After a family crisis, Katie Hathaway must return home to help out in the family’s ice cream shop. She leaves behind her dream job of teaching ballroom dance to spend her summer scooping ice cream and mixing milkshakes. Chaz Hollander, Katie’s high school crush, has also returned to town to work in his family’s business. After Katie treats him to a blueberry swirl sundae, he invites her to the … her to the town’s upcoming dance. The only problem is he has two left feet.
When Katie starts giving Chaz dance lessons, their chemistry ignites, and the postponement of her dream doesn’t seem as ominous. But financial woes and a suspicious business deal cast a shadow on their budding relationship.
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A quick sweet read. Katie was loyal to her family, willing to give up her dreams as she saw them, and I loved her for that. She had the strength to find ways to make her plans to help unfold, and I enjoyed her ingenuity. Chaz was gentlemanly at times, but he was wrapped up in his job. When things became more evident, their love and sense of honor, loyalty, and family made their love stronger. I enjoyed this story and recommend it.
I received an ARC through Goddess Fish Promotions, and this is my unsolicited review.
All Katie wants to do is teach ballroom dancing. Just as she’s about to take the next step towards her dream, she must put it on hold and return to her hometown to run the family’s ice cream shop. She swallows her feelings and does what needs to be done. While going through her mother’s bills, she realizes just how financially strapped her mother and sisters are. She soon learns she must come up with way to generate more income or else they will lose not only the family business but their home as well. Katie reunites with her high school crush, Chaz, who has also returned to their hometown. Their romance blooms and leaves Katie wondering if her future is in her hometown or back in the big city. Can Katie make her dream come true alongside Chaz in their hometown or will she return to the big city heartbroken and alone?
The Blueberry Swirl Waltz is a nostalgic sweet romance I read in one sitting. From the first page, I fell in love with Katie. She’s such a wholesome character and how she manages to overcome every obstacle added authenticity to the plot. The setting of a small town in the 1950’s makes this a favorite of mine and will appeal to all those who love Hallmark movies. The conflicts are honestly drawn and presented well. The romance between Chaz and Katie is sweet and such fun to read. It harkened me back to a simpler time. The ending made me cheer and when I finished, I was definitely craving a blueberry swirl cone.
If you’re looking for a sweet romantic beach read to read this summer, The Blueberry Swirl Waltz is a must-read. Highly recommend! Take my advice: make sure you have ice cream available as a treat while reading.
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the author in the hopes I’d review it.
My Rating: 5 stars
Right away, I felt as if I went back in time to small town America with this sweet romance. There’s ice cream and dancing and realistic problems both Katie and Chaz must overcome to be together. I truly enjoyed this story!
I really enjoyed this sweet book – what a lovely adventure.
This was a feel-good book. It’s about a young woman leaving her career and coming home to help her mother run the family business, an ice cream shoppe obviously. Well, actually an ice cream shop and more. This is not a heavy, deep book. It’s a quick read. It has characters you can’t help but love or hate.
But deep down there’s a little more to this book than you would think. There’s a little romance but fortunately only the clean kind. Yet there are issues, small and big. Things you might expect to find in a book like this but still things to make you feel, even think about.
Enjoyable read all around. Maria Imbalzano has several other publications. All have good reviews.
This book was a delicious treat with extra jimmies and a cherry on top!!
This book quickly swept me off my feet – I could not put this book down and read it in just one sitting!!!
This book follows the story of the Hathaway family, mainly Katie, a smart and energetic young lady who has just landed her dream job to teach ballroom dancing. Beyond ecstatic she heads back home elated to tell her family about her big opportunity. However, when she arrives, she learns that her mom has just broke her arm. This couldn’t have come at a worse time as Katie must now give her up life and dream job to move back home and work in the family’s ice cream shop while her mom recovers. With the help of Katie’s siblings, Henry, Holly, and Tina cover the store during their busiest time of year, the summer, and the town’s biggest event, the River Front Festival. While back home Katie reconnects with her high school crush, Chaz, who has also recently returned back home. Chaz invites Katie to the big dance at the end of the month at the Festival. However, he admits he can’t dance, and Katie takes it upon herself to teach him in time for the event. There are sparks, fireworks, and explosive chemistry between these two! Will coming back home end up being the best thing for Katie after all?
I absolutely loved this book!! There were such well-developed and relatable characters, strong story lines with intriguing plots, and kept me fully engaged and entertained from chapter to chapter!!
I totally loved the main characters, especially Katie! She was so easy to connect with and relate to! She was smart, strong, beautiful, caring, compassionate, respectful, and quite talented. Like Katie, when my mom needed me, I quit my job, moved back home, and gave up my life to help take care of her. My mom had cancer and as an only child I needed to be there to take her to doctor’s appointments, chemo treatments, etc. Not everyone understands that kind of sacrifice. So, I totally felt akin with Katie. And enjoyed watching her story unfold.
I also really liked Chaz. He was kind, confident, bright, charismatic, polite, and quite handsome! I really liked Katie and Chaz together! They just fit so well, and the passion just leapt off the pages! I could feel the heat she described as he made her blush.
This book takes place in the 1950s – specifically June of 1951. The author brilliantly captured that time period and way of life into the story. It is clear that the author is well versed on the culture and understandings of small mill town life in 50’s.
The writing style is fluid, well developed, and at a steady pace.
I also loved the author’s writing style as she was superior on detail and the way she immerses you into her storytelling. Her writing draws you in and keeps you fully engaged as the story unravels!!
This book was such a fun, quick, enjoyable read that kept this reader glued to the pages!!
There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!
