This was a GREAT story to listen to! AWESOME narration! Great main characters. The plot was easy to find. The story was engaging and easy to follow. Will be purchasing this book. Shout out to Netgalley and publishing for allowing me to listen and review this story.

4 STARS!

Oh how I appreciate the raw true feelings both the main characters showed ! I love the truth of his medical issues and history make him show it sometimes! And I love that he’s grumpy and she’s sunshine! Somehow this is a different romcom romance compared to others I’ve read . I recommend this book ! And think it’s a fun quick read and definitely a pallet cleanse for me since I’ve been reading mostly fantasy lately !!! Some parts were alittle cheesy but when the romance came I so felt the true longing in it all .

This is a opposite attracts a girl who loves to move and dance and a guy who loves to sing but getting around is a challenge since he has cerebral palsy. They had a rocky start which turned into a fun friendship but once he starts having feelings towards her things start to get dicey since she has a boyfriend who is kind of garbage but she's loyal to him and there dreams. When he try's to go back to his old life and tells her pack your bags your coming to. But she doesn't want her old life they break u[ and now is Nicks time to act on his feelings towards Hayley. Then DARMA happens.

I think what docked this for me was the characters she didn't know what she wanted and Nicks was kinda asshole. I know he feels like hes down on his luck but they things he ends up saying and doing was a big RED flag and wsn't rooting for him.

Thank You NetGally for this Audio-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my goodness, I adored this book. The MMC was so nuanced and I loved the disability rep! Thanks to @netgalley for the chance to review this debut novel by Jason B. Dutton. Nick has cerebral palsy, but he distracts people from this by singing karaoke and being a flirt. One night, he meets Haley, who exuded passion when she was dancing at the bar. When she challenged Nick to try a few moves, he shows her his walker and weak legs. They enter into a friendship, but Nick starts to develop feelings despite Haley having a dancer boyfriend.

This was just beautiful. I loved watching Haley grow and to realize that she is not just a dancer, nor is her worth based only on beauty. Nick was a charming ladies' man, but his demons were brought to life through Dutton's writing. Also.. can we just talk about the line "I absolutely refuse to treat you like anything less than the best thing that's ever happened to me"?!?

Expertly narrated by David Bendena.

First thought: Such a great story! A beautiful capturing of the daily life with cerebral palsy and how to navigate the dating scene. I was shocked to find out this was a debut novel. Well done.

Nick is a math teacher by day and a karaoke singing legend at night. His personality is bigger than life but he has one issue. He thinks people only see him for his disability and treat him with kindness because of it. He doesn’t let his cerebral palsy hold him back but he does let his doubt of how others see him prevent him from living.

Haley is a professional dancer and with a degree in early education. The thing that makes her happy in life is sharing her love of dance with the world. Only issue is she has been having anxiety and emotional trauma is impacting her ability to do what she loves.

Nick sees Hailey for the first time at a bar where she’s dancing with her boyfriend. He can’t take his eyes off her but when they interact they get off on a rocky start as he think she’s mocking his disability. However as the story progresses they form a friendship and lean on each other to work through their issues. They learn that dancing through life doesn’t always require you to have two good legs to stand on, and sometimes you need to change out your partner.

This is a great story about hope, inspiration, and finding love and a safe place amongst the craziness of life.

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Opposites Attract
* Disability Rep
* Karaoke Singing Math Teacher MMC
* Professional Dancer FMC
* Learning to Trust
* Slow Burn
* Dual POV

💃 🪩🎤🤷🏼‍♀️🪩🎤💃🪩🎤💃🪩🎤💃

This book was a romance written by a man for women. There is just something that just changes in romance for women written by men. the pace, the tone, the gaze. its just different. I couldn't really sit in this romance. add in the edge of cheating. and i'm out.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this book! I loved the main character Hayley instantly. She’s genuine, sweet, caring, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s a go getter, but you also see her softer and more insecure side throughout the story. She has a great character development.
Initially I was not a fan of Nick, he did grow on me after a few chapters but at first I was concerned that his personality was too abrupt, rude and degrading. However, as you can tell because I’m mentioning it again, I love a great character development and his was phenomenal. I loved watching his internal struggle and the projections he was putting on others throughout this story because it’s so relatable. I love the main character fighting the stereotypical responses that able-bodied individuals do without thinking about it.

