Take the Lead

"Technically it’s from 2017, but this book won the RITA Award for best first book in 2018, so I felt like I could slide it in. It’s for fans of Dancing With the Stars or I guess in the UK it’s Strictly Come Dancing . The heroine, Gina, is in her fourteenth season of this Dancing with the Stars -like show called Dance Off and it might be her last because she hasn’t had a win. Stone is in his fourth season of his family’s Alaska-based, reality TV series called Living Wild. It’s an off-the-grid, survivalist kind of deal. With her talent and his build, they’re paired up and maybe also set up by the producers for what’s called a ‘showmance.’ That’s like a fake romance just for the length of the show to garner interest and maybe vote the dancing couple through. But Gina takes all of this very seriously. She’s trying to buck all the stereotypes. She’s Puerto Rican and she’s trying to avoid this “hot Latina” stereotype they want to pigeonhole her into. She says, ‘Nope, (not happening) I’m a serious dancer and I’m going to do this. I have to do this.’ Being paired with Stone could equate to this win for her. But what she and Stone didn’t count on was having actual chemistry with one another. We find that Stone is equally dedicated, even though he’s really not keen on Hollywood. He’s reluctant as she’s trying to teach him. He’s not really feeling it, but then he ends up finding that he does have a knack for dancing and he definitely has that chemistry with Gina. Stone realizes that he just needs to give in and have fun with it, let loose a little bit. The thing that I really loved about this story is that their happily ever after is rooted in hard-earned teamwork and totally for the right reasons. They both have their baggage, of course. The way they come together is so much fun because Alexis Daria has us following along in this dance competition: all of the prep, all the behind-the-scenes work. There are some heartfelt (family) moments, but it’s just a great ride, it really is. Yes, super hard work and a little bit heartbreaking. It really is."