I ordered the Circus Hearts young adult trilogy on Kindle as I very, very much enjoyed her Every Breath series. These are quick reads with a lot of action and romance in all three.

This particular story is about a young orphaned, trapeze/high wire performer who leaves her circus in the North country after she is attacked by a would be rapist who she inadvertently kills. She is accompanied by her fellow performer and strongman at the behest of her aunt. She flees to another circus in the South where she hopes the mingers (i.e. police) won't find her. I really enjoyed the characters and the author obviously did her circus research. I wasn't at all bored with the story and would highly recommend it.

This story also serves as a great lead in for her other two books of the series. ( )

I was sucked in by Ellie Marney’s Every series when I first read the story of Watts and Mycroft on release, a few years ago now. Even No Limits took me straight back to that “can’t-put-it-down” mood. Therefore it’s no surprise I felt the same way about the first Circus Hearts book, All the Little Bones.

We meet Sorsha Neary when she is on the move with fellow circus performer Colm Mackay, running from the law and a scary night that got out of hand. They are headed to a circus in the south, recommended by Sorsha’s aunt Morrigan, where they can lay low while things cool down. But Sorsha, trapeze extraordinaire, can’t help but attract attention. From the audience, her other performers, but most of all from Colm.

This was a really fun read. Suspenseful and edgy, it kept me on my seat and flicking the ‘pages’ on my phone at a cracking pace! (First time I’ve ever read using the Lithium app on my phone too – that was a new experience). I loved the circus setting and meeting the other performers in the troupe including troupe leader Terry, the bearded lady Eugenia, jealous trapeze artist Fleur and studious contortionist Ren, among others. They leap off the page in such a short stretch of time, the book being only 264 pages, but Ellie can do so much in that time! I am impressed at how quickly she is able to build believable relationships and rivalries and by the end even cynical old ‘love stories are lame’ me was cheering for Sorsha and her sweet strongman Colm.

Colm was a delight to read, maybe even more than Sorsha herself. He is respectful and kind and truly looking out for Sorsha’s best interests, even when it’s not so great for him. He was just good with no hidden nature, no second guessing, and it’s really nice to read that! His backstory may have been tough but he didn’t have a lot of baggage, he just really cared about Sorsha and wanted to do the right thing, and it really endeared him to me.

Enough about the boy! What about the reluctant criminal? Her fear and anxiety was palpable through the pages, it made me tense just reading it! I know, as a reader, that what she did, while it seemed awful, was totally justified but I can also understand why she had been told to run as well and why she took that advice so blindly. To be young and terrified, having those things happen to you, and just needing somewhere safe to be. I felt all of that through Ellie’s words. And in terms of the circus, the trapeze scenes were so awesome. What a crazy, unique world.
My only real complaint is that I could have read a lot more of this! I would have happily read another hundred pages of Sorsha’s story. Luckily there is book 2, All Fall Down, to follow on with. ( )