Ballroom Blitz

 

 

Ballroom Blitz

by Natalie Cross

GENRE: Romance Suspense

In the glamorous world of ballroom, love and dancing do not always mix.

Professional dancer Anita Goodman has learned that lesson the hard way. With her studio and her reputation on the line, she has to take a chance on the last person she ever wanted to partner with: her best friend.

Patrick O’Leary has loved Anita since high school, but he has languished in the Friend Zone for long enough. He will take this last chance to prove to her that love is greater than winning.

Neither of them realize that conquering their rising attraction won’t be their biggest obstacle. Someone does not want them to be together, and will stop at nothing to get their way.

Love, dance, and danger. It’s a Ballroom Blitz.

Excerpt:

The ballroom still thrummed with the clack of heels and the slide of suede, though its last inhabitants had vanished over an hour before. Applause and cheering from the final night party echoed across the hallway. The tables were strewn with hair pins, empty water bottles, and sweaty towels tossed with exhilaration before another heat. The perfume of sunless tanner and hairspray drifted toward the apex of the ballroom’s ceiling, and it almost seemed that a few notes of a Viennese waltz still clung to the utilitarian white hotel tablecloths.

Rapid footsteps broke the waiting silence. Stilettos from the click click click, glimmering with crystals, a few of which scattered from the shoes with a brackish clatter as the heels struck the parquet of the ballroom floor. Heavy breathing, panting. “No!” A stumble as one heel of the red satin crystal-encrusted stilettos snapped. Sobbing. 

Then another pair of footsteps, flats, fashionable. Something hard, with an edge that might draw blood. These footsteps were measured. No panic. No anxiety. Calculating.

The sobs intensified. “Please, please, please, no, I didn’t do anythi—”

A gurgle, a grimace, a thud. The wash of silk from a bone-white evening gown susurrated along the cold parquet floor. The scent of copper flooded the air.

A grunt, a vicious exhale, an audible sneer.

Then the ballroom closed upon itself again. The tables, the cloths, the chandeliers, the lights. All waiting for its new secret to be discovered.

About the Author:

Love is an adventure.

Natalie writes romances and cozy mysteries featuring women who want to be seen and the men and women who cannot look away from them.

Natalie lives in Los Angeles, where writing is an acceptable way to avoid sunburn. She is mom to two lovely young munchkins who despise brushing their hair and eat way too much cake. She is unapologetically terrible at taking selfies. 

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

    The research for Ballroom Blitz was definitely the most enjoyable part of the experience. I love ballroom dancing, particularly International Latin, and had to stop my own lessons due to the pandemic. When I started the first draft of the book, I spent countless hours on YouTube and TikTok watching videos of couples ballroom dancing and reading interviews. I may have also put on my dance shoes and danced around my house, but I won’t talk about that…It was definitely a good use of my time.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?

   

Thank you for asking! I’m currently working on book two in the Ballroom Blitz/ Dancesport Mystery series, which hopefully will be out in 2023 from The Wild Rose Press. The second one has a much stronger mystery/suspense element, but there’s definitely still a lot of romance. 

    I also recently published a romance suspense novella called Ballroom Blind Date, set in the Dancesport Mystery world. It’s a pretty fun romp. 

    In addition, I’m deciding what to do with a completely different interracial historical romance set in the Caribbean on a fictional island, and an LGBT Rockstar romance. 

The best way to find out what’s coming is to join my newsletter. I offer early looks and free copies and things like that.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?

Since I’ve started writing, I’ve realized just how huge a part of my life it has become, and how important it is to me to be able to explore my creative side. So I plan to keep on going, working my way through different series, and see where this takes me.

How long have you been writing?

    I started writing back in grade school and wrote voraciously through high school, but I slowed down substantially in college and grad school as life got in the way. I picked up writing again during the pandemic, as I found it really helpful to have a creative outlet to curb my anxiety.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

   

    I am so grateful for the kind words and wonderful support I’ve received so far. I hope you love Ballroom Blitz, and even more than that, I hope that you keep reading. Read a lot. Read diversely. Borrow books from your libraries and your friends. The more we read, the more we grow.

 

Ballroom Blitz playlist available at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LHlIjrZEKsD1aDyJAxLAU

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Buy Links for Ballroom Blitz:

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3yV6r6

GIVEAWAY

Natalie Cross will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway