I love fake dating romances because of the tension the main characters have. And boy, the tension between Kate and Aleksis, you could cut it like a knife.

Also i really liked the idea of a dancing with the stars competition with ordinary people, it was an original element.

Only the beginning was a bit slow, but that was all solved at the end.

Good. Full of tension and drama. Felt like I was backstage at Strictly with all the drama going on as the writing made it feel like I was part of the action not just a reader. Even though the story was exciting the sex scenes in this book did make me cringe so as much as I enjoyed it, those scenes nearly made me stop reading.

Kate is looking to pull herself out of a slump— she dislikes her job and her last relationship ended in heartbreak when she found out her boyfriend was cheating. So when her friend encourages her to go on the new dance competition show, Fire on the Dance Floor, Kate figures this could be the restart she needs. Things seem to be working in her favor when she’s partnered up with sexy Merle, but when the shoe drops, Kate is left to pick up the pieces and try to move on — a challenging feat considering her new partner, Aleksis, appears to hate her.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story. I liked the character development for Kate as she found her confidence throughout the dance competition. I did feel like some aspects of the story were a little rushed (primarily Aleksis and Kate’s progression), but overall it was an enjoyable read.

This was a super fun fake dating, reality dance competition romance by a new to me author. Great enemies to lovers banter and a nice amount of steam. Recommended for fans of books like Alexis Daria's Take the lead. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Becky Ward writes next!

I absolutely adored this book. It kind of reminded me of So You Think You Can Dance and I used to watch it all the time when I was younger. Such a throw back memory wrapped in a book. I feel like it is a romance with dance woven in, not to be confused with a dancer romance. But still so cute and lovable. You have to love the main character. 10/10

A really interesting story that maybe could have been executed better I did enjoy the story overall but felt there were moments that felt a little awkward

Full of glitz, glam, reality TV, and dancing. This is taken straight from the Strictly Come Dancing controversy. I enjoyed the dancing and reality TV part, I've never read a book about dancing before. But this was very fast - everything was rushed, smut was happening by page 3, scandal by page 20, fake dating trope that only lasted about 4 chapters - it was just all whizzed through trying to fit in as many tropes as possible to keep it interesting.

I have enjoyed a few books set in reality tv life, specifically using a dance competition as the base for the story, so I was excited to read this.
Kate, our main character, is in a funk at work, and having lost her boyfriend to a colleague, ends up entering a dance competition and leaving her job, with no prospects beyond the possibility of winning the £25,000 prize.
Enter a hot dance partner (or 2). There were ups and downs, followed by a decent conclusion.
Unfortunately, it left me a little flat on the storyline. I wasn't really given a chance to know the characters. However, I was given plenty of detail when it came to their sexual activity!
You are mere paragraphs into the story before things become rater steamy, and this is more the flavour of the book. Open door scenes aplenty, but not so much substance.
It was an easy read but not necessarily something I would pick up again.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for an ARC.

I wanted to like this story because I thought the overall concept would be fun and entertaining. Unfortunately, I did not finish this book - as great as the idea was, I don't think that it was executed well.

A lot of the characters felt flat to me. We didn't learn much about the FMC's background or personal life before all of the events began with Merle. The lack of detail made it very difficult to connect with the characters and their feelings on a personal level. Additionally, I wasn't able to root for either couple due to this reason.

I have been undecided about the insta-love trope in the past, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The insta-infatuation with Merle was way too fast for me. The sex scenes that I did read weren't anything special, they all seemed rushed and meaningless, not adding to the story. Perhaps this was intentional, but it just didn't seem right to me.

I greatly appreciate the eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars
I was expecting big things after reading the blurb for this book but sadly it just didn't live up those expectations.
Even though I love a good steamy scene, having this story immediately begin with one meant that I wasn't fully connected to either of the characters.
And I didn't feel a connection to them as the story proceeded either.
The steamy scenes also felt forced and didn't really add anything to the story or plot.
It started off too quick and then it slowed right down.
Certain storylines were also brought up and then resolved almost instantaneously.
Everything lacked depth and substance. This just didn't work for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had to DNF this book. While I am so thankful for NetGalley for the chance to read it, I could not get into it to save my life. It was not for me and I wasn’t interested in it very quickly into the book.

