Not gonna lie. I was full-on obsessed with Dirty Dancing as a teen. We watched it at every sleepover (I had it on VHS). I had pics of Patrick Swayze pinned all over my walls. I wanted to ✨️BE✨️ Baby (no one puts her in a corner)!

So this book caught my attention right away. I mean, just look at that cover art! 😍And was it ever a sweet read about the dance crew at queer resort in the Catskills. But aside from the location and a few side references, the plot is very different from the 80s blockbuster.

Archer gave up his accounting job to pursue a dancing career in NYC, but when casting calls result in nothing, he desperately takes a job at Shady Queen. There, he finds his dance idol (and crush) Mateo, who flubbed his big chance on Broadway and took this job to lick his wounds. Paired together in a smoldering duet, there's lots of drama in this will-they-won't-they romance. A perfect summer read.

I received this ARC from publisher @stmartinspress through @netgalley. The opinions are my own.

Flirty Dancing was released on May 27, 2025 and is available at booksellers now.

This was a ok read for me. I could not get over how immature the main characters were. It made it hard to read the book.
There is lots of drama throughout the story…lots!
Like I said already, it was a ok read.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Oh this was such a cute read!!!

A struggling dancer in NYC meets a washed up professional Broadway Dancer at a performance camp in the middle of nowhere. The twist? Our struggling dancer has had the hots for our broadway dancer for years.

I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation in this story and I loved the vulnerability that came with the characters. Each personality was so unique, and it can be hard to do that when there are so many characters involved.
I will say that the ending felt a little rushed, but this was still so stinking good!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for an eARC of this story! All opinions are my own!

Sexy dancing at a queer Catskills summer camp/resort?? Yes please. This was a delightfully fun M/M romance debut full of found family, a community of theatre/dancers and Broadway types that has an aspiring Broadway dancer taking his last shot before giving up to go back to his Midwest town and the life of an accountant his mother wants for him. I enjoyed the love triangle, the second chance, starting over late in life, finding yourself and your people of it all and the Dirty Dancing references were just an extra cherry on top. A fun summer read that was good on audio and perfect for Pride month. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Archer wants to dance on Broadway but he’s had no luck landing any jobs. He takes a job at a summer camp in order to dance and earn some money. His plan is to head back to the Big Apple after the job is done and try one more time to get a spot in a Broadway show. Matteo used to dance on Broadway until he made a mistake. He disappeared from the public eye to escape the fallout. Now he’s dancing at the summer camp. Neither man expects to meet anyone special during the job but both of them realize they just might have found something really special. Will they find a way to make it work long term?

This is a sweet romance between two grown men who love to dance. The setting of a summer camp is fun and campy. The dancers, both male and female, being dramatic and high strung really added to the story. The author did a nice job showing the differences between Archer’s and Matteo’s experiences on Broadway. It added tension to the story and the final resolution was really nice. The author did a good job contrasting how Matteo kept apart from the other dancers for the most part and how Archer really wanted to fit in. The bottom line is that this is a nice love story that made me smile. I will read more from this author in the future.

I loved this book - great story, strong character development, funny, emotional, and all about dance and the summer theatre scene and the New York Broadway dance scene! Wonderful title and side characters, too! Thanks so much for the eARC!

Flirty Dancing is a sparkling queer rom-com bursting with heart, heat, and high-kicks. Jennifer Moffatt delivers a swoony, theater-kid fever dream full of mess, toe-tapping drama, and characters you can’t help but root for. With the charm of a summer camp rom-com and the emotional beats of a Broadway showstopper, this one is pure stage-lit magic.

Flirty dancing was such a fun read for pride month! I feel like it was such a well balanced rom com.

Archer is a struggling dancer in NYC and he lands a summer gig at a resort in the Catskills. He discovers his former adolescent crush Mateo is also a part of the crew at Shady Queens. Will sparks fly or will tensions fizzle?

I absolutely loved the tension between characters and the queer representation!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

This was okay, it was a nice quick read but I wish it did not seem like a 27 year old as the MMC. It felt slightly childish in areas which I would expect out of a YA romance. I did like the book overall, but I just feel it wasn’t entirely for me. I will definitely be recommending it though!

4.5/5 ⭐️
The perfect summer romance. As always it was a heartwarming story with lovable characters and the right amount of drama & comedy. I was so invested in their story and the antics at the “summer camp”. I loved the intimate moments and the messiness of a group of gays being so realistic

Unfortunately I thought this book was just not good. It was all over the place, a lot of the characters seemed very immature and the romance doesn’t even really start until like 80% of the book. It was just not for me!

