Dancing to the Heart's Core

My next book is Dangerous Distance. Please visit my author page and add it to your collection. The blurb is below. My other book, Weakness, is currently updating!

1. Yu Anzhi is one of the country's top classical ballet dancers. After a breathtaking performance opened a television program, the public hailed her as a woman who lived inside a music box.

They say she began dancing as soon as she learned to walk, but was born at odds with winning championships. They say her legs are insured for an astronomical sum, each leg worth as much as a whole city. They say she is untouched by worldly pleasures, never drinking milk tea or eating candy...

Anzhi smiled silently at all these labels, until the rumors claimed she would devote her life to art and never marry or have children. Then she secretly ran away...

A knock sounded at the door. Shi Huaijin opened it to see a pair of pale hands trembling around a household registration booklet. Anzhi looked up at him.

"We've only met a few times, but since we're definitely going to get married someday, could you marry me now?"

Anzhi: My life was all dance because of my rigorous training, but I never won that gold medal. You were the one who gave me the freedom to win it.

Since fate brought us together, I won't let go easily. From childhood to now, I was made to stick with dance, but I chose to stick with you.

#I don't indulge in worldly pleasures, except you#

2. Shi Huaijin had known since childhood that he had a fiancée, but he never cared, until his aunt made him watch a dance video.

Anzhi soared across the stage in a red dress. Every turn and glance, every movement, seemed to dance on his heart.

All the judges said she perfectly embodied a butterfly's lightness. Only he saw a caged bird crying out for freedom.

Who could have guessed that the next day, the little bird would fly into his kitchen with a strawberry mousse in her mouth, hide in his arms, and cover his mouth, looking tense.

"I'm not a thief."

"Someone outside is looking for me. Can I hide here?"

Meeting her clear eyes, Shi Huaijin turned to the fridge and took out some ingredients.

"Do you like milk tea?"

"I've never had any."

"Then try some."

She was his fiancée, and also the caged bird he wanted to set free.

Shi Huaijin: Everyone says you're a boneless beauty, but only I know that the softer you seem on the outside, the stronger your will is.

True love isn't a cage. It's giving you the freedom to fly. That gold medal, like me, was always meant to be yours.

#I once quietly waited through the darkness, now I want to make room for the light#

[Marriage First, Love Later & A Love That Feeds You]

A seemingly ethereal beauty who secretly loves sweets and food & a private chef who feeds her candy at every opportunity, and whose family owns a food city

-- Blurb for the upcoming Dangerous Distance:

1. Under a pedestrian overpass, Ning Ge ran into a handsome young man. When she saw him toss a wad of cash to a roadside beggar, she clicked her tongue, practically wishing she could grab a broken bowl and sit beside the beggar.

They met again when she was a bartender and he was the new drummer. He had a slim waist, long legs, and a shapely backside. The cat-paw tattoo on his abdomen seemed to scratch at her chest, though his face clearly said, "Keep your distance."

"Why did you give all your money to that beggar the other day?" she asked him after work, in the early hours of the morning.

The handsome young man raised his eyes. "I was drunk."

Then he lowered his head and finished his bowl of soup.

Ning Ge pressed her lips together, gave him half her instant noodle toppings, and quietly hooked her little finger around his. "Come home with me. I'll take care of you."

Later, when the bar changed owners and he drove off in a stretch limousine, Ning Ge finally learned there was no poor but proud handsome young man. He was a crown prince who had come down to earth to undergo a trial.

She'd traded half a sausage for nights of unrestrained passion with the crown prince. It wasn't a bad deal.

2. They reunited years later. She was a glamorous actress with a notorious reputation, auditioning for the role of a band's drummer. He was the carefree young president Yan, whose company was producing the project.

The director gave her an impromptu test: play the drums.

Ning Ge smiled and played a drum solo with effortless grace.

Director: "Did you study with a teacher?"

"You could say that."

"You learned in such a short time. Your teacher must be excellent."

Young President Yan smiled, proud of the praise.

Ning Ge replied, "I'd give him a 99."

Looking at the man seated at the head of the table, she smiled. "Out of ten thousand."

Yan Lisheng paused mid-score, his smile stiffening.

After the audition, the director glanced at the man's score sheet. The maximum was 100, and he'd drawn four zeros.

Then the man cornered Ning Ge against the wall. "What's the maximum score?"

Ning Ge took his chin and turned his face from side to side. "Oh, sorry, I got it wrong. The maximum is a hundred million."

That night, they crossed paths again. The private room was hazy with shifting lights. Just as someone was about to pull her onto his lap, another man cut in.

Yan Lisheng carried her toward an empty private room next door. "Can you help me improve my score tonight?"

Ning Ge hooked an arm around his neck and smiled alluringly. "Sure."

-- There was no rekindling of old love. She just happened to need a powerful protector, and he happened to need some wild fun.

Theme: True love and freedom.