Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas #1) by Kathy Petrakis

Does passion and desire guarantee success? Can friends really be trusted? Can true love be found beneath lust and deceit?

These are questions street dancer Elena Martinez faces as she struggles to compete against the most talented students at New York’s top Performing Arts High School. Along with her best friend, the cheeky and mischievous Sebastien Duval, they are determined to make center stage.

But the singing diva Letitia has other plans. Beautiful, talented and popular, her desire for revenge could ruin everything for Elena and Sebastien. Now, they must fight against prejudice, treachery and deceit as Letitia sets out to destroy Elena’s friendships, her romance, her dignity and her dreams. Can Elena win the battle for true love, happiness and success?


Paperback, 350 pages  Published October 15th 2012 by Antartis Publishers

Passion and Pain is a contemporary novel that revolves around students attending an art school in which emotions are constantly running high. The fact that these students are all very talented and determined to stand out in a a very competitive field already leads to a stressed atmosphere.  But when you add the jealousies, the emotions of trying to be the best in a very limited space becomes harder by the day.

The book starts out meeting our MC when she's just 13 years old. The duration of the story is very much a coming of age story. Through friendships and heartbreaks this story is full of emotional highs and lows. Until that much anticipated day of graduation looms and their careers can bloom.  Although Elena is the focus of the novel, the reader will be introduced and get to know several different characters on different levels. My particular favorite being Sebastien.

You'll get drama, humor, romance and a lot of very determined young students thrown together in situations that will make them face their fears together. At around 350 pages it's one of the longer contemporary stories that I have read this year. But it does cover a lot of time in their lives when a lot of changes are  happening. So there is very little down-time in the story.
 

Right now the kindle version is just $2.99 and Free for Prime Members
which is a really good deal for this one. Grab it while you can. 

There is some sexual content, drugs, alcohol and cursing.

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