Dance For Me (Fenbrook Academy, #1)

by Helena Newbury

[Angie]

Dance For Me was a lot darker, but also a lot better than I had anticipated! It opens up with Natasha cutting. She feels like her world is off balance, and it's the one thing that steadies her. She's very careful about it though: alcohol wipes, fresh blades each time, bandages, and high up enough on her thigh that no one can see. She's on her way to her biggest dance audition, and she's feeling confident now that she's calm. But then, Darrell comes barging into the audition and throws her off. She doesn't get the part, but Darrell makes her an offer that's hard to refuse.

I actually loved Dance For Me once Darrell was introduced. He's a mad scientist! Well, he's an engineer who gets so focused on his work that he looses track of time. He spends more time in his underground workshop than in his plush mansion. It's his latest project that brings him to Natasha. He can't get it to do what he wants, but then he sees a woman dancing on TV and is enrapture by her movements. So Darrell tracks down the soonest ballet audition to find a muse. I loved how he looked at dance scientifically. His problems involves aerodynamics, so watching how a ballerina moves in the air makes total sense.

I also really liked how Natasha didn't just show up at his place. He could be a total psycho! I mean, he's offering to her $500 an hour to dance for him! Luckily, she has friends who look him up, and decide he seems legit. But even still, one of them goes with her just in case. That is smart! Of course, Darrell isn't a serial killer, so Natasha was fine. But he does have his own demons which drive him into throwing himself into his work. He does realize that what he's doing is wrong, but at that point, he couldn't help it.

Yes, this is one of those stories about damaged people coming together and "fixing" each other, and I adored it! Dance For Me is definitely one of the better ones. I believed Natasha and Darrell fully! Things have happened to them, and they can't let go. They're coping in ways that they think are helping, even though they know they aren't really helping. It was kind of heartbreaking, but I loved watching them come together and give the other what they really needed.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.