It was like a sexy DWTS! what really kept me interested was the twist about merle being married! too good to be true. I loved the Latin flair on it, being Latin myself. The dancing and the competitions live vibrantly in my head. Kate and Merle really hit it off, but the fast paced of the meeting, having sex and the news leaking about the affair.. That was all in about 40 pages of the book. But that's how lust works.
I lived vicariously through Kate the entire time though. Her and Aleksis were the definition of sizzlin and i felt the chemistry steaming of the pages! There was so much drama I was absolutely liiivinngggg for it.

Okay okay, full disclosure first! I don't normally read modern cartoon cover romances! I'll devour a romantasy, inhale some monster spice, love some hot science fiction... but I generally have a hard time suspending disbelief for a perfect guy named chad in the REAL world! But when I saw it involved dancing, I immediately requested it from Netgalley. If there is anything I can't resist it's a dance show, movie, or book. So, thanks Netgalley and Harper 360, Avon for the ARC-- this my very unbiased review.

Y'all, I almost DNF'd the first 25% of this book. I was so excited for it and then was like... wut. Kate is the most self-absorbed, insecure, pickme of a character I have ever read. I literally WANTED bad things to happen to her. I know, what a horrible thing to even think. I just kept going, "girl, what is WRONG with you!? Why are you like this? Have some self-respect and quit thinking with your lady bits!"

Fortunately for me and our heroine, Kate, there is this literary thing called character growth and I stuck it out. I literally stayed up all night to finish the book. It's gonna be deeply difficult to explain anything without dropping some gigantic spoilers here, but I assure you, Becky Ward really turns things around here. She reminds us what a relationship is supposed to be about (although I wish that Kate were *slightly* more independent). I do love a forced proximity and fake dating trope and will swoon for a bed-sharing trope until the end of time.

I can see a ton of potential in Becky Ward's writing, the narrative arc was solid and the relationship was really really sweet. I look forward to her future novels where she has done some work on complexity of character building .

I would have loved a little more reason to root for the two to get together and some more delicious tension moments to improve the overall reading experience. As far as being in the erotica genre, it certainly fits the bill and is a fun time!

The Dance Deception by Becky Ward tells the tale of our female main character, Kate, who has entered a reality TV dance competition having left behind her job, a bad breakup and in hopes of winning the £25,000 cash prize to change her life around.

Kate immediately jumps into a romance with her dance partner Merle, which we know will end badly and it does. The scandal caused by their romance results in her changing partners and being paired with Aleksis. Aleksis doesn’t like Kate, but they agree to have a fake romance to hopefully win over viewers and up their chances of winning.

Despite their rough beginning Kate and Aleksis start to have real feelings for each other and they have to navigate a lot of obstacles, including Merle trying to sabotage them.

Ms. Ward wrote a book that was a great way to spend a hot summer day – a distraction that kept me engaged and rooting for the heroine.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher for my opinion. All views are my own.

I did enjoy this book! It has great potential. It was an easy rom com read especially for someone who liked watching reality tv. We dive in with contestants of a dance competition filled with drama, stress and love. My two compliments is about the FMC and the MMC. MMC felt very one dimensional, idk why he would be interested in FMC, or why they were “well-suited.” There was no depth. As for FMC, she acted as if she was a child. Her inner monologue and actions about Merle when she around him annoyed me so much.