Author: Helena Newbury
Age Group: New Adult
Release Date: 25th June 2013
Publishers: Foster and Black
Available from: Amazon
Source: Own purchase
Natasha is one of the most promising ballet dancers at the
prestigious Fenbrook Academy of Performing Arts and she’s just landed a
life-changing audition. But no one knows the guilt she carries...or the damage
it makes her inflict on herself when she’s alone.
Darrell is a multi-millionaire designer at 25. But past traumas
have pushed him into isolation and the intense pressure of his work has brought
him to the edge of burnout. Seeking inspiration, he sees Natasha dance and
hires her as his muse.
As she dances for him, the two become entwined in a passionate
but troubled relationship. He starts to see the pain inside her and helps her
gradually lower her defences...but Darrell has demons of his own. Can two
broken people save each other? Or will the darkness they’re hiding consume them
both?
_________
I bought Dance For Me after I received an email from Amazon
telling me about similar books to Kylie Scott’s Lick. I read the excerpt first
and enjoyed it, the brief glimpse into the story making my finger 1-Click
trigger happy. Plus it was only .99c. I am not a dancer in any way, shape or
form, but I like watching dance movies and reading books about dancers. This
way I can live through them and experience what it would be like to have any
form of coordination.
Dance For Me is a New Adult contemporary romance and it drew me
in from the first page. I’m not a big fan of contemporary books, but I have
been trying to include more in my TBR. This one certainly did not disappoint! I
was absolutely enchanted by the story. I know nothing about ballet but it didn’t
distract me from the book at all. I could swear the author was a dancer from
the exquisite way she describes each dance scene. Her writing is flawless. If
she’s not, then she must have done some extreme research.
Natasha and Darrell are both broken and cast adrift in life.
They’re both hiding secrets from their pasts, and just existing. They don’t
live, instead throwing themselves into their passions. Natasha is a prodigious
dancer at Fenbrook and Darrell is millionaire designer. I love how their relationship
progresses throughout the book, it’s quite explosive in the start and I was
constantly wondering how the author would develop the lustful beginning and
turn it in to a burgeoning relationship. It is full of so much emotion and angst,
I felt wrung out by the end of it. The demons that Natasha and Darrell hide
from each other begin to surface and you get see how strong these two are on
their own, but also how much stronger they could be as a couple. Love turns to
hate, and my heart broke along with them. I had to wonder if their stubbornness
and the walls they’d built around themselves would ever be broken. Can two damaged
people heal each other or will they let the darkness devour them?
The character development of Natasha and Darrell flows through
one point of view to the next smoothly, giving insight into each of them
without feeling like you’ve been jolted from the story. Dance For Me is
beautiful, ugly and so engrossing you won’t be able to put it down. Helena
Newbury is definitely a talent to watch out for.
4.5/5
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