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Stage Presents
It’s dislike at first sight—or first email—for two girls who are accepted into the Disney College Program and get assigned as roommates.
Dana has worked hard, and she sees this opportunity with a Fortune 500 company as her first step toward becoming a successful businesswoman. In contrast, Ashlee is a Georgia peach who’s led a sheltered life that has left her shallow, vapid, and ignorant—or so Dana thinks.
Ashlee’s dream of becoming a princess is about to come true! She’s been preparing all her life, dancing since she was three, and she plans to use this chance to boost her performing career. On the other hand, Dana is cynical, even if she is kind of pretty…. But what’s up with the whole trans thing?
Can enemies become friends and then more as each girl gradually sees what’s beneath the surface?
Dana has worked hard, and she sees this opportunity with a Fortune 500 company as her first step toward becoming a successful businesswoman. In contrast, Ashlee is a Georgia peach who’s led a sheltered life that has left her shallow, vapid, and ignorant—or so Dana thinks.
Ashlee’s dream of becoming a princess is about to come true! She’s been preparing all her life, dancing since she was three, and she plans to use this chance to boost her performing career. On the other hand, Dana is cynical, even if she is kind of pretty…. But what’s up with the whole trans thing?
Can enemies become friends and then more as each girl gradually sees what’s beneath the surface?
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2019
1 person is currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Aidan Wayne
12 books78 followersAidan Wayne has been publishing LGBTQ+ fiction since 2016. While they usually stick with contemporary romance (both adult and YA), some soft sci-fi/fantasy has been known to sneak in as well. They primarily write character-driven stories with happy endings, because, dammit, queer people deserve happy endings too.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 4, 2022
A nice quick new adult read. I found this book when I asked for suggestions for a Trans Cis romance as I'm always looking for those.
Stage Presents follows Dana and Ashlee who are roommates while spending a semester in the Disney College program, but they're complete opposites. Dana is very business minded and wants to learn the ins and outs of a large company, and Ashlee loves Disney characters, and wants to be a performer.
I enjoyed it. this book was interesting as both Dana and Ashlee started off as kinda unlikable- Ashlee not understanding Dana being trans and Dana being more standoffish and overly rude to Ashlee before any transphobia, but I decided to keep reading as the book is a short quick read and when the characters came to understand each other more they both got better fast.
This wasn't too deep, it was just a cute story with a mild enemies to lovers twist. 3.75/5
Stage Presents follows Dana and Ashlee who are roommates while spending a semester in the Disney College program, but they're complete opposites. Dana is very business minded and wants to learn the ins and outs of a large company, and Ashlee loves Disney characters, and wants to be a performer.
I enjoyed it. this book was interesting as both Dana and Ashlee started off as kinda unlikable- Ashlee not understanding Dana being trans and Dana being more standoffish and overly rude to Ashlee before any transphobia, but I decided to keep reading as the book is a short quick read and when the characters came to understand each other more they both got better fast.
This wasn't too deep, it was just a cute story with a mild enemies to lovers twist. 3.75/5
October 16, 2020
The fourth work I've read by this author (though it's been about 4 years since I last read them).
I picked this up and read it somewhat by accident. During one of my normal wandering through past authors I'd read to see what new they had published, I spotted this book here. Wasn't certain what it was about before I bought it and read it.
What is it about? Two youngsters, both roughly around 19 or so, attend Disney college in Florida. Both have their POV in this book. One is a lot more into the idea of Disney, has a very happy personality, needs to be friends, uses a lot of exclamation points, etc. etc. Ashlee, this specific one, has trained to be a dancer since she was something like three, and is at the Disney college to learn to be a face and/or furry performer (face - princess/prince type who doesn't wear a mask; furry being Goofy and the like). The job she has when she arrives doesn't have anything really to do with dance, but she's hoping to work her way into that kind of position.
The other main character, Dana, is Ashlee's roommate. They don't know each other, but communicate with each other before they first meet. Dana is there to learn business, marketing, etc. Also, while Ashlee has been into Disney from the beginning, Dana has never even been to one of the parks, and really isn't into Disney, other than as a stepping stone type thing.
They start . . . okay . . . during the communication via email part. Some slight tension visible, where one was obviously showing more excitement than the other, and then the tension ramped up when Dana revealed that she's transgender. Needing to reveal that before they move in together so that either can put in for a new roommate before they actually live together. Ashlee reacts off, but decides to keep going forward with being roommates.
The vaguely okay but not mood continued up until they meet and continued until the first night. Whereupon Dana is spotted wearing her night wear, and Ashlee is caught starring at a particular part of Dana's body. Dana reacts quite strongly to Ashlee's starring. Everything is basically still . . . vaguely okay, though more tense, until everything implodes.
Both have good experiences doing their thing at Disney, but their home life, very very bad. Very tense. They have dove deep into enemy territory.
Naturally, since this is a romance and stuff . . ..
