Dnf
I just couldn’t get through this story, the characters felt boring. I guess this was not just for me…

Oh, how I loved this fabulous debut rom-com by Jason B. Dutton! The male MC has cerebral palsy and falls in love with a professional dancer, and the sparks and snarky banter begin to fly. While How to Dance definitely falls into the rom-com genre, it offers so much more from understanding the personal aspect of disability experiences (physically navigating city buildings as well as emotionally navigating people who get, well, too people-y) and what diversity and inclusion really mean. Nick and Hayley both grow as individuals as they navigate their new feelings and ponder their place in this chaotic world. This inclusive, own voices book should be on the top of everyone's TBR pile. Mild spice but lots of double entendre humor to keep things sizzling. The audiobook narrators did a wonderful job and were pleasing to listen to.

Note: How to Dance takes place in Columbus, OH and is written by a local author. This book and author deserve all the Buckeye love... read and share with friends! I am so glad we picked this for our March Book Club!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read/listen to this audiobook ARC.

This book has an amazing representation of cerebral palsy. How people can force themselves to do thing knowing they can’t.

The romance is portrayed perfectly!!! And I love the family dynamics. Just a little hint of spice.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and the author for the opportunity!

Nick Freeman is the star of Friday night karaoke at a local bar, enjoying the chance for his singing to distract from his cerebral palsy. One night, he can’t help but watch professional dancer Hayley Burke light up the dance floor with her boyfriend. When Hayley sees Nick’s expression, she challenges him to try some dance moves with her before learning that he can only walk with the help of a metal walker. Despite their initial meeting, the two become friends, while Nick silently wishes for more.

This was an enjoyable Own Voices debut novel with an engaging cast of side characters to round out the main story line. I love that Nick was a math teacher, even though we didn’t get to see much of that in the story. I personally did not care for the narrator of the audiobook, so I would suggest grabbing a physical or ebook version of this story.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

I couldn't get enough of Jason B. Dutton's marvelous writing in his novel How to Dance. The characters are so unusual, and the romance is cleverly crafted. What a charming and unique story!

The audio version of How to Dance is narrated by David Bendena who delivers a wonderful performance.

This was such a fun book to listen to. With its grumpy male character and sunshine female character, it showed the importance of just being yourself and fighting for what you love. He uses a walker due to his disability and constantly sees the worst in others and himself. She is a professional dancer who believes in the best in everyone, and although she may put on a good show, she is riddled with insecurities and self-doubt. These two personalities meet, and the fight... or dance, is on.

Entertaining and engaging, although some readers are going to bounce hard off the cheating elements. Still a recommended purchase for collections where romance is popular.

How to Dance is a captivating audiobook that defies expectations with its heartfelt narrative and authentic characters. Nick, a protagonist with cerebral palsy, shines as a beacon of courage and resilience, showcasing the beauty of embracing life's challenges. His relationship with Hayley is a delightful blend of tension and tenderness, offering a refreshing take on love and acceptance. The audiobook's seamless narration enhances the experience, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking a touching story filled with warmth and inspiration. Don't miss the release on February 6th – this is a tale that will leave a lasting impression.

A heartfelt portrayal of disability representation, "How to Dance" celebrates the strength found in embracing one's true self. Nick's unwavering spirit and determination to live life to the fullest resonate deeply, offering a powerful reminder of the beauty found in diversity. With its captivating narrative and endearing characters, this audiobook is a delightful escape into a world filled with love, courage, and the joy of embracing life's melody.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media, Jason B. Dutton, and NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this enchanting tale in advance.

Tropes:
Friends to ❤️
Hot nerdy math teacher hero who loves music
Dancer heroine
Disability rep (Cerebral Palsy)

I absolutely loved this book. It would’ve been a 5⭐️ if it had some spice (0🌶️ rating). I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a strictly male POV audiobook but it wasn’t bad!

I’d like to say that I don’t adjudge the characters of <i>How to Dance</i> for their feelings, but boy, do I judge them for their behavior. I honestly don’t think that there was a single character in this entire book who didn’t behave absolutely abhorrently or at the very least excuse awful behavior from time to time. After all, if everyone is acting like an asshat, it’s kind of difficult for the author to also write their friends in a way that calls them out repeatedly for that behavior.

I’ll give a tiny bit of credit for the friends, though, since most of them do pull their heads out of their asses for the final plot saving advice at the end.

I initially gave this book a 2-star rating, but the more that I think about it, the more it truly feels that this is really a 1-star book. And what I feel this ultimately boils down to is pure loss of potential. You see, I picked this up because I really thought it would be brilliant to see an inclusive romance about someone with a disability. We don’t get many of these and I’m always thrilled when I see them.

