The chemistry between Carly and Marcus was so powerful you could feel it coming through the pages. This forbidden ballet romance is the romance book you need. I loved this so much!
I just reviewed Pas de Don't by Chloe Angyal. #PasDeDont #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I absolutely loved Turning Point, so when I saw Angyal had a romance novel featuring ballet I nearly snapped my arm off in my race to hit the NetGalley request button. That was a very a good instinct and this book was exactly as amazing as I had hoped.

The insta/forbidden lust trope played out so well here and the chemistry was so well written that as a reader, you 100% believed that the love at first sight was real (even above and beyond the usual reader agreement that "Sure! In a novel? Seems legit!"). The romance was spicy without sensationalism, as in: these characters are so perfect for each other, of course there is a five alarm fire!

The added element of the ballet world, a topic on which Angyal is an expert, turned the whole plot into a delightfully insulated love story. The supporting cast of characters gets well developed and three-dimensional in part due to the short-hand of all living in this microcosm of the art world. The dances, Heather's finding of a supportive sisterhood and Marcus' physical recovery are all fantastic foils for the main narrative. The HEAs come for all the characters in many different ways, but Angyal nails the topical references to the current culture of dance.

I am hoping from the top of my head to the toes of my ballet slippers that we get more books in this series/from this author.

Pas de Don't - absolutely fantastic book!
As the content warnings state, there are relationships that have emotional and verbal abuse and the aftermath of that trauma. The author takes care of these women and they get their just desserts in the end. Be careful with yourself.

Things I am here for:
A strong female lead finding herself again.
A feisty best friend who breaks all the rules.
Ballet
Instant chemistry!
A strong male lead who wants a partner that is exactly herself
Ballet
I hope they both fall into the orchestra pit
Cartwheels
Koalas
Ballet
Truthful descriptions of sleeping outside on the ground as an adult. Oi!
Just desserts!
Ballet!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.5 stars
"Pas De Don't" is an NA romance and Chloe Angyal's fiction debut! Heather Hayes has reached her peak: after a wonderful season of solos, she has been promoted to principal dancer and even more, her long-term, ballet-royalty boyfriend proposed to her on the very same day. However, all good things come to an end and when Heather's bff Carly catches Jack with another dancer, Heather decides to take a sabbatical from her New York company and spend the season with the Australian National Ballet. And what can you expect from down-under except cute animals and cute male dancers... too bad about Australian National Ballet's 'Pas De Don't clause'... the strict no fraternizing clause, because Heather has her eye on her one very attractive tour-guide who happens to be her fellow dancer, Marcus.

Overall, this was a cute story with a good balance of ballet and romance! A fresh setting (Australia) and great characters! Chloe drops a few not-so-subtle subplots in about Me-too and issues in the ballet world, but it isn't overpowering. I read this in one day and look forward to Chloe's future books.
- Balletcore
- Forbidden romance
- Australian setting
- Cinnamon bun MMC
- Cute insta-love
- Ballet ft. Giselle (with symbolism ofc)
- Steamy!
- LGBTQ rep (side characters)

Thank you to the publishers for the gifted e-arc.
Pub Date 02 May 2023 | Chicago Review Press, Amberjack Publishing

This was my first ballet book so it was really great to delve into that world and I really enjoyed quickly looking up the different positions and performances so I fully understood what the characters were talking about. It felt realistic and informative without being too over the top.

The characters felt well fleshed out and flawed, and good chemistry with each other. Third POV has always been my favourite and this was very well done, with both Heather and Marcus having very distinctive narratives. My main problem, however, was the choppiness of POV switching - I found these sometimes were barely separated by a paragraph and sometimes it would take me half a page to realise that the perspective had changed and I was reading it from a different viewpoint. Sometimes this got a bit confusing for me!

The romance was pretty and sweet and really added a lovely element to the story. They had a lovely dynamic (but I do wish they weren't constantly "giggling" - it made them seem a bit younger than they were).

Overall this was a lovely, sweet read that gave me a glimpse into an ultra-competitive athletic world of ballet. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review..

Pas de Don't is about Heather Hayes, a NYC principal ballerina who goes to Australia to be a visiting artist after a bad breakup with her fiancé, also a principal dancer in the same NYC company. There, she meets Marcus Campbell, who is recovering from a dance related injury and the death of his father. Bet you can't guess what happens next! I've never done ballet and don't know much about it, but I thought that the setup and location sounded fun! Now after reading it, I can say that it definitely was that and more!

I had a wonderful time reading this book! I'm not the biggest romance fan so was a little worried that this wouldn't be my cup of tea, but I absolutely loved it! The characters were great, the setting was great, the romance was swoon-worthy, and I had a lot of fun learning about ballet. I loved the integration of other themes in a way that felt genuine to the characters and story. I liked Marcus's recovery arc and Heather's healing from her previous relationship. The side characters were super fun, I would love a spinoff with Carly or Alice! While the beats were similar to a lot of other contemporary romances that I usually find annoying, it felt very new and fresh to me in this book. I read it all in about 24 hours and would have read it in one sitting if I hadn't had to do something dumb like work.

If any of this hasn't piqued your interest, I will just leave here that there is a super cute moment involving koalas. Yes, koalas. Now you have to read it! :)

If any of what I have written sounds at all interesting to you, read this book! You won't regret it! It melted my usually harsh romance heart and is one of my new favorite contemporary romances ever. 5 well-earned stars from me. Thank you to Chicago Review Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book so much! When I heard Chloe Angyal was writing a romance novel that included her expertise and knowledge on the ballet world I knew I had to read it. As a former bun-head myself these experiences rang true, and I think she did an amazing job weaving in critiques of the state of ballet into this romance novel.

The book starts with Heather Hays, a soloist at a NYC ballet company, getting both promoted and proposed to by her principal-dancer boyfriend at the end of a performance. But two months later, her fianceé is revealed to be a serial cheater, and she needs an escape. She takes a guest-artist contract from the Australia National Ballet to escape, and that's where she meets Marcus. Marcus was SUCH a good character. He's also a dancer in the company, though recently injured and recuperating. Marcus is tasked with showing Heather around Sydney, and they confront their growing attraction to each other which is at odds with their company's very strict no dating policy ("Pas de don't").

One of the things I was most impressed with in this book was how fleshed out and realistic the characters felt. While this isn't Chloe Angyal's first book, I believe it's her first novel, but the plot and dialogue read so naturally. I really appreciated that while we can see the conflict coming the characters communicate SO well with each other, and it's not a conflict that could be fixed if they just communicated like adults. I also appreciated the way the book dealt with the nuance of the current era. There are understandably some well-intentioned policies to try to prevent harassment and exploitation, but these can also have unintended consequences.

Finally, I loved the romance aspect of this book. It was believable and hot, and I loved that everyone acted like -- and communicated as! -- adults. The characters and relationships read very real to me.

I immediately had to re-read this book because I liked it so much, and I'm sure I'll keep revisiting it in the months to come. I really hope there's a follow-up book in this world! Maybe for Carly? I'd read it immediately if so.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! I can't wait till it's published so I can recommend it to all my friends.