Kate is entered into a dancing competition along the lines of Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing with the Stars but with regular people. She gets paired with Merle, a sexy dancer from France whose methods of getting her to relax and feel the music are a bit unconventional, and lead to scandal. To save face she is forced to change partners with a fellow contestant. Her new partner Aleksis is just as attractive but he is very frosty and stand offish with Kate. They eventually find a rhythm between them and fake date to drum up publicity, but nothing ever goes completely to plan and their road to success and love is not going to be simple.

I tend to really enjoy fake dating and competition books, but this one really did not work for me. Kate was super unlikeable in my opinion, she come off as whiny, bland, and lacking redeeming qualities. I did not feel any chemistry between characters. The plot did not capture me, or keep my interest and I was just reading it to get through it instead of enjoying it.

A truly stunning book from Becky; although she is a new author to me. It is beautifully written with lovely descriptions.

Mixed reviews and feedback made me delay my start of this book; however, I think it is just a case that readers will either love it, or not connect with it.
I think romance readers who enjoy the below tropes will love this fun steamy romance!
-Reality TV shows (behind the scenes looks)
-Dancing competitions
-Instalust
-Open door spice
-Twists/Turns/Drama

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Avon UK publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for my review.

This book was so much steamier than I first expected! The romance began from chapter one, this got the story started straight away which I liked but it didn’t give me any time to connect to the characters or feel any connection to the romance. However, I did find the main character likeable and enjoyed seeing her development throughout the book.

Ward’s writing style was easy to follow and the plot was fun. I liked the concept of the dancing competition, it was familiar to reality TV shows but not something I’ve read before. At times the pacing felt a little inconsistent and at the end everything seemed to resolve a little too quickly and easily. However, if this wasn’t the case it wouldn’t have the made the plot as lighthearted.

A huge thank you to Avon Books for a review copy of this book!

Kate Wareing has secured a spot on a televised dance competition where she will be paired with a professional dancer for a chance at winning a large cash prize. Scandal ensues with Kate and her partner, Merle, necessitating a partner switch that pairs Kate with a less than enthusiastic Aleksis. But as the animosity cools and the new pair are determined succeed in the competition, they decide some romance for the cameras will give them the edge they need.

I loved the Dancing With The Stars meets Dirty Dancing feel that The Dance Deception created. I was totally hooked on the premise of this book and the DRAMA delivered so excellently! There were plenty of shocking twists and add in fake dating and getting steamy behind the scenes, this book was a great time!

You’ll Find —
Reality Dance Competition
Fake Dating
Plenty of Drama

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK, and Becky Ward for the gifted digital review copy!

I’ll never say no to a book about dance OR reality TV, and as this book features both, it was a no brainer as to whether or not I’d read this! I will say that some of the early reviews made me a tad nervous to read this, but overall I actually really liked it!

The story is fairly fast paced, which makes it an easy read, but also at times makes you feel like you’ve missed a bit of backstory. I really loved the eventually relationship between Aleksis and Kate, but I honestly didn’t love Kate-I just felt like she bounced from one relationship to the next extremely quickly. That being said, the author did a fantastic job of making Kate’s emotional state extremely tangible throughout the entire book, and I couldn’t help but feel for her even though she wasn’t my favorite.
Aleksis though…that man can have ALL THE THINGS ♥️🔥

The book was certainly very spicy and wasted no time getting to the spicy bits, but some of them were a bit cringey and unnecessary.

Overall this was a fun easy read and I really enjoyed it.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Avon. All opinions are my own.

Not the best of books I have read this year. While the characters were okay, it was more the storyline that wasn’t great and I found myself more skim reading the book.

I am not opposed to spice in a book - far from it, actually. That being said, it felt like this book was ONLY concerned with spice (which wasn't written well either). I got through 20% of the book, and I cannot tell you anything about the FMC other than she seemed to have zero self-confidence, and became quickly addicted to her original dance partner and their many sexual encounters. The "relationship", if you can call it that, made absolutely no sense. It really bothered me that the first MMC recorded the two of them having a sexual encounter - without prior permission - and then basically gas lit the FMC into being okay with it.

