I was interested in this book because I'm a sucker for any dance show. The idea of a dance competition romance intrigued me. Unfortunately, this book fell flat.

For starters, the book felt rushed. There were a lot of details and things thrown into the book, forgotten about, and then mentioned again later, only for them to be irrelevant. An entire character randomly stopped being mentioned about half way through the book, only to show up again at the very end. The character was Kate's best friend and original roommate.

I want to make a note about the dance styles included in the book. As both a dancer and a Latina, I am very familiar with the dance styles that were included in the book. However, I have preferred the author stick to some of the "typical" ballroom dance competition styles. There is nothing wrong with adding Merengue to the list, but having nondancers learn and perform Kizomba and Bachata routines - much more intimate dance styles - with completely strangers makes me a uncomfortable. Samba was a style that mentioned in the book and never touched upon besides one fleeting reference. It would have been a great style for the main character to learn and can also be sexy and powerful without the intense intimacy of Kizomba or Bachata.

I was also very bothered by the main character. From the first page - I'm not even exaggerating - Kate is more focused about getting a reaction out of her dance partner than she is about actually dancing and competing on a dance show. To be completely honest, getting with one man or the other was Kate's main focus throughout the book, learning to dance and being on the show a distant second priority.

There were many sections of the book that were not needed. I did not need to know that Kate and whichever man she was with were going at it so often. I wanted to see more of her progression as a dancer, which in turn would have shown her building confidence in herself both as a person and an untrained dancer on a dance show. The book was advertised as a story about a girl falling in love amid a dance competition, but it was really a story about a girl falling for a guy and then falling for a better guy while showing up to compete 1-2 dances we never really saw her intently practice at the end of each week.

My favorite aspects of the book were the secondary characters, who did not deserve Kate in anyway. I absolutely loved Aleksis, his sister Sofiya, and Lucy, and was starting to like some of the other contestants, but did not get to know who they were except for some text exchanges.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley, and reviewed voluntarily.

This book was hit & miss for me. The beginning took too long, the middle was great and I liked the story line, the end felt rushed.

The spice is maybe 🫑 level and not 🌶. I felt like I was hearing this whole story from an acquaintance giving me the rundown.

I didn't hate it, but I didnt love it.

I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one sitting! It was equal parts steamy, hilarious and heartwarming. I wish it wasn't over so quickly! There were a few grammar and spelling errors but that's to be expected. I'll definitely be recommending this to my spicy book friends!

This was a good solid book. It was confusing at first with a LOT of characters, but after about 100 pages they had been detailed well and I could keep track of them all. The ending left me wanting a little more detail but I often think that! The pace was great, I couldn't wait to keep reading each chapter, and I really enjoyed this read.

The book has a really fun plot and the fake relationship trope is one of my faves, but I struggled a bit in the first few chapters of this book. I immediately didn't like (or care) about Merle and was annoyed with Kate from the beginning.

Kate came across as naïve, immature, and listless, just taking what life gives her then whining about it or making terrible decisions but failing to acknowledge her responsibility when she didn't like the consequences. She does seem to grow a little as the story progresses, but not enough to make her likeable. I like Aleksis and think he's far too good for her.

Overall, I feel like the story could have been better. It has a really fun premise, but was predictable and characters were very shallow so the whole story just fell flat for me.

This fake dating, dance competition romance was just okay to me. I felt like there wasn’t a lot of character development. All I knew about the main character Kate by 30% was that she had been cheated on, wanted to move on, and was really really h0rny for her dance partner. After that, we learn more about her and the rest of the characters, but I would have liked more character development before the spice started. I also wasn’t rooting for anyone in particular. I don’t think there was a clear “winner” in my mind of who I wanted Kate to end up with out of the two men. For all the hype this book received, it just wasn’t for me.

The Dance Deception by Becky Ward is a fake-dating, enemies-to-lovers romance set during a reality dance competition.

This book was meh. I honestly enjoyed and would have liked to read more about the side characters than that of main characters.

The characters didn’t much have depth to them or even growth. I couldn’t relate to Kate that much, she made it really hard to like her. I felt that she kinda jumped around the characters, couldn’t decide what she wanted and who she it. I mean that part makes her relatable… I honestly don’t know what else to say.

I had really high hopes for this book after the blurb. I love reality tv dancing shows, but honestly, the characters were lacking. We only really got to know Kate as the FMC and I did like her, but I felt like she had no respect for herself just jumping from Merle to Aleksis and then letting herself be tempted by Merle again. Merle gave me the ick and was just gross in general and although it is a book, he crossed the line in so many ways. I think if we had gotten to know the other characters a little better, like Emelia, it would have made the competition aspect much more prominent.

I was pulled in by the synopsis, but it didn't live up to it. It's 2023, Kate doesn't seem to smart and the end was disappointing. No consequences for the actions taken. Eek!

I wanted to love this so much! The blurb gave me high hopes, but unfortunately within the first few chapters I knew it just wasn't my cup of tea. I did end up reading the entire book, but the best I could do is three somewhat unenthusiastic stars.

I didn't feel like we really got to know the main character, Kate, other than superficially. It was really hard to connect with her and because of that, the relationship with Merle felt incredibly rushed. I didn't see a whole lot of chemistry with Aleksis, but I did at least appreciate the development of a relationship by the end.

Overall, the lack of a connection with Kate made the book hard to invest in That doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a chance though - it is totally a personal preference and just because I didn't connect does not mean others won't. I appreciate the opportunity to read the eARC from NetGalley and Harper 360 in exchange for my honest opinion.

