Pas de Don’t- Review
Pas de Don’t
By Chloe Angyal
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Publication Date: May 2,2023
Source: Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4 Stars
Description:
Heather Hays finally has everything she’s worked for—she was promoted principal dancer and is engaged to her forever crush, ballet royalty Jack Andersen. But after Jack is caught cheating, Heather’s near-perfect life comes crashing down. Determined to prove that she rose to the top on her own merits, she accepts a guest position from the only company that will hire her without Jack: the Australian National Ballet.
There she meets Marcus Campbell, who has had the most hellish year imaginable. When he shredded his Achilles tendon onstage, he lost every chance of his dad seeing him perform before he passed away. Marcus has spent the months since in physical therapy, worrying he’ll be too old to dance by the time he’s fully recovered. Now he’s supposed to play tour guide for the company’s new arrival.
But as they tour Sydney together, Heather and Marcus discover an immediate mutual attraction—one they absolutely cannot act on. ANB has a strict no-dating policy, and even a hint of romance could cost them both their jobs.
Still, Heather has followed the rules her whole life . . . maybe it’s time to break one.
Review:
This is a solid 4 star read. I was intrigued by the characters and the story and did not want to put the book down. I’ll admit to not being a ballet fan but I found the ballet storyline to be easy to read and follow along. There’s definitively a forbidden attraction element to this book that drives the story and ramps up the heat. Heather leaves her ballet career in NYC behind for a month in Australia after a disastrous breakup with a coworker. Arriving in Australia, she is shown around by Marcus, a ballet dancer currently recovering from an injury. An attraction to another coworker is the last thing Heather wants and especially now, when her new studio has a strict no coworker relationship policy, known as Pas de Don’t. However, the more time Heather and Marcus spend together, and the more Heather heals and realize how different Marcus is from her ex, the harder it is to fight that attraction. Marcus is also healing, physically from his injury and emotionally from the loss of his dad. Both characters are at emotional points in their lives and that makes for an intriguing story. In addition, Pas de Deux addresses serious issues in the ballet world and out, like gender, workplace relationships, and harassment. There is a contrast between NYB that protects her ex and ANB that is more progressive towards the dancers but is perhaps taking it too far with Pas de Don’t. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’ll be keeping an eye out for Chloe Angyal’s future books!
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