Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of this book!

This was very cute. We love queer joy! It definitely had all the Dirty Dancing vibes. I do wish Archer hadn’t dated Caleb for so long, because although it added drama, it didn’t leave as much room for his romance with Mateo and then their relationship felt very rushed. And as much as Caleb made some really poor/immature choices, I still felt bad for him when he and Archer broke up. But the fact that relationship went on for the first like 70% of the book was WAY too much.

Anyways, if you’re looking for an easy, fast-paced and overall low stakes summer romance, this one may check those boxes.

Thank you so much St Martin Press for the gifted digital copy for an honest review.

I loved the beginning of the book and the characters.

I fell hard for the chemistry between Archer and Mateo. They were incredible and the dancing scenes were well-written.

The book lost me with the love triangle and how long Archer stayed with Caleb even if he treated him badly. The miscommunication between Archer and Mateo was irritating too.

But if you like these ⬇️, then you should love the book :

✨ Love Triangle ;
✨ Age Gap ;
✨ They are dancers ;
✨ Grumpy x Sunshine ;
✨ M/M Romances;
✨ LGBTQ Rep.

Drama in the Catskills. You can not put a bunch of queers together and not have drama - just saying.😂 Archer hasn’t had any luck in New York City with his dance auditions so when he finally lands a job on his 37th audition, he takes it. The job is in the Catskills at the Shady Queens and he’s dancing everything from the tango, to hip-hop, to ballet. There he meets his teenage crush and Broadway star Mateo Dixon. Mateo could care less about Archer. Luckily for Archer there are plenty of other dancers to choose from and drama ensues.

I love everyone in Flirty Dancing with maybe the exception of Beau. (Sorry, Beau.) Archer is a sweetheart. Mateo is walking yummy stick. Caleb can be a butt, but jealousy does crazy things to a person. I want to date Betty…oh and I would totally date Ms. Eileen. (🤔maybe coffee with Ms. Eileen) Ben and Beau bring so much drama - oi vey! Stewart and Judy are cute as a button. The cast is just amazing.

Jennifer Moffat gives credit to Dirty Dancing (Dir. E. Ardolino, 1987) in the acknowledgements, and I definitely got that feeling here. They even bring up the watermelon scene in a wink to the movie. (I did see the movie 47 times IN the theatres.) There are a lot of moments that are winks to other moments in movies and I think it’s that familiarity which gives the book heart vibes.

My favorite scene is a quiet one between Mateo and Archer. They are just sitting on a porch while it rains and reading. For anyone who is a reader, I think they’ll agree that this is romance. Now everyone knows I love the steam, I do, but I enjoy the quiet moments too. There is chemistry here, unfortunately everything happens off-page. When the action happens between Mateo and Archer it is more emotional than anything written about the physicality of the experience. This is a slow-burn so I was hoping it would be a sloth burn 😂.

Flirty Dancing is like a memory you’ve had before of fun, dancing, friendships, and drama. A quick one for your summer beach reads.

Thank you to Netgalley and the St. Martin's Press for the arc. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. I wanted to love this, but we spent way too much time with the other guy and the payoff for romance wasn't there. I'm fine with love triangles and slow burns but I need an epic romantic payoff and this didn't have that. If you hate love triangles or books where the MC spends a lot of time with the wrong person and not the love interest then this is not for you. But if you enjoy fun summer queer novels and don't mind a drawn out romance, then you'll enjoy this.

Dirty Dancing, summer camp vibes, at a resort called Shady Queens with a crowd of theater kids in their 20s? Sign me up! As a former theater kid, I ate up this book! The drama, the talent, the pining! This also touches on chasing your dream, no matter your age or stage of life, that it’s worth it, and you might find something unexpected along the way. Such a fun read to add to your summer TBR!

This book was a pleasant read, I enjoyed how the characters themselves reflected the feelings and language of real people. The setting and plot were understandable even if you aren't a proficient dancer. However, I feel from my personal experience the interaction of the men in the book, specifically between Archer and Mateo are far off from real life. I understand that most gay men feel each other competition in life, whether it being towards another love interest or a position in a career, in this case the dance world, but most men won't go to the length that Archer and Mateo go through. While this book is realistic I am afraid that young gay men reading this would tie their value to the sexual prowess.

Looking past the expectations of realism, the romance in this feels somewhat real as well. While their interactions might be a little fluffed for show, I wish we could see more into the minds of these characters to show the why in which they do what they do.

I enjoyed reading this book!

What to expect:

- Competition
- Trial vibes
- MM love interests

This was enjoyable and fun, but at times the references/parallels to Dirty Dancing were a little too obvious and took me out of the story.

Also, there was SO. MUCH. cheating in this book, which I strongly dislike.

This was somehow bad and boring? How do you take Dirty Dancing… make it queer… and then end up with a boring book!? Typically when I think a book is bad, I am at least entertained by how bad or cringe it was. Not the case here. I just wanted it to be over because I was bored.

The romance was not good, the main character spends more than half the book dating someone other than the end game love interest. They don’t really have much chemistry, Archer is star struck by Matteo and it’s weird. Like do you like him or do you like who he is as a dancer?

MEH.

