First Position Paperback – August 16, 2016

Today was a day that I most certainly did not want to watch anything on TV. I didn't even want to be on a channel adjacent to one that might be showing the inauguration. So, I decided to protest in my own way.I turned off the TV, cuddled up with a blanket and my cats, and I read a book. A book written by a woman. A book about women. A book about (*gasp*) lesbians.Today, I wanted a love story. I wanted a happy ending. I wanted it to last.I chose First Position by Melissa Brayden (Bold Strokes Books). I've had the book for a while and hadn't gotten around to it quite yet. I thought today was a good day to read it. A lesbian romance. Yeah, that's what I needed.I think this just might be Brayden's best work to date. If you've read my reviews of her previous work, you know that I enjoy Brayden's novels. I think she is one of our most prominent voices in Lesbian Romance. But First Position has gone to a new level.I love the characters in this book. Ana and Natalie are delightfully different. One uptight, one laid back. One who is a technical perfectionist, one who dances what she feels. One introverted and focused, one extroverted and kind of winging it. Real opposites. But, as the saying goes, opposites attract. What's really delightful, though, is that this is a "slow burn" attraction. They don't hit it off right away. They aren't secretly lusting after each other right away. Brayden allows the relationship time to build and grow. They find a path from grudging respect to friendship to attraction. As they travel that path, they also grow as individuals. Brayden really upped her character development game here.As always, the secondary characters are just as richly developed and used well to advance the story. I admit that I wanted a bit more resolution for Jason. Without giving anything away, let's just say that I wanted to know more about where he landed at the end of the novel. This was not a big thing, certainly not a deal-breaker. But he was the one character about whom I thought, "Where is he now?"Overall, First Position was tightly written and sharply edited. I noticed a real honing of the language. Favorite words and phrasings were significantly reduced when compared with Brayden's previous novels. But Brayden's unique voice as an author was not lost in any way. Instead, I think it was more clearly revealed. I think there is still room to improve with future books, but, again, this was in no way a deal-breaker. Character voices were distinct, the narrative was clean, and the dialogue was crisp. All-in-all, excellent.I've become quite the fan of audiobooks. So, I listened to First Position as I read along. I studied and practiced the performance of literature when I was in college - undergraduate and graduate schools. So, it's something that's pretty deeply set in me and close to my heart. While there is definitely a big part of me that likes to just sit back and listen, there is another part of me that likes to "see" the narrator's performance choices. Reading and listening at the same time let's me do this.In my review of Firework, I praised Kristin Barnes as the narrator. I said that she was one of the best narrators I've heard to that point. I hold to that review. But, I've got to say, Katrina Holmes really hit this one out of the ballpark! Holmes brought life to the narration in wonderful ways. Each character was distinct without being a caricature (my pet peeve). Sure, she missed a word or two here and there. But it did not change the meaning of Brayden's writing. Overall, it was spot-on narration. Now I think she and Barnes should just take turns narrating for Brayden.So, whether you like to read or listen, you're not going to go wrong with First Position.

This is a Melissa Brayden book, so of course, you're going to at least like it lot. 'First Position' is no exception. It's a well written, witty, and charming romance.This is an opposite's attract turning to friends to lover contemporary romance. Ana and Natalie are both dancers. Ana is a perfectionist ballerina with the New York City Ballet, and Natalie, is an emotional dancer rather than bothered with proficiency and dances with her own team of friends.Natalie is a given the chance to dance for the NYC Ballet and immediately clashes with the uptight Ana.While I really loved Ana, and connected with her, I didn't feel the same way about Natalie at first. She comes across as a bit immature in the beginning but I eventually warmed up to her, but it took about halfway through the book for it to happen. Natalie, to me, has the biggest character development, we see her mature and to start to taking her dancing seriously.Brayden includes some nice side characters as well, including Adrienne and Jenna from 'Waiting in the Wings'.There was a tiny bit of angst and drama, which are pretty normal for this author so it should be expected. However, I didn't think it was too bad compared to some of her other works.Highly recommend this book for anyone who's a fan of Brayden or anyone who likes books that are well written with likable characters and a sweet love story.

