WHEN HEARTS AWAKEN by VICTORIA LUM

A ballerina stronger than her scars. A billionaire broken behind his charm. Blistering hate unravels into consuming love. But will their dark secrets heal them or destroy them?

Taylor Peyton-Anderson’s world shattered one night when she was sixteen, leaving her broken but not defeated. Six years later, ballet has become her escape and her salvation. Her only goal—survive long enough to become a principal dancer.

No love. No weaknesses. No distractions.

Charles Vaughn is everything she despises—the media’s golden prince, the older charismatic billionaire who wields his charm like a weapon. But beneath his perfect smile lies a fractured soul carrying secrets as dark as her own.

After their first meeting ends in fiery sparks, they’re thrown together on an international ballet tour to save his company’s reputation.

Soon, their blistering hatred burns into something even more dangerous. He sees through her carefully crafted armor, and she uncovers the broken man beneath his façade.

But when the monsters from Taylor’s past resurface, and the secrets Charles is hiding threaten to tear them apart, will their fragile connection survive—or will it destroy them both?

Hate brought them together. The truth could tear them apart.

Tropes in When Hearts Awaken:

• Enemies to lovers
• Billionaire
• Age gap
• Trauma healing
• Who did this to you?
• I’ll burn the world for you
• Touch her and die
• Slow burn
• Goth ballerina and complicated hero
• Brother’s best friend
• Swoony text messages
• Found family
• Mental health representation
• Dark topics but the romance isn’t dark
• Spicy and angsty
• Dual POV and HEA