Friday 3 July 2015

Book Review - Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams by Sue Watson

Amazon UK
Title: Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams
Author: Sue Watson
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Bookoutre
Publication Date: 3rd July 2015
Rating: 5 Stars


Dance like nobody’s watching. Love like you’ll never get hurt…

Laura Watkin’s heart isn’t broken, she’s just forgotten how to use it.

After years on her own, the highlight of single mum Laura’s week is watching Strictly Come Dancing with a glass of Pinot Grigio and a large helping of imagination.

With her daughter Sophie going travelling, Laura knows the time is right to do something for herself for a change. One disastrous Zumba class later and Laura ends up at the feet (literally) of gorgeous dance instructor Tony Hernandez.

A natural dancer and inspiring teacher, Tony rekindles in Laura a passion she inherited from her ballroom dancer father – and with it comes a dream… to make him proud.

But when Tony enters them to perform at the National Championship, can Laura’s new-found confidence survive the test? And with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn Flamenco in Spain, could Laura truly learn to dance like nobody’s watching… and love like she’ll never get hurt?

A laugh-out-loud, uplifting comedy about finding the courage to be yourself, the importance of dreams, and learning to grab life by the glitter balls.

With every book that I read of Sue Watson's I become more and more impressed by her sheer storytelling talent. Each book is an improvement on the last and they are all pretty spectacular to start with...and Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams is no exception. 

Laura is a 44 year old single mother, who is at the start of an amazing journey. During this book we see her start as a worker in a supermarket, doing the same thing each day, with Strictly Come Dancing being the highlight of her week, and she transforms herself into so much more.

And it all starts after she has one embarrassing fall at a Zumba class (taken in order to enhance her life), Tony Hernandez enters her life and he can see from the bad Zumba, that she has the potential to be a ballroom dancer. And you see from that first dance lesson the most amazing connection between Tony and Laura, as well as some natural talent and enthusiasm for dancing. 

The transformation the Laura makes in her life is inspirational, to go from overweight, unfit, not overly confident in any parts of her life, to the woman who is offered the chance to go to Spain, to learn Flamenco, and then after that trip, into Lola. I honestly wish I had half her talent to try and do it myself. 

There is a clear passion for ballroom dancing in this book, both Laura and Tony love it, and even if you aren't a fan, or know much about it won't affect your enjoyment of this book. Their enthusiasm for dancing will carry you along, until you can see it all very clearly in your mind, I could almost hear the music. 

This may sound odd given how much of the story is based around the Flamenco, but its the one thing about Spain that I personally am not a fan of, but the trip to Granada, the home of Flamenco has almost made me think I should give it another chance, next time I'm in Spain. And the passion that is invoked in the part of the book set in Spain is sizzling. Romantic tension, dancing, tapas and sun, the best factors for a trip to Spain. 

I was swept away with this story, there are some fantastic side characters, but Tony and Laura were definitely my favourites. Tony is everything you would want in a dance teacher and more, and the deepening friendship between him and Laura is fabulous to watch. It was almost love at first sight, well it was in terms of dance partnerships at any rate. 

Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams had me reading it with a huge grin on my face, laughing along with some of the scenes and by the end I was welling up with tears of pure joy, especially due to the emotion during the final few scenes. 

Read this book now, or keep it for your next holiday to read on the plane to put you in a great upbeat mood, or even by the pool/beach. This is a fantastic summer read, which I  be happily recommending to anyone. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bookoutre for allowing me the honour of reviewing this book. This was my honest review and opinion. 

Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams is out today. 

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