Review for Dancing On Air by Nicole Hurley-Moore!!

 

TITLE– Dancing on Air  

AUTHOR– Nicole Hurley-Moore  

GENRE– Historical Romance  

PUBLICATION DATE – 1st November 2013  

LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 182 pages  

PUBLISHER – Escape Publishing – Harlequin Enterprises

 

Book Blurb/Synopsis – Cinderella meets Swan Lake in a cross-class, Victorian novel about a ballerina, an aristocrat, and the space in between them.

Lisette yearns for freedom, security and love, but none are offered on the run-down stage of The Imperial Theatre. Instead she has hard work, a tyrannical aunt, and the hope of one day becoming a prima ballerina. Dancing on the stage she catches the attention of two powerful men: Lord Gainswith and Lord De Vale.

Lord Evander Gainswith never expected to fall in love, let alone with a woman so wholly unacceptable to his family and his peers. The sinister Lord De Vale covets Lisette's youth and strength, and is willing to pay well for it. Lisette may dance roles in fairy tales and fantasies, but the real world is about to intrude, bringing with it the harsh realities of life for a young girl with dreams of rising above the demimonde.

MY REVIEW

I've always loved historical romances!!  This one was no different!  Also, it helped that it was set in my favorite time period!!  Nineteenth Century London!!!  Makes me sigh just thinking about it...

The only time Lisette feels free is when she's on stage dancing.  Her aunt Marie Devore is hellbent on making her a prima ballerina, and will stop at nothing to get her there.  She has plans for Lisette, and none of them are good.  The one thing Lisette has longed for is someone who will love her.  She's never felt love from her aunt, but she's grown to know the people at The Imperial Theatre as her only family, since her mother's death.  

When she sees Evander Gainswith at a restaurant, she's infatuated.  She knows it's impossible to start anything with this man, because her aunt would forbid it.  Evander is smitten, and once he finds out she's a ballerina, he sets out to make it known he wants to get to know her.  

Against her reservations, Lisette allows Evander to woo her.  What she doesn't know is there is someone else who wants her attentions as well, and it isn't good.  She finds out some troubling revalations about her aunt as well, which make her realize she really needs to get away from her.  Her aunt is a horrible woman, who believes Lisette being the prima ballerina will be her meal ticket.  Too bad that isn't what Lisette wants.

She wants Evander, and when he tells her what he wants of their future, is isn't what Lisette expects.  She's heartbroken, and decides that she needs to stay true to herself.  

I really loved this book, and I loved getting lost in it!  I loved Lisette, who you believe is a push-over at first because of her aunt, but her strength comes out.  When the time comes she's ready to fight for what she wants.  

Her aunt.... what a horrible woman!  She's bitter and angry, and only thinks of Lisette as a way to get a better life.  The things she has done in her life are despicable, and the farther away Lisette can get from her, the better.  

Evander, although he does screw things up with Lisette, he makes it his mission to make up to her.  He loves her, and wants no one but her.  He will stop at nothing to protect her.

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London, 1884

Lisette was weightless as she leapt into a grand jeté across the stage. She was free and in that moment her heart soared past the walls of the Imperial Theatre. She landed lightly and began the fouetté en tournant, whipping her leg from fourth position to behind her knee; she created impetus to spin on pointe. After the eight revolutions, she planted her feet and lifted her hand in the air, stopping in front of her aunt. There was a slight wobble in her legs and she tried not to wince. Fixing a smile on her face, she prayed that her aunt had not noticed. Lisette had wanted perfection but had fallen short.
A trickle of sweat slid its way down the middle of her back. Her heart beat rapidly and she tried to catch her breath as her aunt stepped forward.
Marie Devoré regarded her niece for a second. Her eyes bore into Lisette’s before she raised her hand and slapped her across the face.
Lisette’s head jerked to the side as the burning sting radiated over her cheek.
‘What was that? A farce...? A comedy, perhaps?’
‘No, Aunt Marie, I am sorry that I wobbled,’ she said as she looked at the well‐worn wooden floor and resisted the urge to cradle her cheek.
‘When you finish, the movement must be sleek, clean and set in stone, without any trace of a tremble.’
‘Yes, Aunt.’
‘Go, out of my sight. Prepare the costumes for tonight’s performance,’ Marie said with a wave of her thin hand. ‘You will practice again tomorrow. Without the wobble.’
Lisette bowed her head before running off into the wings of the stage. She ran as fast as she could past the burgundy velvet curtains, beneath the scenery fly and the rigging, down the narrow flight of stairs that ran beneath the stage, until she was in the cool and narrow corridor, which led deeper into the bowels of the theatre. Her cheek burned but it was the sting of failure that hurt all the more.

 

 

Nicole has always been a lover of fairy tales, history and romance. She grew up in Melbourne and has travelled extensively, whilst living her life through the romance of books. Her first passion in life has always been her family, but after studying and achieving a History degree and Honours in Medieval Literature, she devoted her time to writing historical romance.

She is a full time writer who lives in the Central Highlands of Victoria with her family, where they live in the peaceful surrounds of a semi‐rural town.

           

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