--- title: "Review: Love Grind, by Shelly Ellis" description: "Suzanne reviews the third and final MacLaine Girls novella by Shelly Ellis: Love Grind." image: https://www.loveinpanels.com/hubfs/love-grind.jpg --- [![LoveinPanelswhite.png](https://www.loveinpanels.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LoveinPanelswhite.png?width=640&height=225&name=LoveinPanelswhite.png "LoveinPanelswhite.png")](http://loveinpanels.com/) Search ![Love Grind Cover](https://www.loveinpanels.com/hs-fs/hubfs/love-grind.jpg?height=500&name=love-grind.jpg) **Title**: [Love Grind](https://www.loveinpanels.com/books?id=7273649762) **Author**: - [Shelly Ellis](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?author=Shelly+Ellis) **Heat**: Re **Genre(s)**: [Romance](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?genres=Romance) [Contemporary](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?genres=Contemporary) **Tropes**: [Nerdy Hero](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tropes=Nerdy+Hero) [Lots of Dogs](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tropes=Lots+of+Dogs) **Tags**: [Black](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=Black) [ownvoices](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=ownvoices) [straight](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=straight) [sex work](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=sex%20work) [dance](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=dance) [return to hometown](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=return%20to%20hometown) [roommates](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=roommates) [f-m](https://www.loveinpanels.com/booksearch?tags=f-m) **Where to Buy or Read**: [Amazon](https://amzn.to/2My3rvK) (Also on Kindle Unlimited) **Synopsis from the Creator**: A follow up to On Pointe and Her New Groove... She’s used to baring it all . . . but baring her heart is a whole different story Down on her luck and broke, Jennifer Dudley long ago traded dancing in the chorus line for swinging from a stripper pole to make ends meet. She’s hoping an offer to come back home and teach dance at her old performance academy will be the opportunity she needs to fix her life. When she moves in with—and falls for—a fine software developer with brains and a boyish smile, she decides she might be well on her way to a second chance at success—and love. But her X-rated past may come back to haunt her, compromising her newfound happiness and hurting the ones she loves the most. # [Review: Love Grind, by Shelly Ellis](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/love-grind) [fa icon="calendar"] Jan 31, 2019 9:45:00 AM / by [Suzanne](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/author/suzanne) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) *Love Grind*, the third in the MacLaine Girls novella trilogy by Shelly Ellis, is a wonderful, quick hit of HEA. The story was structured such that we don't meet the hero for the first 20% of the book, but that's because the heroine's second chance at a career in dance is the focus of the novella. After years of dancing professionally on Broadway and beyond, then trying but failing to get her own dance studio off the ground, Jennifer is stripping in Las Vegas, burned out and broke (her roommate left her with back rent due) when she gets a letter from Miss Yvonne, her former dance teacher. The dance school needs her to come home to DC, and it's like a sign from the universe... or at least from Miss Yvonne. Things aren't easy for Jennifer, and after her first "landlord" attempts to assault her on her first night back in town, she ends up at an Air BnB with Blair. Blair is a whole meal of a man with a giant, slobbery dog and a bitchy long-term girlfriend with a very specific life plan. Blair has to tell her that he's quit his programming job to start up his dream... and she dumps him. I mean, of course she does! How else would Blair and Jennifer become the cutest two marshmallows to ever smush together? The one thing to warn readers about is repeated bias against sex workers. Jennifer has some thoughts about how she might be stripping, but she'd never be one of "those" girls. I could have done without that, but your mileage may vary. There are also several times when Jennifer is outed as a former stripper, and sometimes this goes well and sometimes not so well. Jennifer is never ashamed of herself for having stripped, but she does worry (and so do others) about the reactions of her students' parents. In all, I loved this novella. I enjoyed it enough to go back to the previous two and start in on those. I would have gladly spent more time with Jennifer and Blair, but there's something wonderful about a well-done novella. While the copy says it doesn't stand alone, I've read these out of order and I think it's fine on its own. Characters from the first two books are in this one, but if you don't know who they are, it's clear enough and they don't steal the show. If executed properly, a novella will give you a complete story with a satisfying ending... in a third of the time. That's exactly what I needed this week and, honestly, for the last 2 years.     **Content Warnings**: bias against sex workers, attempted sexual assault, secondary character has an unplanned pregnancy and considers abortion   *I received an advance copy of this book for review.* Topics: [review](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/topic/review) ![right.png](https://www.loveinpanels.com/hs-fs/hubfs/right.png?width=640&name=right.png "right.png") ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Support Love in Panels [![Buy an eBook From Kobo Today](https://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=2J8ZNsFdbgk&bids=551651.109&subid=0&type=4&gridnum=0)](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=2J8ZNsFdbgk&offerid=551651.109&subid=0&type=4) [- Recent - Popular - Categories ### Lists by Topic - [review (401)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/review) - [new releases (83)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/new-releases) - [best bets (52)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/best-bets) - [interview (34)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/interview) - [guest post (27)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/guest-post) - [cover reveal (17)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/cover-reveal) - [excerpt (14)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/excerpt) - [bingo (6)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/bingo) - [announcement (5)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/announcement) ](http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-8814288-11820649) ### Posts by Topic - [review (401)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/review) - [new releases (83)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/new-releases) - [best bets (52)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/best-bets) - [interview (34)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/interview) - [guest post (27)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/guest-post) - [cover reveal (17)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/cover-reveal) - [excerpt (14)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/excerpt) - [bingo (6)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/bingo) - [announcement (5)](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/tag/announcement) [see all](https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/love-grind#) ### Recent Posts #### About Us Love in Panels is two blogs, each with their own searchable database. 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