Okay, full disclosure. I love Melissa Brayden’s books.My head would just about explode as I routinely checked Amazon for months only to find that her latest book, First Position, was only available to preorder in a printed version. The teasing went on for far too long before her publisher finally relented and decided to release the ebook. Here is my official thank you to the book gods. I understand the financial necessity of trying to sell more printed copies of books, but lets be real, that ship has sailed Mr. and Mrs. Publisher. Please stop with this recent trend of holding our ebooks hostage.Anywho, lets talk about Melissa Brayden’s work.As I’ve previously stated, I’m a big fan. Ms. Brayden is one of two or three authors of lesbian fiction whose work I would be willing to preorder without needing to read a synopsis. She always comes through. I thoroughly enjoy her writing style, her stories are always compelling, and her characters fantastic.From the first page to the last, I was cheering for the two wonderful heroines in First Position to have their HEA and I wasn't disappointed.(*****SEMI-SPOILER ALERT - Despite the fact that there was a healthy dose of drama, after all you can't have a good book of any kind without conflict, it was refreshing that one the main characters didn't have to do something horribly cruel or unforgivable in order to have that drama. Brooklyn Campbell, you know I'm talking about you. Readers of Ms. Brayden's Soho Loft Series will get that reference.*****)I should also add how impressed I was by the serious research the author must have put in to give us such a vivid look into the world of big time ballet. I'm no expert, but she made it feel real to me.This was, in my humble opinion, Melissa Brayden's best book to date. (I mean, seriously. You had me at ballerinas.) And believe me, that's saying something. Heart Block and How Sweet It Is are probably both in my top ten of lesbian romances.Cheers, Melissa. I can't wait to read whatever you have for us next.

I have to admit that I am not into ballet but romance and Melissa Brayden go together like toast and butter so I gave it a go. And you know what? It was scrumptious! Anastasia aka Frozen is more than annoyed when Natalie gets a soloist postion in the company without having put in the years of slog. But whatever Natalie lacks in technique, she sure makes up for in passion. Although they rub each other up the wrong way, for the sake of the dance, they manage to work together and in the process learn a lot from each other. Ana thaws more than a little and Natalie grows. Passion, tenderness, heartbreak make this a book well worth reading and it was nice to meet up with some familiar faces at the end.

You know what you're going to get when you start a Melissa Brayden book. Light and fluffy and extremely enjoyable romantic fiction with only low grade angst. This is no exception to the rule. I'll not go into the story as the synopsis says enough but it's as described: Opposites attract as uptight Ana falls for free and easy Natalie (and vice versa). There're the usual 'obstacles in the way of true love' stuff in the form of a gruff and perfectionist father and a horrific (if somewhat unexpected) accident but it really isn't a spoiler to say that things turn out just as you want in the end. Simply impossible not to like! And does anyone write 'cute and sexy' banter between characters better than Brayden?P.S Fun to see cameos from 4 of Brayden's well-loved previous characters in this too!

Listen, you are always going to get a well written, solid story from Melissa. However, I am deducting 2 stars because (yet again) the character voices are eerily similar to some characters in her previous books. I could probably go through each of her books and pull out key phrases that are repeated throughout. I could then ask you to try and identify these characters and you probably wouldn't be able to. At first it was a cute way of writing and I loved 'Kiss the Girl'. Then the characters started to blend in her stories and when it came to 'First Position' I just wanted them to be DIFFERENT. Loved the setting, liked the story - perfect for an easy read but entirely what you expect.

OK, I am a bit of a Melissa Brayden fan. So I am a wee bit biased.Anyhow, I loved First Position. As all the other books, it very well written and simply makes you smile.It's an engaging love story, placed in NYC again, and as you probably gather from the title, it's all about ballet dancers.The characters are great, and I thought they really came to life.And yes, some of the Soho Loft characters appear very briefly at the very end.I can't wait for the next Melissa Brayden!

I loved this story from the beginning,has wonderful characters,a great plot and humorous too ,I found it difficult to put down but eventually the need for sleep became to great .