The Sugar Plum Rebellion: An Enemies to Lovers Nutcracker Christmas Romance by Megan Astraus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up **

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Let’s start this review out with a confession, shall we. As some of you may be aware, I’m not a big Romance Reader. I do read some, but I’m by no means well versed in the genre. For those unaware, I’m a Horror and Dark Fiction girlie, so this would seem way outside my comfort zone.

In fact, as far as Holiday Romances go, I had never read one before. I started my journey in Holiday Romances on December 8th of this year, when I decided to participate in a Holiday Romance Readathon. I committed and threw myself in all the way; as I do.

Prior to the Readathon, I checked out a bunch of books from my library, bought a few paperbacks and checked out what Netgalley had to offer.

Upon seeing this cover, that I have since learned the author, Megan Astraus, designed herself, I knew I had to have it. The ballerina, the snowglobe, the cracked glass, the PINK!

As if the cover alone wasn’t enough to sell me though, then I read the synopsis.

This story follows Clara Winters, the adopted daughter of a ballet icon, who is now an up-and-coming ballet dancer in her own right, who has just secured the Sugar Plum Fairy lead in her studio’s production of The Nutcracker.

This role is especially important to Clara, because now that she’s in her late 20s, it may be her last chance to be scouted to a premier ballet company in New York City. Which has always been her dream, right?

In fact, her Dad has pulled some strings, and confirmed scouts will be in the audience on their opening night performance, set for Christmas Eve.

Disaster strikes when Clara’s partner, the man to play the Cavalier, who will pair her in the iconic art of the Grand Pas de Deux, suffers an injury and will be unable to perform.

With under a month to go until the Christmas Eve performance, pickings are slim for someone with the classical training to perform the role. Thus, they must think outside the box.

Enter stage left, Trevor Williams, a tattooed, recovering addict, from the County Arts Program that share a building with Clara’s company. He has motivations of his own that lead him to agree to take on the role.

The pairing should be doomed for failure, but their forced proximity leads to a lot of alone time, late night rehearsals and feelings neither one of them expected.

Even with their chemistry bubbling over and their new-found trust, will the two be able to pull off the most important performance of their lives?

The Sugar Plum Rebellion is a delightful and delicious Holiday Romance debut. I had so much fun with this book. I read it so quickly. I couldn’t put it down and stayed up way past my bedtime to see it through.

I laughed out loud. I kicked my feet, squeeled and swooned. I may also have shed a tear, or two, I won’t lie about that. Clara and Trevor now live rent free in my brain.

This is essentially the movie Step Up for Romance-reading adults, which is something I never knew I needed, but now can’t believe I lived without.

I love the MC, Clara. We get the entire story from her perspective, which was refreshing, and I really vibed with her sense of humor and just the way she relayed to the Reader all that was happening.

She’s actually quite a complex character, and I liked unpacking with her a lot of the insecurities she had been holding so close to her heart for almost her entire life.

As someone who great up in dance, though my sister was the ballerina, I am always drawn to stories that incorporate dancers in some way. There’s so much of it here too. It’s not just this character is a dancer. We actually get to see the behind the scenes of her corps.

We see rehearsals and all the drama that goes into the days leading up to a performance. There was so much pressure on Clara to be perfect. She was seen as the leader, and though she took that seriously, it was overwhelming.

I loved how Astraus displayed the building of this partnership between Clara and Trevor. In a dance partnership like this, you aren’t necessarily picking your partner. It may not even be someone you know well, as was the case here, which means a lot of hard work connecting.

You’re often cast in a role, and whoever is cast in the role opposite you is who you’ll have to work with and bond with to an incredible level. They have to build up a deep sense of trust within the partnership. Particularly, if complex lifts, etc., are incorporated into a routine.

I feel like Astraus did a great job of building up that trust between the two MCs. It felt like a real working relationship. Even though in a fictional setting, with a TON of chemistry and some off the charts steam, it still felt true to life.

Astraus also delivered so well on the tension between the two of them. I was living for their back-and-forths. As well-developed as Clara was as a character, I feel like Trevor was equally well done.

I became so invested in the both of them and just loved going along for the ride of their partnership, both inside and outside of the studio. As I mentioned above, I don’t read a ton of Romance, but for me, this is one I am going to champion for a long time to come. I loved it!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for Romance to make you swoon this Holiday Season!

I’m looking forward to more from Megan Astraus!!!

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