Summary
Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.
Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.
Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village...and to her mother's tattered heart?
Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a "good match" in Regency England.
My Thoughts
I went into this book with high expectations. I mean look at the cover. The cover is gorgeous, beautiful and breathtaking and I read the cool article about the cover models. So I was pumped to see it in my mailbox. Sad thing is though, the cover was the best part of the whole book. I don't know why, but this book just wasn't doing anything for me. I went ahead and looked at other reviews to see if maybe I was not in the right reading mood, but was surprised to find out that others were not particularly excited about this book either.
Now this is a bummer because I like Julie Klassen. I have read most of her novels and really loved almost obsessed over her novel from last year, The Tutor's Daughter (which I highly recommend). But this book was too much and not in a good way. It was slow and losing my attention. I was 50+ pages in and I kept looking at the clock.
Also, concerning the lead characters. I did not like them, plus I couldn't connect with them. The main lead female character seemed really off putting to me. The only character I liked was the lead male Alec, but only because he was a nice guy. He didn't make me swoon, he didn't do anything for me except make the impression that he was a persistent guy about dancing.
The most impressive thing about this book is how long and detailed it is. Sadly, that was also its downfall for me. As I said before it felt unnecessarily long. I never like to not finish books, but this was another book I am sad to say had to be put down and let go.
Still, I would suggest you get a free sample of this book to make your own decision on if its worth your reading time. You might like it for all you know. I couldn't find a first chapter for it anywhere for those of you who don't own and or have some e-reader app or I would post a link. Sorry!
Rating: 2 out of 5 bookshelves
[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."]
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In His Grace,
Taylor Reid
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