Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: A Dance Too Far

AUTHOR: H.L Day

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 245 Pages

RELEASE DATE: February 17, 2019

BLURB:

Love can be dangerous!
Valentin Bychkov, rising star of contemporary Russian ballet, appears to have everything: wealth, talent, success, and a face and body to match. Not that anyone can get close. Bypass the entourage and there’s still Valentin’s sharp tongue and acerbic wit to deal with. He may give his body freely, but his emotions are kept tightly locked away.
Max Farley’s life is a simple one. All he’s interested in is work, drinking, and picking up the latest in a long line of one-night stands. The way he chooses to live may not be to everyone’s taste but it suits him down to the ground. He’s never met anyone who’s made him want to confront the demons from his past. Until now.
A show in London brings the two together. Lust brings them closer still. But if rumors of Bratva connections turn out to be true, then dangerous men wait in the wings. One dangerous man in particular, who’s used to people following his orders without question.
Difficult choices need to be made on both sides. Valentin and Max need to stop playing with fire and let each other go, or face the consequences. But letting go isn’t that easy where love is concerned.
And some things are worth the risk.
Warning: This book contains a snarky ballet dancer with an aversion to clothes, a little too much wall sex and an overabundance of Russian heavies.

REVIEW:

Firstly, that cover is EVERYTHING. I love that the author actually used a description of this image the first time Valentin makes an appearance on page.

Secondly, I have no idea how to pronounce Russian names, but in my head Valentin’s surname was said Bitch-kov, and it suited him perfectly!

Valentin is my very favourite kind of character. An uber talented diva with a superiority complex a mile wide who refuses to be seen without his makeup. Yet beneath all of the flash and snark, he’s a lonely, struggling and scared young man. The author has created him as a tough, resilient character, but even the toughest characters need help sometimes.

That help comes in the form of Max Farley, but rather than riding in on his white horse and rescuing our dancing diva from the mobster who owns him, Max simply provides Valentin with the motivation and strength he needs to save himself. I appreciated that the author had it play out that way, because Valentin was the sort of character who needed to feel equal in a relationship, he needed to have that control. I think I would’ve doubted the longevity of their HEA if he’d been a passive participant in his liberation. Phew, that was all my words of the day in one sentence!

I loved the ballet elements; I always enjoy a story that includes a skill I know nothing about. But there was nothing glamorous about this story, it was more one of those “behind the scene” experiences that shows the nitty gritty behind the art. This story was even more than that, because of the inclusion of Bratva mobsters. There wasn’t anything very “nice” about this story. I absolutely loved it, but the author kept me on edge throughout the majority of this book. The Bratva was such an unpredictable component that I was always scared about what was going to happen next. And while it wasn’t overly angsty I’ll admit that this was the first book that made me cry in quite a while. At times Valentin and Max’s relationship seemed doomed to fail, and it was only the fact that I knew this was a romance that didn’t have me flicking forward to the ending to discover if they made it.

I’m really hopeful that the author decides to write another book with some of these characters. Maybe the Bratva muscle who seem to secretly have a conscious. Or another dancer? I’d be in line to read anything that might come next.

RATING: 

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