Turning Pointe

District Ballet Company #0.5

by Katherine Locke

Zedekiah Harrow is Alyona Miller's other half—the Z to her A, her rock in the chaotic, competitive world of professional ballet. He's the one person who can talk her anxiety away, the one person she knows will never judge her. That she's starting to think about him as more than a best friend is something new entirely.

Aly is Zed's everything, but their "just friends" label is beginning to chafe. When the company embarks on a month-long European tour, the magic of Amsterdam and a nearly indecent pas de deux routine combine, making their chemistry—both on and off the stage—impossible to ignore.

But just as Aly and Zed begin to see what everyone else already knows, just when they've taken the leap from friends to lovers, the unthinkable happens. And in the blink of an eye, Aly and Zed are tossed back to the beginning…

19,000 words

Genres: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary, Novella, Short Stories, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers

59 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2015

About the author

Katherine Locke lives and writes in a small town outside Philadelphia, where she’s ruled by her feline overlords and her addiction to chai lattes. She writes about that which she cannot do: ballet, magic, and time travel. She secretly believes all stories are fairytales in disguise. Her YA debut, THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON, arrives September 2017 from Albert Whitman & Comapny.

Reviews

[-ya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: Best friend-to-lover

Aly and Zed

The pas de deux
I stepped out onto the stage and offered her my hand, and we turn this pas de deux into something extraordinary. Aly offers me her hand the way she’d throw a match into gasoline. We turn the stage to tinder.

We’re A to Z and everything in between.

This is the first time I heard of this author so I am glad to find out this kindle freebie, a prequel to Second Position which I am very curious about. In the novella, the chemistry between MCs is so palpable, and their dialogue is clever. Beautifully-written.

[Katherine Locke]

Now a free novella on Kindle, Nook, and Google Books. Other retailers to come! Link included! I wrote this! It'll be free on the publisher's website (one chapter going up every weekday until Second Position's release) and hopefully soon as a downloadable novella. You can start your journey here!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

After reading Second Position in April, I just HAD to read the prequel! Let me tell you guys, this book was freaking amazing! I absolutely loved seeing the chemistry between Ally and Zed before the events in Second Position.

This novella was everything I wanted and so much more. It had all of the broken characters from Second Position and it gave a background to exactly WHY they were broken. It showed the relationship between Zed and Ally as well as the stress they underwent as dancers. It was exquisitely written and I didn't want it to end!

I really liked seeing the life Ally and Zed led before Second Position and why they still felt so much stress after leaving dance. The relationships both characters had with other members of their dance company were gorgeous and hilarious. The easy banter between Ally and Zed was just wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time.

Thank you so much for writing this short prequel Ms. Locke because it was perfection!

Overall, Turning Pointe was an amazing prequel novella to Second Position and I ABSOLUTELY NEED Finding Center now!

[〰️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He said, “I love the parts of you that you forget to love.” I’ve loved him for so long that sometimes I forget how to love him. Sometimes I forget why I love him. Loving him is like breathing. It comes naturally. I don’t have to think about it. I never worried, before, about the day when I would not have him to love.”

““I know you hate letting go,” he whispers, his lips brushing against the bridge of my nose. His touch draws everything in me up and toward him until I’m pressed against him and my fingers clutch at his jacket. “But you trust me, right?”
“With my life,” I manage to say.
“Then trust me to catch you,” he pleads, his hand sliding from my waist up to my face. He cups my face with hands that have touched me a million times, but never like this. His thumb runs a path across my cheekbone and I swallow hard. “I’m not asking for anything right now. But trust me to catch you.”
“I trust you.””

“She is gravity. I am always falling back to her.”

“I start to tug the bobby pins from her hair, dropping them on the floor. I want to see my Aly again. The ballet dancer in her is on the same page as me, and right now I need to know the rest of her is too. We are both made of thousands of edges, and ballet is all of our seams. I want to be the stitching that keeps her all together.”

“I am in love with the way his head lifts up, the way his lips part. I am in love with the way he steps toward me, backing me up and against the wall. I am in love with his height, the way he towers above me, and I am in love with his hand, slipping up the side of my neck, holding me steady. Holding me. He smells like whiskey and rain and I am in love for the first time since I found ballet.”

“This is what I want, to feel wanted and loved and vulnerable and seen. Without losing myself. I once thought this was impossible, but in his hands, I am strong and fragile, wanted and wanting, seen and revered.”