Romance around a reality dancing competition which I thought would be interesting. Kate was assigned to dance with Merle. She was infatuated with his good looks. Pro dancer Merle was creepy and unprofessional from the very beginning. I know it was supposed to be a romance but there was nothing romantic with him. She was too vulnerable to understand he was not sincere. I thought Kate wasn't too smart. I also had a hard time liking her decisions and personality. The middle of the story needed a better editing job. Like 75 pages could go bye bye. No need to stretch out some of the scenes. Also the fake dating troupe didn’t work for me. The positives were pro dancer Aleksis, the other contestants and her best friend Lucy. They kept up my interest in this book. I did like the ending and thought it was an excellent way to end the story. I received this ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to Avon Books for this opportunity. This is my unbiased review of The Dance Deception.
 
To start off, I loved the idea of this book! I think the book had so much potential, but the characters and storyline could have been better. The characters felt very awkward or forced, in my opinion. I felt like they had no connection in the beginning or in the end. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there was a specific scenario in the book that just left me feeling weird and disgusted by Merle. I wish Kate would’ve had more of a backbone and some self-worth when it came to how Merle treated her. In conclusion, I’m giving this book a 2/5; there’s always time and room for improvement.

I don’t know where to begin. The premise has such promise, but the execution was lacking. And I know slut shaming is not cool, but Kate was a slut. Or at least, her attitude toward sex did not at all mesh with mine, and that was difficult to get past. And from there, the storytelling just felt sloppy. I finished the book, but it wasn’t great.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I wanted to love this book and the plot was so cute. The MMC Alexis and the supporting characters carried the book. The FMC fell flat. She was immature and had an obsession with finding self worth with men. I couldn’t relate or cheer for her because I found her so off putting. She was so blind and dumb.

Spoilers: her obsession with falling in love with a man who was using her was so overwhelming it was almost offensive I have a hard time believing a female wrote this book because it is so anti woman.

2.5 out of 5. This wasn't a great book for me. It had some solid things going for it. First, I'm obsessed with dancing and dancing shows so that behind the scenes part and all the dance rehearsals was very much up my alley. Also its a quick read and has a cute ending. However what did not gel for me was that the relationships felt so fake and so forced. The quickness of the original Kate and Merle fling felt fake and even uncomfortable. I was cringing through all the beginning scenes, and their attraction was not well written. Although Aleksis' storyline I liked much more, It also felt forced, like are we really getting two Show relationships with moving in and marriage breakups all in less than 4 weeks? It had potential but the timelines and the chemistry just didn't work for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for this ARC!

"The Dance Deception" is a sexy romantic read centered around a dance competition reality TV show a la DWTS mired with romance, jealousy, and scandals. Kate is competing in the show to get out of the funk she has found herself in. Merle will do whatever he needs to ensure he wins. Aleksis dislikes Merle and Kate for what they have done but learns not everything is as it seems. Who will come out on top?

This book is a quick read with twists and turns that made it more enjoyable than expected. While there is not much character development, the scandals and competition atmosphere make up for it. If you are looking for a romantic, sexy, and scandal-ridden read, then look no further!

Cute story overall, but something was missing. I wasn’t sure where it was going when it started since I didn’t like Merle from the start, he came off as a shady sleazeball. As the book went on, it turned out that he wasn’t so much a shady sleazeball as a manipulative narcissist who uses sex to get ahead. 

I think my biggest gripe with the story was how quickly Aleksis and Kate got together without any real signs he was interested.

Overall, I liked the reality TV competition throughout, however I think the side characters could have used a bit more development. I couldn’t always keep track of the different competitors/friends. Maybe if we had seen more into the training they had before the show started we could have had a better understanding of each individually.
 
I also wish there had been more development on the FMCs part. She started the story without any real direction having joined the dance show after leaving an admin job she didn’t like after breaking up with her long time boyfriend. She ended it with the promise to follow her boyfriend to Australia for his job, with no tangible future for herself aside from being with him.

I almost DNF this one. I got to about 30% and realized I knew nothing about Kate, the main character, but I decided to push on since I love dance contest books and while it wasn’t my favorite book, Kate grew on me. There is a lot of spice in this one; probably more than is needed and it seems to be the focus of the book which takes away from the actual story. You do get to know Kate a little more as the book goes on but the story really does suffer from all the need for descriptive spice. Not sure if I would recommend it. Still, it was a nice distraction for the day and I learned about different dances.

I was on the fence debating 3 or 4 stars, mainly because the first part of the book…all the cringey scenes with Merle and Kate in the begging, how rushed and forced it all seemed. Not gonna lie I almost did a DNF at this point because I was so frustrated. However, I realized that was the point of the 1st quarter of the book, it was supposed to be cringey and make myself ask Kate what the heck are you doing there is something definitely off about that guy. In hindsight I now see that all of the cringy begging had to happen for Kate to reach her potential and find herself with the assist of Aleksis. However the fake dating turned romance trope between these two was absolutely perfect! Once they started developing real feelings I am glad that Kate was open with Aleksis letting him know how Merle was trying to use their initial attraction to force her away from Aleksis when in all actuality that final attempt is what had Kate and Aleksis admitting that they weren’t fake dating anymore, that it had turned into something real. The only part that I had trouble with and felt was out of place and off was Warren, I mean what was the Point of Warren and their one night together?

This book was so fun! I've never read a book with a tv
show element and what made it even better was the fact
that it was a dancing with the stars type show called fire
on the dance floor and instead of celebrities it featured
normal people. The only thing preventing me from a
higher score was the fact that I found the main character
Kate extremely frustrating. Kate was constantly thinking
with her v*** instead of a brain. Also it felt super insta
lovey with ever single mc. All in all this story was
entertaining and fun but it lacked deep emotions and felt
fast and also a bit repetitive.
Thanks to net galley for the arc!