Like No One is Watching by Jaime Samms (Dance, Live, Love book 1)

As part of our holiday request for backlist books, Jaime Samms shared Like No One Is Watching, which I picked up and loved...  

From the blurb:

One dancer. One cleaner. Two very different worlds.

If Conrad isn’t good enough to be a principal dancer, at least he makes a stellar teacher, stern with the kids coming through his studio, but chatty with anyone else who stands still too long.

Dusty likes the quiet spaces between words. Since a brutal beating as a teenager, he’s content to go unnoticed, reconciled to his broken brain and a dance career lost before it ever began. Cleaning Conrad’s studio is perfect for a guy who doesn’t want to be the center of anything.

Convinced if Dusty comes out from the shadows, he’ll shine, Conrad can’t seem to leave him to his simple work—or stop talking. Because Dusty not only hears him, he also listens. It’s been a long time since anyone listened.

Far from being annoyed, Dusty is drawn to the man hidden behind Conrad’s babble. But Conrad has the life Dusty never got to have, and wanting someone from that world could shatter him all over again.

This book was previously published. The story has not changed, but this version includes the short story Out of Step, previously only available in the series print anthology.

Heather's Review:

This book was an opposites attract story that burned hot at the beginning and simmered through to the end.  I would have liked to see a little more steam, but the creation of a solid relationship and overcoming pre-conceived notions and self-doubt were central to the story.

Reading this book made me want to continue to read the series and see what happens to the other characters who appear in this one, so I started and finished Like You've Never Been Hurt and I'm now working my way through Like Heaven on Earth.  What I'm loving is how each character's backstory impacts their relationships, both romantic and friends and how that dynamic is playing out in the series.

Rating: 4 Stars

Like No One Is Watching and the rest of the series are available in paperback and e-book formats and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription.