I was on the fence debating 3 or 4 stars, mainly because the first part of the book…all the cringey scenes with Merle and Kate in the begging, how rushed and forced it all seemed. Not gonna lie I almost did a DNF at this point because I was so frustrated. However, I realized that was the point of the 1st quarter of the book, it was supposed to be cringey and make myself ask Kate what the heck are you doing there is something definitely off about that guy. In hindsight I now see that all of the cringy begging had to happen for Kate to reach her potential and find herself with the assist of Aleksis. However the fake dating turned romance trope between these two was absolutely perfect! Once they started developing real feelings I am glad that Kate was open with Aleksis letting him know how Merle was trying to use their initial attraction to force her away from Aleksis when in all actuality that final attempt is what had Kate and Aleksis admitting that they weren’t fake dating anymore, that it had turned into something real. The only part that I had trouble with and felt was out of place and off was Warren, I mean what was the Point of Warren and their one night together?

This book was so fun! I've never read a book with a tv
show element and what made it even better was the fact
that it was a dancing with the stars type show called fire
on the dance floor and instead of celebrities it featured
normal people. The only thing preventing me from a
higher score was the fact that I found the main character
Kate extremely frustrating. Kate was constantly thinking
with her v*** instead of a brain. Also it felt super insta
lovey with ever single mc. All in all this story was
entertaining and fun but it lacked deep emotions and felt
fast and also a bit repetitive.
Thanks to net galley for the arc!

It was like a sexy DWTS! what really kept me interested was the twist about merle being married! too good to be true. I loved the Latin flair on it, being Latin myself. The dancing and the competitions live vibrantly in my head. Kate and Merle really hit it off, but the fast paced of the meeting, having sex and the news leaking about the affair.. That was all in about 40 pages of the book. But that's how lust works.
I lived vicariously through Kate the entire time though. Her and Aleksis were the definition of sizzlin and i felt the chemistry steaming of the pages! There was so much drama I was absolutely liiivinngggg for it.

Okay okay, full disclosure first! I don't normally read modern cartoon cover romances! I'll devour a romantasy, inhale some monster spice, love some hot science fiction... but I generally have a hard time suspending disbelief for a perfect guy named chad in the REAL world! But when I saw it involved dancing, I immediately requested it from Netgalley. If there is anything I can't resist it's a dance show, movie, or book. So, thanks Netgalley and Harper 360, Avon for the ARC-- this my very unbiased review.

Y'all, I almost DNF'd the first 25% of this book. I was so excited for it and then was like... wut. Kate is the most self-absorbed, insecure, pickme of a character I have ever read. I literally WANTED bad things to happen to her. I know, what a horrible thing to even think. I just kept going, "girl, what is WRONG with you!? Why are you like this? Have some self-respect and quit thinking with your lady bits!"

Fortunately for me and our heroine, Kate, there is this literary thing called character growth and I stuck it out. I literally stayed up all night to finish the book. It's gonna be deeply difficult to explain anything without dropping some gigantic spoilers here, but I assure you, Becky Ward really turns things around here. She reminds us what a relationship is supposed to be about (although I wish that Kate were *slightly* more independent). I do love a forced proximity and fake dating trope and will swoon for a bed-sharing trope until the end of time.

I can see a ton of potential in Becky Ward's writing, the narrative arc was solid and the relationship was really really sweet. I look forward to her future novels where she has done some work on complexity of character building .

I would have loved a little more reason to root for the two to get together and some more delicious tension moments to improve the overall reading experience. As far as being in the erotica genre, it certainly fits the bill and is a fun time!

The Dance Deception by Becky Ward tells the tale of our female main character, Kate, who has entered a reality TV dance competition having left behind her job, a bad breakup and in hopes of winning the £25,000 cash prize to change her life around.

Kate immediately jumps into a romance with her dance partner Merle, which we know will end badly and it does. The scandal caused by their romance results in her changing partners and being paired with Aleksis. Aleksis doesn’t like Kate, but they agree to have a fake romance to hopefully win over viewers and up their chances of winning.

Despite their rough beginning Kate and Aleksis start to have real feelings for each other and they have to navigate a lot of obstacles, including Merle trying to sabotage them.

Ms. Ward wrote a book that was a great way to spend a hot summer day – a distraction that kept me engaged and rooting for the heroine.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher for my opinion. All views are my own.

I did enjoy this book! It has great potential. It was an easy rom com read especially for someone who liked watching reality tv. We dive in with contestants of a dance competition filled with drama, stress and love. My two compliments is about the FMC and the MMC. MMC felt very one dimensional, idk why he would be interested in FMC, or why they were “well-suited.” There was no depth. As for FMC, she acted as if she was a child. Her inner monologue and actions about Merle when she around him annoyed me so much.