Pas de Don't

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.

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
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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.