The premise of this book caught my interest, but unfortunately it didn’t deliver. From the first chapter, I felt like I was missing something with how it just jumped right into things with Kate and Merle. Feeling rushed ended up being a running theme throughout.

I did enjoy the dance show portions of the book, and some of the scenes between Kate and Alexsis when they were actually talking to and learning about each other were good as well. I would have preferred more character development and relationship building than repetitive sex scenes. I love a spicy book, but it got to a point where it feel like any plot was being sacrificed in favor of spice.

I’ve been a DWTS fan for many years, so a dance competition book was very appealing to me. This book though, I could barely get through it. The main character was unlikeable to me and there were way too many cringey sex scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley as always for the ARC.

Thanks NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this title in exchange for an unbiased review.
Ok..... I am little torn on this book. I rated a 3, but I probably mean more like 2.75. On the one hand I LOVED that it jumped right into the steamy bits. If that is all you are looking for, this book is great for you. They are a fairly prominent part of the book. However, while the premise of the book was pretty interesting, the execution left a lot to be desired. Plot points were brought up and then resolved in a couple of pages and the relationships seemed to m9ve at lightening speed (even for a romance novel). This is probably not one thar I would recommend to my patrons, but if you are looking for a book with lots of steam that you can get through quickly then it might be right for you.

(First of all, thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review).

Synopsis: Kate is astonished when she secures a place in a televised dance competition. Especially as it means she’ll be paired with a professional dancer to compete for a life-changing cash prize. When she’s matched with gorgeous French dancer Merle it quickly becomes clear that he’s just as keen to work on their chemistry as their routine. But when the competition is rocked by a scandal, Kate’s forced to switch to a new partner, Aleksis, who is just as devastatingly attractive as Merle – but seems to hate her. Despite the odds stacked against them, Kate is determined to win, convincing Aleksis to embark on a showmance to try and win over the public. But what happens when Kate’s feelings for her fake boyfriend become all too real? And how far will Merle go to sabotage her chances – both in the competition and in love?

Review: This book was a DNF for me. I've tried, but after several times forcing myself to read books that I knew I would not like I decided to stop after a certain percentage or chapter number and continue reading other books. First of all, since chapter one, the characters have an instant attraction out of nowhere and that was cringe for me. I enjoy slower (not that I want always slow-burn, but not this oh hi let's kiss in the first chapter without knowing anything about them). I didn't connect with the characters (they seemed flat to me, didn't root for them) and when I do not like a main character already makes me suffer reading the book.

Definitely a Book of Fiction 🤔

Gets straight into the main part of the story, then slower in pace. Overall an okay read, definitely a book of fiction 🤔

Quick read with some genuinely funny rom-com moments but fell a little flat for me overall. I wanted to really like this book I loved the idea and getting to see the behind the scenes of a dancing show but the early steamy scenes were a bit unexpected and hard to read at times. I like a steamy book but was hoping for story before spice from this one especially since it was with someone who ended up not being the main love interest (not a spoiler pretty easy to figure out in the first few chapters). I liked the FMC well enough but didn’t really connect as much with her as I would’ve liked I did really enjoy Aleksis and would’ve liked so see more with him. Overall a fun read 3 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to adore The Dance Deception by new to me author Becky Ward. However; the plot fell flat quickly and I wasn't able to finish my read at 25 percent. I found that I couldn't connect to the characters and the book was not something I wanted to continue.

I’m sorry this book wasn’t for me. I DNF’d at 26%. I didn’t like the writing and thought the characters had no depth or personality and I couldn’t read the steamy scenes between Kate and Merle, they felt a little uncomfortable and far too frequent for the beginning of a book. I have a strong suspicion the video (no spoilers) will come back into play later on in this book and the idea of it is making me stressed.

I think Merle could have been removed from the story and it could have instead focused on fake dating between Aleksis and Kate instead and truly developing a relationship between them.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Have to admit, struggled to connect with the characters in this tale of love on the dance floor. Found it a little bit too much like a well known TV show, but with a lot more necessary steamy sex scenes. Not really my kind of book.