Sunday 10 April 2016

Book Review - The Summer We Danced by Fiona Harper

Amazon UK
Title: The Summer We Danced
Author: Fiona Harper
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: 7th April 2016 
Rating: 4.5 Stars


Shall we dance?

After a humiliating divorce and watching her former rock star husband leave her for a model live on reality TV, Pippa is determined to disappear. So she returns to the small Kent village where she grew up to make a fresh start. Little did she know that would mean saving her beloved childhood dance school or falling for her old school crush Tom too!

The Summer We Danced is an enjoyable book that features the glamour of Ginger and Rogers style of tap dancing, a dance school fighting for its future, Pippa's re-awakening as a single person after her humiliating divorce and her old crush Tom, and his relationship with daughter Lucy. 

I've read a few of Fiona Harper's books before, and think I am enjoying each new release even more than the previous ones. The setting of a village in Kent, and Miss Mimi's Dance School is a great way to introduce a large amount of characters to the story, by way of the tap class Pippa joins. 

Pippa as a child loved dancing, until she suddenly dropped out of lessons as her dance school and its taken being back in her home village to realise just how much she misses dancing. She is encouraged to start tap lessons after sister Candy, persuades her that Pippa needs something more to her life, and that it could be a good way of exercising. 

There is no way Candy could have predicted just how much good the return to Miss Mimi's dance school would do for Pippa, as she finds a job there, gains new friends and confidence, and is instrumental in fighting for the survival of the dance school. 

Miss Mimi is not as young as she used to be, but still tries to teach all the classes like she used to, and feels as though she is still a spring chicken. She has a colourful stage past, and I loved her spirit and the way nothing would stand in the way of a good dance show. 

I also loved seeing the relationship between Tom and Lucy, how it develops as time goes by, partly due to Pippa's influence. Some of what Lucy comes out with would melt the hardest of hearts, and definitely left me feeling all soft and mushy inside. 

The Summer We Danced is a sweet, enjoyable light romance that has a lot of heart to it. I loved the writing style and found it a pleasure to read. 

Thank you to Netgalley and MIRA for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.


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