Put on Your (Imaginary) Dancing Shoes + a Giveaway!

ByBecky Wade
38 Comments

Wonderful Australian author Carolyn Miller is joining us today! The heroine of her new book is a ballet dancer, which I love. When I entered Kindergarten, I clearly remember the teacher doing a “What do you want to be when you grow up?” unit. My answer: “I want to be a ballerina.” Books like Carolyn’s give me a chance to live out that childhood dream vicariously! Details on the giveaway she’s offering below. Happy Friday, everyone! -Becky

Are you a fan of dance? Ever taken dance class as a child or watched Dancing With the Stars? I took ballet, tap and jazz classes as a kid, and in the past couple of years I’ve been doing an adult ballet class.

My ballet teacher is young, but has had some FASCINATING life experiences, moving to work in France as a teenager, then coming home to open her own studio when she was twenty (!). I was thinking about her, then thinking about what it would be like if someone like her was partnered with a complete non-dancer on a show like Dancing With the Stars… what would happen?

This formed the premise for Pointe, Shoots and Scores, the third book in my new Northwest Ice hockey series, which was SO much fun to write. It naturally involved having to do lots of research, such as watching of episodes of DWTS and reading articles about shows like that, as well as asking my ballet teacher for her input.

We end up with a story that dancers have loved and others have described as having “great banter” and “their new favorite in the series.” Pointe, Shoots, and Scores is the third book in the Northwest Ice Christian hockey romance series, can be read as a standalone, and is perfect for fans of banter-laden romance with hope, heart and humor. Whether you’re a dancer or not, I hope you’ll check it out! You can get your copy here.

Carolyn has graciously offered to give an ebook to one of you. Please leave a comment below to enter to win! Did you ever take dance class? If so, what style of dance?

A winner will be selected on Wednesday, August 14th.

For as long as she can remember Bailey Donovan has loved dance, especially ballet. When her dance studio faces the risk of closure, she takes a God-given miracle of a gig training a complete non-dancer for a TV show. Only problem is, he’s a real grump to her sunshine, and for an athlete, seems to be lacking all the moves. Or does he?
Luc Blanchard has sworn off wine, women, and definitely dancing as it sure doesn’t fit his macho image. He loves hockey, God, and his family, with no time for more, until an unexpected promotion sees him forced to swallow his pride for the sake of his team.
Sparks soon fly as these two opposites spend time together, and TV ratings push for their onscreen partnership to make a fake relationship real. But as they discover a certain magic under the spotlight, will issues from the past ever let them truly soar?

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and LM Montgomery, Carolyn loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her contemporary romance series includes the Original Six hockey romance series, Muskoka Romance series, and the Independence Islands series, and her historical series include the Regency Brides and Regency Wallflowers series.

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Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.

38 Comments

  1. Never had the opportunity to take a dance class and I’m not very graceful :), but I enjoy watching others dance!

  2. I have never taken a dance class either, but I would LOVE to read about these characters dancing together. This book sounds like a lot of fun.

  3. The only dance classes I’ve ever taken were ballroom dancing with my husband about fifteen years ago. It was so much fun!

    Thanks for the chance to win Carolyn’s book!

    1. Ooh, I’d love to take ballroom dancing lessons! If you’ve done that, then you might identify with some of the scenes here.

  4. I took ballet and tap as a kid and LOVED it. Carolyn is one of my favorite historical authors, but I have yet to read some of her contemporary. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!

  5. I have a vague memory of wanting to take ballet classes (that’s all they offered back then), my mom taking me, and me being too afraid to do it! I only remember trying one time! Wahh. Your book sounds lovely! Congratulations!

    1. I remember when my sister in law mentioned the adult ballet class that it sounded like I would fail – but I’m SO glad I did it. Maybe there’s an adult class nearby you can try. At least there’s a book you can try 😉

  6. I’ve never taken dance classes, but I’m absolutely fascinated with the moves and coordination! I’m a complete klutz when it comes to being graceful on my feet, and professional dancers make it look entirely effortless. I’ve always wondered if taking classes would improve my coordination, or would it cause the instructor endless frustration!😅

    1. Ha! I can relate. But then, dance is really good for us in lots of ways (even mentally). And remember they get PAID for that frustration. 😉

  8. Yes! Took tap, jazz, ballet and gymnastics for multiple years. Would love to win this!

  9. Unfortunately, I myself was never able to take dance lessons, but we enrolled our two daughters in tap and ballet classes as part of their homeschool P.E. I watched a zillion classes, rehearsals, and recitals over the years, sometimes helping with costuming. It was a sacrifice of time, but a pleasure to watch and learn about the discipline it takes to master techniques, then to see the students dance with so much joy!

    1. Yay for the mums making the dancing dreams of little ones come true! Yes, there is a lot of discipline involved in dance. It’s good for us in lots of ways.

  10. No lessons for me, but Gene Kelly was my hero and every time I got new Mary Jane’s as kid I tap danced around the kitchen.

  11. I am 58 years old and have never taken a dance class. Kind of sad, I know. I love watching others dance!

    1. It’s never too late to start. My dance teacher has several seventy-plus ladies in one of her classes. Yay for trying new things!

  12. I have never taken dance classes. I do dance around to music when I am alone, for my own amusement. 😅
    Thank you and Carolyn for this giveaway opportunity!

  13. I took ballet and tap for a year. They gave me a nice foundation as I pursued other athletic experiences. Today as an adult we used a ballet pose in my yoga class!

  14. I’ve always loved the grace of ballerinas and, of course, I wanted to take ballet but we couldn’t afford it when I was little. Now I’m a little creaky in the joints, but you never know!

    1. Ooh, do it! Movement and practicing things like ankle raises (which I mentioned in the book) are so essential for flexibility and strength, especially as the joints get creakier. You’re never too old for learning something new!

  15. I have never danced, but always desired to do so. However, I am so clumsy that I trip on deceptively flat surfaces! I can’t wait to read this book. It has three of my favorites in it: hockey, ballet, and reality TV.

  16. I took tap and ballet when I was a member of the Tiny Tots. Wow! That was long ago! Now I just dance in the kitchen when no one is looking!!

  17. No formal lessons, though I was really interested in ballet, as a child I took out books from the library about dance & a baby sitter encouraged me to learn …

  19. I did take dancing classes when I was a child. Ballet and Tap. I wasn’t very good at it. But it was fun.

  20. I only did hula through school when I was younger and living in Hawaii. It was definitely an adventure!

  21. I lived in small towns with no opportunity to take dance. I would, however, put on one if my mom’s old party dresses and dance where no one could see me. I took one quarter of ballet in junior college as an elective just because I could. In my head I was a ballerina-on real life, nit so much. Your book sounds fun and I would love to read it!

  22. I’ve never taken a formal dance class but square dancing was taught in gym class when I was a kid, and I loved it. Because there were more boys than girls, I was pulled out of regular class a few times to dance with other classes. Our county had a 4-H square dancing team that competed at the state Farm Show, and I always wanted to join.

    I suppose that’s about as far away from ballet as you can get. 😀

  23. Lol. My husband and I took Ballroom Dancing classes in the late ‘90s. They didn’t take. All we could master was the box step. The BOX STEP!!!

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