Evolution by MJ Duncan is a super-slow burn romance featuring a former ballerina and a symphony conductor.
After retiring from her role as prima ballerina, Nina Devereaux has become artistic director for the Royal Ballet. Now Nina is embarking on the challenge of a lifetime – developing Evolution, a ballet that will celebrate the form’s past and future.
Clara Martin’s prodigious musical talent has taken her around the world. Now she has been offered the chance to come home as lead conductor for the London Symphony Orchestra.
Nina and Clara have known each other for twenty years, but they refuse to fully acknowledge their shared attraction. Coming out has ended the career of numerous dancers at the conservative company, and Nina can’t afford to take a chance with her livelihood. But having Clara nearby again is bringing Nina’s submerged longing to the surface.
It will take all of Nina’s formidable gifts to bring her daring artistic vision to life. The chairman of the Royal Ballet’s board would love nothing more than to see her fail. Can Nina deliver on her grand ambition? And even if she succeeds, will it be worth it without Clara fully by her side?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Evolution is the third book in MJ Duncan’s Symphony Series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Both romantic leads are over 40, and I appreciated that Duncan wrote characters that embodied their ages. Nina is past her dancing prime, and Clara is no longer a young prodigy. While still vibrant, they have each grown into themselves, their experience, and their power. It was a nice contrast from the younger characters in Pas de Deux and some of Duncan’s other novels.
Duncan is masterful at describing performances from Nina’s perspective. Her prose gave me goose bumps imagining myself behind the curtain or watching Clara conduct from box seats. These are the images that remain in my mind as I think back on the novel.
Cons And Heads Up
The author provides an introductory content warning for a scene in which a character encounters racist rhetoric. Instructions on how to bypass the scene are also included.
The Conclusion
I know that MJ Duncan’s books will deliver a nice, long read, descriptive prose, and some heat. Evolution certainly delivers. Buy this novel if you love music or dance and are interested in a low angst, slow burn romance featuring mature characters.
Excerpt from Evolution by MJ Duncan
It was a little ridiculous, the way her heart dropped with the click of the door closing after Clara, and Nina shook her head at herself as she made her way toward the garment bag with her dress for the evening. Even taking her time changing clothes and touching up her hair and makeup, it still took her barely more than twenty minutes to get ready, and she puttered around her office for a total of six minutes more before she gave up trying to feign busyness and headed downstairs.
There was the faintest trace of electricity in the air when she stepped out of the lift and onto the esplanade fronting the theatre, and she smiled at the familiarity of it all. If she could sense it all the way out here, it meant that all of the building’s ghosts were awake and ready to feed on the energy of the final performance of the season. The feeling of preternatural anticipation intensified to the point that the hairs on her arms stood on end the moment she stepped foot in the amphitheater, and her eyes fluttered shut as her pulse tripped into a run.
The memory of this feeling, no matter how clear, always, always paled in comparison to the reality, and she lifted her chin ever so slightly as she soaked it in like an addict gleefully tumbling off the wagon. Every night on stage was a gift, but there was nothing more special than the last night of a run when every aspect of the building seemed to crackle with electricity—the surest guarantee that whatever was to happen within these hallowed walls in the next few hours was going to be pure magic.
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Series
Symphony in Blue
Pas de Deux
Evolution
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9798737455972
Publisher: Indie author
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Note: I received a free review copy of Evolution by MJ Duncan. No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site
