I can count on one hand the number of books I have not finished in the last two years, but I finally threw in the towel on this one at 40%. This story had so much potential and the blurb sounded so great that I thought for sure I was going to love it, but I really, really didn't. I found myself bored and annoyed for 35% of the 40% I read before I just gave up trying.

The only honestly likable character in this book was the one who was dying. Drew was both a sad sack manchild, and an irrational hot head. Peyton...well, she was boring because there was very little character development of Peyton to that point, even though she had gotten the same amount of scene time as Drew. Other than the fact that she fixes rich people's mistakes for money and lets her heartless boss bully her, we really didn't get to know much about her as a character. Even Chloe, who I wanted to like, was completely off-putting. Sara was the only character in this book that was consistently interesting, and I had no desire to stick around to read about her death.

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley's granting me this book, but I am respectfully going to decline to post my review on Amazon and I will be sure to avoid requesting this author's books in the future.

I love strong women in books and I love sports romance. In this book I got three strong women and a hunky hurting hockey player. The story is brave and with secret baby you get a 12 year old and a plausible story. Not afraid of a serious topic which shows the seriousness of cancer but with respect and not too heavy. Well done.

Dancing in the Rain, is not Kelly Jamieson's kind of usual sports romance novel. It's a lot more sad and depressing. I am trying to not be insensitive, but it was a little too depressing for me.
Drew is forced into retirement after an injury to his knee. Then he finds out that he is a dad to a teenage girl whose mom is dying of cancer. Chloe is a pretty impressive teenager though, even going through the problems that she is, she seems to have it together.
Peyton has a lot going on right now, does she have time for a relationship with Drew? Sometimes people need something to look forward to when it seems everything is sad in your life. So maybe the timing is just right.
I would say that about 75% of the book is depressing, but was written respectfully.

Drew Sellers; he finds out he has a daughter, an actual real life 12-year-old daughter whom he had known nothing about. The revelation of his daughter also comes with some sad news. He meets the aunt of his daughter Peyton Watts. Peyton captures him straightaway. There is undeniable chemistry striking between the two of them.

I can sense the uncertainty in their connection as the story progresses. Peyton’s sister Sara has a health crisis that naturally must take precedent over anything that the two of them wish to pursue.

I love how much involvement his daughter has in this book which makes this book feel like a family, not just people who have been thrust together due to unfortunate circumstances. I mean that is the crux of the story but its not the focus. There are tear jerking moments in this book and I’ll admit this book hit close to home in many ways but the story is powerful. It’s real. It’s worth the read.

I honestly think anyone who reads it will connect and fall in love iwth the characters just as I did. Give it a try and you may be pleasantly surprised by this book.

4 stars

I adored this book! This is vey different for Kelly and I loved the story she told. It hooked me from the start. I would recommend this to anyone that loves a story that follows real life.

This book have my heart from the beginning. I can deal with lost but cancer su €ks. The story is great, congratulations Kelly. I'm from a carribbean island but I'm enjoying hockey from Kelly's book so much.
I love Drew and Payton troubled hearts and Chloe sweet and smarter for her age. Life sometimes is hard but you make with it what you could handle.
This book is about hard life and second chances.
I received a ARC from Netgalley for a honest review.

I was really looking forward to Dancing in the Rain! The synopsis grabbed me right away and I have enjoyed several of Kelly Jamieson's other books. Unfortunately this book didn't hold up to my expectations and I found myself bored 25% in. So, I had to put it down and mark it as a "Did not Finish"

Drew Seller is a former NHL star. He was forced to retire early and has been lost since leaving the NHL. Sara, a girl from his past shows up and drops the bomb that he's a dad, to a 12 year old girl and finds out that Sara is dying of cancer.

While Drew is trying to establish a relationship with his daughter Chloe. Peyton, Sara's sister is there to help with Sara and to watch over Drew and Chloe. Drew and Peyton both feel the pull when they are together but try to ignore it. After Sara's death Peyton and Drew become closer, even through they have their ups and downs with their relationship and with Chloe.

Dancing in the Rain tugged at my heart. I found myself tearing up several times throughout the book. Drew having to retire early and loosing the career that he loved, becoming a father, a roll he was completely unfamiliar with and giving emotional support to both Chloe and Peyton shows you the type of strong caring man he is. Peyton has her plate full as well with a career in New York, a demanding boss and becoming Chloe's guardian, a roll she is unfamiliar with and fighting her feelings for Drew.

When Drew and Peyton finally give in to their feeling their love and passion for each other is amazing. I truly loved this book and was sad to see it end.

Kelly Jamieson has written another winner. I rate Dancing in the Rain 5 stars and would recommend to contemporary romance readers everywhere.

Dancing in the Rain is a stand-alone novel by Kelly Jamieson. I've read a lot of her books and especially like the hockey based series. This book is about a hockey player too, but it deals a different side of hockey, with what happens when the sports career is over.

Drew Sellers is a professional hockey player who has been forced to retire due to an injury. He's at a low point in his life, drinking too much, feeling sorry for himself and somewhat aimless as he has no idea what to do with his life. Then he meets a woman who has something to tell him that changes his life forever.

Peyton Watt has a successful career in New York City, doing a job she loves. Unhappily, she also has a big sister who's dying and a niece who she loves and who needs her. So she takes a leave from her job to come home to Chicago to help care for her sister. Nothing will ever be the same for her again.

When our H/h meet there is an instant attraction between them, but it's just not the right time or circumstances to acknowledge. Both need to work out their own problems as well as untangle the threads of their lives that have drawn them together. I became thoroughly immersed in their story and fell in love right along with them. There is plenty of emotion, conflict, heartbreak, angst, sex, and ultimately an HEA to make us all happy readers.

Kelly Jamieson will rip a reader's heart out and put it in an emotional blender before putting the pieces back together but their heart will never be the same. This book deals with the loss of a loved one and how difficult it can be. Drew Sellers has just found out that he has a 12 year old daughter when a former drunken one night stand, Sara, shows up and tells him that she ad just recently figured out Drew's identity. Sara is dying of cancer and she wanted him to know about his daughter, Chloe, before she died. Drew is uncertain if he wants to get involved. Sara's sister, Peyton, has come to take care Sara and Chloe and sparks fly between her and Drew. The story is full of heartache, tears, steamy sex, and characters finding their way in life following a tragedy. Amazingly written and readers will be sucked in. Definitely recommend!

To quote from the book…a story both sad and lovely.

I read “Dancing in the Rain” in one sitting, forced to abandon everything else I had planned for the day because of the way the story and characters grabbed me. I cried so much. I cried hard. But I also smiled and sometimes laughed and a couple of times did a little fist pump.

I’ve been down some unexpected paths with Kelly Jamieson. Sometimes I don’t like where she leads me but she always stays interesting. I realized when searching my Kindle I am closing in on 50 items of her work and if she keeps writing at this pace, I may reach 100. I hope I do.

This is not a typical romance. The themes are dark and sad. You know bad stuff is going to happen. And we have a hero in Drew that really doesn’t seem to be worthy of our interest, let alone the over-achieving heroine Peyton. But don’t give up on them. Their HEA is genuine and satisfying.

The book description doesn’t leave much to “spoiler” in this review. Suffice to say the strength of the story is in how well drawn the characters are and their capacity for growth. And I have to say, I have NEVER read a more convincingly or endearingly depicted 11-year-old girl. Usually I grit my teeth because these kids are supposed to be so clever and precocious and 1000 times smarter than the adults. But Chloe is real in a way so endearing I kinda wish she was real. Maybe in a few years we’ll get her story. Got that, Kelly?

Dancing in the Rain is highly, highly recommended.

ARC provided for an honest review.

It's no secret that I have a certain love for hockey romances and this certainly didn't disappoint. The storyline was original, the characters were well developed and I hardly noticed any errors in punctuation, spelling, or grammar.

This was such an absolutely amazingly heart wrenching and beautiful love story! Just incredible! Drew, Peyton, Sara & Chloe are all wonderfully developed characters and so real. I loved them all!!! Drew & Peyton spend a lot of time getting to know each other and share some seriously hot, steamy and passionate moments. Drew learns how to be a dad and how the love you have for a child can be like no other. Better have the tissues handy for this one. Such an emotional ride but one I don’t have any regrets on taking.
This is such a poignant story about strength, courage, trust, love and change. It is also about learning how to accept what life gives you and as the title says, just dance in the rain. 5 plus stars!!!!!!

Kelly has a great niche with hockey books and I am LOVING this one about a retired hockey player. I cried way to many times and my heart broke over and over but OMG what an amazing love story.

Drew is not quite the alpha male that most hockey players are but he is most definitely still MALE. I love his inner battle to be that strong alpha mixed with just a lovable guy trying to do the right thing.

Peyton has landed right smack dab in the middle of a hard place and a rock. I do wish they had "talked" more about what would happen after Sara before it became time that they had to act on things, but in the end of course it all works out.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
Whilst I was expecting this to be a fairly typical romantic novel, it was actually so much more. The storyline is strong and I really enjoyed the way Drew, retired hockey player due to injury, finds he has a young daughter he never knew about. Drew is strong and sexy but the building of his relationship with his daughter was very moving and makes him even more attractive. Sara, the mother of his child is dying and this part of the story is told with much empathy and compassion.
Kelly Jamieson is currently one of my favourite authors for steamy romances but this one is much more than just a love story!
4.5 Stars

Be prepared to have Kleenexs when reading this book. Awesome story that will have you crying your eyes out and cheering for characters.
Drew is a former hockey player who was forced to retire because of a bad knee. He is leaving a coffee shop when a woman stops him and precedes to tell him he has an eleven year old daughter. Thy had a one night stand and she didn't know who he was until recently. She doesn't want anything from him but she's dying and wanted to see if he wants to meet his daughter.
Peyton is a reputation consultant and her sister is dying of cancer. She comes back home to be with her sister and niece. At first she thinks Drew is a jerk but as she gets to know him, she realizes what a wonderful man he is. They have ups and downs but they figure out love is what makes everything a little better.
Tragedy. Love. And two people who must get along for the sake of a little girl. I absolutely loved this book.
*voluntarily reviewed this from netgalley *

Drew Sellers is a former NHL player who had to retire with a knee injury. Then his wife left him for his team mate and now he's drowning his sorrows not knowing where he's going in life. Then a woman named Sara comes to tell him that he is the father of her 11 year old daughter Chloe. Drew and Sara had a one night stand in college but she only knew his first name and thought he was at college with her but he wasn't, so she was unable to track him down but then she saw his picture on the front of a magazine and found out his full name. Sara has contacted Drew because she has stage 4 cancer and is dying and although Chloe has an Auntie (Peyton), they have no other family and she wants her daughter Chloe to know her father. It also turns out that Drew lives near Sara and Chloe and has done for years so I found that a bit far fetched.

Sara's sister Peyton is a career woman in New York but she flies to stay with her sister and niece to take care of them. There is no anger on Drew's part that he didn't know he had a child all these years and although he is unsure if he can step up to the plate after a confrontation with Peyton, he rethinks his decision.

This was quite a basic romance. I didn't feel the connection between Drew and Peyton and although the story surrounding Sara is sad, it lacked emotion. Drew and Peyton are attracted to one another and begin a sexual relationship (Peyton didn't seem to mind that she was sleeping with an ex lover of her sisters!). Drew becomes close to Chloe and helps out a lot then once Sara dies, Peyton has to think about returning to New York and taking Chloe with her but of course Drew doesn't want to lose his daughter (or Peyton).

