Page Princess: THE BALLERINA & THE FIGHTER by Ursula Sinclair

Title: THE BALLERINA & THE FIGHTER

Series: BALLERINA #1

Author: Ursula Sinclair

Publish Date: 07.01.13

Publisher: Isisndc Publishing, LLC

Category /Genre: Contemporary Romance, N/A

Received from: Ursula Sinclair (in exchange for an honest review)

Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content and violence

Grammar/editing: received as an ARC

Tour arranged by: Read Between the Lines

Goodreads: The Ballerina & The Fighter

Date completed: 02.08.14

Description from the publisher:

I travel through life dancing.

All I ever wanted to do was dance, as did my best friend. We'd made so many plans together, but one night an explosion changed it all. Only one of us survived, and I promised myself I'd succeed for us both. And I did, until an accident almost ruined my career, but Maze came back into my life when I needed him most. He pulled me out of the depths of my despair. But could I save him now?

I travel through life fighting.

It had always been Ivy; from the first moment I saw her leaping through the air like she had wings to lift her from the ground. But she was my dream, something I wanted more than anything else in my life. I promised myself I would stay away from her. Violence followed me everywhere and I tried to keep her far away from it. She was my point of illumination in the dark tumultuous world I lived in. But I could not stay away from her. Not when I knew she needed me. As much as I needed her. But could she accept me as I am?

New Adult Contemporary 18+

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time I saw her it was evening, that time of day when the setting sun hit the ocean and turned it a burnt orange. Most of the vacationers had deserted the beach for the restaurants, swarming the main drag or the barbecues in their rented back yards. There were only a few folks here or there walking or hanging around the water’s edge, but it was a great time for my run. Even though I was on down time I never stopped training. I listened to an Eminem track on my iPhone, perfect for my pacing.

The breeze from inland drew the heat from the sand beneath my bare feet and the salt spray from the ocean cooled my body as I ran through the waves lapping at my ankles. My stride went from a jog to a walk until I stopped altogether, and pulled my ear buds outta my ears. She was doing these beautiful leaps into the air, but the one that stopped me in my tracks was the firebird. At the time I didn’t know what any of them were called, only that the beauty of the evening paled in comparison to the female that stole my attention, as she propelled her body through the air. Like gravity had no hold on her. As a mixed martial artist, I understood the way gravity could be manipulated but this girl took it to another level. I’d been studying martial arts all my life and had never really seen anything like it. But from some part of me the word ballet whispered across my consciousness.

She landed perfectly on the sand on her toes, while the other leg was stretched in a straight line, aiming for the sky. Her upper torso leaned slightly forward, one hand reached toward the sand and the wind whipped her long hair about hiding her face from me. The ballerina, that’s what I decided she had to be, lowered the airborne leg, and as soon as both feet were on the ground she ran toward a white girl who held a camera. Then it dawned on me, they were taking pictures. They were both around the same age, anywhere from sixteen to nineteen. They were huddled over the camera screen. I was kinda curious to take a look at those pictures myself and see the face of the girl who could fly so effortlessly through the air.

I didn’t even realize I was headed in their direction until the girl with the camera glanced up and gave me an eye fuck, before nudging her friend who raised her head and our gazes locked. I stumbled. I never stumble. But even from twenty some feet away this chick had some kinda hold on me.

“Nice moves,” I said, as I approached them. I stifled a groan. Could I be any more lame? Still both girls smiled at me. Damn ballerina had the cutest set of dimples. I wanted to dip my tongue into them.

Brown eyes with a hint of green in the center stared unblinking back at me. A face some might call oval, I called perfect, was the canvas for a button nose and sexy ass lips that screamed for my mouth on hers. Fuck this girl was hot. Her body had a natural tan and the time in the sun had added a hint of gold to her dark honey complexion. She had on those kind of low cut short denim shorts that could pass for panties and a cropped red top that showed off a flat stomach. She wasn’t as curvy as most of the girls I normally go for, her breast would barely fill my hand, but hers was a finely toned slightly muscled body. That of a dancer. And her legs. I shit you not, her legs would wrap nicely around my waist, or another image flashed across my mind that had the blood rushing to my dick. I knew she’d be flexible enough to wrap those legs over my shoulders as I pushed all the way deep into her.

I don’t know how long we stood there checking each other out. Now I knew what that shit means, ‘when time stands still’. What the fuck? But there it was. She blinked and glanced over at her friend. I’m glad she broke eye contact because it freed me from whatever the fuck was happening to me. I shook my head to clear out any damn cobwebs trying to take root and opened my mouth.

“Can I see?” I kept my hands at my sides, not trying to come off too pushy by reaching toward the camera.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is book one of the Ballerina series and they do need to be read in order.

What began as a summer romance has become for both Ivy, the ballerina, and Maze, the MMA fighter, the definition of love. After studying in Japan, Maze has returned to the U.S. and is in New York. He cannot resist going to see Ivy dance. He cannot resist texting her. He cannot resist her.

Read the last word and said, “that bitch!” My husband and son, both, knew I meant an author (Sorry, Ursula) and that it meant a cliffhanger. It’s not really a cliffhanger. This book has a decisive beginning, middle, and end, but the end tells you there is a book two coming. Thank God book 2, MAZE is now available and I will be reading it immediately. For the people who had to wait, I feel your pain!

My only complaint regarding the editing is in the vocabulary during the sex scenes. Ms. Sinclair needs to relax and use the nasty words instead of the clinical ones. The vocabulary choices pushed me out of the reading zone. I did receive this as an ARC, so I hope this was corrected prior to final release.

The Ballerina series:

1. The Ballerina & the Fighter

2. Maze

Also from Ursula Sinclair: