Sylvie Carter is a ballet dancer. Post rehearsal, after some criticism, she meets a stranger in the audience who can read her like a book. Although there’s less reading and more ravishing - who is this man? And is history repeating itself?

The opening chapters were great! I enjoyed the then & now in dual POV.

🌶️🌶️🌶️ it was spicey at the very start. Think EL James meets Sylvia Day.

Black Swan vibe!

I love books when the author makes his research or knows exactly what he/she it writing about!
Here, we have a PRO, cause Melanie was a professional dancer and knows how the world inside the ballet school looks like.

This story is not sugarcoated. It is also not black and white. We can find here a lot of different shades of grey, without judging - just leaving that to the readers to decide how they feel about that what is presented in that story.

As a former dancer myself, I appreciate the description and highlight of the huge sacrife when you dance, of the lack of friendship with every step up on the ladder and life that looks a little bit different, raw, but still beautiful.

The blurb suggests spicy and daring. I'd suggest dull and predictable. There's nothing in here that's "wrong" but frankly it all seems a little trite. It would entertain on a long journey, for sure, but it's not got enough grit to really draw you in.

I get it, girl from a disadvantaged background gets near the top of the tree, loses it over a guy, works hard to get back up again and then risks losing it all again. So what?

Hook - What you hoped for from Fifty Shades of Grey meets the cutthroat ballet scene.

Rapid review - Genre expectations met: 5/5 Pace: 5/5 Plot: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Enjoyability: 5/5 Narrator: 5/5

There is so much to enjoy about this read, from the rawly emotional, rounded cast of characters, the pacy plot, the glamorous, ruthless setting and the steamy smut - this book has the lot. I was so disappointed when it ended! Can’t wait to recommend it to my friends and anyone looking for a saucy read that’s well-written and gripping to boot. Looking forward to seeing what the Melanie Hamrick writes next. Huge thanks to her, the excellent narrators Savannah Peachwood and Summer Morton, and publisher, HarperCollins Audio for this advance review copy. Views my own. 5*

This book had black swan vibes and gave a good insight to the toxic and manipulative world of ballet, there was abit if a back story but no real twists. However I enjoyed the narration and found the story intriguing enough

I recieved this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book was just ok. It took we ages to read as I felt like there were more sex than an actual story line about the world of dancing and being a ballerina. I got to say I'm glad I picked up the audiobook as I think it helped me a lot to actually finish the book.

Set in the glamorous, seductive world of ballet, Hamrick's novel sees ballerina Sylvie embark on a passionate and dangerous affair that could end up costing her everything.

When I first saw this book available for review my initial belief, based on the cover alone, was that this was a thriller. Then I saw it was a Mills and Boon book which threw me. This is definitely a case where you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

It is part Black Swan, part Fifty Shades of Grey, part psychological character study. It is really hard to place this book, which in this case is a positive in my opinion.

Although this wasn’t my favourite book it was a a good easy audiobook to listen to.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK and Mills and Boon for the advanced copy of the audiobook

DNF - I gave this to halfway through but the fact it kept jumping all over the place when it came to the timeline and I couldn’t actually say for sure what was going on. I didn’t really care for any of the characters and found the long winded descriptive dialogue a little annoying. I didn’t actually know what the storyline was about or where it was going. Just wasn’t for me unfortunately and where I would usually continue on I just called it a day.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to #FirstPosition

First Position by Melanie Hamrick (Narrated by Savannah Peachwood; Summer Morton)

Sylvie Carter has been training as a professional ballerina since she was young. She started her ballet journey in a ballet school and then she worked hard to join the North American Ballet. Her dream came true. Sylvie had a big fantasy about joining NAB, but reality was always different from dream. From a pure young girl to the lady that broke all her every single rule to be the ballerina. She even could not recognise herself, the old Sylvie. The story follows her relationship with other ballerinas in the company. Being a ballerina was not the glory side, Sylvie also had the dark side including surviving with the scandal, sexual relationship and relying on alcohol...

The author Melanie is a former ballerina, therefore all the technical terms and dancing details are authentic. When I was reading the book, it even made me to think were those dark sides of being a ballerina real?

