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Pearl Lover by Kea Noli Available on Amazon Self-Published A beautiful girl. A wicked mother. A twisted love triangle. In this thrilling romance, Nixie Veidt is forced to choose between money and love. She must stay faithful to the bureaucrat she married to save her inheritance, but her heart belongs to a Russian dancer. When the dancer is hired by her company, she puts it all on the line. Will she lose everything? Or does love really conquer all?

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I just want to point out that this is the first blog tour in which I’ve ever participated (milestone!), and I want to thank Miss Parker from TBG tours for including me. These tours may seem like a lot of work, but no one ever tells you how fun they are. Which is very, very fun.

The real star of this show, however, is Pearl Lover. Featuring a dash of classical ballet dancers, a hint of a sting operation, and a medley of point of views, this novel will have you marveling at all that one string of pearls can represent.

I found Pearl Lover to be a tad confusing at the beginning, so I’ll give you the basics:

-Nixie wants to be in full control of her inheritance.

-To do so, she must be in control of her guardian.

-If she marries someone over the age of 25, her husband will become this guardian. Otherwise, her guardian will remain her wicked mother.

-When I say ‘wicked’, I mean wicked. Nixie’s mother refuses to support her dream, which is to give new life to the Ballet Russes, a dead ballet company.

Needless to say, this premise is gripping. There comes a point in everyone’s when life when bad guys and inner conflict just become so… what’s the word? Predictable. Give me a clash with a villainous mother—maybe I’m just happy that this YA protagonist’s mother is actually alive—and a war with Europe’s failing economy any day of the week.

Especially when that war involves so many details on the ways of the world of dance. I don’t think that I’ve ever learned so many ballet terms and intricacies in my life than in the last 48 hours, and I used to dance it. (Yeah, that was before I figured out that I’m incredibly uncoordinated.) Now that I’ve finished Pearl Lover, I just feel so cultured.

Nevertheless, every novel has issues, and my number one with this novel is Nixie’s unashamed subserviency.  She blatantly calls herself Kolya’s “Slave” on more than one occasion and declares herself “for the chauvinists”. These degrading comments, perhaps intended to be attractive to some, didn’t sit well with me; I found myself grimacing at them all too often. Miss Noli, I appreciate the gesture, but self-respect is actually a thing now.

Moving on, as I mentioned before, this is a really fast read. Although it takes place over the course of years, you’ll finish Pearl Lover in a matter of hours; the pacing is fast and the action is unfaltering.

Pearl Lover deserves 3/5 stars. For fans of living, breathing mothers, catty economies, and the complexities of ballet-dancing. Oh, and as a side note: this one is definitely for the elder group of young adults.

And without further ado, here is the exclusive excerpt that you’ve all been waiting for:

 

“Nixie, I love you. When we first met, your eyes attracted me. Not how big and bold they are, but how sensuous. I saw a promise in them that existed for a moment. That moment was precious. Moments add up to—  Did I say something wrong?”

“N—no. Go on.”

“I would have dragged you to my room because I wanted to rip off your clothes. But when you were with me, I knew it wasn’t meant to be then. Not because those who wait shall receive. But when everything is right, it happens. But I know how you responded to me when you saw me. Whatever was in me was reflected in your eyes. You do love me, don’t you?”

“Are you that desperate you have to beg.”

Morten chuckled. “I was, wasn’t I? True. You’ve never said it, but I saw it for a moment when we first met.  What’s wrong…?  I’m a cop. Observant.  Remember?”

“Morten…I can’t love you the way you want.”

“What way can you love me?”

He saw the same determined look on her face that he had seen in the motel, when she glared at him, after she threw a tantrum.

“A marriage of convenience.  I don’t love you.  I can offer you a job in the Company.  You’ll be the guardian.  I’m using you.   For Kolya.  I love him.”

Morten’s eyes seemed like sapphires because his face was pale, drained, anemic.

She added, “I can’t handle courts and lawyers. I’m not like you. Analytical. I’m a dancer.  I know how to follow steps to music.”  There was no intimacy in her voice. It sounded like a business deal, a transaction between traders.

She added in a cutting tone: “I need my freedom.  Without it I might as well be dead.  I’ve always had my way.  Will you do it?”

“Maybe, one day,” he said, slowly, plaintively, “you’ll look at me as you did when we met.”

“How was that?”

“I think you know.”

“You’ll do it? Sacrifice yourself…?” she asked contemptuously, with greedy eyes upon him.

“You don’t understand, do you? One day, you might—  Haven’t forgiven me…?  I know my value. You’re buying a license. I accept.”

She stared past him with the look of exploitation; a slave driver and trader would have had the same merciless expression.

 

I’ll keep you posted,

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