Review: 'The Summer We Danced' by Fiona Harper (2016)

Shall we dance?
After a humiliating divorce and watching her former rock star husband leave her for a model live on reality TV, Pippa is determined to disappear. So she returns to the small Kent village where she grew up to make a fresh start.
Little did she know that would mean saving her beloved childhood dance school or falling for her old school crush Tom too!
At the start of 2014 I got the chance to read and review Fiona Harper’s ‘Make My Wish Come True’, which was a great read and also my introduction to Fiona’s writing (click here to read my review). Since then I’ve been wanting to read more of her work and I finally got the chance when I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Fiona’s latest release ‘The Summer We Danced’ via NetGalley. The novel was released on April 7th by MIRA and I straight away loved both the book cover and the description of the story. It sounded like a great feel-good read which was just what I needed last week, so I was really excited to get started in it!
Pippa has always loved dancing. When she was younger she spent most of her time at Miss Mimi’s Dance School and dreamt of becoming a professional dancer one day. Until she suddenly dropped out and moved on with her life, eventually getting married and forgetting all about dancing. When her rockstar husband takes part in a reality show where he falls in love with someone else, Pippa finds herself going back to the town she grew up, divorced and alone. Her sister convinces her to start tap dancing lessons with Miss Mimi in order to get back out there again and maybe make some friends along the way. It doesn’t take long for Pippa, though, to realise Miss Mimi is having some serious problems and she needs all the help she can get to save the school from shutting down…
This book turned out to be even better than I expected; a truly heart-warming and simply great read which I couldn’t get enough of. Fiona Harper is a wonderful author whose writing style I really enjoy which resulted in me going through the novel quite quickly. The book mainly focuses on Miss Mimi's Dance School and I loved all the dancing and references to old glamorous Hollywood films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The storyline of the book was great and kept my attention at all times because of the different elements, such as the problems with the dance school and main character Pippa's love life and friends.
Pippa, the main character of the novel, is a great heroine; I instantly liked her and was rooting for her to get a happy ending, while I was also curious to find out more about her background and history. Pippa wouldn't be the same without the lovely secondary characters surrounding her, though. I'm sure I'm not the only reader who fell in love with Mimi, the elderly lady who would do anything to keep her dance school running, and handsome Tom and his cute daughter Lucy. I honestly loved everything about this novel and am sure I won't wait as long with picking up my next Fiona Harper read! 

Rating:10/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List

'Top Ten Tuesday' is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. I love making lists, so this feature fits me perfectly! If you also take part in this feature or have any additions to my lists, please get in touch; I'd love to hear from you!  

  Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List
This week's Top Ten Tuesday list is one I am incredibly excited about, because Fall 2014 has tons of amazing releases in store for us! It was difficult to only pick 10 upcoming releases I'm looking forward to reading, but I managed to do it. Which books can't you wait to pick up? I'd love to hear about more titles to add to my to-be-read list!

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1. Sophie Kinsella - 'Shopaholic to the Stars' (25th of September)

Do I even have to explain why I'm excited about this one?! Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic' series is one of the most loved series within the world of chick lit and I'm so looking forward to reading about Becky's new adventures!

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2. Fiona Harper - 'The Little Shop of Hopes & Dreams' (3rd of October)

I love the fact that this book is about a proposal planner; doesn't that sound like a fantastic job?! I also think the cover is simply gorgeous and I honestly can't wait to read this!

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3. Cecelia Ahern – 'The Year I Met You' (9th of October)

Cecelia Ahern is one of my favourite authors and I always look forward to her new stories. 'The Year I Met You' sounds like an intriguing read and I hope it will live up to my expectations!

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4. Cathy Kelly – 'It Started With Paris' (9th of October)

Paris, the promise of a good love story, a stunning cover... I don't need more to get excited about an upcoming release!

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5. Emma Hannigan – 'The Heart of Winter' (9th of October)

I really enjoyed Emma Hannigan's previous books and I'm really excited about this upcoming release. 'The Heart of Winter' has a lovely cover and it immediately makes me long for those nice winter days...

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6. Ali McNamara – 'From Notting Hill With Four Weddings… Actually' (23rd of October)

YES YES YES! I can't even begin to describe how much I am looking forward to reading Ali McNamara's new novel. I just know it's going to be AMAZING!

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7. Alexandra Brown – 'The Great Christmas Knit Off' (6th of November)

This Fall Alexandra Brown is stepping away from her marvelous Carrington's series and treating us to a new read, 'The Great Christmas Knit Off'. I love the description and cover of the book, and I know Alexandra Brown will treat us to a fabulous story!

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8. Jenny Colgan – 'The Christmas Surprise' (6th of November)

Another Rosie Hopkins novel is coming our way in November and I'm so happy Jenny Colgan decided to write another book starring the lovely Rosie. Can't wait to read this!

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9. Mhairi McFarlane - 'It's Not Me, It's You' (6th of November)

The cover of this book has not yet been released, but the book description has already got me really excited! Mhairi McFarlane's 'Here's Looking At You' is a novel I really enjoyed, so I look forward to picking up her new release this Fall!

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10. Miranda Dickinson – 'I’ll Take New York' (4th of December) 

I'm so happy we will get a new Miranda Dickinson novel in 2014. I absolutely love all of her books and I can't wait to sit down on the couch with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate and Miranda's new novel!  

Review: 'Make My Wish Come True' by Fiona Harper (2013)

Family-orientated and Christmas-dinner cook extraordinaire Juliet is trying to keep it together in the wake of her marriage breakdown two Christmases ago, but the cracks are beginning to show.

Bright and vivacious Gemma was always the favourite daughter…So she has no qualms about leaving Christmas in her sister Juliet’s capable hands; and escaping the pressures of her glamorous job, and the festive madness by jetting off to somewhere warm.

When Gemma shirks responsibility once too many and announces she’s off to the Caribbean (again!); Juliet finally snaps. Gemma offers her sister the perfect solution - to swap Christmases: she’ll stay home and cook the turkey (how hard can it be?) and Juliet can fly off into the sun and have a restorative break. In the midst of all the chaos, there’s Will, Juliet’s dishy neighbour who’s far too nice to float Gemma’s boat and may secretly harbour feelings for her sister; and Marco, the suave Italian in the villa next door, who has his own ideas about the best way to help Juliet unwind.

Will the sisters abandon caution and make this a Christmas swap to remember?

I was lucky enough to get into touch with Fiona Harper through Twitter and she was so lovely to send me a review copy of ‘Make My Wish Come True’ before the Christmas period (thank you, Fiona!). I spent the last days of 2013 in the UK on a short city trip to Manchester, and decided that Fiona Harper’s novel would be the perfect festive read to keep me company on the plane and during the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve; those days when you don’t want to let go of all the Christmas and holiday cheer just yet!

Juliet and Gemma are sisters who couldn’t be more different from one another. Juliet is completely focused on her children after her divorce two years ago; she wants them to have the perfect Christmas and with the help of her organisational skills and little book filled with lists she is determined to have everything done before Christmas Eve. Gemma is happily single, devoted to her glamorous job and can’t wait to spend the end of December somewhere sunny and far away from home and her family. Several days before Christmas, Juliet suddenly loses it when Gemma disappoints her once again, and the two sisters decide to swap lives in order to discover whether the grass really is greener on the other side: Juliet will go on a holiday to the sun while Gemma will celebrate a family Christmas in England. Will the switch really help Gemma and Juliet’s bond as sisters or will it turn out to be a disastrous Christmas for both of them?

 ‘Make My Wish Come True’ immediately caught my attention because of its gorgeous, colourful, festive cover and the blurb which sounded really fascinating (I’m a sucker for any story in which characters swap lives, I have to admit!). At the centre of the novel we’ve got two great main female characters, Juliet and Gemma, whose storylines I both loved. They are really different women who are both taken out of their comfort zone, which made it even more interesting to see the development of their relationship as sisters and of them as individuals. The contrast between spending a Christmas at home in rainy England together with four kids and a bunch of neighbours (including the handsome Will), or alone under a parasol on a white beach in the Caribbean sun (with a hunky Latin man in the cabin next door), was great to read about and I thoroughly enjoyed the festive element of this book. 

The fact that the novel is published by Mills & Boon might be reason for some readers to not exactly know what to expect of this book. However, I am convinced that any lover of chick lit or romance novels will enjoy this book by Fiona Harper, no doubt. It deals with family, the bond between two sisters, and there’s definitely a lovely touch of romance to the novel as well. ‘Make My Wish Come True’ is a wonderful, captivating, well-written novel with a good dose of Christmas sparkle at its core. I loved this and I can’t wait to read more of Fiona Harper’s work!

Rating: 9,5/10