RATING: 4 out of 5

Kendall is a wedding planner and Todd works at a bakery where Kendall takes his business (PS: The bakery is owned by Vic, the MC of book #2). Todd is a recovering addict so he thinks Kendall is out of his league. While Kendall breaks up with his boyfriend who cannot take on Kendall’s femme-ness and wants him to tone it down; and Todd seems to be the similar type. But they can’t help to be attracted to one another.

When Kendall’s best friend must bows out from dancing class they are both signed up for, and Kendall discovers that Todd is very good at dancing, he asks Todd to be his partner… and maybe to have fun while they’re at it.

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Danced Close is the 6th book from Annabeth Albert’s Portland Heat series … and it definitely of of my favorites *beams happily* I think I have a weakness for men dancing together, which is what happened here. I enjoyed their dancing lessons so much.

I LOVED how Kendall and Todd got into the relationship; it filled with just enough angst and tentativeness. Mostly because both Kendall and Todd formed a certain perception about the other. Kendall being a genderqueer who embraces his feminine side is not used to people like Todd willing to follow and give control to him. He thinks Todd is too perfect and maybe Todd only sees him as ‘flavor of the week’.

While Todd has a major case of insecurity, being a recovering addict and not exactly coming out of the dark side without a scar (this part is important, potential readers, probably best that you find out yourself). Todd tends to think that he’s not good enough both professionally (in his job) and personally (with Kendall). It doesn’t help that Kendall keeps saying that they’re just “friends”, like Kendall doesn’t want to have someone like Todd to be his boyfriend.

These young men definitely need to TALK and work things out, to clear out any misconception. Yes, of course there is a moment of “pushing the other one away” but it resolves WONDERFULLY. I smiled widely when it happened.

I definitely liked the part of Kendall’s genderqueer identity — this didn’t feel like “PSA for marginalization” which was one of my major unfavorable opinion of Knit Tight. I didn’t feel like I was being preached upon. Maybe because Todd was so sweet when he asked Kendall about things, so Kendall wasn’t being defensive when he explained.

Since Portland Heat seems to be the series where Annabeth Albert introduces various QUILTBAG identities, I hope that she will write asexual characters in the future. You know a wish from her asexual fan ^^

"You’re what I didn’t know I was missing. What I need. Like dancing back in my life and pesto and salad and you"

I wished this book would have been a little bit longer. I loved these two together they were so open with each other. Todd never once made fun of or said anything disparaging about Kendell or the way Kendell dressed or acted. He just totally accepted him for who he was. Todd was so very hard on himself and was just full of insecurities. Kendell helped him see his worth. I loved the dance classes. I hated Kendell's ex & would have loved to see something more happen with him. I would love to see more of these two in the future.

All the books in this series can be read as standalones, and this one is no exception. We briefly visit with Robby and David from book 1, as well as Vic and Robin from book 2, but these are cameo appearances; Vic (who owns a bakery) has the biggest role, as he is Todd's boss.

Todd doesn't have much faith in himself at all. He's a recovering addict, two years sober, and just takes it a day at a time.

Kendall is a genderqueer wedding planner. Burned by his last boyfriend, who preferred that Kendall "tone down" his look, Kendall isn't looking for anything serious. But he thinks Todd has the whole hot Portland hipster vibe going on, what with his neatly trimmed beard and plaid shorts.

This book tackles a couple big issues: Kendall's gender fluidity and Todd's past (he didn't escape unscathed).

Reviewers, for the love of all that is holy, don't spoil this book for people! I, for one, am glad that I went into this not knowing everything about Todd.

Todd and Kendall take dance classes together (Todd used to dance as a kid), which was cute as hell. Their relationship is mostly sweet with a bit of angst thrown in. Todd is hurt that Kendall won't "claim him" as a boyfriend, and Kendall realizes too late that his actions pushed Todd away.

Really, it's a classic case of miscommunication. At that point the men have been hanging out only a few weeks, so the angst felt a bit forced.

I loved the way Todd treated Kendall. He didn't assume Kendall would follow or bottom just because Kendall was femme. And Kendall was so gentle with Todd, so understanding. The steamy scenes were lovely, if a bit cautious. Kendall got all fierce, and that was hot!

Overall, I enjoyed this quiet story and the men's tentative HEA. However, because the book is quite short, the big issues weren't really explored. Everything felt just a little too easy.

The author did a fantastic job writing a story about two people from different walk of life and bringing them together. She is fearless in her endeavors to write about the LGBTQIA community and
I have a deep respect for that. I have never read a book involving individuals who are both gender-queer and HIV+. Neither of these bothered me, and I found them to be very enlightening. The reason this just didn't do it for me, is the pace of the novel. It started off on a slow simmer which I enjoyed, and then raced to the end. I wanted so much more from these two. More everything, background, time together, just more depth and I didn't get it. So while i got a good story with, two great people, and of course an HEA, it still felt unfinished too me. Will post external review closer to publication date. thank you for the opportunity to review.

Not working for me at all. I love Annabeth Albert but this was sadly something that wasn't connecting with me. I'm still going to read her books after this though.