NA CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Helena Newbury is offering an EXCLUSIVE $50 giveaway ONLY for New Adult Addiction readers! Your chances of winning just got easier people! Enter below!
ABOUT THE BOOK
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 defenses…but Darrell has demons of his own. Can two broken people save each other? Or will the darkness they’re hiding consume them both?
This New Adult Romance is recommended for 17+ due to mature themes, sexual situations and language.
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EXCERPT
I swallowed. I meant to say, We should talk about the kiss, but what came out was “What would you like me to dance?”
He hesitated, as if he, too, wanted to say something different. But what he said was, “Something with lots of aerial work, if you can.”
This is crazy! We can’t just ignore it! But I nodded and started to get changed. And immediately, it was different. Yesterday, I’d been unsure if he liked me. Today I knew he did, and he knew I knew.
I started to peel off my sweater…and stopped halfway, with it just beneath my breasts. I’d locked eyes with him, and my heart was suddenly thumping. I have a leotard on, I have a leotard on.
I pulled it the rest of the way off. His eyes didn’t leave me once.
I kicked off my sneakers and unfastened my jeans. My legs emerged from the denim, soft whispers of nylon against the cloth. I saw him swallow.
I had to sit to put on my pointe shoes. As he stood there watching me, eyes eating up my every move, I was aware of how quiet it was. Just the two of us, in that huge underground room with no traffic noise, no birdsong, no nothing. Just the sound of our breathing and the creak of silk and leather as I wound and tied.
He passed me the phone again and I found the music I wanted. I should have been thinking about the steps—it was tougher choreography than last time—but I kept thinking about his lips, and the way his hands had felt on my face. Why didn’t he want to talk about it? Had it all been a mistake, or did he just not know where to take this next?
The music started.
The dance began with a pas de chat, a quick little jump before I got to the big stuff. I flowed through the next few steps, then pushed off into the first of a series of grand jetés that took me most of the way across the stage—exactly the kind of aerial work he’d asked for. A pirouette and a piqué and I was moving directly towards him, relishing the glorious moment of weightlessness as I soared in another grand jeté, and another and another. On the final one, I landed only a foot clear of the edge of the stage. I’d have to be careful, when it came time to repeat that section.
A glissade took me back to the center of the stage and then a simple pirouette let me move into a fouetté, my leg whipping out to the side to power my turn. I heard a tiny intake of breath from him, as if I’d done something important. I turned again, again, trying to find a spot on the wall to focus on so I wouldn’t get dizzy, but it was difficult in such an unfamiliar environment. The adrenaline was pumping now, the simple pleasure of dancing and the feel of his eyes on me combining to make me heady and careless. I came out of the final fouetté and launched into the first of three grand jetés that would take me towards him.
One, and I soared like a bird, one leg forward and one back, the rush of air delicious over my heated limbs.
Two, and something was wrong, but I couldn’t see what it was. My feet were already preparing for the brief kiss of the stage, my muscles ready to push me back up for the final jump.
Three, and as soon as I took off I saw the danger, but it was too late to stop.
I was going to miss the stage. I was going to land not at stage level, but three feet further down. And instead of landing on springy wood, my legs were going to smash and shatter against cold concrete.
I let out a silent scream—
His hands caught me around the waist. My momentum swung me down, my feet sweeping an inch from the floor. He bent with me, then swung me back up and this time hooked an arm under my knees. And then I was in his arms, both of us panting.
The fear soaked through me—that aftershock of realizing how close you came. He held me as the chill passed. And then the feeling of his arms, strong under my knees and back, started to warm me again. I felt so…safe. Like he could hold me there forever, if I needed it.
I looked up into his eyes….
I stepped onto the stage and looked down at him. It was strange, being taller than him for once, and I drank in every little detail. The thick, soft hair on the top of his head that I still hadn’t run my fingers through. The way he managed to look so young, looking up at me with those big eyes, and yet so powerful, the muscles of his arms stretching the sleeves of his t-shirt.
I swallowed. I meant to say, We should talk about the kiss, but what came out was “What would you like me to dance?”
He hesitated, as if he, too, wanted to say something different. But what he said was, “Something with lots of aerial work, if you can.”
This is crazy! We can’t just ignore it! But I nodded and started to get changed. And immediately, it was different. Yesterday, I’d been unsure if he liked me. Today I knew he did, and he knew I knew.
I started to peel off my sweater…and stopped halfway, with it just beneath my breasts. I’d locked eyes with him, and my heart was suddenly thumping. I have a leotard on, I have a leotard on.
I pulled it the rest of the way off. His eyes didn’t leave me once.
I kicked off my sneakers and unfastened my jeans. My legs emerged from the denim, soft whispers of nylon against the cloth. I saw him swallow.
I had to sit to put on my pointe shoes. As he stood there watching me, eyes eating up my every move, I was aware of how quiet it was. Just the two of us, in that huge underground room with no traffic noise, no birdsong, no nothing. Just the sound of our breathing and the creak of silk and leather as I wound and tied.
He passed me the phone again and I found the music I wanted. I should have been thinking about the steps—it was tougher choreography than last time—but I kept thinking about his lips, and the way his hands had felt on my face. Why didn’t he want to talk about it? Had it all been a mistake, or did he just not know where to take this next?
The music started.
The dance began with a pas de chat, a quick little jump before I got to the big stuff. I flowed through the next few steps, then pushed off into the first of a series of grand jetés that took me most of the way across the stage—exactly the kind of aerial work he’d asked for. A pirouette and a piqué and I was moving directly towards him, relishing the glorious moment of weightlessness as I soared in another grand jeté, and another and another. On the final one, I landed only a foot clear of the edge of the stage. I’d have to be careful, when it came time to repeat that section.