The problem with <i>How to Dance</i> is that all of its important characters just <i>suck</i>.

Let’s start with Nick: Nick is your typical angry asshat. And I would even go as far as to say he <i>really</i> does not have the reasons to be angry that he thinks he does. Shout out to his friend who points out this asshatery in the end, but should have opened her mouth SO much earlier. Nick’s anger literally borders on incel behavior, so much so that I gagged far too many times when he went off on his bullshit. Nick, you see, isn’t really angry that he has a disease that has left his legs immobile. No, Nick is <i>truly</i> angry because no one wants to fuck him. And he uses his legs as an excuse.

The problem is that no one wants to fuck him because he’s a…wait for it…total asshat. Credit where credit is due—the other does have someone call Nick out for this. Unfortunately, she just waits until the very, <i>very</i> end.

It’s pretty hard to root for a character when he engages in pure incel behavior, angry at all the women in the world because they don’t want a relationship with him. He never really looks internally to wonder <i>why</i> these people run for the door and instead just assumes that all these women are shallow monsters who only see his disability. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are women like that out there in the world. But the vast majority of us run for the hills when men act like entitled dicks who misattribute their failures to shortcomings that most of us could not care less about and likely don’t see as shortcomings in kind and compassionate people.

So…fuck Nick.

Hayley is…pure emotional cheater who lives on some stupid high horse pretending that cheating emotionally isn’t cheating. And I just have to say I am real sick and tired of romance novels thinking it’s okay to insert cheating plot a/b/c here and pretend the woman did nothing wrong. The author is relying on readers to see what Hayley’s asshat boyfriend Kevin does and says and excuse all of her behavior because he is kind of a jerk at times. <i>I fucking hate this.</i>

So, fuck Hayley as well.

And finally, there’s Kevin who is truly an asshat of a boyfriend and an asshat of a person because he pretty much does genuinely think it’s totally okay to ask a guy in a wheelchair to babysit his girlfriend for him because a) he’s not willing to be there for her emotionally and b) he doesn’t think there’s even the slightest chance she could be romantically interested in the dude because of his disability.

Holy fuck, why are there so many incel thoughts in this book???

So, fuck Kevin also.

What’s most frustrating about all of this is the fact that out of all these awful characters, the only one I can really excuse some behavior of is actually Kevin. And by all accounts, Kevin is literally one of the worst people you could ever possibly know. Honestly, what sort of jackass makes the decision to not be there for his partner and instead to choose someone to fill that role based solely on his own personal appraisal of that person’s sex appeal? I was <i>rooting</i> for this breakup. Kevin is a horrible person.

And it’s worth noting that he did create the situation for his girlfriend to cheat on him. Which she did, emotionally <i>and</i> a little bit physically. I know Nick started the kiss—wow, fuck you for kissing someone in a relationship, Nick—but it’s also not like Hayley shut that shit down immediately and explained the situation to the man she was actually dating. So Kevin being angry at her for cheating? Yeah, that’s fucking fair.

I can’t excuse Hayley’s behavior, despite her being with a shitty person who set up conditions for her to feel the way she did because ultimately, this was a sure fire sign that she should have broken up with Kevin. Plain and simple. And she didn’t. She waited for him to ditch her before running to the other dude she had feelings for. This would have been…okay-ish…were it not for the fact that she also seemed to flounder on whether or not to go back to this guy when he returned.

And I can’t excuse Nick’s behavior because for near the entirety of the novel, he acted like an entitled and unnecessarily angry douchebag. This is painful and does not get called out until we’ve almost reached the very end of the book—and props, I guess, for his ability to change when he finally gets his ass handed to him verbally…but that doesn’t excuse any of the bullshit he put everyone around him through prior to that conversation. I’m glad he changed…but that development only existing in the last few chapters/pages of the book was awful writing. I needed this <i>much</i> earlier for the book to be saved.

I just feel so frustrated at how awful these characters were. I really, really do. But I’ll give Nick that. He became a better person right at the end. I dunno if I care for the fact that he “got the girl” because of it, though.

Ugh.

The narrators were great, though. Throughout, they did a fantastic job.

"How to Dance" is a touching story of a man with Cerebral Palsy who learns to open his mind to greater possibilities. Nick has a good job (he's a beloved math teacher), a great group of friends, and a non-bitter acceptance of his physical limitations. When he meets Hayley Burke, he's in awe of her physical beauty and prowess, and he's happy to get to know her as a friend. But he keeps his crush to himself because she's extraordinary, and he's who and what he is. But dancing starts in the soul, not the legs, and Nick has to lose his self-doubt in order to welcome love AND dance into his life. "How to Dance" moved a bit slower than I would have liked in parts, and some of the narrative seemed a bit pedantic, but overall it was a good read with a great cast of characters.

