He thought he had her figured out.
Turns out, he was wrong.
Bianca
Everyone at the ballet academy think they know me—the prima donna. The diva. The mean girl.
They’re wrong.
What they don’t know is that I’m moments away from losing my meticulously planned out life. I’m not one to show weakness but my ankle has a different agenda. Adding Ryan to that equation only complicates things more … ankle has a different agenda. Adding Ryan to that equation only complicates things more and suddenly the only person who can save my future—and my secrets—is the one person I’m not sure I can trust.
Ryan
I’ve spend my life not caring. If it doesn’t involve Mom or my kid sister, Rosie, I don’t care.
Period.
But there’s something about Bianca. Something about her desperate desire to hide the fact that she’s a pageant queen that I can’t help but involve myself in. Sure, it’s black mail—she does what I ask and I keep her secret—but I really think I can help her loosen up. After all, that’s my speciality.
Until things aren’t as simple anymore and suddenly, my feelings are deeper than I like. I come from a man who leaves, so why do I think I’d be different with Bianca? It’s better for me to stay away than for me to break her.
And the last thing I want to do is break her.
For fans of Kasie West, To all the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before, and The Kissing Booth, you’ll love this brand new series by two Amazon best selling authors!
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Anne-Marie Meyer This book is so sweet and just a super cute YA romance. Totally clean and still exciting. Loved it!!
Bianca and Ryan disliked each other from the moment they met. He thinks she’s an uptight mean girl and she thinks he’s just a stupid flirtatious jock! When he accidentally finds out she has a secret, one that can potentially ruin her prima donna/diva reputation, he decides to use it to his advantage and blackmail her…but in the end, he ends up hurting himself more than her! Great YA read!
It’s a neat trick to turn a character that’s hated in one book into the beloved star of another book. You’ve got to somehow dive deep into the character to show how she was actually – but logically – misunderstood in the first book while also, if needed, give her the right impetus to change to the extent needed in the later book. Somehow Anne-Marie Meyer and Maggie Dallen pulled this off superbly in The Running Back and the Prima Donna (The Ballerina Academy Book 2). I detested Bianca in book 1 of this series yet she morphs perfectly into a superbly brittle yet good at the core sympathetic character in book 2. Superbly written this is one heck of a fantastic sweet YA romance that I’m happy to highly recommend.
A good clean YA about Ryan, who has been hurt by his father abandoning him, trying to break down the wall of Bianca, the mean girl diva prima donna, who has a secret life. Ryan thinks she’s too uptight and challenges her to change when he finds out she’s a secret pageant queen.
I really enjoyed the bantering between these two characters and the continuity of other characters from previous book. I would highly recommend it.
It is amazing how little we really know about someone. Ryan and Bianca both have things that they keep hidden. Ryan really irritated me at first – did not like the way he treated Bianca especially at his concert. I get it – it was like pulling the little girl’s pigtail when you like her – but come on. However the more I got to see the real him and her, I really liked both of them. Together they make an awesome couple. Despite their hardships I loved that the author portrayed their families as loving them (not the usual take). Of course there is angst but it was handled really well and the ending was awesome. Great lead in to book 3 – which I am looking forward to.
(4.5 stars) – Deceiving appearances & superficial judgments…
Ryan & Bianca seem to be complete opposites, but they share similar problems. At first, they’re so focused on their own pain – and hiding it – that they don’t realize the other is suffering, too. Ryan deals by refusing to take life seriously. Bianca deals by being so intensely focused that she bulldozes over everyone in her path. Not surprisingly, then, they drive each other crazy.
Ryan enjoys pushing Bianca’s buttons. He views it as payback or teaching her how it feels to be on the receiving end, but in the process, becomes a bully himself.
“That panicky feeling in my chest was back because…oh crap. I’d broken Bianca.”
They gradually begin to recognize not only that they’re feeling some attraction toward each other, but also that there’s more going on than meets the eye. It’s amusing, while their defenses are still up, seeing how the two of them figure out how to manipulate and maneuver around each other. As they spend more time together, their defenses begin to crumble, and they each begin to see some of the hidden depths in the other.
The story actually has more depth than I expected and was easy to get swept into. The resolution is both incredibly touching and fun, along with a lead in to the next installment with Cooper & Eve
*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic
As always with Maggie Dallen’s stories, if you have a mean girl heroine – at least that’s how we got to know Bianca in the first book in the series – there is usually more to that mean girl than meets the eye.
Bianca has her reasons for keeping the rest of her world at arm’s length, though that doesn’t mean that everyone (*cough* Ryan *cough*) accepts that status quo. This hero with “resting smirk face” is determined to find a chink in Bianca’s armor, yet he’s in for quite a surprise once he gets to peek behind her carefully crafted facade.
These two complement each other wonderfully, and I love how Ryan does his best to take care of his little sister, Rosie (who, btw, is absolutely adorable).
This is a lovely, well-written story with all the feels, and I’m really looking forward to more books in this series!
Appearances… Can Be Deceiving. The RB who happens to be a local rock god. The ice queen Prima Donna. Both have secrets. Who will reveal theirs first? This series took some very unexpected turns here, and Meyer’s partnership continues to be felt on Dallen’s normal work. Overall stronger because of the unexpected turns, this is a solid middle outing in a series and manages to clue us in that there are troubles between the couple for the next book in the process. Very much recommended.
This is a well written book with strong characters and an entertaining story line. The author does a great job pulling at your emotions with all the pain flowing through the pages. I enjoyed reading Bianca and Ryan’s story.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
Two young adults, both carrying a load of problems on their shoulders and hiding behind facades to keep others from knowing the truth, are paired as dance partners in what was supposed to be a disciplinary exercise. Ryan teases, jokes and plays the laidback charmer but beneath the veneer, he battles to keep his act together for the sake of his mother and sister. Bianca, the ultimate prima donna has no friends as she has driven everyone away. Her one ambition is to make it as a ballerina and she will do whatever it takes in attitude or pushing her own agenda to achieve her goals. A most unlikely pairing, and yet each discovers the chink in the other’s armour. There is so much hidden pain in their lives but Ryan is the one person who can reach in and save Bianca from herself. The novel is most suitable for a younger age group, is well written and emotional, but comes to a good conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.