Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter/Harper Collins for the ARC for an honest review.

Strictly Come Dating is about Maggie Peterson, doctor, mom, divorcee, and Strictly Come Dancing fan. She and her friends all get together every Saturday to watch this show. One Saturday, said friends bring their prodigal brother over, Seb, to introduce him to the lot. He is immediately fascinated by Maggie and she's at first just curious and experiencing an attraction to him. Catch is, he's 27 and she's 37.

Maggie is very much type A, likes structure and making plans and sticking to said plans. She's very organized and methodical. Seb is carefree, easy going, lives by the seat of his pants. He just came in from Australia to help with his dad who suffered a heart attack. The likelihood of these two actually getting along and finding any kind of romance is hard to believe at first, but as you keep reading you realize that it just works. They compliment each other very well. Maggie suffers from lack of confidence due to the emotional crap her ex-husband put her through, and while getting closer to Seb and through dance classes, she finds that confidence that she has been lacking. Nothing really strokes the ego than being a 37 year old woman being found attractive by a 27 year old dude who looks like he belongs on Baywatch.

What I wish this book had more of was dancing. Maggie starts a dance class to which Seb joins to "save her" from men who are "boob height", and because of this, he's inspired to come up with a dancing competition as a fundraiser for the youth center he volunteers at. So they begin to dance in earnest and practice all the time. But the dancing is hardly ever described and you really have to use your imagination to see how they move in your head. I'd suggest watching a rumba video and just think about that. Perhaps Freeman didn't want to get too bogged down by the dancing, but that was the main focal point of this book. The dancing, the dancing show, and the dancing competition are pivotal aspects to the plot and we're told about things more than shown. Like we're told that Seb and Maggie looked hot and steamy on stage, but we're never actually shown it.

Besides that minor gripe, this book makes an excellent summer read, despite it being set in the fall/winter. You don't see novels where the main woman is older, by 10 years, than the main guy, and I really enjoyed that. There was barely any conflict and when there was, it resolved in a mature manner. Despite the age difference, this relationship was healthy and positive, and I couldn't help but root for them as a couple.

I would have given this 4 stars, but the author spelled lasagna as 'lasagne' and I can't forgive her for that. It's lasagna. This isn't like adding the letter 'u' to the British spelling of words, this is an actual dish with an actual name. British spelling be damned.

Strictly Come Dancing is a funny light hearted romance novel centered around dancing.

Maggie And Seb are the main characters and they are both strong individuals. The side characters create the humor of the story.

Overall if you like dancing and romance then pick this story up.

Maggie is a single mother who has everything planned. Her focus is split between her job as a doctor and her two daughters.

What she didn't expected was Seb, her friend's younger brother to come into her life with his flirty smile directed at her. Her confidence had taken a hit after her divorce. Her daughters are quickly enamored with him.

After years of living abroad, Seb has come back to help take care of his father. He doesn't plan to stay, he longs to go back to his life. When he meets Maghie he knows that he can't give her more than some fun.

As Maggie starts dancing lessons again, Seb quickly volunteers to be her partner, the dancing bring them together and sparks fly at the dancefloor.

I loved how Seb was so open with his feelings and how he understood what Maggie needed. They were an unexpected match but perfect suited for each other. They were many cute moments, especially while Seb was bonding with her daughters.

*I received an arc from One More Chapter, HarperCollins and this is my honest opinion.

What a fun read! Maggie has so much on her plate- she's a doctor, she's got two kids, she's got a rotten ex- but she always makes time to watch Strictly Come Dancing with her friends. Then one night, her friend's brother Seb turns up and well, her worlds turns just a little. Maggie's 37, Seb is 27. She's grounded, he's more of a free spirit (but he's got a good heart). Slowly but surely these two form a friendship, bonding over dancing as he partners her, and then fall in love. She's got to overcome a lot of questions in her own head- he doesn't have a job, he's 10 years younger, he's really good looking. You know, don't you, what's going to happen but Freeman has a lovely storytelling style that sweeps you along. I've never seen the dancing show but I found myself caught up in it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This will make you smile.

If you’re a fan of chick lit and Strictly Come Dancing then this book is definitely for you. I read Strictly Come Dating over a couple of days and found it to be most enjoyable. A pleasant story with some great characters, I found it hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and the author for the chance to review.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love British rom-coms and this one was such a fun and cute book. Divorced mom Maggie loves the tv show Strictly Come Dancing and watches it every week with her daughters and two best friends. When the friends younger brother ends up home from Australia after their dad's heart attack and joins them watching, he is enamored with Maggie, despite the 11 year age gap.

I liked the realness of the characters, the older woman/younger man relationship, the ballroom dancing theme and the idea of finding love again and regaining your confidence. This was a fun and super enjoyable romance!

Strictly Come Dating is a loose pun around a popular dancing show, Strictly Come Dancing. Almost 40 year old Maggie loves the show, and watches every week with her best friends, Alice and Sarah, and her daughters, Tabby and Penny. But when Alice and Sarah's younger brother Seb comes home from Australia, he joins the group after meeting Maggie and becoming infatuated. Despite being 10 years her junior, Seb desperately wants to prove to Maggie he deserves a chance. When he comes up with the idea to create a dancing competition at the local youth center he works at, he knows he has his shot and asks Maggie to be his partner. Their relationship begins hot and heavy, but can the adventurer in Seb be cooled for domestic life with Maggie and her kids?

I find Kathryn Freeman's books to be so completely endearing. They are easy reads, the type of romance I crave to be honest. Just a pure love story, with real people. It just happens to be located in England! I am also here for all the British slang because I get to read in my British head voice. Anyway. I love how real Maggie and Seb seem. I can totally imagine groups of ladies sitting around every week watching a dancing competition, in America we do it for the Bachelor. I am also HERE for the age gap romance, because love doesn't always revolve around your age. Once you're an adult, it really should matter what the birth certificate says. And I love that it was the woman being older than the man for once.

Overall, super cute. I LOVED Tabby and Penny, it isn't often you read romances where there are kids from a prior marriage involved. It adds a whole new level to the dynamic, because you're not just dating the woman, you're dating the kids and sometimes even the ex-husband. But Seb was fantastic with the kids, and is there anything more swoon worthy than guys being good with kids? AND THAT EPILOGUE. Love epilogues.

**Thank you to One More Chapter and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Maggie and her daughters and friends are all big fans of Strictly Come Dancing, a television show where ballroom dancers compete for cash and prizes. Every Saturday night, they all meet up to watch the show together. Seb comes home from Australia and, just for a laugh, joins his sisters Sarah and Alice along with their friend Maggie for the Saturday night ritual. What starts as only a chance to be an obnoxious kid brother turns into a life-altering event for Seb and Maggie.

What I Liked

What I liked the most about Strictly Come Dating is what the story is about – the themes and messages that the story conveys and does it well:

It's a story about finding that person who is not exactly like you, but that compliments you and brings out your best self.

Maggie was married to a man just as structured and societally-conscious as she is. They fell in love with those parts in each other that was most like themselves until the passion turned into a confining, unfulfilling shadow of what it once was, and then it was over. Maggie found herself a single mother of two precious little girls who mean more to her than life itself. Then in walks, Seb, literally into the weekly get together of Strictly Come Dancing fans. He is impulsive, carefree, late to everything, never prepared, and almost 11 years younger than Maggie. Not to mention, he is her best friend's younger brother. Maggie has many reasons not to give him a second glance.

It's an age story just being a number.

Maggie is 37 (close to 38), and Seb is 27. They are at different places in their life. Maggie is a respected doctor, and Seb…well, Seb, is still trying to figure out who he wants to be when he grows up. A relationship between the two of them could never work. What will people say? The only thing is, Seb could care less about all of that. There is a special something about Maggie that transcends beyond age and dignity. Through the course of the story, Maggie learns to accept that age truly is just a number and that if it's okay for men to date someone much younger, it is okay for women to also.

It's about not letting go of your passions.

Dance brings Seb and Maggie together. First through a dance competition television show that Seb loves to mock and Maggie loves to watch. Wishing it was her on the dance floor, her passion leads to actual dance classes and a local dance competition to raise money for a community program for children. Seb makes sure he makes all of Maggie's dance dreams come true, as he can see the spark that it causes in her and wants her to live out her dreams, even if it means he will look silly in the process. That is all part of the fun and charm of the story.

It's about not being afraid to live life to it's fullest.

Ultimately both Maggie and Seb learn to live life to its fullest potential. Their relationship and love help pull Maggie out of her shell while providing a sense of direction for Seb. They each had different lessons to learn, but through their love for one another, they found their path to happiness.

Technically, the story checks all the boxes. The dialogue flows naturally, and the characters are delightfully flawed and endearing. Maggie's daughters, Penny and Tabby, are too adorable for words. At times, Maggie's and Seb's constant misreading of each other becomes tiresome, but all-in-all, Strictly Come Dating was an enjoyable read for me.

To Read or Not to Read
Strictly Come Dating is a cute, light read that is as steamy as a rumba dance and is a beautiful reminder of all that is essential in life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Strictly Come Dating is a really lovely read. If you are fan of Strictly Come Dancing then this a book you really enjoy this, It's a lovely story with very likeable characters.

God, I love Kathryn Freeman and I love getting the opportunity to read and review her stories, prerelease.

The chemistry between these characters, not just between Maggie and Seb but their interacting with Tabby, Penny, Alice and Sarah, made this book so enjoyable. I love when books make me smile so much that my husband asks what I'm grinning at and this is one of those books.
Beautifully written and an excellent read.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Strictly Come Dating by Kathryn Freeman was such a fun book to read that I devoured it in one day.
At age 37, Maggie is a single mom of 2 girls, a Doctor with a busy practice, and after a lousy marriage and divorce, she’s been left not feeling sure of herself and wondering what happened to the girl she used to be. Saturday nights, she and her two best friends, twin sisters, get together with their children, and they watch Strictly Come Dancing together. When her friends remind Maggie of how much she used to love to dance, she decides to do something for herself and sign up for ballroom dancing. Seb was enjoying life in Australia teaching surfing and living on a pontoon when his father had a heart attack, and he’s come home to England to help his father get back on his feet again. Seb has been staying with his sister (Maggie’s friend) and so becomes part of the Saturday night Strictly Come Dancing watching crew and the more times he spends with Maggie, the more he is attracted to her, even though she’s eleven years older and keeps trying to interest him in her nanny who’s more his age. Also, she’s the best friend of his older sisters so things could get awkward, plus he thinks she’s too good for him because here he is living in his sister's spare room, no job and not quite sure of his plans for the future. This is a charming friends to lovers story that’s filled with love, and laughter balanced by just the right amount of angst. I enjoyed reading it very much and do recommend it. Medium Steam. Publishing Date: August 15, 2020. #StrictlyComeDating #KathrynFreeman #HarperCollinsUK #HarperCollinsCanada #OneMoreChapter #NetGalley #ContemporaryRomance #bookstagram #EscapeRead

I owe this book a huge debt. I picked it up in the morning of what I knew was going to be a bad day, just hoping it would at least hold my interest for a few moments of escape. It did so much more than that. Every time I picked it up I was transported, smiling and sighing with every turn of the page.

Sure this is a book about a divorced single mother starting a relationship with a younger man which is catnippy all by itself. However Maggie and Seb form real bonds early on simply by taking the time to see beyond each other’s surface. They are both dealing with past insecurities and find someone who sees more in them which makes the attention even stronger despite the uncertain future. Both are strong characters as are the supporting characters, especially Maggies’s daughters. My only quibble with this book were a few lines about others at their dancing classes that were meant to be humorous but, to me, were just mean.

This was my third book by the author and my favorite by far. Really looking forward to the fourth.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This book is perfect for fans of Strictly Come Dancing,

Maggie, whose thirty-seven and a single mum, and a doctor is a Strictly superfan.

Who enjoys weekly gatherings with her best friends, There’s twins, Sarah and Alice, also her nanny, Hannah, together they watch all the latest episodes of Strictly Come Dancing. So far as their kids have caught the bug.

On one occasion, they settle down for a night of pizza and dance, when a new face shows up, in the name of Seb, he’s the twin's younger, wayward brother.

Pretty soon hearts are fluttering, but out of Hannah and Maggie, who will this twenty-seven-year-old Aussie surf hunk fall for?

I’ve read and enjoyed the first two books so was particularly excited for the third. I really enjoyed it and loved catching up with the story

My new favorite Kathryn Freeman book. 4.5/5

Organized Maggie has two small children, an ex-husband who ruined her confidence, and a younger man that won’t stop flirting with her. And did I mention that younger man, Seb, is her best friend’s younger brother?

Maggie has always loved to dance, but her ex-husband never wanted to go dancing with her nor did he want her to go alone - so she stopped. That is until she gains the confidence to go after a push from her friends. After overhearing about the lack of men at Maggie’s dance classes, Seb decides to join the classes to get to know Maggie a bit better. Will these opposites attract?

I loved all of these characters. Seriously. Maggie, Seb, Tabby, and Penny were all wonderfully developed. The book made me laugh out loud in multiple places, and I found myself grinning like a crazy person while reading.

Thanks so much for the ARC - it was an unexpected surprise!

Strictly come dating is a lovely read, heart warming, emotional, full of humour and a cast of great characters
Maggie a 37 year old GP, divorced with two young daughters likes everything in order and has had any confidence she had knocked out of her by her ex.
Loving Strictly Come Dancing her family and friends always make an entertaining night of it when they all settle to watch it every Saturday with gusto, Maggie loves dancing but her ex always put her down and refused to countenance them dancing together as too trivial.
Enter Seb, her friends brother who has just returned from Australia as their father is ill. He is 10 years younger than Maggie but there is insta attraction between them. Seb is a free spirit, never making plans just goes with the flow, but Maggie just worries about their age difference.
Slowly Seb works his magic and what you have here is a very special romance. Throughly enjoyable, the blossoming of Maggie and the increasing maturity of Seb is just wonderful.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Thank you to One More Chapter UK and Netgalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Wow! Is Kathryn Freeman a speed writer or what!? This will be the third book of hers I've read this year. She's a brilliant romance writer and I'll be looking forward to her future novels. In Strictly Come Dating, she proves that age is nothing but a number. She does a great job capturing the stigma and stereotypes of an older woman dating a much younger man and vice versa. I don't read this trope a lot but I really enjoyed this one. I felt the chemistry between Seb and Maggie from the very beginning and I was really rooting for them. I loved Seb's commitment from the moment he saw her and seeing Maggie develop throughout the story from a type A rigid person to living in the moment and finding love again.

If you are looking for a closed door romance, this is a great one!

I have never watched Strictly Come Dancing or any equivalent US-based show, but Strictly Ballroom is one of my favorite movies so I can easily get into this new contemporary by Kathryn Freeman. The basic premise is this: Maggie religiously watches Strictly Come Dancing every week with her best friends and daughters ever since her divorce three years ago. One night there is a visitor to intrude upon their watch fest – her best friends’ younger by 10 years brother, Seb.

Seb is back home after his father’s heart attack, and he’s attempting to find his way. He’s been traveling and roaming since leaving high school (or what do they call it in the UK? Secondary school?) trying to find his place in life and what he feels called to do.

Maggie is a physician and essentially a single mother (more on that DB ex-husband later) but loves dancing with a passion, so she doesn’t fight hard when her friends convince her to take ballroom dancing lessons. Seb, feeling an instant attraction to Maggie, volunteers to be her partner, and life goes on from there.

What I loved about Strictly Come Dating was how it dealt with Maggie’s resistance to be in a new relationship, and especially how she felt about the age gap between them. And yet, she can’t deny the connection she has with Seb, even if there are some mishaps along the way.

I was happy to see Maggie finally come to her senses and realize that she has worth, because for so long she let her ex-husband wear down her confidence. I really wish she took that DB to court; he owed so much to his children and I felt like he got off so easily.

Even though it dealt with some deep and harsh issues, I felt like this was a light and quick read that instantly sucked me in. I picked it up, planning to just finish my chapter before bed and then somehow it was after midnight and I’d reached the final page. Kathryn Freeman has a way of keeping your interest!

If you're a fan of the spangly ballroom dancing fiesta that is Strictly Come Dancing, (or if you're not, but still love a bit of romance) then you are going to love this!
Thirty-seven-year-old Maggie, single mum, doctor, and Strictly superfan enjoys weekly gatherings with her best friends, twins, Sarah and Alice, andher nanny, Hannah, to watch all the latest episodes of Strictly Come Dancing. Even their kids have caught the bug.
As they settle down for a night of pizza and dance, a new face shows himself, in the name of Seb, the twin's younger, wayward brother.
Hearts are set aflutter, but who is this twenty-seven-year-old Aussie surf hunk destined to fall for? Hannah, the pretty nanny, or Maggie, the middle-aged mum?
Sprinkled with humour, dance, and annoying ex-husbands, Strictly Come Dating is a fun, easy read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Settling down to watch Strictly Come Dancing with her two children, their nanny and her friends Sarah and Alice has become a Saturday night tradition. Especially since her marriage ended three years ago. Maggie loves to watch the dancing and spend time with her friends.

One Saturday, there is an interruption to their usual viewing party when Seb, Sarah and Alice's younger brother gatecrashes. Tall, blonde, tanned and handsome, he notices Maggie straight away. Although she is 10 years older than him, there is something about her that draws him to her.

Over the weeks he joins them again and again to watch the show (spending most of his time watching Maggie). Starting dancing lessons Maggie hasn't found a suitable dance partner when Seb volunteers. She declines, yet he turns up anyway and the chemistry starts to grow between them.

Can this really work? He's only back in the UK to help his dad following a heart attack. She has responsibilities, not to mention the age gap. A funny and charming read, discovering that age can be just a number of you let it.