This book just gave me the heebie-jeebies, and I did not finish it for that reason. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. If I could have given it a zero, I would have.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My review:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Imagine Strictly Come Dancing, but with fewer couples and none of them are celebrities, with judges giving their opinions, and then the studio audience votes for each dance, with the couple getting the lowest votes being voted off!  I had to Google some of the dances as I hadn't heard of them before!

This is a light romance, with lots of spice!

I really enjoyed the behind the scenes nature of the book, showing how they make the TV show! 

This is a debut adult fiction novel for Becky Ward, and is really enjoyable! I had suspicions for how things would go at certain points, but the story was fun!

This is definitely a fun and easy read for the dance and Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With the Stars fans!

With a dance background myself, albeit in musical theatre as opposed to Latin and ballroom, I enjoyed the various dance, show and competition references and think this would make for a fun and flirty, easy read for anyone interested in dance.

This is such a fun novel that it will have your head spinning. I didn’t quite get all the show references but it definitely had dancing with the star vibes, loved it!

Fire on the Dance Floor is a new tv show
With newbies dancing, professionals showing the way to go.
The competition isn't the only thing that's hot
The chemistry and antics are also there a lot.

Kate Wareing didn't really want to take part
But her cheating ex has broken her heart.
A friend challenges her to sign up and so
She finds out soon the answer wasn't no!

With a hot partner, the temperature soars
As the chemistry between them neither ignores.
But scandal, photos and surprises, too,
When switching partners she has to do.

The dancing competition world explore
With family dramas, revelations and more.
Showmance, romance, pretend or real?
What happens when you start to feel?

A steamy read with dancing dreams
Where not everything is as it seems.
Can true love really be found on the dance floor?
Or should attractions there be something to ignore?

A hot romcom with a fiery dancing competition, as well,
But who'll win? That's something I won't tell!
For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

Thanks to the Publishers and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This was such a lovely book.

Kate is debating whether to enter a strictly style dance competition.

She is encouraged to enter and when she meets her partner, that's when her problems begin.

This is good holiday read, with steamy scenes.

i recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of The Dance Deception in exchange for a review. Unfortunately, this is one of the very few books that I've had to DNF. The Dance Deception is so incredibly unrealistic that it completely took me out of the story. I tried to push past the fact that these two people just met and they're having a whirlwind sex life when they had barely spoken two words to each other. I love a good spicy book every now and then but without any setup, it just feels so fake.

I don’t think this was bad, but it don’t think it was great either. It appears the author has mainly had experience with writing for magazines and not actual fiction books, so I think this is a debut novel?

Anyway. I had fun, it was sweet, it was cute and it did the job. It was also surprisingly steamy? Like, we were only a few chapters in and the smut began, so you might enjoy this if you’re a smut reader.
The main issue for me was the lack of depth the characters had. I knew nothing about Kate or Alexis or Merle and so it fell pretty flat in that sense for me.
Also, didn’t think this was possible, but there was too much steam… the MC’s were just at each other like rabbits every 3 seconds and then said they were in love, I felt it was rushed.

Other than that, I had fun. The premise was sweet and unique and gave Strictly Come Dancing vibes! I love the variety of dances the characters did and the host of the tv show too.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for provided me with an ARC of The Dance Deception.

Following a breakup, Kate quits her job and throws herself wholeheartedly into being a contestant on Fire on the Dance Floor - a dance contest that has real people rather than celebrities partnered with professional dancers.
She is partnered with Merle, a hot blooded Frenchman who soon works his way into more than her arms.
Following some difficulties she is swapped to dance with Aleksis. At first things are frosty. The something happens and it all seems on the up from there. Obviously that isn't going to happen!
A nice to read story, with sex, betrayal, love and friendship. I loved it.

A fun book based on reality tv.

