The Midnight Dance
Author: Nikki Katz
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: October 17th, 2017
Genre: YA Contemporary
Book Description:
When the music stops, the dance begins. Seventeen-year-old Penny is a lead dancer at the Grande Teatro, a finishing school where she and eleven other young women are training to become the finest ballerinas in Italy. Tucked deep into the woods, the school is overseen by the mysterious and handsome young Master who keeps the girls ensconced in the estate – and in the only life Penny has never known.
But when flashes of memories, memories of a life very different from the one she thinks she’s been leading, start to appear, Penny begins to question the Grand Teatro and the motivations of the Master. With a kind and attractive kitchen boy, Cricket, at her side, Penny vows to escape the confines of her school and the strict rules that dictate every step she takes. But at every turn, the Master finds a way to stop her, and Penny must find a way to escape the school and uncover the secrets of her past before it’s too late.
Buy Links:
EXCERPT
“Here.” Penny put down the mug and held out a hand. “Let me.” Once Ana relinquished the fabric, Penny ripped out the loose stitches and redid them, tight and evenly spaced. “It’s all in how you hold the needle.”
Ana sighed and shook her head. “I’ll never get it right. Mamma was so good at sewing. I guess her skill skipped a generation.” She cupped her own steaming drink between both hands. “I wish she could’ve taught me before she passed away. I miss her.”
“Me, too.” Maria glanced up. “I mean, I miss my mother. Not yours.”
Penny looked back and forth between the girls, her chest tightening. She’d never realized they both had deceased mothers.
Penny’s own mother had died from pneumonia several years ago. How odd that they were all motherless.
“She was so beautiful,” Maria continued. “Long dark hair that she always kept coiled in a braid at the back of her neck.”
“My mamma used to wear hers in the same style,” Ana chimed in.
As did mine, Penny thought.
“She loved to cook,” Maria continued, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. “Ravioli, parmigiano risotto, and the most amazing ribollita. We’d purposely let the bread go stale just so she would make it.”
“So did we!” Ana interrupted. “I always picked out the cabbage.”
Penny jerked her gaze back down to the sash. She yanked out the last few stitches, which had gone absurdly awry. Her mother had made ribollita as well, a recipe handed down by Penny’s grandmother.
How was it possible their mothers were all so similar, their memories nearly identical?
Ana leaned in, seemingly unconcerned about the eerie coincidence.
“Did your mamma ever sing you ‘Ninna Nanna’?” She began to hum the melody.
Penny practically threw the sewing back at Ana. “I’m not feeling well. Sorry. I can help you again tomorrow.”
She nearly tripped in her haste to flee the room before she could hear Maria’s response, to hear that all three mothers had sung the very same lullaby to their daughters.
It had to be a coincidence.
That was what she kept telling herself as she fled the library and the warmth of the hearth. The lullaby played a recurring tune through her mind as she raced down the dimly lit dormitory hall and into her barren room. Penny closed the door and threw herself into bed, willing away the nausea frothing in her abdomen.
It had to be a coincidence.
“Here.” Penny put down the mug and held out a hand. “Let me.” Once Ana relinquished the fabric, Penny ripped out the loose stitches and redid them, tight and evenly spaced. “It’s all in how you hold the needle.”
Ana sighed and shook her head. “I’ll never get it right. Mamma was so good at sewing. I guess her skill skipped a generation.” She cupped her own steaming drink between both hands. “I wish she could’ve taught me before she passed away. I miss her.”
“Me, too.” Maria glanced up. “I mean, I miss my mother. Not yours.”
Penny looked back and forth between the girls, her chest tightening. She’d never realized they both had deceased mothers.
Penny’s own mother had died from pneumonia several years ago. How odd that they were all motherless.
“She was so beautiful,” Maria continued. “Long dark hair that she always kept coiled in a braid at the back of her neck.”
“My mamma used to wear hers in the same style,” Ana chimed in.
As did mine, Penny thought.
“She loved to cook,” Maria continued, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. “Ravioli, parmigiano risotto, and the most amazing ribollita. We’d purposely let the bread go stale just so she would make it.”
“So did we!” Ana interrupted. “I always picked out the cabbage.”
Penny jerked her gaze back down to the sash. She yanked out the last few stitches, which had gone absurdly awry. Her mother had made ribollita as well, a recipe handed down by Penny’s grandmother.
How was it possible their mothers were all so similar, their memories nearly identical?
Ana leaned in, seemingly unconcerned about the eerie coincidence.
“Did your mamma ever sing you ‘Ninna Nanna’?” She began to hum the melody.
Penny practically threw the sewing back at Ana. “I’m not feeling well. Sorry. I can help you again tomorrow.”
She nearly tripped in her haste to flee the room before she could hear Maria’s response, to hear that all three mothers had sung the very same lullaby to their daughters.
It had to be a coincidence.
That was what she kept telling herself as she fled the library and the warmth of the hearth. The lullaby played a recurring tune through her mind as she raced down the dimly lit dormitory hall and into her barren room. Penny closed the door and threw herself into bed, willing away the nausea frothing in her abdomen.
It had to be a coincidence.
About the AuthorNikki Katz is an author and editor living in sunny San Diego with her three children. With a BS in aerospace engineering, Nikki first put her writing skills to use publishing four nonfiction books. She moved on to writing young adult fiction, her favorite genre to read as well. The Midnight Dance is her debut novel.
Author Links:
Thanks for being on the tour! :)
ReplyDeleteEEp, I am so in love with this book!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book!!!
ReplyDeleteThe book description and excerpt sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing. Love the cover too.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the excerpt and Giveaway. I'm looking forward to reading!
ReplyDelete