I rather enjoyed seeing 1) two women of the same age attending a school - it was neat to see 'inside Disney' from this angle; 2) this is a celebratory type book - I've read other books like this, but unlike those other books, there isn't some much older person much further advanced in their career than the 'just learning/starting' one. Nope, here, both are youngsters, and neither are anywhere yet with their career. They are not even on their first 'this will make their name' type project/film/tv show; no, they are students.
Right, so, I rather liked this book, but didn't love it.
Rating: 4.50
October 16, 2020
I picked this up and read it somewhat by accident. During one of my normal wandering through past authors I'd read to see what new they had published, I spotted this book here. Wasn't certain what it was about before I bought it and read it.
What is it about? Two youngsters, both roughly around 19 or so, attend Disney college in Florida. Both have their POV in this book. One is a lot more into the idea of Disney, has a very happy personality, needs to be friends, uses a lot of exclamation points, etc. etc. Ashlee, this specific one, has trained to be a dancer since she was something like three, and is at the Disney college to learn to be a face and/or furry performer (face - princess/prince type who doesn't wear a mask; furry being Goofy and the like). The job she has when she arrives doesn't have anything really to do with dance, but she's hoping to work her way into that kind of position.
The other main character, Dana, is Ashlee's roommate. They don't know each other, but communicate with each other before they first meet. Dana is there to learn business, marketing, etc. Also, while Ashlee has been into Disney from the beginning, Dana has never even been to one of the parks, and really isn't into Disney, other than as a stepping stone type thing.
They start . . . okay . . . during the communication via email part. Some slight tension visible, where one was obviously showing more excitement than the other, and then the tension ramped up when Dana revealed that she's transgender. Needing to reveal that before they move in together so that either can put in for a new roommate before they actually live together. Ashlee reacts off, but decides to keep going forward with being roommates.
The vaguely okay but not mood continued up until they meet and continued until the first night. Whereupon Dana is spotted wearing her night wear, and Ashlee is caught starring at a particular part of Dana's body. Dana reacts quite strongly to Ashlee's starring. Everything is basically still . . . vaguely okay, though more tense, until everything implodes.
Both have good experiences doing their thing at Disney, but their home life, very very bad. Very tense. They have dove deep into enemy territory.
Naturally, since this is a romance and stuff . . ..
I rather enjoyed seeing 1) two women of the same age attending a school - it was neat to see 'inside Disney' from this angle; 2) this is a celebratory type book - I've read other books like this, but unlike those other books, there isn't some much older person much further advanced in their career than the 'just learning/starting' one. Nope, here, both are youngsters, and neither are anywhere yet with their career. They are not even on their first 'this will make their name' type project/film/tv show; no, they are students.
Right, so, I rather liked this book, but didn't love it.
Rating: 4.50
October 16, 2020
March 28, 2020
oh boy do i have some serious issues with this
- ashlee is transphobic from the get go for almost half the book
- dana thinks she’s at fault for ashlee being an asshole so decides to be extra nice to her which solves everything
- the pacing is all over the place
- they have barely any chemistry
- this book seriously should’ve been edited better as the sentence structure is just all wrong, pov changes are sometimes confusing and locations/conversations are just randomly inserted
- ashlee has almost no redeeming qualities
- both dana and ashlee’s personalities seem to change by the chapter
basically if anyone ever called me kind of weird, not normal or focussed on my genitalia i would never be nice to them or interested in them romantically
- ashlee is transphobic from the get go for almost half the book
- dana thinks she’s at fault for ashlee being an asshole so decides to be extra nice to her which solves everything
- the pacing is all over the place
- they have barely any chemistry
- this book seriously should’ve been edited better as the sentence structure is just all wrong, pov changes are sometimes confusing and locations/conversations are just randomly inserted
- ashlee has almost no redeeming qualities
- both dana and ashlee’s personalities seem to change by the chapter
basically if anyone ever called me kind of weird, not normal or focussed on my genitalia i would never be nice to them or interested in them romantically
July 11, 2019
Review to come!
January 28, 2020
Cute f/f romance set in the Disney College Program at WDW in Orlando. I loved that transphobia among lesbians was addressed with Ashlee's initial behavior towards Dana. I loved that Dana was never vilified or criticized for being immediately sensitive to and angry about Ashlee's transphobia, even when Ashlee learns better and apologizes for her behavior. I liked their development from enemies to friends to lovers as their initial misgivings and antagonisms gave way to mutual respect and understanding before becoming romantic. Bonus: as far as I can tell from my sister who works at WDW, the portrayal of the DCP was super accurate.
January 17, 2020
This was so freaking cute. Dana and Ashlee had a bad start as roommates, but they learned and grew and weren't afraid to admit it to themselves and each other when they messed up, and when there were issues they talked, and they were just so delightful and cute together, and it being set at Disney made it feel kind of magical, and I loved it.
I really need more cute books with trans main characters like this. We get so much misery in books, and not enough cute stuff!
I really need more cute books with trans main characters like this. We get so much misery in books, and not enough cute stuff!
April 28, 2024
my heart bounces with joy
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews