I think when I first picked up this book I was in an off-romance mood but I am trying to revisit my DNFs to improve my feedback ratio... and I was hooked by this author's easy writing style and the searing tension between these two very different love interests.

Just One Dance is a 19-year age gap slow burn romance between two polar opposites that had a lot of heat and heart. Taylor works in marketing, and is a bubbly, optimistic entrepreneur with ADHD; she has a big, loving family. She is a hopeless romantic who has never given up on her dream of true love even if she has only found mediocre relationships.

She has an idea for a dating business that goes beyond the superficiality of apps and reenacts the Regency era for its clients. Her family invests in her business and she needs a historian to consult on her project. She's a bit rosy-eyed and naive when she first conceives the plan but a certain history professor soon changes her perspective.

Along comes Dr. Jaq Bailey, the grumpy, reserved sexy older professor who is grieving her late best friend and wife. Her wife had always been in love with Bailey but Bailey felt a lot of guilt for only feeling platonic love for her late wife. So she's locked herself away with her books, writing and natural introverted tendencies, until Taylor Sparks comes along and sweeps her off her feet.

The slow burn was very well handled in this and these two opposites had a lot of surprising compatibilities. Some of Bailey's crankiness started to seem childish in some of the misunderstandings, but I appreciated her misgivings about the age gap and her cautious approach to a relationship. When they finally got together the sex scenes were hot.

I appreciated the mental health representation of Taylor's ADHD and how that affected her efforts at building her business. You could see the respect and admiration Bailey had for her despite her misgivings about the age gap. I also loved the butch/femme rep and how Bailey was a gender-nonconforming masc lesbian and Taylor loved her with a strap-on and roleplaying as an earl.

The book had some minor but somewhat distracting editing issues in terms of tense switching that could have used another pass, but I'm more forgiving of small press books in this regard.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I wanted to like it more than i did but I sadly could not get into the pairing or the theme of the book.

Tayler is 26, has ADHD and just started her own Regency dating firm because she misses the old dating way of courting and not just swiping. For this she needs a historian and she asks Bailey for help. Bailey who is 45 and somewhat reclusive agrees for some reason and nags about this every other page.

Usually not a fan of age gap and these two couldn't be more different so I found it hard to really ship them. It's also an extreme slow burn so by the time they do get together, I couldn't care less.

Taylor has a close knit family and it was nice having those scenes at least. Bailey is so reclusive she barely has any friends until suddenly she does and they happen to be able to help with some issues. She also kept saying she was doing all of this as a favour to Margo and somehow it made Taylor fall madly in love with her for it.

If you look past the age gap and the differences between the MC's you might be able to get more into it than I did. It wasn't badly written just not my deal. 2,5 stars rounded up.

An ARC was given to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

At first, I thought this was a sapphic historical romance but beware, it is NOT, It has historical aspects because of the Regency Club and I tried to give it a chance since it sounded pretty good but I just didn't vibe with neither the plot nor the writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I’ve read quite a few of Frame’s books and they tend to follow a formula. This isn’t my favourite of hers. I almost DNF’d it from boredom.

This features Taylor, who wants to start a regency dating club for people who want to meet in person and adhere to dating rituals of the past. To do this she requires a historian, which is how she meets Jaq Bailey, a professor of history. There’s an age gap of 19 years, I know this because it’s mentioned on just about every other page.

I usually don’t mind a good age-gap story, but I couldn’t buy into this one, the two MCs were just too different and this was the first age-gap story where I actually thought it was an issue. Taylor is 26 (and not a worldly 26 either), while Bailey is 45 going on 80. 🙄 She’s one of the most boring, unsympathetic characters I’ve ever read. She has a backstory of being the widow of her best friend who was in love with her, but whom she wasn’t in love with (also mentioned ad nauseam), and I couldn’t fathom why either the wife or Taylor would have wanted to marry her. Taylor suffers from ADHD, and Bailey likes everything quiet and just so, and frankly that also seemed a recipe for disaster.

The plot for the regency dating scheme also got old, it’s a novel idea, but all the ‘my lord’ and ‘my lady’ stuff was just annoying. To be honest, I thought Taylor would have been better paired with Zee, another historian that Bailey can’t stand.

As a plus, one of the dating weekends is held at Axendale village, so characters from that series also feature, so readers of that series will enjoy the cameos.

Overall, I just couldn’t get into this one, there were just too many things that bugged me. 2 stars.

Jenny Frame is one of my favorite sapphic authors.

Especially in the butch/femme sub genre.

This was a fun take on queer Bridgerton era. And I enjoyed it immensely.

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would.
It was sweet, tender, endearing, moving and just a really good time.
I was measure my enjoyment of a book in about three different ways: 1) Did I want to pick it up any time I had the chance ? 2) If read as an ebook / arc would I buy a paper copy / my own copy ? 3) Would I re-read it ?
My answer to all 3 of these questions is Yes. I would pick this up any time I had a chance, even stayed up really late one night and finished it because I just couldn't let it go. And yes I would probably re-read it as I have such a fond memory of my time with it.

I do recommend it to anyone who likes a nice little romance which is not without its complications but where everything comes wonderfully together in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jenny Frame's style of writing is always a pleasure to read. I picked up this book because recently I watched a few episodes of a dating show based in England that was set in the Regency period. I was curious to see how the book may compare to the show in the role playing aspect. It was more or less what I was expecting. I'm not a fan usually of age gaps, which I believe there was about 17yrs or so between Taylor and Bailey, but Frame was able to write their interactions and experiences tastefully so I but all forgot about the age difference except for some minor parts where it needed to be brought up. The story made me want to join Taylor's club and also experience the courting of the Regency time as it painted a rather picturesque scene when they went up to the places they rented out to do their club activities. I am intrigued to see what the other stories in this series will look like. I will say I smiled when I saw Harry and the other characters from Axedale show up. It was nice to see that they were all doing well. I hope all the best for this series and the author's other books.

2.5 stars. Taylor Sparks is sick of online dating, she wants to meet someone the old fashioned way. She misses the day of courting and the Regency Style. She starts a club where people can meet people that way and not through normal dating apps. She hires Jaq Bailey as her historian to work with her to talk about the history of the period, Jaq had been married to her best friend, who died a couple of years pervious. She never loved her wife the way her wife wanted and completely feels guilty about it. She feels sparks with Taylor she has never felt before and does not know what to do with it.

I thought this book was fine. It was not the best book I read but not the worst. I thought the concept was fine, but I did not like the drama and I thought the book could have been a little bit better written. I liked Taylor but I thought Jaq was kind of boring and not my favorite character. I did like the concept of meeting people the old old fashioned way and this book could be worth a read if you like the author. This book wasn't terrible, it was just fine.

I completely forgot I had the ARC of this book, until I read it.

One of the strongest books I have ever read. amazing writing and a strong plot with good character development

I loved the premise of this story! I also love all of Jenny’s books. And love that this is the beginning of a series! And the amount of research that Frame had to do is astonishing and I can’t wait to read the next one!

Taylor and Jaq's modern day age-gap romance with Regency era reenactments was delightful. Another low key read for midsummer enjoyment. Now I got to go read Frame's royalty series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing an eARC for a honest review.

In this book readers will be introduced to a main character who wants to offer an alternate, more romantic way, to discover their one true love. Taylor Sparks develops a company called, Regency Romance Club. She creates an environment where members of the club are given a chance to fall in love in the regency style. This regency style is best known as a style of living that was used during the late 18th century and early 19th century in Britain when people attended grand balls and partook in elegant pursuits which allowed individuals to get to know one another prior to partnering up.

To help Taylor create this regency environment, she contracts with British mansion owners to hold the grand balls at their estates. She also hires Jac Bailey, a professor of early English history, to attend the grand weekends and enhance the regency environment which Taylor is trying to establish. Jac is not entirely in favor of Taylor’s plans but gets caught up with her endeavor.

Taylor has a very bubbly personality and is very hyperactive. For a few years now Jac has been mourning her wife’s death and prefers to sit alone in her home library reading books. Obviously, the two main characters with their different personalities clash, but eventually the clash turns into attraction.

This is a sweet romance, and I really appreciated Taylor’s cheerful personality. The story has a different twist on seeking romance. I have read many of Ms. Frame’s books and have found her development of her characters interesting, enjoyable, and appealing.

I recommend Just One Dance. I rate it with 4 out of 5 stars.

I received this ARC from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just One Dance is a great example of a plot idea with a lot of promise that was just poorly executed. I’m usually a sucker for an age gap romance and hey who doesn’t love a well-thawed ice queen? I went into this book with a lot of optimism but in the end I found myself sadly disappointed.

I have read another book of Jenny Frame’s that I very much enjoyed (Heart of the Pack) and a couple that were pretty decent but this is by far my least favorite of her work. My main complaint is the writing style. It’s told from the perspective of both characters, which typically I enjoy, but kept switching back and forth (sometimes mid paragraph) and just left me feeling scattered and confused. Also the dialogue itself felt overly formal and unnatural (and not just in the Regency scenes, where you may expect it).