It's safe to say, if you enjoyed the movie Dirty Dancing, or the TV show So You Think You Can Dance, this book is going to be a delight. 😍 As a person who liked both of those, I enjoyed the story a LOT. I could have done without the drama, but honestly, can you have a group of creatives without any drama? Probably not. Also, while this is swoony, it is not super graphic, so if that is something you appreciate, look no further. 💖

If you wished any of the early 2000's rom coms had a queer couple at the forefront, look no further. This summertime tale brings to mind the drama of She's All That and Drive Me Crazy, with a little bit of Dirty Dancing thrown in, of course.

Our POV character is Archer, who has done the responsible thing and become an accountant in Ohio, until he just can't take it anymore and runs off to New York with his life savings to chase his dream of being a dancer on Broadway. He's 5 months in and has nothing to show for it. (Note: While I appreciated that our MMCs were both older, the fact that Archer has maintained his dancing skill, stamina, and physique while being an accountant for the last five years was a little far fetched to me.) He finally gets a chance when he's cast in a summer stock dance review for queer Catskills resort Shady Acres.

Archer is a kind, happy, optimistic MC. He looks for the best in everyone and is taking this shot seriously. Nothing will stop him from proving his professionalism. He's mortified to find his childhood crush, disgraced former Broadway star, Matteo Dixon. Mateo is the grump to Archer's sunshine. He's taciturn. He's brooding. He's not even sleeping in the same dorms as the rest of the cast!!!!

This story has relationship drama in spades. Two of Archer's roommates are a long term couple going through a breakup. The last one has decided that Archer will be this summer's "hot guy conquest." Archer might appear happy, but his riddled with insecurity and allows the flattery from the roommate to turn into a summer fling. Never mind that he and Mateo have chemistry on and off the stage.

If you love a good mess, this is the book for you. If you love some pining from a distance. Dive into these pages. The drama is real, but the life and death stakes are thankfully missing. You know that the worst thing that can happen is a few awkward weeks left in the show's run. If you've ever been to sleep away camp and miss this high drama that close proximity and hormones bring, this book is full of that nostalgia.

My only wish...on page spice. Yeah, friends. I must warn you that this book fades to black. And for how much sex people seem to be having, I was disappointed that I didn't get to see any of it.

This one time...at dance camp....

Kidding, but only a little! This book has showbiz, queer rep, and apparently when you get a bunch of dancers together for shows for a resort in the Catskills, plenty of drama! I found this book pretty entertaining. It did feel like some of the drama was slightly over-the-top, but having not experienced anything like this, who am I to judge? Overall, pretty fun, and mostly lighthearted. I think this book could get people out of slumps, or a nice reset from other types of books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me an early copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I had a really fun time listening to this one!

Archer has a passion for dance, and at 27 his prospects for becoming successful on Broadway are growing slimmer and slimmer, until he books a gig as part of the entertainment troupe for a queer-friendly summer resort in the Catskills, Shady Queens. There he meets, and gets to dance with, his teenage celebrity crush, Mateo.

I really loved all the side characters in this one. They were all so memorable and fun.

I will say the characters did seem to be written younger than they I think they were supposed to be? The MC turns 28 during the story, and although he is supposed to be *older* than the other dancers, they all mostly seemed to behave like teenagers.

I also didn’t love that the MC dated another of their fellow dancers in the first half, but it certainly did add to the drama!

Overall I was definitely entertained by the drama and the funny moments, and if you love the film 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, I think you would enjoy this queer take on it.

What this book is giving:
✅ MM Romcom
✅ Single POV
✅ Summer in the Catskills
✅ Dancers/The Entertainment
✅ Shady Queens
✅ Teenage Celebrity Crush

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶️¼ / 5

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.

Thank you to Jennifer Moffatt, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Approaching the end of his 20's, Archer quits his accounting job in Ohio and moves to Manhattan to pursue his Broadway dreams. After five months of audition rejections, he is cast in a small musical revue for the summer in a tourist town in the Catskills. He's not too thrilled about this gig, but things change when he arrives to find his teenage celebrity crush, Broadway star Mateo Dixon, is also in the cast. Impressing Mateo and making a name for himself in the dancing world is harder than he expected, and the summer is coming to an end quickly.

Simply adorable. This was funny and heartfelt. So many great characters throughout the story, and I love a grumpy/sunshine trope. So many great Broadway references, and sooooo much drama. I would like to believe I was never as naive as some of the characters in this book, but in reality I probably was. There were a lot of great friendship storylines outside of the romances, and the Catskills setting was so fun! This was a five star read for me, even if I do wish there was more explicit spiciness to turn the heat up a bit. I'm not very familiar with Dirty Dancing, so I don't actually know if this was a retelling at all, or just a similar title and setting.

FLIRTY DANCING by Jennifer Moffatt is like Dirty Dancing but gay. Okay, not exactly; nobody even gets put in a corner!

It is about a summer resort in the Catskill, though. Archer quit his job as an accountant in Ohio at 27 to move to New York to pursue his dream of dancing on Broadway. After five solid months of rejection, he finally gets cast in a cabaret at an LGBTQ+ summer camp. And who else should be in the cast but Mateo, the former Broadway headliner Archer had a crush on as a teenager.

