The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen

Alec along with his mother and sister move to the town of Beaworthy. Alec intends to open a dancing academy. One problem...the people of Beaworthy have not danced in 20 years!

Strong-willed and strong-headed Julia Midwinter never felt love from her father and has had a strained relationship with her mother for years. When Alec arrives she shamelessly flirts with him but the new dancing master seems to be immune to her charms.

When events from both of their pasts rush to catch up with them how will the two of them stand when everyone around them seems to be against them?

My Thoughts:

Both Alec and Julia's characters grew on me throughout the book. I admit to times of frustration with both of them. Alec's unwillingness to stand up for himself and Julia's constant struggle with her mother wore me out! The story was slow moving and at times I found myself wondering if it was even worth finishing. Yes! Yes it was worth finishing! The characters developed nicely and the ending was perfectly satisfying. Throughout the book I did find similarities to the movie Footloose with a town that was forbidden to dance and two characters determined to change the minds of the powers-that-be. I loved the message of forgiveness and all that that entailed by the end of the story. If you like Regency romances the this is definitely the book for you.

Thanks to the publisher Bethany House through NetGalley for my copy for review. This is my honest opinion.