Because of this I felt unable to really empathize with the characters and lose myself in the storyline. The individual mc’s backstories felt flimsy and their “flaws” weren’t very believable . In the end I just didn’t really like either one of them and didn’t believe their chemistry.

However, one thing I very much enjoyed about this story was Taylor having two moms and how close- knit and loving her family was. That was the biggest warm fuzzy I got from this book.

I received an ARC copy of this ebook and the opinions in this review are my own.

Bailey and Taylor are total opposites in personality and age. Bailey is 19 years older than Taylor and it shows. Don't get me wrong I like age gap romances, but this was a bit beyond what I would call age gap. I think my cut off would be about 10years not 19. This was still a really good story, with a fun premise for a dating app that had some hilarious and not so hilarious situations thrown in. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes age gap romances. I look forward to what's next from this author.

2.75⭐️

Rep: I believe both the MC’s are white and lesbians (although I don’t think the term lesbian was every used). The LI seems to be demisexual, but again, it’s not explicitly mentioned.

Just One Dance is a medium-paced romance with a touch of historical aspects. This novel is dual pov and switched between third person limited with the MC and the LI. Taylor is 25 and Bailey is 44.

While the idea for the story felt really promising, I just don’t think it was executed well. While it definitely is grumpy x sunshine, I found the grumpy character quite unlikable. When it came to the regency plot, I really wanted it to feel historical but besides a few pet names, it just didn’t fulfill that. I’d say it was closer to an academic cottagecore.

I really wish the age gap had been mentioned in the synopsis, because I never would’ve picked this book up if it had. Even without discussing the morality of it, I just have no want to read the pov of a mid forty year old, especially in romance.

The writing style also took me out of the book. The dialogue was incredibly unnatural and should have just been the characters thoughts. The narrating would also switch between the two MC’s in a really confusing way (like mid paragraph).

Lastly, I was really looking forward to the whole dating club thing cuz I’m a sucker for ballgowns, but it turned out to be something super expensive and the main character was incredibly privileged. The fact that the whole idea was unrealistic was just annoying. I get that it’s fiction, but it really took me out of the story because it’s something I’d never be able to enjoy.

If you’re looking for an age gap romance, then you may enjoy this. Otherwise, I don’t really think I’d recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and Bold Strokes books for the advanced copy of this book!

I will say that this is another jump away from my comfort genre of angsty queer fantasy, but I found this to be a light and enjoyable read. Did I see queer women and immediately request? Absolutely. It's the same reason why I watched all of Grey's Anatomy.

NOW, to the story itself! The book follows Taylor as she makes one bold life choice after the next. Tired of the classic 9-5 and dating struggles she decides to quit and come up with the Regency Romance Club. (I know my wife would have been on this app if it actually existed.) Through this she meets Bailey, who would seem like her polar opposite and is quite a bit older than Taylor. Buuuut, this is a slow burn for the ages and was massively entertaining.

This is a 3 star read for me, because while I enjoyed it... there were some issues I had with the overall relationship but the entertainment value is definitely there.

I love the regency romance dating idea. That would be awesome. I would so sign up, if I wasn't married of course. So reading about it is what I will have to do. I loved ever word of this book. Definitely a 5 star book!

I just reviewed Just One Dance by Jenny Frame. #JustOneDance #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Just One Dance by Jenny Frame

Dreams can come true…if you believe AND put in the hard work.

What I liked:
* Taylor’s business idea of Regency Romance Club as a dating venue
* Watching Taylor pursue her dream and then see it come to life
* Taylor’s family – her moms, three older brothers and their partners and how loving and supportive they were
* Taylor’s willingness to state what she wanted in in her business and personal life
* The supporting characters: Gracie, Lady Catherine, Jamie, Mr. & Mrs. Parrot, and others
* That the romance did finally lead to a happy ending

What I didn’t like:
* Bailey’s fretting over the fact that Taylor is 19 years younger and feeling it is inappropriate to date her – it got old after awhile
* Not sure about the breakup – was expecting it and it made sense. but it made me wonder if in fact Bailey and Taylor were actually perfect together

Did I enjoy this book? It was okay
Would I read more by this author? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and BoldStrokes Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Just one dance is a great book and couldn’t put it down. The Regency Romance Club idea is just great idea and felt engaged with the whole thing, even though I wouldn’t dare to attend these events in real life. I love who Taylor pushed for it and tag Bailey along with all her energy and enthusiasm and how she made little by little open and evolve throughout the book despite the age difference. I loved Taylor’s family and refreshing to see lesbian moms with adult children who still have issues with age gap relationships. Definitely one to read.