Love
Waltzes In
By: Alana Albertson
Blurb
To
her millions of fans, ballroom champion Selena Marcil seems to have the perfect
life: a great dance partner, a hit reality show, and celebrity perks. But
underneath the glamorous ball gowns, Selena longs to find someone to share her
life with when the stage lights dim.
Selena’s
childhood sweetheart, Bret Lord, hung up his dance shoes after winning two
national titles with her as a teenager, and enlisted in the United States
Marine Corps. He never saw his former fiancée again, except on television and
on the cover of men’s magazines. Ten years and three deployments later, Bret
gets an offer to audition for Selena’s dance show. When the Marine Corps gives
him temporary leave to appear on the series, Bret can’t refuse the quick cash
that will enable him to provide financially for the widow of his buddy, even if
it does mean coming face to face with his past.
When
Bret shows up at her national championship, Selena is shocked. For years she
searched for him to no avail. After spending time with Bret, Selena realizes
despite their past romance, they have no future. He has no desire to live under
a spotlight and she has no desire to leave it. Can Selena and Bret recognize
when Love Waltzes In?
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Excerpt
Staff
Sergeant Bret Lord sat on the dirty floor of his tent, going through the day’s
mail: the latest Men’s Fitness magazine from his sister, a care package from
his mom. He ripped open the package—socks, lip balm, sunflower seeds, and a
thin letter that contained an old magazine clipping.
Dear
Bret,
I
miss you very much. Benny asked me to send you this article. I really wish you
would consider his offer. Please stay safe.
Love,
Mom
He
swallowed hard. A neon sticky pressed on the wrinkled page had a note scrawled
on it from his former master dance coach.
Bret,
m’boy,
We’ll
make it worth your time.
Cheers,
Benny.
Thumbing
the edge of the article, Bret stared at the sixteen-year-old boy in the picture
and could barely recognize himself. His shoulder length, wavy blond hair was
slicked back, not shorn in a “high and tight” like his current haircut. No
signs of the tattoos or muscles that currently defined his body. Golden skin
stained from a bottle, not the harsh sun of Iraq. His arms were wrapped around
a gorgeous, curvy young girl with long jet-black hair. The jade Latin gown she
wore matched the color of her almond-shaped eyes.
Bret
tossed the article aside and removed his nine-mil pistol from his holster to
clean it.
Lance
Corporal Hernandez walked by Bret and snatched the article off his cot. After
staring at it, Hernandez’s face brightened.
“Hey,
Staff Sergeant, this you?”
“No,
it’s my clone who’s also named Bret Lord.” Bret slid the rail back on his
weapon and began disassembling it.
“Staff
Sergeant, you know Selena Marcil? Did you hit that?”
“Shut
up, Hernandez, or the one getting hit will be you—with the butt stock of my
rifle.” Bret grabbed the paper out of Hernandez’s hands, and smacked him on the
side of the head. The kid didn’t flinch.
“Staff
Sergeant Twinkle Toes. Hey—can you hook me up with Selena? I’ll be her boy toy.
I love her. Man, she’s smoking. Has the nicest ass. Not like all those skinny,
Russian chicks on that show.” He nodded to himself with an eyebrow dancing.
“Selena’s on my list. She’s Latina, too. We’d be perfect together. What was she
doing with a gringo like you?”
“Hernandez,
you’re way out of line.” Bret reassembled his pistol.
“My
bad, Staff Sergeant.”
Bret
grabbed the article, his pack, and his rifle. It was impossible to get some
privacy in the tent. His only option was to sit outside in a sandstorm but even
that sounded like a welcome retreat from his immature men. He walked about five
hundred feet, then plopped down in the hot sand.
The
red sky hung above him, thick from smoke from the nearby town. Bret struggled
to catch a glimpse of the distant mountains. Sand seemed to pelt down from the
heavens, blinding him and settling into every crevice in his body. He closed
his eyes against the sting of the sand, and turned his thoughts to Selena. Was
she the diva the tabloids made her out to be? Even after ten years, he could
almost smell her buttery-coconut scent. A welcome change from the overflowing
shitters, toxic diesel, and stench of his fellow Marines who hadn’t bathed in
three weeks.
MY REVIEW
A Love letter from a true dance lover
5 ballroom Trophies
Hotness: a hot soldier who can dance, I repeat, a hot soldier who can dance
I received an ARC in exchange of an honest review
My friends made
fun of me when DWTS premiered in 2005 but my childhood sweetheart Joey McIntyre (I
wish) was competing and I haven't seen him for… ever. So I watched and
cried when he and Ashly got eliminated. As a former standard dancer I love dancing and I’m still quite good at it so
this book was an early Christmas present. I did something I haven’t done in a
long time, stay in bed all morning to read a whole book.
Brett, an all
American hero (sorry Brett, I call it as I see it) and Selena, the hot latina
ballroom dancer (sorry Selena I call it as I see it) are reunited after a whole
decade of unresolved feelings, secrets and heartache. Where you may ask? Dancing
Under The Stars that’s where! Best dancing related show on television.
Bret was the
character who spoke the most to me. He is what every woman wants in the man. He’s
handsome, kind, selfless and he can dance. He can dance Ladies! (Spoiler Alert)
As much as I enjoyed the love story and I did, I loved the dancers’ interactions
even more. This book could have been about Vika, Jenny, Dima and all the other
dancers it wouldn’t have made a difference to me. It was so fresh and oh so authentic,
the world of ballroom dancing has secrets… juicy ones! I'm so existed about the second book...
I recommend this
book to all my fellow dance lovers because it was written by one and she made
it justice. I recommend this book to all my fellow gossip lovers, you will
never watch DWTS the same way again. And last but not least, I recommend this
book to all my fellow soulmate believers, hopeless romantics, you know who you
are.
Author Info
Alana
Albertson is the former President of both Romance Writers of Americas’s Young
Adult and Chick Lit chapters and the founder of Academe Advantage, a
college admissions & test preparation company. Alana Albertson holds a
Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English
from Stanford University. A recovering professional ballroom dancer, Alana
currently writes contemporary romance and young adult fiction. She lives in San
Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and four dogs. When she’s
not spending her time needlepointing, dancing, or saving dogs from high kill
shelters through Pugs N Roses, the rescue she founded, she can be found
watching episodes of House Hunters, Homeland, or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders:
Making the Team.
Author Links
I know a few of them already but I would love to swing the might away :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting...and BTW....Joey Mac was MINE!! haha
ReplyDeleteOh Lisa it's on lol
DeleteI cannot WAIT to read this book! :D
ReplyDeleteOh.... I love ballroom dance!!! I think I would be awesome on Dancing with the stars (lol). I would love to learn Rumba! But, anything would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteTo waltz it looks so elegant and graceful.
ReplyDeleteswing sounds like fun
ReplyDelete