How to Dance by Jason B. Dutton was a good listen. The narrators do a good job at bringing the characters to life.

Nick tries anything to distract from his cerebral palsy. He is a regular at a bar's karaoke night and is friends with everyone at the bar. In the past he has chased after young girls and does not expect it to go anywhere. One night Haley and her boyfriend go to the bar and mesmerize Nick with their dancing. Moreover he is entranced with Haley. She makes a bad impression, but little by little they build their friendship and fix the pieces that feel broken within.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own. #HowToDance #JasonBDutton #NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia

The trope of opposite attraction was so beautifully used and penned down in this book. The disability representation is also used nicely by the author.
Right from the very first chapter of the book, it had captured my attention and it kept me hooked till the very end of it.

“his face came into focus and she started breathing again.”
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape for an audio ARC in return for an honest review. Nick is a frequent at The Squeaky Lion (karaoke bar) where he gets the opportunity to perform and connect with others. He is the center of attention at the places he frequents, brightening everyone’s day. Nick meets Hayley, a dancer who is new to the area, and (though they initially get off on the wrong foot) they form a beautiful connection. This is exactly the kind of chronic illness representation that I have been searching for, a book not ABOUT illness but with representation we so desperately need. Light, fun, comical, and incredibly entertaining, this is a romcom that will have you smiling.
As an audiobook, the narrator had an expressive voice and really helped me to see and appreciate the personalities of the characters. All in all, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it

4/5 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook of How to Dance by Jason Dutton narrated by David Bendena.

I believe this may be this author's first book, if so - great job! I thought this story was very cute! I'll be completely honest, I wasn't so sure about the narrator at first and it seemed slow, but I did gain back interest once I increased the speed. The characters are perfect and the story develops beautifully of the relationship between Nick and Haley. This story already has a place in my heart because, although it's not the same disability that my boys have, it gives me hope of the future for my boys and to know that there are still good people out there. I really appreciate the honesty of Nick's medical history and the back story of how he is the way that he is.

Really enjoyed this book and will be sharing this with my friends and family.

Nick and Hayley appear great in public, both able to put on a show. But deep down they each have their own hidden pain and secrets. This was a sweet story of two broken people finding hope, meaning, and love in each other.

Thank you so much to the publisher for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited to read this book but unfortunately, it didn't work for me as much as I wanted it to. I had a lot of issues with both the characters and the plot. The characters were very unlikable to me and I had a hard time believing their romance. The biggest issue I had with this book is that there is a cheating aspect involved in the plot. For the first half of the book, Hayley is in a relationship with another man and is essentially emotionally cheating on her boyfriend with the Nick. I do not condone cheating of any kind and find it very hard to enjoy or feel comfortable reading a romance story that begins with cheating. This story did have some good elements though. The writing was good and there is a lot of interesting commentary about being disabled as Nick does have cerebral palsy. The disability representation was great. The audiobook was also well narrated. But, I was unfortunately let down in the end and did not enjoy this one as much as I wanted.

I liked the idea of this book and the beginning definitely gave off Shall We Dance movie vibes for me, a movie I adore, so I was here for that. However if felt the middle could have easily been cut done and found myself zoning out while listening to it, but not missing anything when I did. The ending picked back up and I like the message it sent along with how it wrapped up. With what I enjoyed I gave the book 3.5 stars.

What a fun ride. How to Dance was a breath of fresh air with a main character with a life-altering disability. Our male main character suffers from Cerebral Palsy, and it was very interesting to read about it and how harshly it can affect someone’s mental health and self-esteem. Everyone in this world is deserving of love, no matter what you look like, and this book painted a beautiful picture of that. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it’s actually quite exciting that the author just so happens to be visiting my city next week. I got my own physical copy of this book and I can’t wait to meet him and hear more about it directly from him.
Huge thank you as always to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my thoughts on the story! <3

This story delivers a heartfelt romance that beautifully explores the dynamic between Nick Freeman, a karaoke star navigating life with cerebral palsy, and Hayley Burke, an enthusiastic dancer. Their journey from awkward encounters to a meaningful connection highlights the essence of love transcending physical boundaries. Dutton's authentic depiction of Nick's disability enriches the story, offering a fresh perspective in the romance genre. The story's dual narrative enhances the emotional depth, making the characters' experiences more impactful. While the initial pace may be gradual, the story eventually captivates with its themes of acceptance and self-discovery. Adding to the experience, David Bendena's narration in the audiobook version brings a new dimension to the tale, with his nuanced performance accentuating the emotional depth and bringing the characters' journeys to life.