Pas de deux - BookWyrm

296 pages

Published May 20, 2021 by Bella Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-64247-245-5

Caitlyn Lloyd has the world at her feet. Or more accurately—under her horse’s hooves. With the 2016 Rio Olympics just around the corner, nothing is going to derail her long-held dream of winning a medal or two in Olympic dressage. Not even the reappearance of a childhood so-not-a-friend throwing her perfectly balanced life into disarray.

Addie Gardner’s career is at its peak, and accepting a last-minute fill-in position as the veterinarian for the US Olympic Dressage Team was a no-brainer. The fact that her old crush from Pony Club is on the team is just a bonus. Not a distraction at all. And it might just offer the chance to be friends with the girl who wouldn’t even give her the time of day twenty years ago.

But Caitlyn and Addie have very different memories of their time together at Pony Club and their first meeting as adults …

Caitlyn Lloyd has the world at her feet. Or more accurately—under her horse’s hooves. With the 2016 Rio Olympics just around the corner, nothing is going to derail her long-held dream of winning a medal or two in Olympic dressage. Not even the reappearance of a childhood so-not-a-friend throwing her perfectly balanced life into disarray.

Addie Gardner’s career is at its peak, and accepting a last-minute fill-in position as the veterinarian for the US Olympic Dressage Team was a no-brainer. The fact that her old crush from Pony Club is on the team is just a bonus. Not a distraction at all. And it might just offer the chance to be friends with the girl who wouldn’t even give her the time of day twenty years ago.

But Caitlyn and Addie have very different memories of their time together at Pony Club and their first meeting as adults is less like a reconnection and more like a butting of heads. With the Olympics looming, they’ll need to set aside their history and learn to work together. And maybe Caitlyn and Addie will realize childhood memories aren’t always accurate, and that they have more in common than they would ever have thought. Maybe. Just maybe.

1 edition

Cheri reviewed Pas de deux by E. J. Noyes

Review of 'Pas de deux' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I had just finished Turbulence by E. J. Noyes and wanted more of her stories so I pulled out my trusty Kobo Libra 2 and hit the review collection to see what else I had by her that I was insanely late on reading. Pas de Deux jumped out at me and I dug in immediately. And then couldn't stop reading.

When you read books by the same author back-to-back, you notice some similarities in language of course and some similar situations probably. Those things definitely happened but what also happened was it solidified my love for this author and her characters. I guess I'll be mentioning both books in this review because I liked them both a lot. Both Turbulence and Pas de Deux feature couples who, for whichever reason, didn't think their relationships would work out. Turbulence dealt with some class issues and workplace stuff and just not …

I had just finished Turbulence by E. J. Noyes and wanted more of her stories so I pulled out my trusty Kobo Libra 2 and hit the review collection to see what else I had by her that I was insanely late on reading. Pas de Deux jumped out at me and I dug in immediately. And then couldn't stop reading.

When you read books by the same author back-to-back, you notice some similarities in language of course and some similar situations probably. Those things definitely happened but what also happened was it solidified my love for this author and her characters. I guess I'll be mentioning both books in this review because I liked them both a lot. Both Turbulence and Pas de Deux feature couples who, for whichever reason, didn't think their relationships would work out. Turbulence dealt with some class issues and workplace stuff and just not seeing or admitting what's in front of you. Pas de Deux was more about making it work with seemingly incompatible occupations and locations. As the reader, it was easy to see how they could work it out but I didn't find it maddening that the characters took a while to solve the problems.

What really made Pas de Deux stand out for me was all of the dressage stuff. I've seen it on TV once or twice for a few minutes - long enough to know it's pronounced "dressahge" but that's about it. The entire time I was reading, I had to fight the urge to go down a rabbit hole on YouTube to find videos of all the things I was reading about. And I totally fell in love with Dewey. He was my favorite character, to be honest. But Addie and Caitlyn were a close second and third favorite.

A big thanks to Bella Books and NetGalley for the ARC that is being reviewed nearly three years late.

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