I don’t watch strictly but I loved this book based on a dance competition for non celebrities.
It was fun and just escapism
A good holiday read

I've seen some pretty negative reviews of this book, and I think they are totally unjustified. I was initially attracted to the book because of my long-term love for Strictly. The idea of a dance competition on a par with it, but for non-celebrities thrilled me, and I wasn't disappointed.
There's some lovely friendships explored, and I loved the family dynamics of Sofiya and Aleksis and also Kate's great support network of friends and family.
It started off with lots of fire and spice, which I thought was just the right level. Then it all got a little mellow in the middle before picking the heat right back up to scorching!
I loved learning the dances with Kate, I totally felt like I was there with her in the training room.
I'd have liked an epilogue, either a couple of months later or a full year. It would have been good to see if Merle got his comeuppance and that things worked out for the other characters we had become fond of. I particularly would have liked to know how Liam got on in his next venture.
How it wrapped up, though, was perfectly satisfactory with a happy ending for all concerned.

WOW!! I am shocked as to how low the total score of this book is at the time of this writing (currently sitting at 2.8). I almost felt discouraged to read it, because of that score, but I"m so glad I put reservations aside and went for it anyway! Yes, it started off very raunchy (like say the first five or six chapters) and I can get how that's sort of off-putting, but I promise if you like a good scandalous, sizzling romance and keep reading, it's worth it!
This book is like something that was ripped straight out of the gossip tabloids, with all the salacious scandal and juicy detail anyone can ever ask for, sending me on a whirlwind roller coaster of emotions. Our story starts off with our girl, FMC Kate having a hot and heavy love affair with her professional dance partner Merle. She is an average, everyday kind of gal, who went on this dance competition show to get another job and boost her self-esteem after her long-term relationship ended--and horribly might I add. One of her coworkers was having an affair with her boyfriend and eventually told her about it, letting poor Kate's self-esteem free-fall.
So...here comes this chance not only to bolster her self-esteem, but to possibly win 25,000 pounds (book takes place in London--which I LOVE because I have also been there and recognize some of the landmarks mentioned here. Anywhoo...). So when she starts having a steamy love affair with Merle, her sense of self-worth is gradually starting to bolster up. She's finding herself. Until...she finds out Merle's married, and all heck breaks loose. Kate is plastered all over the gossip rags and she's more or less branded a slut. Meanwhile, Merle is refusing to answer her calls. The world is crashing down on her before she knows it.
But...there's salvation in store for her. Apparently, the scandal got the attention for Fire on the Dance Floor that it needed to raise up the viewership, and the public's interest, so they were willing to keep Kate. But only on the caveat that she's placed with another partner. Aleksis, who acts like he completely hates her, but for good reason. However, in a bizarre twist of fate, they end up creating a fake relationship to bring down Merle. This is where the drama REALLY takes off, and there's never a dull moment here.
From here, we have many twists and turns in the story, many of which I did see coming and left me gripping the edge of my seat as I read on. As an added treat, there were moments when I thought the story was going to continue one way, but then it takes an unpredictable direction. Merle is absolutely despicable and I despise him for what he had done to Kate and very satisfied with how things ended with him. It many have not been in exact ending I would have wanted, but it was good enough because of humiliation in the end.
Aleksis and Kate were such an adorable couple, and throughout the book I was cheering them on. I did have one moment when I wanted to slap her for a moment of weakness for Merle, even though it is kind of understandable. Luckily, she redeems herself shortly after.
So, there are some technical issues with writing that did not really sit well to me. This is a story about a dance competition. The author relied heavily on the tell not show method and summed up their actions, making the reading experience more passive than active. I wanted to feel the fire of the dancing and be seduced, but was left in a fog and guessing. For this, the rating was almost lowered. HOWEVER, the relationship between the characters, the romance, the shocking twists the story takes, and the emotions that this book put me through along with the very satisfying ending MORE THAN carried the book to the five star score. This is certainly a book that deserves more of a chance!

Holy steamy sensation! I adored this little hot number. I truly wasn't sure what to expect, reality TV isn't generally my thing - but I loved this. The drama was delightful, and the steam was top notch. I loved the friendship between the contestants and Kate's family was just THE cutest. Definitely a fast-paced insta-love sort of story, but I was here for it.

Huge thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooksUK for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!