Review: Magical Love Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 24, 2013
I was asked to read With Every Heartbeat in exchange for an honest review.  I have read other books authored by Melody Grace and very much enjoy her writing style and the way her characters seem to leap off the page.  I couldn’t wait to read this novel to experience the joy of a new extraordinary world created by Ms. Grace.  Well, that is definitely what she gave me!Annalise is a young woman who has focused and worked her entire life on becoming a great ballerina, striving towards being the best at her craft for a chance of being given the greatest opportunity of a lifetime: to win a solo part and become a prima ballerina like her mother.  When the opportunity arises to join a ballet company, her mother sends her to Rome in hopes of Annalise finally achieving what she has diligently trained to achieve.  But while living in Rome, Annalise sees Raphael performing with a group of street dancers, and she becomes entranced not only with his style of dancing but with the mesmerizing way he moves.  As she watches him perform, she can feel the intensity with which Raphael becomes one with the music as he glides through his dance.  When Raphael looks up and his eyes meet hers for the first time, Annalise immediately feels there is something special about him, something even deeper than his dancing.Although Annalise has always had a deep-seated love for ballet through all her years of study, when watching the way Raphael performs, she can feel his connection with the music in a way she has never experienced.  As time passes and Annalise begins to experience for herself the differences between their two worlds of dance, she begins to question what she has spent every waking moment devoting her life to and whether that is truly the world in which she belongs.WOW!  The sensual and sexual intenseness between these two characters is amazing and incredible.  I could almost feel it resonating off of my Kindle as I read, feeling the heat and powerful bond that links Annalise and Raphael's souls together.  I always know a story has captured me when even after I have finished reading the book, I can’t seem to stop thinking about the characters, missing the time I have spent getting to know them, reliving their story in my head and loving every minute of it.  With Every Heartbeat is most certainly one of those stories.