Celebrate Lit / February 5, 2025

The Maestro’s Missing Melody

About the Book The Maestro’s Missing Melody

Book: The Maestro’s Missing Melody

Author: Amy Walsh

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release date: September 13, 2024

She was thrilled to apprentice with her fiddler hero—until she got to know him. He regretted his decision to play teacher to college kids—until he got to know her.

For aspiring musician and college student McKay Moonlight, winning a summer internship with Scottish master fiddler Huntley Milne was a dream come true. When a last-minute change moved the internship program from the Scottish Highlands of her ancestors to a village she’d never heard of along the River Deben, McKay was determined to make the best of it. However, she didn’t expect to make such a terrible first impression on her summer mentor.

Hosting a bunch of college students was the last thing Maestro Huntley Milne needed. He was already up to his ears in problems, with Aunt BeeBee being placed in a care home, resulting in him having emergency custody of his tween nephew and niece. Then he met McKay Moonlight, and the chaos really began.

The Maestro’s Missing Melody is a charming story featuring endearingly eccentric characters, a treasure hunt caper through the nooks and crannies of a mansion, and genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Sunshine and thunderclouds attract in this delightful age-gap Christian romantic comedy from Amy Walsh.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on The Maestro’s Missing Melody

The Maestro’s Missing Melody is a wonderful romantic comedy full of fun and great characters plus some romance in the offing.

I am such a fan of the fiddle. My great-grandpa was a fiddler. He was also left-handed and made his own fiddle. I love good family stories like that. Someday I dream of teaching myself to play the fiddle. But I’m tone deaf and everyone tells me I won’t be able to play.

Thankfully Hudley and McKay aren’t tone deaf. I love their interactions. Hudley isn’t sure why he agreed to take on this student. McKay is 14 years younger but oh the fun and sparks that keep flying. She expects them to train in one location but nope because Hudley has to go to his aunt’s estate because she’s been put in the care home for health reasons. Oh and not only does he need to take on the monstrosity of a house, but he also takes on the twins that she adopted and is caring for.

Those twins! My gran was named Dora but people called her Dory half the time and so this makes me think of her. She was from England and came to America as a war bride. All the coincidences and feels for me.

This was such a sweet book. There are giggles and sighs plus lots of matchmaking and sparks. You’re going to love it!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of The Maestro’s Missing Melody

Amy Walsh is a 5th-grade teacher who loves teaching children about what she loves to do herself: reading and writing. She enjoys outdoor activities, especially hiking and camping. Amy also appreciates opportunities to share her faith through singing, teaching, and writing for her church family.

Amy and her husband, Patrick, have three children: Bree, Spencer, Liz, and a son-in-law, Kyle. They love to spend time together celebrating special occasions, listening to great music, swimming and kayaking, and having occasional ping pong tournaments.

More from Amy

The Maestro’s Missing Melody Cast of Characters

Maestro Huntley Milne

Regrets committing to host a group of college students, especially when Aunt BeeBee ends up in a care home, forcing him to move into the Milne Monstrosity on Sycamore Street which is about two hours northeast of London. Aunt BeeBee is nagging him to locate the missing Milne stave book, Dory and David are fretting about being put back into foster care, and even his aunt’s cats are high maintenance. Then he meets McKay Moonlight…

McKay Moonlight

She was thrilled when she won the musical apprenticeship at Maestro Huntley Milne’s Highlands Music Center. After all, she had a little crush on him for years after seeing him play at the Rocky Mountain Fiddler Championships. When the apprenticeship is relocated to a tiny town near the Deben River, rather than the Highlands of her ancestors, she takes it in stride. Who would think her travelling mishaps would cause her to be late and forget something very important – ruining her chance to make a good first impression on her summer mentor.

The Milne Monstrosity

It was built by a wealthy plantation owner, who brought his family to England just prior to the American Civil War. This mansion is a hodgepodge of turrets, towers, secret passages, and gables – – and does not fit in with the other homes on Sycamore Street AT ALL. Beatrice Milne has filled the mansion with many colorful and eccentric collections. Other unique features of the Milne property are a tiny guest house which is the exact replica of the Monstrosity, and a stone amphitheater decorated with musical gargoyles within view of the River Deben.

Dory and David

Tween twins who went from foster home to foster home until they were finally adopted by Mama Bee. Dory enjoys riding her bike around her village, learning to play the flute, reading great books – – and finally having a family, even if her adopted mother is much older and let’s say “different” from other parents. David plays the guitar very well, but his real passion is for building gadgets. The twins were content living in the Milne Monstrosity in Eden Cove with Mama Bee encouraging them to explore their interests and grow their talents.

But now, Mama Bee is in a care home and they are stuck with grumpy Uncle Huntley until Mama Bee comes home. That’s IF she ever comes home.

Beatrice Milne, aka Aunt Bee Bee or Mama Bee,

Always had her fingers in so many pies, and those pies were always so splendid, that she seems larger than life to the people of Eden Cove. Now she is a patient of Balmy Bay Residences, the care home she helped refurbish as one of her projects. What’s with her change in personality – and her obsession with Huntley needing to search for the missing Milne stave book?

Arabella and Gerard

They are Aunt Bee Bee’s ginormous cats who have a love/hate relationship with the Maestro. Who knows, maybe they can help with the treasure hunt for the missing stave book…