“It’s like how we always were, but more. Maybe it was always like this and I never noticed. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Now when I touch her, she’s entirely mine. I always knew I was hers.”

“Ask me for the moon, Aly, I’d give it to you.”

i never do this but this book had SO MANY good quotes i just couldn't not

2 things:

1. the writing in this is mesmerizing
2. that ending was like whiplash but my god did it HURT

[Anna Petruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love 'em.

[Siiri (Little Pieces of Imagination) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am SO surprised by how much I enjoyed this small piece of work? I almost never enjoy novellas that much, esp the ones that are prequels and 60 pages, new characters, new setting etc? Certainly none of them have ever made me tear up. Like.. WOW! The writing is absolutely gorgeous and quite poetic; the characters are A+ and I love the best friends trope! Seeing how things ended, I know the next book will hurt A LOT, especially since I read the preview once before I bought this series on my Kindle. Is it weird that I'm really excited for the angst and pain that Second Position will bring? MAKE IT HURT, I SAY.

[Angela]

26 October 2015: $0.00 FREE on Kindle

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 4 out of 5]

{March 12th, 2016} *SMOOSHES ALY AND ZED TOGETHER FOREVER*

We’re Aly and Zed. We’re A to Z and everything in between.

4.5 stars.

Been curious about Katherine Locke's District Ballet Company series for a while, and I finally managed to grab a taste of it through this free novella, Turning Pointe, and boy it delivers. The story pieces together the events leading up to what happens for the next two novels and shows the relationship of Aly and Zed as they go from best friends and partners to something irrevocably more. Their witty banter is a highlight as well as the interactions with their friends, Sakura and Adrien.

All I can do now is wait until I can get the rest of the series to read.

Hopefully soon.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aly and Zed grab you from the moment you read the first page. They yank you right into their world and it's like finding all the best and most beautiful words dancing together on the page the way only Aly and Zed could. I'm still reeling. My heart is forever with Zaly! I couldn't have asked for a better prequel to Second Position.

[Eric Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent entry pointe (I'm sorry, I'm so sorry) into Locke's awesome series! Definitely pick this up!

[Brigid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this.

[Olga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very promising. But I need more.

[konstantina · Rating 4 out of 5]

if the novella made me this emotional I wonder how I'm gonna survive their book omg you guys OMG

[flavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

the last chapter had me bawling my eyes out

[celene · Rating 5 out of 5]

shut the front door you guys i love them :((

-i love that theyre teenagers and that they act and sound like one wee woo love that for me
-shut up :((( i love how they were clingy to each other even before they were together :((
-consent👏🏻 is👏🏻 the 👏🏻 key 👏🏻
-i love their relationship it’s just uwu :(((,,,, and with adrian and sakura i love it,,, ohmygas they were just so many cute moments with the MCs that my heart just keeps leaping you know and not only with them but with their friends so yes,,, uwu
-i love that when dudes have the heart to heart talk (the one w adrian and zed) #uwu
-best friends to lovers excellence woot woot
-i love that ~specific~ trope that everyone hates lol and in the end,,, it didnt push through :(((,,, because,,, :((( shut up i was already attached to the trope??!!,,, and i was excited for it and all but yeah,,?it hurted,,,
-the last chapter is just,,,, aaaaaaaaaaaaah???!! idk what to feel ab that,,,,???!!!!

[☆｡.:*maria ☆. ｡.:* · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐

Ballet + best friends to lovers >>>>>>>>>>

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, loved this book. And not simply because my friend Katie, who also introduced me to YA/NA, wrote it! I'm halfway through Second Position now, and I can tell you it only gets better!

How can you not immediately fall in love with Aly and Zed? The parallel between their passion for ballet and the dance of their relationship/not relationship is so eloquently presented. You can't help but root for them.

Can't wait for book #3 to come out in August. Katie, you are amazing. Never stop writing.

[Maike · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're still dancing.

I held it together. I held it together until the very last sentence and then I cracked. I knew it would come and I still wasn't prepared.

I am honestly scared what a full length novel about them will do to me.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

*heart explodes*

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot even with how good this book is. it accurately and heartbreakingly captures the essence of ballet dancers.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed that!

[Avigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Turning Pointe' is the prequel novella of 'District Ballet Company series. I got it for free on my kindle six years ago. I heard about the series from BookTube and thought the premise was interesting. ( I also heard many good things about her 'Balloonmaker' series written by Katherine Locke.) I
I am a person that likes to read both physically, and I have to have an e-book simultaneously. I was looking through my backlist books on my kindle, and as I was browsing, I decided to read something short, as my physical copy is a chunker.
The story pieces together the events leading up to what will happen in the next two novels and shows Aly andZed's relationship as they go from best friends and partners to something irrevocably more. I loved the little moments between the two, and among each of them, that meant so much.
This novella builds up very well and makes me want to find out what will happen to the two main characters. I believe that I will continue with the series in the formidable future.
If you are a person that likes ballet, I believe you should read Turning Pointe and the whole District Ballet Company. Looking forward to reading more stories by Katherine Locke.

[biobio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so soft and gave me huge Lilo vibes from the Addicted series, they’re just so in love with each other and the chemistry was amazing, you could just see the transformation from best friends to lovers and how easy it was.

[Annika Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet story and I definitely enjoyed it enough to read the rest of the series—but it contains a pregnancy loss element that I found unsettling, which I feel I should warn other readers about.

[Mariann · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so good I should have known it would be connected to a sequel...so pissed! It was like reading poetic romance if there is such a thing. Every woman/man should have a friend like Aly/Zeb so beautiful.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the full review on Bookaholics Not-So-Anonymous.

Turning Pointe is the prequel novella to the new adult (NA) romance series from Katherine Locke entitled District Ballet Company. Beautifully written, this prequel introduces readers to Zed Harrow and Aly Miller, two people who are very much a couple minus the romance but whose friendship evolves into the very much expected. The chemistry between the two characters isn't just clear, it's palpable. They're crossing the line between being friends to lovers is inevitable and when they're faced with life-changing news, there's such hope...until something devastating happens and their lives as they know it simply stop.

This book does end in a cliffhanger but don't hold it against the author because the two full-length novels that follow this prequel are so worth it. I read all three back-to-back-to-back and it's difficult to put into words just how exquisite Katherine Locke's storytelling skills are. This introduction to Zed and Aly's love story is apt because we see several turning points in their lives but still leaves us with questions that will be answered in the next book, so I'm going to suggest that when you download this little nugget of fiction goodness for free, you grab the two other books in the series as well. Turning Pointe receives five stars. ♥

[Annia Lennox (DaydreamingThroughBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great start to what I can only assume will be a great series. Any book that references Center Stage (and it’s greatness because it has real dancers) gets a boost for me. This was a very solid novella and any issues I may have I believe will be addressed in the series as a whole.

Let me actually mention my only real issue. I wanted more back-story on both characters-especially Zed. There were allusions to his family, but I want more. Then, there’s their whole friendship. I completely buy it, but I wish I could’ve seen it.

But as a whole I loved this story. They are a cute couple with great chemistry. I really root for them and am so excited to see them grow and evolve. And I like them as individuals-especially Zed because he’s amazing.

I have some other things to say, but I’m going to save them until I read the first full book in the series.

Originally posted: http://daydreamingthroughbooks.blogsp...

[Renae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serves a nice appetizer for what's going to come—introduces characters and tensions, that kind of thing. Of course, it's a short text, so things are less developed (and super rushed in the last few chapters) than I would have liked, but still. Of the romance novellas I've read, this one is good. I like the characters, and the author's enthusiasm for ballet is evident; I don't even care about ballet and I felt connected to the text. Anyhoo. Turning Pointe will serve as a nice prologue for the full-length first novel in the series (which I imagine takes care of the issues I had with this one). My biggest problem with this is that I didn't think it was long enough, so...that's probably a good problem to have, right?

[Note: I'm friends with the author but this doesn't affect my rating, all that jazz.]

[Jada · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was definitely a fitting prequel! Although I could tell where it would start and stop just because I read Second Position already, it was still as enticing as the original book. The mannerisms that future Aly and Zed unconsciously held on to in SP were in natural use in this book. If you have the chance, I would definitely read SP before this just to get the full appreciation for A and Z's connection, but this isn't too bad of a starting position either.

Now to wait til August for Finding Center!

[B.A. Malisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Fantastic. This is so gorgeous and emotional. I love these characters so much, but I'm scared about what comes next for them.

I was just going to read a few pages of this novella from the Kindle app on my phone, while my audiobook downloaded at the library. Instead, I sat in the library and kept reading right through to the last page, despite having plans to run errands.

I can't wait to start Second Position now. I'll definitely be reading it tonight, even though I'm halfway through 3 other books.