Dancer's Heart

by D.P. Denman

Not just another breakup story. Simon Leander is living a lie. He hides the truth from his partner in a relationship he's determined to tolerate…jealousy, rants and all. Michael was supposed to be the love of his life and he's not ready to let go of that dream even though the romantic has turned tyrant. When Drew appears, Simon's determination begins to waver. Drew is everything Michael used to be but isn't anymore. Drew also knows his secret. When the truth he works so hard to hide bursts from the shadows he must decide whether he can trust Drew and if love deserves a second chance. 25% of royalties go to support LGBT charities.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Abuse, Amazon

318 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2013

About the author

Award-winning author DP Denman wrote her first short story when she was eight and has been crafting fictional adventures ever since! You can usually find her with a cup of coffee in hand, contemplating her next story.

A covert romantic, she writes addictive, character-driven gay romance about damaged people who find the strength to put their lives back together. Her stories are gripping and dramatic -- guaranteed to hold you hostage to the last word!

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK. I liked it. I didn't "really" like it and I didn't think it "Amazing" which is why it gets three stars from me. Domestic abuse and rape are not subjects I readily enjoy reading about, I know these things happen in real life and yes, this story does have a HEA, but it was the getting there that disturbed me. The synopsis doesn't enlighten the reader to the subject matter either, I wish it had done.
The writing is good, the protagonists are ok and I should say, the plot is also good. Felt a little rushed towards the end and there's an odd, over-use of the noun and verb "scowl" which seemed misplaced in certain areas. Why was he scowling? Why did he have a "scowl" on his face? - Frankly it annoyed me.
I'm pleased I read this novel and I haven't put spoiler alerts in my review as I feel the synopsis should warn readers to the content of the plot.
p.s. I don't like BDSM stories either :)

[Seiran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a hard time with this book, nothing really kept interested in the MC's getting together. It was more of a story explaining the abuse going on in one relationship, and another MC having sex with other people. Then they get together at the end, spouting I love you...yeah NO!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon is the star dancer at a gay club known for its drag shows. He loves his job, and dance is his life. He has been disappointed in love though, and has come to think that happy ever after is just not a realistic goal for anyone, and he is trying to decide if he should continue in his relationship with Michael. Michael is hot, sexy, and apparently in the past was a charming and thoughtful lover, but since they moved in together one year ago, he has become increasingly possessive and paranoid. But finding a new place to live, and a new boyfriend, just might not be worth the effort, so Simon continues to drift along in the relationship that he acknowledges is going nowhere.

You could see right away that this was a relationship doomed to abuse and disaster, and the first 2/3 or so of the book is watching Simon waffle about "should I stay or should I go". It was irritating in a way, but in some ways I thought it was an accurate look into how a person can rationalize putting up with that kind of behavior. Simon is not a weak man, and he has close friends who tell it like it is, but he is reluctant to throw away all the time and effort he's invested into his relationship with Michael. There were times when as a reader, even I was sucked into the possibility that Michael maybe wasn't all that bad. It was kind of like watching a train wreck in extremely slow motion -- you know the inevitable outcome, and you are just wondering when it will happen. I went back and forth between wanting the author to just get it over with, and thinking it was probably more like real life to drag it out.


As Simon waffles and breaks up and gets back with Michael, we are introduced to his best friend Honey -- another performer -- and Drew, who works as a costume designer. Honey is an amazing secondary character, interesting and well drawn. Drew is very attracted to Simon, but the characterization wasn't as well done, and I never really connected to him. After Michael's attack on Simon, Drew takes him in, and the rest of the story finishes up really quickly. It almost felt like Drew was superfluous, and I just didn't buy them falling in love. Good friends/roommates with benefits, maybe, but HEA forever love that quickly? Nope.


So in the end, I was disappointed, but I didn't hate it. And I can now see the importance of pacing -- better pacing probably would have helped out the story quite a bit!

[Lisa ~ Books Are My Drugs ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre M/M Contemporary Romance

MC1 Simon Leander
MC2 Michael (for first 90% of book, then Drew)

Storyline
Simon dances for a troupe in a drag club. Michael believes that those kind of dances are "fags" and whores and very vocally expresses his beliefs whenever given the opportunity so Simon has kept where he works a secret from Michael the entire time they've been together. Simon loves the side of Michael that's sweet and tender, but since they've moved in together that side is seldom seen. What he sees is the jealous, possessive part of Michael that believes Simon is his property. Michael flies into a raging rant if he sees anyone even lay a hand on Simon's back and accuses Simon of cheating or of looking to cheat. He shows classic signs of being an abuser like trying to isolate Simon from his friends.

