Two men. Three identities. An unstoppable attraction.Desperate for his luck to change, Jake Spencer manages to land a dance contract with Dmitry Gruzdev. The job has plenty of perks, including a simmering lust between him and Dmitry’s hulking brute of a bodyguard, Mikhail. Life is finally looking up. Except as the shine wears off, it becomes clear that Jake’s stepped into a world of darkness and … darkness and depravity where Bratva answers to no one and allies are not what they seem.
Mikhail’s hiding a secret: there is no Mikhail. He’s simply a front for undercover operative, Ryan Harris. A means to gain access to Dmitry. Ryan’s not stupid. There’s no way he’s going to get distracted by a pretty face, no matter how attractive Jake might be. That would be far too dangerous for all concerned. Only it’s not that simple and before Ryan knows it, the line between personal and professional begins to blur spectacularly.
Lust develops into more. Secrets start to unravel. Ryan’s got an impossible choice to make: keep Jake safe or maintain his cover. But how much does Dmitry know? The hunted may be about to become the hunter, blowing both men’s worlds to pieces and leaving them with nothing.
Can a relationship built on lies ever lead to love?
Warning: This book contains a seductive dancer prone to getting into trouble, a gruff man who’s anything but, and a villain who just won’t go away.
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H.L. Day has done it again with A Step Too Far certainly living up to its predecessor, A Dance Too Far. Once again, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster of the best kind. There was laughing, crying, hurt, hope and happiness. I thought it would be hard to create two characters that could compete with Valentin and Max from the first book but oh boy, was I surprised by Jake and Ryan/Mikhail. There was an instant attraction between the young, sassy and determined Jake, and the withdrawn and emotionless bodyguard, Mikhail. An emotional connection bloomed beautifully between them as Ryan found it more and more difficult to keep up his undercover persona when around Jake. The struggle subsequently ensues between keeping Jake safe and finding a way to finally end Dimitry’s operation for good.
I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a heart-wrenching story that has just enough darkness and angst to make the ending all the more beautiful. I can promise that the darkness is not all-consuming and to counter-balance it, there is plenty of cheek and sweetness between Jake and Ryan. Seeing Valentin and Max again was also a definite highlight!
[I received an ARC from the author and am voluntarily leaving an honest review and my recommendation].
I really enjoyed this book by HL Day, along with the previous book in the same series, A Dance Too Far.
In A Step Too Far, a naive ballet dancer without family, connections, or money is taken in by a savvy businessman who has previously sponsored a rising star in the ballet world. What he doesn’t know is this “businessman” has ties to the Russian mafia and the dancers he sponsors are more like possession who are pressed into providing services that don’t have anything to do with dance.
He’s immediately taken with a big, Russian bodyguard who clearly desires him, and he breaks through the man’s resistance quickly, but there’s more to this man than meets the eye. He could be Jake’s salvation, but only if they both manage to survive.
In the previous novel, A Dance Too Far, a rising ballet star sponsored by a Russian mobster meets a man he could love — but he has to extricate himself from a criminal set on keeping him from any sort of freedom or happiness if he is to keep his boyfriend alive.
4.5 stars- This author has quickly become a favorite of mine and A Step Too Far is a great example as to why. The second in the series, A Step Too Far features a new couple but the continuing storyline about the Russian mafia, its connection to the ballet theater, and the characters introduced in the first book mean it’s best to read these in order. This May-December romance offers plenty of action and intrigue to wrap up the series, complete with a satisfying resolution.
The ending of A Dance Too Far left me really intrigued about Mikhail, specifically his character’s motivations, but I definitely wasn’t expecting what A Step Too Far revealed. Mikhail/Ryan was a really interesting and complex character, but his relationship with Jake further revealed those layers, exposing an incredibly likable man. The connection between Jake and Ryan was obvious early on, but the dynamic between these two was what really caught my attention. I liked the slow shift and little glimpses the author delivered pointing to their hidden feelings. It ended up creating a push/pull that kept me invested without frustrating me, and ultimately concluding with a well-done resolution that made it hard to put the book down. If you like unique pairings with a suspenseful undertone, I’d definitely recommend the Too Far series.
*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*
This sequel to A Dance Too Far was as heartbreaking and wonderful as the first book. Bodyguard/babysitter/enforcer Mikhail, who surprisingly helped Valentin and Max in book one, turned out to be undercover cop Ryan Harris. Ryan’s head and heart were at odds when he was driven to help that couple, but that was nothing compared to his feelings when he met dancer Jake Spencer. Jake was confident, funny, and snarky – all things Ryan knew would change after a very short time spent under Dmitry’s control. After two years undercover, which he had already endangered, Ryan was forced to watch the man he’d quickly come to care about begin to lose his spark as he became a possession to Dmitry, to be mistreated or given to other men as he chose.
This book was so hard to read at times because it made me devastated and angry for poor Jake. I was sad for Ryan and his feelings of helplessness, but I cried and felt sick over the man Jake was forced to become to save himself. The bright spots of this story were the one-on-one moments between Ryan and Jake, especially away from Dmitry’s surveillance. They were so perfect together. I loved both men, and I just wanted them to have a happy ending, dammit! They had to work so hard to try to get to that point. I never lost interest or faith that they’d get there, but my heart ached at the agony they each had to endure. What a brilliant story this was, especially when combined with book one.
I enthusiastically recommend both A Dance Too Far and A Step Too Far to those who can handle a main character who has to endure nonconsensual activities before finding his happy ending. As I said at the start of this review, it was both heartbreaking and wonderful. The author did a fantastic job making me fall in love alongside the main characters.