A glissade took me back to the center of the stage and then a simple pirouette let me move into a fouetté, my leg whipping out to the side to power my turn. I heard a tiny intake of breath from him, as if I’d done something important. I turned again, again, trying to find a spot on the wall to focus on so I wouldn’t get dizzy, but it was difficult in such an unfamiliar environment. The adrenaline was pumping now, the simple pleasure of dancing and the feel of his eyes on me combining to make me heady and careless. I came out of the final fouetté and launched into the first of three grand jetés that would take me towards him.
One, and I soared like a bird, one leg forward and one back, the rush of air delicious over my heated limbs.
Two, and something was wrong, but I couldn’t see what it was. My feet were already preparing for the brief kiss of the stage, my muscles ready to push me back up for the final jump.
Three, and as soon as I took off I saw the danger, but it was too late to stop.
I was going to miss the stage. I was going to land not at stage level, but three feet further down. And instead of landing on springy wood, my legs were going to smash and shatter against cold concrete.
I let out a silent scream—
His hands caught me around the waist. My momentum swung me down, my feet sweeping an inch from the floor. He bent with me, then swung me back up and this time hooked an arm under my knees. And then I was in his arms, both of us panting.
The fear soaked through me—that aftershock of realizing how close you came. He held me as the chill passed. And then the feeling of his arms, strong under my knees and back, started to warm me again. I felt so…safe. Like he could hold me there forever, if I needed it.
I looked up into his eyes….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’m a New Adult Romance author who loves writing about what happens when love and dreams collide with the real world. I wrote my first novel, Dance for Me, in daily chunks in a very busy, very noisy coffee shop, which meant I had to order a black Americano every hour, on the hour, to keep my seat and wound up wired on caffeine most days. Unlike my characters, I can’t dance.
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Renata S
I love dancing (though has been such a while I don’t go anywhere to dance…). Any 70’s song is great for me – and I love ABBA.
resassi.bkp[at]gmail[dot]com
Diana
Anything by Bruno Mars. I love his songs. Thank you for the giveaways!
Demitra G
adgiote at hotmail dot com
Helena Newbury
Great choices! 😀
Kait
I love dancing to pretty much anything upbeat, especially when I’m cleaning!
kaitlin187 at yahoo dot com
meryvamp
I love dancing to pop music. Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Usher, Jennifer Lopez… the list goes on.
Thanks so much for the giveaway!
mearles1982(at)hotmail(dot)com
Renald
I like, “Good girl, you know you want it”. It’s a new song, I can’t think of the singer’s name.
r.d1@myfairpoint.net
Mary
I enjoy dancing to anything upbeat. Can’t say that I have a favourite song that I like to dance to.
Heather Nor
My fav song would be a slow song my hubby and I can slow dance too.. ’cause that’s about the only dancing we can do!
Diana Doan
I like dancing to hip hop, but I kind of want to learn ballroom. Completely different, I know, haha.
WinterFaerie
Anything with a good beat! Lil Jon will get me going! lol But I like all kinds of music.
Danielle @ Ladybug Literature
Anything with a good beat. But ABSOLUTELY no Rap. I just… no.
victor burge
who wants to know what the most visited sites is Selfies Naked in the world.
Selfies Naked
skyekiloh
There are a number of songs I like to dance to. Also depends how I feel like dancing I guess. SuperChick and 3oh!3 music I find dancible XD.
rubyswan
BRAZILIAN MUSICAAAAAAA! thanQ!!
Melissa Bragg
Right now that song would be Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore.
kellyr78
I like dancing to Disco, like the Bee Gees.
kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom
Helena Newbury
Oh, man, I go crazy for some Lady Gaga – good call! 😀
Marissa A
Hmm well I have a lot but lately it has been “I Love It” by: Icona Pop
butterflypetals7(at)gmail(dot)com
Tina Kohrman
I love to dance to some hip hop and to some Lady Gaga and just anything that has a good beat that you can dance to.
Denise
I don’t have any specific songs in mind. I listen to soma.fm when I’m on my computer and anymore it’s stuck to their Dubstep channel. Every so often something really good plays and I have to stand up and dance.
Christine
I can always dance to Yeah! by Usher–classic
teenysez at gmail dot com
magic5905
Thrift Store by Macklemore. Love it!!
Isis Erb
I can’t claim just one favorite… I’m a reformed club kid/raver from when it was in its very early days / infancy. And before that I worked at bars with live music and with DJs, so I loved to dance to pretty much anything (other than speed metal, or even heavy metal [though I like some heavy metal, it isn’t really made for dancing])…. Ska is fun if you’re in the mood, but then so is opera, or techno… Sorry – can’t call it!
Mimi Smith
The Time of My Life
veRONIca
I love all dance music especially Enrique Iglesias and Katy Perry and Pitbull and well this list could go on and on
Tia Dalley
Cupid Shuffle
Melanie Montgomery
Anything by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
miss fifi
Fireworks by katy perry :3
Deb Liu
Unchained Melody.
Di
anything with a good beat can get my toes tapping – Pink is a favorite
Omima
Sandstorm by Darude is my fave song to dance to.
Jezzy Muels
I love dancing to anything from Shakira. Don’t have just one favorite! Thanks for the giveaway.
amethyst1920@yahoo.com
Jezzy Muels
I love dancing to anything by Shakira. Picking 1 favorite is just too hard
Thanks for the giveaway, good luck everyone!
amethyst1920@yahoo.com
Omima
Who won the $50 Amazon card?
J. Anne Huss
I’m not sure – that contest was with the author. Sometimes it takes a few days (sometimes it takes me a week) to actually get around to announce winners but if there’s no winner by Friday I’ll email her.
Millionaire Nextdoor
I am in with the thoughts proposed by this post. Although, many times my personal experience has been the same as this. Thank you, Mr. Krider