I did feel like the relationships were a tad messy sometimes which is why I’m giving this a 4 star books. Overall I enjoyed the characters, plot, ending, etc. but I sometimes felt that things were rushed in places. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but does knock it down to a 4 star read. However, I would recommend this book if you love a good romance with character development!

I was really excited about this disability representation in this! But overall I just couldn’t route for the characters, they just seemed a little mean to each other and I’m not a big fan of the “cheating trope” and seemed like no one really cared she had a boyfriend?

I was truly intrigued by this one, the disability rep is great, but the emotional cheating just is not for me. The playing around and "backstabbing" unfortunately did not do it for me. I truly wanted to love it as the premise was interesting. Also I loved them as friends, but I did not feel their romance, it left me wanting more.

There is nothing like a good foot in the mouth, awkward first meeting! And that is the definition of Hailey and Nick’s first encounter. Hailey is hyped up about her new move and new opportunities in the new town, and to celebrate her boyfriend and her pull out all the stops in a fancy dance at the karaoke club. Nick is entranced. And jealous. as a person living with cerebral palsy, the joy and freedom of that dance is something he will never know. This fact is unknown to Hailey when she catches Nick’s eye and tells him he needs to get out and dance and experience. Que the awkward moment when he reaches around his table to pull out his walker and leave her where she sits.

The fate doesn’t and this encounter here, and they end up meeting over again, and striking up a friendship- wanted by Hailey because she needs new friends in a new town and by Nick because that’s as close to her as he can get…

This is such a great story. Both Nick and Hailey learned so much about themselves, they’re in your strength, and what it means to be a friend. I loved seeing these to develop a friendship that grew into a romance. Both of these characters were not in a place where they could be together at the beginning, but they grow in tandem into people who are deserving of each other.

How to Dance is an own voice, portrayal of cerebral palsy MC, and the authenticity of the character really comes through on the page. Nick struggles, both physically, and mentally as he deals with the day-to-day life being different rings true and add a very unique and fresh take to this romance.

Narration by David Bendena captures the nuance of Nick’s character, perfectly, from his modulated voice work to really bring out a water range of emotions. He also does a great job, differentiating the other characters and setting them apart throughout the narration. On top of that I found David Bendena’s voice to be very pleasing, adding to my enjoyment of the audiobook.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for this advanced listening copy. Opinions are my own.

The representation of disability in this book was fantastic. The author's lived experience greatly enhanced Nick's character, providing readers with an excellent insight into his perspective.

Hayley, undergoing a significant life transition, is struggling with maintaining a healthy relationship with her partner. Her experience felt relatable, though delving deeper into her character would have been helpful in connecting with Hayley.

While I adored the friendship developing between Nick and Hayley, the romance aspect left me wanting. I acknowledge that people can love more than one person, however it felt like so much was missing when Nick and Hayley exchange of "I love yous" considering Hayley was committed to another man throughout most of the story.

This was not what I expected, it was much more. Nick has cerebral palsy and has had people treat him in ways he preferred they wouldn't. He is often referred to or seen as an inspiration and strong individual because of his cerebral palsy and not because of who he is. Hayley turns out to be perfect for him. I love how well they connected and how they don't hold back in their banter. A story full of self reflection for the main characters that will make your heart dance.

📖: How To Dance
✍️: Jason B. Dutton
🎙: David Bendena
⭐️: 2 of 5
🎧: 4 of 5


Troupes & Themes:
- Disability Representation
- Insta Love
- Opposites Attract

Trigger/Content Warnings:
- Language
- Emotional Cheating

My Thoughts:
DNF'D around the halfway point. I did not like either main characters, and honestly, the relationship between Hayley and Nick felt like cheating, and I'm not comfortable with that. They may not have physically cheated, but the emotional confiding and the spending the night is not traits of a faithful partner. It really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I was not like it.
I did enjoy the audio narration. It was the most enjoyable part and the reason I got as far as I did.
Thank you, NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

An opposites attract story about Nick and Hayley. He has CP, she’s a dancer and her opening line to him, though meant kindly is horribly inappropriate and his reaction is both his honest and a little over the top. They are young, both going through a lot, discovering who they are and what they want and have some stumbles along the way to their happily ever after. An easy nice well narrated listen.

