Title: Out of Hiding
Author: Mia Kerick
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (180 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 13th 2014)
Heat Level: Mild
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: After graduating from high school early, twenty-year-old Philippe Bergeron spent the past several years lost among the stars while fishing off the New England coast. A shoulder injury ends his dream of living reclusively on the water, and he finds himself lost among the bright lights of New York City. His older brother, Henri, has asked Philippe to chaperone his seventeen-year-old niece, Sophie, on her tours of the city’s legendary dance programs.
Sophie meets with professional dancer and choreographer, Dario Pereira, to prepare a routine for her college auditions. Dario’s cool perfection and immaculate style contrast with Philippe’s awkward scruffiness, but it wakes desires Philippe thought he’d left behind. When the attraction is surprisingly returned, Dario’s confidence won’t let Philippe remain invisible. Unsure but curious, Philippe relaxes his rule of isolation, and as the summer progresses, his relationship with Dario leads him to a surprising discovery of his submissive sexual tendencies and a greater sense of self-awareness.
Tragedy threatens to destroy the connections Philippe has made and forces him to retreat into the shadows of his past, far from the radiance of Dario’s love. Ultimately, he must decide if it is time to stop hiding and set himself free
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4571
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Philippe Bergeron is quiet and withdrawn. In NYC, with his niece for the summer, as her guardian, while she looks at dance schools and colleges, he meets the enigmatic dance instructor, Dario Pereira. There is definitely a mutual attraction simmering underneath, but Philippe just wants to be invisible. After the death of his mother years ago, something inside him broke. He’s spent the last several years literally hiding out, until his brother talked him into chaperoning Sophie this summer.
Dario is confident and beautiful, where as Philippe is scruffy, awkward and withdrawn. Dario makes damn sure that Phil knows he is interested and the relationship slowly progresses. Dario opens up a confidence that is hidden away inside Phil and makes him feel loved and wanted. But is Dario’s love enough to pull him out of his self-imposed exile? Dario refuses to let him hide, but when Dario is injured in an accident that brings all the memories of Phil’s mother’s death rushing back, Phil does the only thing he knows how to do. He hides. Will his love for Dario and the emptiness he feels bring them back together? Or will Philippe spend the rest of his life alone, hiding.
I loved the concept of this story. The laid back, relaxed introvert meets the loud, outspoken, and mesmerizing dancer that turns his life upside down. Philippe has seriously closed himself off from any type of emotion for fear of feeling the anguish he felt over the death of his mother. Dario has to help him find those feelings of love again. And when push comes to shove, Dario steps back and allows Philippe the time to figure it out for himself. The title is quite fitting. Dario brings him out of hiding by loving him.
My only complaint was the intimacy between the two ML. It was as if a tug of war was going between a Mature YA rating and a New Adult rating. I just wanted Kerick to choose one side or the other. There were scenes where less racy, more passionate was appropriate. But there were also times I wanted Dario to rock his socks off, and it didn’t quite make it there. Overall, this was a really good story about figuring out who you are, what you want, and that life is all about taking risks to achieve true happiness.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for MM Good Book Reviews*
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