Conflict
Michael's jealousy quickly gets out of control. When Simon begins to notice Drew at work & they kiss, Simon begins to think even harder about leaving Michael. When Michael proposes and Simon declines, Michael flies into another jealous rage believing that Simon is declining because Simon has another lover and he smacks his face hard enough to bruise. Simon knows this is the beginning of the end. He leaves Michael, but Michael sweet talks him into giving him another chance. Knowing it's not a good idea, Simon agrees thinking he'll show Michael it's not working. Things look like they might be getting better. Until Michael finds out where Simon works and how he dances. Then he flies into a horrible rage. He really starts beating on Simon, talks about raping him, & eventually throws him down the stairs, leaving him to possibly die. This is where their relationship finally ends.

My Thoughts
This story is mostly about Simon & Michael. Drew's romance with Simon never begins until the last 90% of the book. And then I felt it was rather unrealistic & extremely rushed. Simon just physically healed from a severe beating he received from an abusive ex. That was just the physical aspect of the abuse. Simon really should have received some counseling to address the emotional aspects of living with an abuser for years before he jumped into a new relationship.

[UnusualChild{beppy} · Rating 2 out of 5]

review: simon is a dancer and he has moved in with his boyfriend. his boyfriend is very possessive, though, and doesn't like other men touching him...or being friends with him. the boyfriend also has disdain for what simon does, so he has never seen simon dance. the possessiveness gets progressively worse until simon breaks up with him. he agrees to give him a second chance, and the boyfriend is on his best behaviour. simon isn't completely moronic, though, and keeps living with his friend while they are "working things out". then, one of his boyfriend's buddies films one of simon's dance routines, and, well....meanwhile, drew is a costumer for the dance club and quietly lusts after simon.

i was all right with this book until about 2/3 of the way through. simon was still with his boyfriend, and not in the trial way, and drew was still quietly lusting...oh, wait! they had shared a kiss, but simon got slapped after that and broke up with the boyfriend...but still agreed to trial dating. anyway, drew and simon were still not even really talking to each other, and then at about 95%, after simon's attack, they were all "i love you forever". seriously. until about the halfway mark, i was thinking 3, 3.5 stars. there were a few grammatical errors, but it wasn't bad. but when the two supposed main characters didn't get together as a couple until the last 10 pages of the story? and were all lovey dovey when they seriously hadn't talked!!!!!!? yeah, no. also, the grammatical errors got worse after the 50% mark.

[Alaska · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I wanted to give this book more stars but unfortunately there were some things which made my reading experience not as enjoyable as I had hoped.
The writing style is okay, not bad but nothing I will remember this book for. My problem were the characters. They were appeared one dementional to me and I couldn't connect with the two MCs. They appeared to me pretty callous. Especially the way Drew saw the rape. Like it was nothing shocking, something he came across often enough to just say "Hey, let him go.", take a picture and trust the man would just run away. Nothing about police because they would do nothing anyway. Why does he think like that? Did he have experience with that? Or is it just cynicism? I really wanted to kick him.
Simon seemed to go through the motions most of the time, too. Although I have to say that I really liked the way his struggle with Michael and their relationship was depicted. I could believe that he went back to Michael in hopes he had changed or would learn form his mistakes.
The ending instead was completely unbelievable. Why would Simon and Drew suddenly tell each other that they loved each other? I mean...strong feelings? Okay. But love? After what just happened with Michael? And the ring...Simon escaped from an abusive boyfriend und hit him for turning his ring down and after living a few weeks with Drew he wants to committ? Nope. Didn't work for me.

[Cassie Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a guy escaping from an abusive partner. Most of the story is taken up with Simon's relationship with that partner (Michael) and very little with his moving on to the new guy (Drew).

It's a good story and I did like it, but I felt the ending came far too soon. I'm not fond of books where saying 'I love you' fixes everything and that very much seemed to happen here. Simon is clearly still recovering from his relationship with Michael and I wasn't at all convinced he was ready for someone new. Another 100 pages and I'd probably have been convinced in the HEA, but I really needed to see Simon recover (emotionally) some more.

That said, I did enjoy the story and I'd probably consider reading other books by this author.

[Kelly Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book. Well written although it's sad at times, but it warns you ahead of time of the physical abuse. Shows how a person can keep hoping for the best in someone over and over until it goes to far.

[K]

Free on Amazon UK 30.1.14

[Nancy Carbajal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the Authors description on what goes thru a persons mind when they stay with someone in a Toxic relationship. HEA ending.

[Becky Condit · Rating 5 out of 5]

LeatherSkater's complete review: http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/index....