The standard romance format of the couple falling out then reuniting was also lacking in any emotion. Drew is a nice guy and Peyton is OK but both characters lacked something for me as did the romance. It had potential to be a good story but in my opinion it failed to have any real impact.

Dancing in the Rain,  Kelly Jamieson

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance,

Kelly has written a lot of Hockey romances, this one is very loosely based around that world however.

Drew is a lovely man but after multiple surgeries on his knee he’s been forced to retire before he’s ready. He’s busy wallowing in a pity party when he meets Sara. The publicity around his career end had led her to find the man who fathered her daughter, twelve years back after a one night fling. She only had his first name so had been unable to contact him. He’s naturally wary, claims like this get made too often, but her story checks out.
Then we meet her family, daughter Chloe and sister Peyton.
Sara is dying from cancer and has only a short time left, and Peyton is stepping up to look after Chloe. They've no other family left, and finding Drew after all this time is a surprise.
 Chloe is a wonderful preteen, written very well, I recognise many traits of hers from my own daughter and granddaughter ;-) I loved her, how close she was to her mum, how confused and upset at facing losing her.
Peyton took a while to warm up to though, I did find her very judgemental of Drew, and focussed on her career more than what was right for Chloe in the circumstances. Drew isn’t in a great place, and has let himself go a bit recently, but she acts as if he’s a raging alcoholic and has been like it for years, instead of a man facing the loss of his career and struggling to know what to do next. On that note although they lived far away his family were very close, I’d have thought he’d have talked things over more with them but? Ah well...maybe some other reasons, pride perhaps.
Sara, poor Sara, facing what happens to too many young people. Her wanting to die at home, but then when it came to it the hospice proved a better fit resonated with me. Last year my lovely husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer just ten days before he died. We wanted him at home, but its not like the adverts, not always suitable, and we sadly took him to a hospice for his last two days. They were wonderful and though he was in a coma for most of it they allowed me to stay 24 hrs round, and treated him with so much dignity that I didn’t feel I’d failed him by being unable to cope at home. Sara and her family had a similar experience and that came over so, so well in the book, and felt very real to me. I hate when death is glossed over and dealt with in a way that gives false expectation, here it was very real but peaceful, exactly how it should be.

I didn’t really feel the romance between Drew and Peyton, they were sexually attracted, there was certainly lots of lust but more? Maybe from Drew’s side, he liked and respected Peyton, but she was very quick to judge and dismiss him, and very watchful over his actions as a father, not helping him but standing back when he was learning a new way of life to him. I felt she could have helped more, offered more support and less criticism. Still, it’d be a different book then ;-)

Like I said at the start, the hockey connection is thin, there’s no hockey action, matches, teammates etc and for me the romance was so-so. Its a good story overall though, felt very real and I enjoyed reading it. just not a five star re-reader.

Stars: Four, an enjoyable novel, with very real characters and situations.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

"Dancing in the Rain" starts out with all of the makings of a truly wonderful romance. However, as with several of this authors last books things just go no where for good chunks of the book. This book was almost more woman's fiction than romance as the majority of the story is really Drew and Peyton and their separate lives that happen to intersect but not really with all that much purpose except for where Chloe was involved. The main conflict in this book is certainly Sara's death and the chain reaction of events that sets off and how it changes and affects Peyton and Drew's lives but everything else was just filler. There was only about a quarter of this book (if that) that I felt was really dedicated to Peyton and Drew's romantic development and the rest was almost like just sitting back and watching these three people live their every day lives. It just felt very hum-drum at times and I just kept waiting for something more to happen. All of the time spent watching Drew and Peyton figure out what do to with their careers was just exhausting after a while. I read a romance novel to escape life and fell in love with characters who have depth and are themselves falling in love and this was just like watching people try to figure out their career aspirations while having a bit of romance on the side that really just felt more like sex than anything else. The first half of the book held my attention but the second half just really dragged on and on and I felt like it could have been about 100 pages shorter. Really miss the old formula that this author used to really rock at and bang out some amazing romance novels.