Death Dancer

The tattooed, bad boy of ballet finds himself both a suspect and a potential victim of a serial killer
Death Dancer by Tara Lain

Death Dancer

Death Dancer is a romantic suspense, total opposites attract, creepy serial killer, sexy tatted bad boy, men-in- tights, MM romance—with dessert.

Who knew ballet could be so dangerous?

Val Aalto, a tattooed ballet dancer, stands primed for huge success — and all he wants is to dance Romeo.

Andrew Preston, a by-the-book detective, chases a serial killer who’s murdering dancers — and all he wants is to catch him.

When the premier dancer who hates Val’s guts turns up murdered, Val and Andrew meet and what they want gets way hotter!

But mounting evidence makes Val the lead suspect, the killer starts stalking him, and Val’s dance of love turns to a dance with death in the ego-fueled halls of ballet.

Available in eBook format

2nd Edition
Tara Lain Books
Release Date: March 09, 2021
247 Pages
ASIN B08W3F7LWM

What People Are Saying

Winner Best Mystery Suspense of 2016

5 Hearts!

I would definitely recommend reading this book.  Trust me you will absolutely have a blast with it.

Lisa

MM Good Book Reviews

4.5 Stars!

This, and Golden Dancer are ones you should pick up and enjoy and put on your re-read list to catch the little things you may have missed the first time you read through them. I highly recommend this story both as an excellent Tara Lain book but as a good overall romantic suspense book.

Wicked Faerie’s Book Reviews

4.5 Stars!

If you enjoy romances with mystery and tension, with characters that are slightly unconventional but loyal to a fault Death Dancer should make it to your shelf and be read as soon as you have a chance!

Lexxie

UnConventional Book Reviews

Other Books in the Series

Excerpt

 

His eyes opened wide. Dark. Why am I awake? He shivered. No so-called uncles trying to slip in beside him or boys sneaking in to drop ice in his bed.

A sound, between a scratch and a squeak, sent the feel of that long-remembered ice down his back. Don’t move yet.

Squrunch. Woosh, Squrucnch.

Where? The door? Too close. The window then?

Shit, the branch Andrew had freaked over. Val’s heart slammed so hard it had to make a sound. The sheets over him actually shook.

Andrew.

He snaked out a hand and grabbed his cell phone. He pulled it under the covers. Speed dial, baby.

One ring. Two. Three— “Preston.” Thanks for police reflexes.

He put his head under the covers and whispered, “Andrew. It’s me.”

“I know. Why are you whispering? What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s trying to break in, I think.”

“Shit. Jump out of bed. Yell into the phone. Make it clear you’re talking to the police. Turn on all the lights. Now. Go.”

Val threw back the covers, grabbed for the bedside light and flipped it on, half expecting to see some killer standing in his room, but nobody. “Police. Get here now! Someone’s breaking into my apartment. Hurry. Please!” He raced around the apartment, turning on every light.

Andrew’s voice, panting. “What do you see?”

“Nothing. No one’s here.”

“Look out the window, but stand back in case he has a gun.”

“Shit. Seriously?”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t do it.”

“Hell.” He sidled to the window, pulled back the blinds and looked out. A sliver of light from his apartment shone into the darkness outside, although darkness was relative and his street pretty much never got more than dim. Staring between the buildings, he might have caught a glimpse of movement below, but it could have been a cat or a shadow. “I don’t see anything.”

A siren cut through the general noise of traffic that created the background of Val’s world. Nothing unusual about sirens, but this one got closer. Andrew was still breathing hard. Was he running? Val looked again. “I hear the black and whites.”

“Yeah. Just pulled up in front of your building, I think. They’ll buzz. Don’t let them in until I tell you.” The tinny squawk of a police radio sounded in the background. Andrew seemed to be talking. He came back on the cell. “Have they buzzed?”

The buzzer sounded.

“Yeah. Just now.”

“Okay. Let them in. I’ll be there in a second.”

Val started to the door where the buzzer was, stopped and laughed.

“What?”

“I forgot I’m bare-assed. I’d better grab my jeans fast. See you in a second.” Still chuckling, he hit the buzzer, grabbed his pants from the floor and was zipping them as the police knocked on his door. New stair speed records. He opened.

The young female cop’s eyes widened just a little. “Valentin Aalto?”

He nodded.

“I understand you had an attempted break-in?” Two male cops in uniform stood behind her.

“I think so, but I’m not sure. Come in while I grab a shirt.”

Her half smile said ‘not on my account’, but she didn’t voice it. “Tell me what happened, sir.”

He pulled a long-sleeved T-shirt over his head. “I was asleep. I’m a light sleeper. I woke up and heard a strange sound, like a scrunching and a squeaking. I might not have thought anything about it since I’d double-locked the door, but An— Detective Preston inspected this apartment and suggested the limbs on the tree outside should be cut since they hang near the apartment windows. I got worried and called him.”

“Why didn’t you dial nine-one-one?”

Val speared her with his eyes. “I’m a dancer with the NYBT. Detective Preston is investigating the murders of dancers. He was my first thought. Is there a problem with that?”

“Of course not.” She turned to the male officers. “Check the tree and the area around it. The apartment window from the outside also, although we may have to come back with a ladder. I’ll look at it from in here.”

“No, thank you, Officer. I will.”

Oh, man, was Andrew a sight to make a scared dancer’s heart go pitty-pat.

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