(Note: With exotic content)

Format: Audiobook (9h4m)
Pub date: 22 Jun 2023
HarperCollins UK Audio, Mills & Boon

This was intriguing, knowing that the author comes from a dance background even more so. In all honesty though I think I’m becoming in absolute prude in my old (not that old) age. It has way too much sex going on for me. If you know the dance world at all, you’ll be prepared for the cut throat drama, bitchiness, nastiness, drug and alcohol misuse and of course the abuse of power from the hierarchy. If not be prepared to have your jaw drop. I loathed and loved the characters the storyline was good, but the only similarity to The Black Swan was the dance imho.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins U.K. audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Sylvie Carter has broken every rule on her way to the top of her profession. But the ballet world is as unforgiving as it is ruthless. When a devastating scandal erupts, Sylvie alone is blamed, and loses everything she’s ever worked for. She vows never to make the same mistake again. But when Sylvie is magnetically drawn to renowned dancer Alessandro Russo, once again her world starts to spiral.
From New York to Vienna and Paris, Sylvie is caught between the glamorous and dark side of ballet. Challenged, both professionally and personally, her ambition sparks a journey of redemption and sexual awakening as she embarks on an intense and passionate relationship that could be the making of her… or cost her everything…

A 100% buy-today-listen-tonight delight.

I was intrigued with the blurb as it gave black swan vibes however found the book to be dragging. It’s about life’s of ballerinas the drugs, sex and competition that comes with every professional step they take. The book is also about dreams and friendship between Slyvie and Joselyn, the main characters. It’s a 3.7/5 for me.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

“𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚢. 𝙰𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔, 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑, 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.”

★★★★

𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜 / 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝:

⤑ Close up of the Ballet World
⤑ Dancers Fall from Grace
⤑ Forbidden Love Vibes
⤑ Toxic Friendships
⤑ Women regaining control

Thank you NetGalley, Mills and Boon and HarperCollins UK Audio for the Audiobook ARC!

This book was flat out entertaining! I could not stop listening to it and finished it in a day! I was obsessed, I devoured all the details that made up the behind the scenes of the fictional North American Ballet Theatre knowing it was written by a former Prima Ballerina.

I really, really enjoyed this read and would recommend it to anyone looking for a tense (re)becoming of age story about a Ballerina recovering from a toxic love affair, while falling for her ballet companies new star. I listened to the audio book narrated by Savannah Peachwood and Summer Morton. The audiobook is fabulous and I can not recommend it enough.

It’s easy to pick apart things post-read so I want to be clear that during this audiobook listen I was GLUED to my headset and so enthralled. I was both cheering and chastising our FMC’s throughout.

The dual narrative of Sylvie and Jocelyn was fantastic, with incredible pacing! I so badly wanted to know what happened between all the characters and how Sylvie’s fall from grace came to be. I had moments of both fiercely loving and hating both the FMC’s and wanted so badly to be proud of where they ended up. This is definitely more of Sylvie’s story but it is ultimately about their relationship and what happened to and between them.

We follow Jocelyn’s POV in the present and briefly in the past until we settle into a narrative of present Sylvie and past Jocelyn. I felt a few things were unclear, or not as emphasised because of the lack of Jocelyn’s POV in the present and Sylvie’s in the past throughout the narrative. I wanted a fuller perspective on what was happening between them and to them. However the pacing and tension between the timelines and POV switches was fantastic and kept the story constantly moving forward.

I loved the ending, but it is also the part that made me want a bit more. The ending moment I felt was perfect, but some narrative ties were left loose. In some scenes this worked better, where I was satisfied with what I knew would happen off-page, but in a few situations I found it frustrating.

Specifically - I wanted more detail from the ending regarding the relationship going forward of Sylvie and Jocelyn, as ultimately that relationship and what happens to and between these two girls, who become women in this story, is what we’re really reading about. Also there was a character I really wanted to dig deeper into who was very important to the story, and I felt this could have been teased out more.

Ultimately would recommend to most readers!

TW: Body Dysmorphia; Sexually explicit scenes; performative sapphic scenes; body shaming; slut shaming; toxic relationships; grooming.