A closed door MM romance between two dancers at a "summer camp" that felt very highschool. While it was fun and fast paced, I wish we got to see more of a connection/romance between the two MMCs.

1.5⭐

LIKED:
- The overall setting of a summer resort is really fun, and I do think I got a pretty good mental image of Shady Queens throughout this book.
- Betty is the best character, hands down. There should have been more of her and less of some of the other side characters.
- I like the colors of the cover? I don’t think the overall design works, and with a title and book about dancing, there should have been way more movement in this cover in regards to the character posing (or, like, a reference to Dirty Dancing? I don’t know, it just seemed like an easy win).

LAMENTED:
- This book unfortunately committed the cardinal sin for a book, especially a romance: it’s boring. Nothing really happens for the majority of the book. We barely get to read about any dancing except for some sporadic scenes that are very short. A lot of the early scenes are about partying. Dissecting this from a craft perspective, I could not pinpoint any of the story beats. It just felt like a first draft of things that could maybe color the story, but the actual plot never took off. If this were not an ARC I would not have finished it.
- The romance of this book is basically non-existent. We spend 60% of this book with Archer in a relationship with a different character. Sixty. Percent. That is way too long. And during that 60%, Archer and Mateo barely talk. We know from the blurb that Archer ends up with Mateo, why are we subjected to another relationship that we know isn’t going to work out? It was such a baffling choice. It kept the romance between the two “leads” from ever actually being something worth investing in.
- Both Archer and Mateo aren’t likeable. Archer is just annoying, and the decisions he makes are just juvenile. But it’s never really played off as being something he needs to work on, which is odd. And Mateo is just really flat. He’s supposed to be grumpy to Archer’s sunshine, but Archer isn’t sunshine and Mateo has nothing else besides being bitter. And his whole past fall from grace is pretty uninspired, for lack of a better description.
- The drama going on in this story. There’s a jokey reference to high school drama and that they’re not in high school or whatever, but the Ben/Beau stuff and the cliques and Caleb, it’s just mind-numbing. I did not enjoy any of it and it, again, just detracted from actually spending time on the romance.
- I don’t care for this title. Partially because I don’t like puns in titles, but also because I think that it promises more than it can fulfill. This has the lightest possible inspiration from Dirty Dancing. I don’t need it to be a 1:1, but nothing besides them being at a summer resort and Mateo being a bit (not even that much) older. I was really hoping for some more grittiness and character explorations that felt more akin to the archetypes of that film.

LONGED FOR:
-More structure and meat to the story.
- More time with the intended romance of the story.
- Less side drama with the side characters that didn’t really add anything.

Will I read the next one? : No

This book is too cute! I mean, man who are professional dancers? GIVE ME MORE PLEASE! I need those! This story is so romantic and fluffy and it made me smile so big my teeth hurt.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Dirty dancing but make it queer (and a lot less steamy)
Couldn’t put this down and read it in a day!!

The characters are all absolute hot messes. This novel was super campy and I a here and delighted with the ridiculousness of some of the charachters.

The book was cute !!! I’ll be honest I was super locked in and didn’t feel like i HAD to keep reading but I think for a cute, little Romcom it was good!! The main positive thing I have to say about this book is that I think it was a unique premise and that’s what drew me to it to begin with. The musical theatre community, I feel like it such untapped potential for book people and this felt like a perfect story for people who like dance/ theatre or are part of it!! Gay love stories are so important in mainstream media. I don’t think the book was groundbreaking or life altering but it was a good little read that I enjoyed and would recommend to a friend!

Thank you Jennifer Moffatt, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this one! It was the perfect read to start Spring with, and made me long for those endless days of summer.

Archer Read is our “Baby” of sorts. Archer left Ohio five months ago to peruse his dream of dancing on Broadway. After 37 rejections, and hearing “you’re too old for this” at the age of 27, Archer is ready to pack up his life and move back with his parents to Ohio. That is until Archer aces a last-shot audition and lands a spot dancing for a musical revue at Shady Queens, an LGBTQ+ resort in the Catskills. At his first rehearsal, Archer spots his teenage crush, Broadway star Mateo Dixon. But what is Mateo doing here at Shady Queens?

