Moira Murray and Kenzie Andrianakis have known each other since childhood and have been rivals almost from the start. Moira was born in the Scottish Highland Dance scene, her mother the founder of one of the best schools in Ottawa. At twenty, she tries to juggle college and teaching at her mom’s school, after an ill-fated gap year and the stop of her dancing career due to an injury. Kenzie came late – relatively speaking, at eight – to Highland Dance but hard work and mentoring brought her to the top. When a scholarship is announced for a college-aged dancer, both young women apply. Moira sees it as a way to boost her self-confidence and sense of worth. For Kenzie, the scholarship is synonymous with a real future, despite her mom’s depression and the financial issues they face.

As they meet again two years after their last encounter, Moira and Kenzie slowly come to understand that there is more to their rivalry than meets the eye. Life has thrown them together again and again, and maybe the reason isn’t competing against each other. As Moira puts it, there’s this “constant pull between [them], like life has circled [them] in the same rubber band, and every step [they] take away from each other just builds and builds the tension as [they] wait to see who’ll be the first to snap right back into place”.

From the very first pages, you know how the story is going to go because it’s a romance set in a competitive environment and MC1 and MC2 are going to fight and argue until the angry tension transforms into sexual tension and they go from enemies to lovers. Katia Rose’s talent lies in her capacity to turn this very basic – albeit lovely – plot into something more complex and moving.

Character growth is paramount in New Adult fiction and Rose writes it well. Over the course of the story, Kenzie and Moira learn about each other, with each other, and about themselves. They learn to love and to support and that love and support start with oneself.

The Devil Wears Tartan @ amazon

This post contains affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on this blog at no additional cost to you.