Flirty Dancing is an absolute must read for readers who love Dirty Dancing (but wished it was a little more LGBTQ+!). Archer is a former accountant who has risked it all to find his place in New York. As he quickly runs out of money, he decides he can take one last job to prove that he belongs there. At Shady Queens, a queer-friendly resort, Archer is shocked to discover Mateo. Mateo is an infamous dancer who he once looked up to. As he gets to know the elusive Mateo, Archer must decide whether he's willing to risk it all for dance.

Flirty Dancing was a lighthearted and delightful romance. I loved how Archer was brave enough to pursue his dreams one last time and chose to make the most of it at Shady Queens. Shady Queens seems like a fantastic place to visit and I enjoyed the side characters very much. I wish I could see Archer and Mateo dance! Mateo had excellent character growth and I enjoyed seeing the sparks fly between him and Archer.

Readers who love Dirty Dancing, Broadway, and slow-burn queer romance will enjoy Flirty Dancing.

This book had a fun premise, but I struggled to stay invested in the story. The characters often came across as immature, and the drama felt a bit exaggerated and unnecessary. I was looking for a heartfelt queer, slow-burn romance but it was more of a chaotic fling.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was 100% a cover buy for me and I don't regret it for a second. It was the queer Dirty Dancing-inspired RomCom that I was hoping for. Archer is our MC, a talented dancer who has dreams of becoming a Broadway star. He gets his shot dancing at Shady Queens for the summer. Mateo is our former Broadway star (and Archer's childhood crush) who is a veteran at Shady Queens. I loved getting to know Archer and Mateo and all their friends and zany side-characters. The whole thing felt like a fun summer getaway. I loved the drama of all the different summer relationships. It totally reminded my of my days working at seasonal camps. The story was young, fun, and lighthearted and everything was wrapped up with a nice bow at the end of it. I'll definitely be checking out more of Jennifer's work.

Flirty Dancing by Jennifer Moffett, I will not waste much time on this review because the book was such a letdown I gave it three stars because the writing was good there was some pretty funny parts but overall I felt as if I was reading a book about high school students behaving badly. I also didn’t like that the main couple didn’t get together until 90% in and despite Mateo‘s overall bad attitude Archer never gave up his crush. I read this book 50% through and when they still were not close to getting together, I put it down and almost forgot about it I was hoping because I was so far into the book they would finally get together but then no they say women are moody during their time of the month but I don’t think any woman could be moodier than Mateo was throughout the whole summer with the exception of the last eight days. I really liked Archer and had there been a sub-plot like a mystery or a big reveal the slope very slow absolutely slow motion romance in this book would’ve been worth getting through but as all we got was archer drooling over him when he wasn’t with Caleb it became a bit much. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #JenniferMoffat, #FlirtyDancing,

I got a chance to review both the print and audio versions of this book. It was my first M/M but will not be the last. I enjoyed the story and the connection that was made with the characters that was deep without being too heavy. Great read!

Such a cute take on Dirty Dancing! The characters were good and I loved the character development and growth throughout! Mateo was my favorite and I loved seeing him work to rebuild his life. Overall, it was a fun MM romance with some added drama to keep me intrigued and invested!

3.5 stars. This was exactly what I needed right now. This was fun and light. I enjoyed the author's voice and I ended up listening to the audio, which made it easier for me to glide over things I might not love. Mark Sanderlin was a good fit for the audio narration.

What I loved about the book was the connection and tension between the two main characters, the setting and the little nods to Dirty Dancing. I even was fine with it being a very slow burn and very low steam. While I enjoyed the cast of supporting characters, it felt like some of them were more devices than characters and many of them acted very young for their ages. Also the pacing was not great, sometimes in a distracting way. And that contributed to the need for a huge suspension of disbelief around the Archer/Caleb storyline (I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers.) Also I never love a love triangle and (again, trying to avoid spoilers) it's certainly a choice the role the author assigned to a racialized character - although it does resolve itself I guess.

I recommend this for a light, brain-off kind of read.

I had high hopes for this one but it let me down a bit. I was annoyed for a lot of the book because Archer was with Caleb for the majority of it. Caleb was not a good guy from him and I just wanted him to bet with Mateo. That couldn't happen though becasue he was with Caleb so there wasn't enough cute moments between archer and Mateo. When they finally got together it felt rushed and we didn't get to enjoy their relationship. I would have loved Caleb to not exist but I also think it was ok that he did, we just needed less of him and more time for mateo. Overall a great concept that was not executed very well.

content warning: toxic relationship, infidelity

The time of my life! Moffatt's cast of characters were funny and flawed and (sometimes) gave it their all. I felt absolutely transported to this mountain resort and dropped right into the drama. The tension was palpable on stage, backstage, and over breakfast.

Flirty Dancing is the perfect summer read for theater enthusiasts and anyone who knows better than to leave Baby in the corner.