enjoyed the gentle, subtle way the relationship between Gray and Seb develops, first as a genuine friendship and then becoming something more. The pacing is fairly slow, but that makes sense considering that Seb has to learn to trust Gray and to realise he has his (Seb’s) best interests at heart in a way that nobody else in his life ever has. And slow doesn’t equal dull in this case, especially when it begins to dawn on Gray that the numerous surgeries and tests and treatments Seb has undergone over the years have not been to benefit him at all – and that he’s being used as a guinea pig for some potentially dangerous research. (Not a spoiler – it’s in the blurb).

I liked both characters individually, although I found their romantic chemistry a bit lukewarm and I almost preferred them as very dear friends than as romantic partners. There’s a large age gap (Seb is twenty and Gray is thirty-seven), and although I generally enjoy age gap romances, there were times Seb came off as even younger – mostly at the beginning of the book – which made things feel a bit… weird. When Gray first meets him, Seb is like a wounded animal and almost helpless, so Gray is initially more a caregiver than anything else; but fortunately, as their friendship develops and Gray’s care of Seb helps him to become stronger in body and spirit, things between them start to even out, until they reach a point where Seb is able to be there for Gray and to show him that he doesn’t have to go it alone any more.

I’m always drawn to musician characters, so I was predisposed to like Seb, a gifted pianist and composer. Gray is your typical wounded hero-who-is-struggling-with- guilt-over-events-in-his-past, but I really liked the way he so quickly saw what needed doing for Seb – whether it was getting him to eat right, or properly securing his home – and just got on and did it. The way they come to understand and take care of each other is easily one of the best things about this story.

The first three books in this series are performed by Nick J. Russo (they were produced a few years ago by a different audio publisher), but Iggy Toma is at the microphone for this one, and as he’s also one of my favourite narrators, I’m certainly not complaining! As I’ve come to expect of him, he does a great job, creating easily distinguishable character voices and highlighting the strong emotional connection between the two leads. Gray’s voice is deep and gravelly, but there’s an underlying kindness and gentleness in his interactions with Seb, and a real sense of frustration he tries to keep under wraps when he starts to realise the truth. The higher pitched, softer tone Mr. Toma uses for Seb works well to describe his youth and insecurities, but there’s an undercurrent of strength which begins to emerge as Seb starts to realise that he doesn’t have to struggle on alone. The secondary cast is nicely rounded-out, too, with clear vocalisations that are easy to tell apart in character conversation.

While Guarding His Melody is nothing I haven’t read or listened to before, I enjoyed the story and the world-building, and Iggy Toma’s gorgeous voice and expressive performance kept me engaged throughout.

Caz

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