Dance With Me

Title: Dance With Me
Author: A.M. Heath
Series: Art of Love (book 1, standalone series)
Major Themes: Ballroom Dancing, Partnership, Romance
Synopsis: Neil Fox and Arleen Thatcher have become new dance partners…but can they win the competition of life, let alone the dance competition?

Well, when I saw Dance With Me come available for review recently, I was interested to take a chance on a new author. I knew that being a genre I don’t generally read, it would be a bit of a stretch—but I’ve appreciated what I’ve seen from Anita Heath online, and thought it would be fun to see what her novel-writing is like! And what a story; I’m glad I got a chance to read it!

Neil Fox, a trained ballroom dancer, has been given a unique opportunity: Join the best dancer from a rivaling studio in town, to see if they can have a shot at winning a national competition. There’s one major problem, though—Arleen Thatcher is a flirt, and as a Christian, Neil has absolutely no interest in a girl who seems to let her whole life be consumed by whichever boy she has wrapped around her finger at the moment.

I loved the picture of 1960s America here. I haven’t seen a perspective on that much at all, so it’s fascinating to see how the culture was different then versus how it is now. I also was interested by the thoughts on how to glorify the Lord even in tough situations. That wasn’t a big part of the story, but it was there. I was especially challenged by the portion about forgiveness—when people have done things against you, and continue to do so, it’s hard to find it in your heart to forgive them sometimes. But that’s exactly what the Lord has called us to do—to forgive them, and in doing so, find healing ourselves.

Like I said before, this was a unique story about a unique time. Dance With Me ended up being a fairly simple, straight-forward story. I wouldn’t classify it as a very deep one, even though there were deeper parts to it. It’s the kind of book I’d recommend for reading just as a story, for the times when something deep just wouldn’t work very well. If you’re looking for a good, clean, Christian story with a few good thoughts here and there, I’d recommend you check this out!

Favorite quote:

“A person can only run so long on their own strength. But God offers a strength that never runs dry. I think…I think it was time you ran dry, so you’d turn to Him instead of trying to do everything on your own.” —Neil

I requested a free review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

WARNING: In ch. 2, a man observes a woman flirting, and another boy comments that he’d let her in his bed. I noticed flirtatious touching or touching between unmarried characters in ch. 4, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 27, 29, and 30. In ch. 5, there is a mention of what a man felt when he and a woman were dancing together the first time. In ch. 15, a woman stands in such a way that part of her body is on display. In ch. 17, a woman is distracted by thinking about what it feels like to be held by a man while they are dancing. In ch. 21, a man holds and comforts a woman. In ch. 23, a man carried a woman when she was worn out after being sick. In ch. 27, a man carries a woman to a vehicle. There are mentions of kisses between unmarried people in ch. 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 14, 18, 22, 25, 30, and 31.
In ch. 4, the phrase “in heaven’s name” is used. In ch. 5, the word “h—k” is used. The word “gee” is used in ch. 12. In ch. 15, the phrase “the blazes” is used. In ch. 26, a character tells how he swore something to a woman.

In ch. 8, a man is drinking. In ch. 15, a man hits several women, and a mention is made about him possibly having another woman in his life somewhere.  In ch. 26, there is a mention made of a man who moved in with another woman.

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