Danced Close

Annabeth Albert

Mar 2017 · Portland Heat Book 6 · Lyrical Press

About this ebook

A baker with a secret past and a gender-fluid wedding planner find love on the dancefloor in this gay romance novella by the author of Wrapped Together.

Portland, Oregon, is one of the hottest cities in America. Just ask all the hard-working men sweating it up behind the counters of the restaurants, boutiques, and cafés all over town . . .

Newly clean and sober, Todd's taken a shine to his job at Portland's most talked about bakery. It's not just the delicious desserts they sell, but the tasty treats who keep walking through the door. That certainly includes Kendall Rose, a wedding planner with eyes the color of brown sugar and skin to match. Todd doesn't try to hide his attraction to Kendall's elegant confidence and unique style, even as he worries about exposing the secrets of his past.

For Kendall, the attention is just part of the anything-goes Portland he's grown to love. But he's still looking for that special someone who will embrace all of him—including his gender fluidity. So he takes a chance and asks Todd to be his partner in a dance class leading to a fundraiser. When the music starts and he takes Todd in his arms, Kendall is shocked at how good it feels. Turns out taking the lead for once isn't a mistake. In fact, it might be time to take the next step and follow his heart . . .

Praise for the Portland Heat series

“A really enjoyable story.” —Joyfully Jay on Baked Fresh

“Sometimes an author just gets everything right . . . Absolutely perfect.” —Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews on Delivered Fast

“Charming and emotional.” —RT Book Reviews on Knit Tight

“Knit Tight is a truly beautiful novella.” —Smart Bitches Trashy Books

Ratings and reviews

Danced Close is the sixth book in the Portland Heat series but each of the books can be read as standalones with no problem. This isn’t my favorite story by Annabeth Albert but I still liked it a lot. I just didn’t seem to feel the connection between Todd and Kendall and that’s super unusual for me with an Annabeth Albert book. I have loved every single one of her stories and I’m pretty sure that I’ve read them all. I hate it when I can only give a 4-star review to one of my favorite authors. Now a 4-star review is still great IMHO, but it still pains me when I feel that I just can’t give 5 stars and still be honest about my feelings when I read the book. Opinions on books can be affected by so many things like what else is going on for me when I’m reading a story or maybe I was too tired when I tried to read it? I wish I could pinpoint the exact reason. I still think the writing is superb and I really suspect that it was the characters that I couldn’t connect with as easily and I have with the characters in the other books in this series. (Knit Tight is one of my all-time favorite books.) It's also a fairly short book so that might have been part of it. A bit more detail about both of the MCs would probably have helped me feel more connected. This may sound weird but I tend to judge a book by whether or not it makes me cry. If a book really gets to me I invariably shed tears, it’s just the way I am. I didn’t shed any tears reading Danced Close; another first for me with an A.A. book. I’m not going to restate the books blurb because it’s great and I couldn’t say it any better if I tried to summarize the book in my own words. I will say that if you are an Annabeth Albert fan you definitely should read this story and I think you will at least like it as I did. I just can’t say I loved this one. A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

There just aren't enough romance stories about genderqueer folks so I'm glad I found this one. This novella was sweet and sexy and I really liked it.

I couldn't finish the book. Kendall was too unbearable. I just didn't feel any connection between Kendall and Todd.

About the author

Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer. Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two toddlers. Annabeth can be found online at annabethalbert.com, @annabethalbert on Twitter, and Facebook.com/annabethalbert.