How Does Astonish Me Book Compare To Other Ballet Novels?

"Take off your ring." His command settled deep in my bones. I shouldn’t be doing this. And yet… I slid the ring off my finger. He stood on the other side of the room, his face hidden in shadows, but I felt him—his presence wrapping around me like a dark temptation. "Take off your clothes." I obeyed, my fingers hesitating at the waistband of my underwear. "I didn’t tell you to touch that." So I stood there—shoes on, pants still clinging to my hips—while my engagement party continued just down the hall. His gaze burned through me, drinking me in. "God, Butterfly." His voice was a tortured whisper, and I ached to comfort him. "Crawl to me." The words settled over me like silk and steel. Slowly, on all fours, I obeyed… --- Alessandra has always been the family push over even when her father forces her into a marriage. She plays the role of the perfect fiancée—obedient, loyal, untouchable. Until she meets him. Jeremy’s best friend. A man just as powerful, just as dangerous—but with eyes that see right through her. A man who tempts her to break every rule, risk every consequence. They hate each other on sight. But hate is just another kind of heat, and the fire between them threatens to burn everything to the ground. Loving him could cost her everything. Resisting him might destroy her. Either way, she’s already ruined. ~~~~~ Trigger warning : Dark Romance, obsession, Forbidden Romance, Male lead is a bit mentally checked out...

She is focused, disciplined, and determined to survive her first year at university. He is reckless, irresistible, and the most notorious athlete on campus. When fate throws them together, sparks fly and rules are broken. Falling for the bad boy athlete was never part of her plan, but resisting him could cost her everything. Secrets, rivalries, and a dangerous attraction push them to the edge. Can love survive when their worlds are at war?

Oliver Woodling is a handsome and charming bachelor who wants more to life than money and business. After adopting a child, he thought that the loneliness would disappear. Some of it did, but he wanted love from a woman he would claim as his own. Kimberly Wingate is a ballet teacher with a secret who is looking for a safe place. Since her family rejected her for a crime that she did not commit, she runs away to start a new life in New York. When Kim meets the sweet and adorable Lora Woodling, she gains a friend. A little friend with a sexy as hell adoptive dad. This is a tale of romance, secrets and an obsessed stalker who wants Kimberly dead.

I've devoted everything to sponsoring my deceased best friend's daughter, Lara Sandfield, so that she can learn dancing for the past ten years. Thanks to my efforts, she's able to get into the most prestigious art school. My only condition is that Lara has to wear the dress that was sewn by her mother, Kiara Cruz, prior to her death, when it's time for Lara to perform her first dance after her graduation. But on the day of the rehearsal, Lara actually starts a livestream and cuts the dress into shreds with a pair of scissors. Tears trickle down her cheeks as she accuses me of using this torn, old dress to humiliate her and guilt-trip her for the past ten years. "Look, everyone! This is Eliza's so-called 'blood, sweat, and tears'! She wants me to perform my first dance in this bunch of rags! "I'm the principal dancer who has been nominated by a prestigious director! If I were to perform in this dress, it'd ruin my future! I no longer owe Eliza anything!" As I stare at the derogatory comments aimed at me in the livestream, I leave a like there quietly. The dress that Lara has ruined is actually woven by Kiara using gold threads back when she was still alive. The internationally-renowned mentor, whom I've spent a fortune hiring for the past ten years, is actually my older sister, Lucy Newman, who has already retired for many years. Meanwhile, the prestigious dance director has only given Lara the position of principal dancer because she respects Lucy far too much. I leave a comment of my own in the livestream. "I hope you have a glorious future ahead of you." I wonder how Lara can continue dancing, now that she's lost everything in life.

Gigi is an awesome ballerina who has been in-love with a dashing male ballet dancer named Adam for as long as she can remember. When it seems that fate is finally uniting them, Gigi gets her heart brutally crushed as her crush falls for her best friend.When she meets Malik, she immediately falls for his good looks especially his captivating amber eyes. While she thinks it is nothing more than a crush, Malik is convinced that they are meant to be. Slowly, their romance starts to kindle and Gigi falls head over heels. But things are getting rocky for the couple as her ex-bestfriend, Cleo becomes her rival and Adam is asking for a second chance. How will she get herself untangled from the love triangle? Will she and Cleo ever patch things up?

I fought my sister, Anna, for two lifetimes to become the Donna. In my first life, I got what I wanted. I became Lorenzo's woman. People said he loved me as if I were the air in his lungs. When he learned that I loved to dance, he bought an entire ballet company to keep me onstage. Then he broke my legs. He confined me to a wheelchair and displayed me like an ornament. One day, he brushed his fingers across my face and finally told me the truth. "I've seen enough dancing," he said. "And the one I truly love was never you." I died in that room, swallowed by despair. In my second life, I stepped aside and gave the Donna's seat to Anna. "You go," I told her. "The one Lorenzo really loves is you." I believed that choice would save us. I believed Anna would have the happy ending I never did. Five years later, they sent her back. Her legs were intact this time, but she couldn’t move them either. Lorenzo no longer treated her as a person. He had turned her into a ballerina statue, encased in plaster and posed at what he called her most beautiful moment, frozen in place. His men delivered the message without a trace of feeling. "He got tired of watching the younger sister dance," they said. "So he preserved her at her most beautiful." When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in my third life. Once more, the Don's men delivered a ballet invitation. Anna and I stared at it. The same question burned in both of us. If neither of us was the one he loved, then who was Lorenzo really watching?