{"id":1494,"date":"2014-12-13T12:17:26","date_gmt":"2014-12-13T20:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2021-01-15T03:59:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T08:59:48","slug":"review-amour-amour-by-krista-and-becca-ritchie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=1494","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Failed Audition (Circus is Family, #1), previously Amour Amour (Aerial Ethereal, #1) by Krista and Becca Ritchie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n

\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/h4>\n
\n

Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

4 ‘love is a circus’ stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

21 year old Thora has one dream in her life \u2013 to join the elite athletes in Aerial Ethereal, a Cirque du Soleil-esque acrobatic show based in Vegas. Their latest show, Amour, is a study in love, and they are holding auditions for somebody to perform the \u2018passion\u2019 aspect on the aerial silks. So she\u2019s on the first available flight out of Ohio to chase her dream.<\/p>\n

Wide-eyed and innocent, Thora\u2019s first night in the big city sees her running into performer, Nikoali (aka the \u201cGod of Russia<\/em>\u201d) at a bar where they have a VERY interesting first encounter. Seriously \u2013 WTF? And that makes everything incredibly awkward when she turns up for her audition the following day only to find herself having to work with him.<\/p>\n

From the very beginning, there is a palpable intensity between them \u2013 is it lust, is it anger, is it Nikolai just being an ass? These questions plagued me for quite a while, but there\u2019s no denying that there is some serious chemistry going on!<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust me.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t even know you,\u201d I say softly, adrenaline pulsating through my veins. He has led me to the precipice of a cliff, pushed me off, and now he\u2019s clasping my wrist. He can let go at any moment, and I will fall.
\n\u201cEvery day,\u201d he says lowly, \u201cI hold a person\u2019s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me. I\u2019m asking you, right now, to trust me.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nikolai is an intriguing character. Born into the performing life, he is 26 years old and is brilliant at what he does, but he is a very tricky one to figure out. It\u2019s very clear that performing is his passion, and in that way he is the perfect person to help Thora as, when it comes to their art, they understand each other completely.<\/p>\n

He is power. Man. And strength. He is charm and desire and indestructible things.
\nI want to emit an equivalent passion. I want to be strength and desire. But I\u2019m not sure how to match him and still move. It\u2019s easy to be confident in the face of average-standing competition. It\u2019s hard to pretend you\u2019re something greater in the face of someone who\u2019s already beyond great.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As much as I liked his mysteriousness, I also liked getting to know him better and seeing the man behind the performer. He is determined to help Thora, but he\u2019s not flowery about it and doesn\u2019t give her false hope. He\u2019s honest and demanding, and he is also encouraging, and I really liked how committed he was to helping her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things greater than us, Thora, they\u2019re not impossible. It\u2019s just fear talking, telling you that you\u00a0can\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0when you can. I know you can.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather feed your hunger than watch you starve\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book is written entirely from Thora\u2019s POV, and I love her voice! Passionate but sensible, she is charmingly self-deprecating, and I enjoyed her narrative.<\/p>\n

When I catch my expression in my floor-length mirror, a dark scowl tightens my facial muscles. It\u2019s my normal look, unfortunately. I have RBF (resting bitch face). It\u2019s one-hundred percent real.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m feeling a lot lamer than usual. I mean, I know I\u2019m half-lame most of the time, with flat comebacks and unintentional demonic glares. But I\u2019m reaching new levels<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sure, she\u2019s innocent, but she is driven and brave, and determined to do anything to follow her dreams. And I love her dedication.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going for it. Every part of my body says to jump and fly, no matter how hard voices like Shay and my parents try to ground me. I understand their realism, but I don\u2019t want to look back and regret not taking the plunge.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book focuses very much on Thora\u2019s battle to achieve her life\u2019s ambition, while dealing with the threat of failure and the expectations of her family, and I loved reading about her journey. The things that she goes through as a performer are absolutely gruelling, and my muscles were aching just reading about it! I loved the attention to detail when it came to all that is involved in the circus lifstyle, and I’m suddenly inspired to go and see a Cirque du Soleil show :\\<\/p>\n

And of course, there is also romance. It’s not as prominent as in other Ritchie sister books, but it’s still there, and it\u2019s sweet and tender, but with a lot of depth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was unintentional.\u201d
\nIt became something more without noticing. Without realizing. \u201cAm I a mistake\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cNo, myshka. You\u2019re just the unexpected, beautiful thing in my life.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the blossoming relationship also ties in nicely with Thora\u2019s struggle to achieve her goals as she figures out what is important in her life, and what she is willing to sacrifice to get it.\u00a0

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
\n

\u201cI\u2019m in love with you,\u201d I whisper.
\nHe tries to smile but his eyes flood instead. \u201cDon\u2019t love me more than your dreams, myshka. Because I love you too much to let you give them up for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

I really enjoyed Thora\u2019s story! It\u2019s different to a lot of the books I normally read, and I liked the originality of it. There were a few moments that had me raising my eyebrows, but there is no stupid behaviour, and nothing that really annoyed me. I love the tie in with the\u00a0Addicted<\/em>\u00a0series (most of the characters in the book are Princesses of Philly fans), and I really enjoyed the side characters – pessimistic and cynical John was hilarious, and Nikolai\u2019s siblings brought a great family dynamic that the Ritchie sisters do so well.<\/p>\n

This is a beautifully told story of a young girl\u2019s ambition to achieve her dreams, and it left me with a big smile on my face.<\/p>\n

4 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aerial Ethereal<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Series rebranded in 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The Failed Audition (#1)<\/strong> (Nikolai & Thora)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

The Secret Ex-Boyfriend (#2)<\/strong> (Luka & Baylee)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Previously titled Aerial Ethereal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Amour\u00a0 \"Infini<\/p>\n

Amour Amour (#1)<\/strong> (Nikolai & Thora)<\/p>\n

Infini (#2)<\/strong> (Luka & Baylee)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out our Krista & Becca Ritchie Author Spotlight<\/a> for more reads by these authors.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review 4 ‘love is a circus’ stars     21 year old Thora has one dream in her life \u2013 to join the elite athletes in Aerial Ethereal, a Cirque du […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[585,98,48],"class_list":["post-1494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-adult","category-romance","tag-aerial-ethereal","tag-krista-and-becca-ritchie","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/22888864-e1456605645278.jpg?fit=150%2C230&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-o6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}