There's tons of dancing, tons of drama--most people kind of took the job to also party, but for Archer this is basically his last hope before he has to give up and move home. There's a bit of a love triangle (yes, yes, technically a V, I know), as Archer is drawn towards Mateo, who seems to hate him, and pursued by his dorm-mate Caleb, who definitely doesn't.

I don't generally enjoy love triangles, and there's a whole thing about how they work better in YA because each potential choice actually represent different paths the main character could follow. BUT, at the same time, it makes so much sense that after months of rejection, someone who is emphatically pursuing you feels good! I myself had to be pursued. No beating around the bush, no playing coy...some of us need nothing less than Pepe le Pew floating behind us with heart eyes! So the triangle didn't bother me as much as others have.

It was a fun, very summery read. Sure, I'll never get to spend the summer at a lakeside resort, but at least I have this.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and was even on my 25 in 25 list! A trusted booksta friend of mine said this was more of a YA fade to black romance which isn't something that I'm drawn to reading right now. Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

Catty in the catskills? Almost. As someone who has watched Dirty Dancing no less than 3 dozen times- nobody puts baby in the corner!- I had high hopes for this MM romance inspired by the classic film.

Flirty Dancing brings us Archer, a 27-year-old aspiring dancer whose still waiting for his big break. When he lands a summer job at a Catskills resort, he meets his idol—former Broadway star Mateo—and the two butt heads instantly. But once they are paired on the dance floor, sparks start to fly. It's worth noting this book is closed door. While Archer and Mateo's romance was sweet, their story involved a love triangle, which is my least favourite tropes

The book also leans heavily into YA-style drama and gossip, which feels at odds with the characters' ages. While there was some depth- Mateo was the most interesting character- it was also a very uncomplicated read in a lot of ways. Besides the actual dancing, I didn't really see much further connection to Dirty Dancing at all. Still, Flirty Dancing offers a breezy, heartwarming read ideal for fans of slow-burn queer romance with a splash of theatrical flair and light drama. Just don't expect anyone to carry a watermelon. A 3.5 star read for me.

**Before diving into the review, I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me this ARC of Flirty Dancing. **

First and foremost, I am a SUCKER for LGBTQIA+ fiction that's either a remake of or inspired by a popular film and TV project. So when I saw Flirty Dancing, I was very eager to read it since the cover and its story had elements of the iconic Dirty Dancing film. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. From the Catskills resort setting to all the characters, I felt transported to Archer's world after the first few pages. When it comes to stories like Flirty Dancing, where there are a lot of characters, it's easy for them to get blurred or clumped together due to their personalities not being so different. However, each character in the book is so different. I was able to understand and embrace each of their personalities, quirks, and faults. They also didn't outshine the main character, Archer, who was a pleasure to read. From the start of the book, we are immediately thrust into his journey: becoming a professional dancer and Broadway mainstay. There was no slow build-up of why he wanted to dance, and I was immediately in tune with who he was. I think one thing I look for, especially in LGBTQIA+ books (as I identify as gay), is relatability. I related to Archer's lack of self-confidence, his decisions regarding his relationship with Caleb, and his miscommunication with Mateo. And most importantly, I related to his endless optimism. His friendship with Lynn and Betty also mirrored my own friendships, so all those aspects of the book made it easy for me to transport to that world.

I also enjoyed Archer's love interest, Mateo! He had all the qualities I would want to see in a love interest: dark, brooding, an undercover sweetheart and rich emotional depth. From his mysterious history to the factors that resulted in him getting a job at Catskills Resort, it all grabbed my attention. It also resulted in me truly rooting for him and his relationship with Archer. Another character I enjoyed was Eileen, she seemed to really ground the characters.

Another aspect of the book that I loved was the dancing!! Every time the characters performed, I was glued to the book. The author did a fantastic job describing the feelings of each dance, where I felt like I was either watching it or the dancer practising it. I also loved how dance was like a secondary love story in the book. Each character had a different relationship with the art form, but their love for dance shone through at the end of the day.

Now, on to some of the things I would have loved to see in the book. I would have loved for chapters from Mateo's perspective. Having a dual perspective and getting further context on Mateo's emotions and history would have just been the cherry on top of this book sundae. But all in all, Flirty Dancing was a five out of five book. It's the perfect summer and feel-good read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies.

3.75 stars

This was enjoyable for sure and full of drama even despite being closed door. I loved the Dirty Dancing references throughout. The love triangle I do think was done well but I think it was a little too drawn out for my tastes. We didn’t really get into the main romance until near the end of the book and then they moved incredibly quickly. I wish we had gotten more of that storyline so that I could really root for them long term. Since Caleb was such a red flag in so many ways, I think that storyline should’ve ended much earlier, made me feel like Archer was naive even though he was a bit older than many of the other characters, especially since he lived a full life before joining in the Broadway world. I thought that would’ve made him a little more mature and discerning.

But if you like a group forced to spend a lot of time together for months on end and the drama that ensues, you’ll have a blast with this one because whew there was a LOT of drama!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this story and it was definitely worth the read!