It had a good storyline, good potential and started off good, but then it felt rushed like we were missing a lot of context.

Cute love story following Nick and Hayley! It was sweet to see how they navigated through their friendship and danced their way into a relationship. It wasn’t always smooth-sailing but it was sweet to see both of them grow and learn to love themselves as much as each other.
I appreciated the representation in the book. I feel like cerebral palsy is not really explored in much fiction as a whole, not just romance.
Overall a good audiobook read!

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
#HowToDance #NetGalley

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐁. 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Alcove Press, Jason B. Dutton, and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a #gifted copy of How To Dance!

How To Dance was such a charming opposites attract novel with so many amazing elements! The first word that comes to mind when I think of this book is authentic. The disability representation in this book felt spot on and I just fell in love with Nick. I found everything about the characters and their own journeys towards self-discovery to be so realistic. I adored how Nick and Hayley were both learning to love themselves while at the same time learning how to trust one another. I cannot recommend this one enough!

🎧I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, narrated by David Bendena. I feel like Bendena knocked this one out of the park! I him to be so perfect of this role and could feel his emotion throughout my listening experience. I would definitely recommend the audiobook!

🎶A Charming Debut
🎶Opposites Attract
🎶Disability Representation
🎶Dual POV
🎶Dancing and Music

Posted on Goodreads on February 5, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around February 6, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on February 6, 2024
**-will post on designated date

How to Dance is a wonderful book about navigating disability, big feelings, friendships, disappointment, and accepting support without conditions.

I picked up this debut book as an "own voices" narrative about someone living with Cerebral Palsy. While I can appreciate a sensitivity reader by a non-disabled author, the authenticity of someone sharing their own experience can't be replicated.

Nick, as a character, is able to share with the reader all of his concerns about others using him as "inspiration porn" rather than respecting his individual humanity, and we, as readers, are able to understand his perspective because we are taking this journey alongside him as time and time again he hears the same messages. By the time we get to the "3/4 break up" we can sympathize with why Nick says what he does, while at the same time understanding Hayley's perspective. A realistic argument is when everyone sees their own side and is too emotional to see other perspectives.

I appreciated how Dutton explored friendships as well as relationships, and the close friends Nick keeps who hold him accountable and hold space for him were a beautiful addition to the book. Overall a great debut and I am glad I found it.

I received the audiobook and I thought it was an amazing book to listen, usually I’m not a big fan of audiobooks but I really enjoyed this one. In general the story and the characters were very well written, I liked the disability representations due to Nick having cerebral palsy and the way the character always tries to show how this doesn’t affect him and that he can live his life as anyone else, the courage and strength were demonstrated perfectly. I loved Nick and I loved Hayley, it was so good to listen about them, the tension, the chemistry, the sweet moments they have are so cute I love them.
I totally recommend reading or listening to this book if you want a book with a different story than the rest and if you want a very easy, quick and lovable book.
Put a reminder because his book comes out February 6th!

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media, Jason B. Dutton and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

3.5 stars for Nick & Hayley

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: stand alone
𝐩𝐮𝐛 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: February 6, 2024
𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: contemporary romance
𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 352
𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 10h 10min
𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: David Bendena
𝐩𝐨𝐯: dual 3rd [Nick & Hayley]
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
- love triangle
- cerebral palsy rep
- opposites attract
- friends to lovers
- he falls first

The representation of disability in this book was fantastic. The author's lived experience greatly enhanced Nick's character, providing readers with an excellent insight into his perspective.

Hayley, undergoing a significant life transition, is struggling with maintaining a healthy relationship with her partner. Her experience felt relatable, though delving deeper into her character would have been helpful in connecting with Hayley.

While I adored the friendship developing between Nick and Hayley, the romance aspect left me wanting. I acknowledge that people can love more than one person, however it felt like so much was missing when Nick and Hayley exchange of "I love yous" considering Hayley was committed to another man throughout most of the story.

David Bendena delivered an outstanding audio performance with his smooth and engaging voice. As a female listener, connecting with a female character voiced by a male narrator can be challenging. I generally prefer a distinct narrator for each character, even if not through dual narration, as it enhances the overall listening experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Jason B. Dutton for the Advanced Listeners Copy.