Mateo Dixon, who is our “Johnny”, wants a break, and to not be known as “Mateo Dixon…former Broadway star”. Mateo took a job at Shady Queens for a fresh start, a chance to re-invent himself after a scandal cost him his last working Broadway job.

Will Archer be able to make this a career move following his summer at Shady Queens? Will Mateo be able to re-invent himself and come back from this scandal? Buy your copy of “Flirty Dancing” and find out now!

I loved this fun summer romcom that gave me some Dirty Dancing vibes. The characters were thought out and fun. And I'm a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine pairing.

DNF @ 40%

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for access to this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried so hard with this book but it just fell flat for me. The plot lacked substance, the two main love interests had such little chemistry. The grumpy/sunshine trope is hard to get just right, if the grump is too grumpy, they come across as rude and unlikable and it’s hard to come back from that. The love triangle felt forced and totally unnecessary. Archer seemed to just fall into a relationship with Caleb, and I’m not sure why we needed that. I love romances, especially queer ones, but I could not get into this.

Never have I ever enjoyed reading a summertime romance so much! Flirty Dancing is filled with drama
in the very best way; all centered around performing, queer community and sweet, slow burn love.

Archer Read is a down and out dancer who took the plunge and moved and New York from Ohio to pursue his dream of becoming a professional dancer. As a theatre kid myself, I was inexplicably drawn to this second chance at your dreams story and it did not disappoint.

The romance is the very definition of slow burn but it delivered in more ways than one. We were gifted with instant chemistry and a seemingly grumpy/sunshine dynamic on the surface but very clear attraction underneath. Lingering touches and long, drawn out glances over flowed. This is a sweet, tender and deeply affectionate story of queer love and queer joy within a relationship and outside of it. It was established early on in the story that the two MMC’s were destined for each other but had to jump over some hurdles and weather a few storms before that could happen. And the storms? Came in the form of some of the messiest and best drama one could ask for.

The side characters were all so bright and vivid and contributed equally to the story and the drama. In fact, I loved the drama. It was so realistic. Gather together a group of performers for a summer and let the passion and creativity flow; of course there will be drama. It helped Archer and Mateo find each other. In the midst of stress and tricky performance dynamics they discovered how well they work together and how easily it is to trust their feelings and act on them when the time was right.

Moffatt has given readers intimacy and trust and fun! The dance sequences, whether it be rehearsals or performances, were detailed and fun and let us in on the growing dynamics between the characters; especially Mateo and Archer. I really enjoyed this story and I think so many readers will as well once it’s in their hands.

Thank you to Jennifer Moffatt, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book... spoilers

It is about Archer a hopeful Broadway dancer and his summer job. He dances in the Catskills over the summer at Shady Queens. He finds his love of dancing and performing cabaret, friends and the love of his life.

I really enjoyed the overall plot. I felt the story was very sweet and you got to experience something new for a love story. I always enjoy going on different adventure.

Thank you so much for the arc and the chance to read this book.

A great feel good story for the LGBTQ+ community. There was strong emotions from all the characters, as well as drama and some betrayal. The story follows Archer with his sudden career change to pursue his dance dreams and ends up booking his for gig with his childhood star crush. You see so much of other characters which show cases more storylines and more emotions, however I felt you missed out on the main characters story. I think there was still so much we could have learned about Mateo. I will say Caleb annoyed me, I was not happy with how he spoke or his actions sometimes. But his breakdown started the shift in the story. This was bit of a slower read. I wasn't alway eager to picked the story back up and finished it.

While the cover, title, and setting invoke thoughts of the movie Dirty Dancing, this book is a uniquely wonderful story all of its own. It is a slow burn, closed-door romance between two male dancers working as part of the entertainment staff at an LGBTQ+ resort in the Catskills.

The author does an exquisite job of setting the stage for the chemistry between the main characters from the beginning and slowly building that tension until it's almost unbearable. The descriptions of their gazes, touches, and words, both while dancing and outside the theatre make you feel like you're right there seeing it happen. In addition, the foils of all of the other couples throughout the book, really show you the building of trust and emotional intimacy between Archer and Mateo. There's even a lesbian fairy godmother who sprinkles her magic throughout the story. And of course, it ends in a sweet, heart-warming happily ever after for the main characters.

I'd never read anything by this author and chose this advanced reader copy on a whim based on the title and cover - and I'm so glad I did. Highly recommend checking this out when it comes out later this year!

Thank you so much to Jennifer Moffatt, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I truly wanted to like this book and I am so sad that I did not enjoy it more. I grew up watching Dirty Dancing, I danced for years. This book seemed like it would be a great fun book that I would enjoy. However, I just ended up being disappointed. The writing felt stilted and it did a lot of telling not showing. I felt strung along the book just waiting for chapters to be over. The plot was forced and predictable a mile away - not always a bad thing, but this one had me holding my head and sighing. I also was so frustrated by the passive tone used throughout the entire book. Kudos to you if you enjoy this - it just didn’t capture my interest or attention like I hoped it would. Thank you though to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. This review is my own thoughts and feelings, no one else’s - and hopefully you will enjoy it more than I did.

Dirty dancing but make it queer with a background of celebrity crushes. I think contemporary romances just aren’t for me right now but it was a quick read and the characters were likable. I’ma huge dirty dancing fan but I’m glad these characters had a different path than those in the original film. I do wish we had more scenes with Archer and Mateo, it felt abrupt at times, but overall enjoyable. Would definitely recommend to fans of the genre.

Archer started his dance career late after quitting his job, now at 27 he is desperate to book a show and make it big on Broadway. He is starting to feel down about his string of rejections when he books a summer gig at Shady Queens, a queer-friendly resort. He plans on spending the summer dancing his heart out and hope he will catch the attention of someone who can help him book more shows. When he arrives he realizes he will be working closely with his teen celebrity crush, Matteo. Matteo and Archer must dance together and the director wants them to be as sexy as possible. The show starts to fall apart as the casts personal life gets intertwined. Will they be able to pull through so the show can go on?

I thought this book was super cute. I liked that there was a big cast of characters and all had their own thing going on that all gets intertwined together. I loved Matteo and Archer together and the setting of both doing a show and being stuck at a resort together was interesting and caused lots of drama.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for access to this eARC. I was hooked on this story from the first mention of the succulent named Spot Conlon.

Archer’s desire and drive to make something of himself through dance was beautifully described and heartfelt. It was easy to empathize with his self-doubt, focus on wanting to do his best, and his struggles to get there. The dancing descriptions were masterful; it was like being in the stage wings watching the rehearsals and performances.

The tension between Archer and Mateo was smoldering. The pages turned themselves as I wanted to see those two resolve their feelings. And the overall cast of characters brought excellent humor, dialogue, and angst.

A must-read for anyone who loves Dirty Dancing. Overall 4.5 stars.

You can tell that the author absolutely loves dance. That rolls of the page. However, that can only take a book so far when the characters fall flat. I didn't care about Archer, I couldn't stand Caleb, and Mateo never actually had to face how much of an asshole he'd been the entire summer. The most interesting characters stayed in Manhattan. I didn't dnf it but I also consistently forgot i was reading it and would pick up another book i enjoyed more. This just wasn't it for me.

let me tell you this has been one of the more fun books i feel like i’ve read in a while. i didn’t really feel like their were any dull moments, the characters were messy and hilarious and iconic and it had everything i love in an lgbtq book. like genuinely slay the house down boots.

thank you st. martin’s press and netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!!