Fever

Synopsis:
Rory's once promising ballet career was destroyed by family tragedy and illness. She turned her life around and became a lawyer. Now at the start of her legal career, she lacks passion in her work and self-confidence in her abilities. But when she meets gorgeous, mysterious Russian ballroom dancer, Sasha, at a firm holiday party, her passions for life and dance are immediately re-kindled.

Since being torn from his Siberian family as a child, Sasha's life ambition has been to be world ballroom champion, a path he was destined for until his former partner pulled the plug on their partnership. She went on to win the world title, leaving him, without a partner equal in ability, forever in second place. The instant he lays eyes on Rory, he recognizes the depth of her passion and talent, and falls hard for her in more ways than one.

But she also reminds him of great pain from his past. He must not only overcome his own demons but convince her to leave her demanding law career, and all that she has worked for in her adult life, to train with him full-time in order for their partnership – both on and off the dance floor – to work.

My thoughts:
This book opens Rory watching a two professional Latin ballroom dance partners perform while at a party being thrown by law firm her boyfriend, James, works for. The description the author gives of the dance is perfection. It's sexy, vivid, worded beautifully, and I could see the performance play in my head. I have never read anything described so beautifully. The book continues to both impress me, and hold my interest, until about 35% percent the into the book. Then it is just dance class, after dance class,after dance class. It reads like an instruction manual for dancing. I don't need to know the details to every class Rory attends. I don't need to know where her arms and feet are placed every second of every practice dance. This became repetitive, and (I am sorry) obnoxious. I could rip out out groups of pages from this book and a new reader would lose nothing of importance to the story. I almost didn't review this because it sickens me to give a book that gave me one of the most beautiful things I have ever read, 2 stars. I wish I could rip this in half and give it two separate ratings. 5 amazing stars for the beginning, 1 star for the rest. This needs to be majorly trimmed down. Oh, the author thanks her editor in the dedication. Huh?!? This was edited? It was definitely proofread, but edited? No! Maybe it needs an deleter. Is there such a profession? If there isn't, there needs to be. There is just too many filler scenes in this book. That being said, this is a book with no story. In my opinion, only about 150 pages of what I read had any substance to them at all, and that's being generous. This is 416 pages long! The story went nowhere, AND IT'S A CLIFFHANGER! What we are hanging on for, I have no idea. This is all I know: Girl loved ballet when younger. Girl's family stops her from dancing. Girl becomes lawyer. Girl falls in instant love with man she saw dance. Girl is not a good lawyer. Girl goes to dance class, dance class, etc.. Girl's boyfriend is a cheating douchebag. Dance class, dance class. Girl moves out. Dance class, dance class. Blah blah blah blah blllaaahhh blah blah.

On to the character development. Rory's character, in the beginning, was very well thought out. I liked her. Then, when she should be blossoming, the author focuses on dance moves and lets the character development to go to crap. I do know she can't get her hips, or posture perfect during dancing. The author informed me of this over, and over, and over.

This is supposed to be romance. Romance? Where? There is a bizarre, obsessive, school girl like crush, but no romance. Not even a steamy feel-up. When I think of Latin ballroom dancing, I expect sexy and erotic. I have read children's books with more romantic development than this book has.

I recommend the beginning of this book, but not the the rest.

I won this book in a giveaway.