This book is not currently listed as part of a book series. It can be read as a standalone. This book does have a tidy ending, but leaves an opening for a follow up book – perhaps an adventure with one of the other Hathaway girls or other folks in this small town community.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it! I think all historical romance fans and sweet romance readers will like this book too! So, add it to your TBR List and get to reading – you won’t be disappointed!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
Katie was ecstatic when all her hard work paid off and she was given a job at the dance studio. Excited to share the news with her family, she rushes home only to find out that her mother has broken her arm and Katie is needed to help run their ice cream shop during their busiest month – and so she needs to put her own dreams and ambitions on hold for a while longer. When she finds her old high school crush, Chaz has moved back home also, Katie is pleased but cautious when they reconnect.
I enjoyed the older style of this story. While the plotline was fairly simple and straight forward Katie’s character was interesting and I found myself quite drawn to her and the hard decision she made to help her family. There is a very strong cast of secondary characters that I felt really helped boost the story – with Katie’s mother and two sisters, as well as the hunky Chaz. The romance was slow and quite sweet with just a few steamy kisses – as I feel anyone should expect from a romance story set back in the 1950s. I enjoyed the small-town feel of the whole story, how the community knew each other and gossip spread around like wild-fire.
The scenes of Katie teaching Chaz to dance was sweet and really helped sell me on how well the two characters meshed together. It also helped show me – without any sexual intimacy – how they had chemistry and how the attraction wasn’t just one-sided on Katie’s behalf. I felt the author did an amazing job of showing (not telling) the romance and this really helped me love the story more. I also liked how there were multiple aspects to the plot – Katie helping out her mother and sisters and the drama with the ice cream shop was an excellent counterpart I felt to the romance blossoming between Katie and Chaz.
A strong and character-centric story this was a great read and one I can easily recommend. With vibrant characters, a few good, strong plotlines and a lovely slow moving romance this story is one I feel sure will appeal to many readers.
When at first life goes in a different direction than you planned, take a detour.
Katie has always dreamed of getting out of the small town and becoming a ballroom instructor, to later participate in ballroom competitions. When she lands the job of her dreams, fate takes a different turn when her mom breaks her arm. With no one else to take over the ice cream shop, she drops everything to help out her mom’s business. However, fate takes a right turn the moment Chaz Hollander steps foot in the shop.
This book had everything. From heart-warming family scenes to sizzling, romantic chemistry to a strong, feisty heroine willing to go the distance to save her family’s business from foreclosure. I enjoyed every moment of this book. Definitely recommend!
Entertaining and interesting characters. Good story with some secrets and drama. Good read following the journey to love and romance with a few bumps thrown in for good measure. Love the ballroom dancing aspect. Good read!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Blueberry Swirl Waltz, a novella length historical romance, by Maria Imbalzano, is part of the One Scoop or Two series published by the Wild Rose Press and was released on June 1, 2020.
This fast paced and easily readable story is a delight for those of us who “came into their own” during the era of jitterbugs, swing and cha-cha dance numbers—not to mention poodle skirts and sweater sets. Clearly by her talent in creating dialogue and voice, author Imbalzana’s talents extend to creating a setting which takes one back to a small riverside town where everyone knows everyone’s business and the winters are spent deciding what to wear and who to be seen with at annual summer festival. Ahh, the memories.
This charmer of a story is a lovely addition to the One Scoop or Two series and Ms. Imbalzana has done herself proud.
On a scale of 1—5, The Blueberry Swirl Waltz earns a 5.
Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews
Part of the One Scoop or Two series, a well written story with a very good storyline. This is the first book by this Author that I have read, I want to read more by her. Katie Hathaway is a caring, loving daughter who comes back to her hometown to help her Mother. Katie meets Chaz Hollander who she went to school with. There is a dance coming up and Chaz wants to take Kate, but he does not know how to dance. Thus begins Katie giving people dance lessons, but there is one person that will try to cause trouble. I enjoyed reading this book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Blueberry Swirl Waltz
I love this series, and blueberry is one of my favorite flavors.
From the moment Katie Hathaway, the lead female spun on her toes at getting her dream job, I was hooked. It’s been a long time since I read a book from this time period and am happy to have been transported there by the author. Maria Imbalzano’s world-building is engaging.
Katie is strong, loyal, and feisty. Her sense of responsibility to her family is to be applauded. Katie has gone home to tell the good news of getting the job of her dreams when her mother falls, injures her arm, and she is unable to run the ice cream parlor. As a dutiful daughter, she sets aside her life to support the family.
She’s also an amazing businesswoman. When she sees from the books that the business is struggling, Katie’s take-charge attitude comes to the front, and she’ll do whatever she needs to make the ice cream shop prosper.
Chaz Hollander, Katie’s high school crush, is back home to work in the family business. Good with working with his hands, he steps in to help when the equipment and old building are breaking down. He finds enjoyment in manual labor again; sitting behind a desk is not his first love like engineering.
The two rekindle their old attraction, but both have different dreams, and the budding relationship is in peril. Added pressure from the shop heading to foreclosure, wreaks havoc, and the two may not survive the deceptions, real and perceived.
I highly recommend The Blueberry Swirl Waltz. An added bonus for me is that it’s set in my own state of New Jersey. I recognize many of the references from Trenton to the Roebling family.
The Blueberry Swirl Waltz is a wholesome, satisfying, small-town romance about a strong, creative woman who makes her dreams come true and finds true love in the most unexpected place.
I loved this story right from the first word. I liked that it’s set in the early 1950s, which is an era we don’t get a chance to read about all that often. The heroine, Katie Hathaway, is such a likeable character, on the verge of making a major dream come true when the book begins. As so often in life, though, events intervene. Does Katie moan and complain? No, she gets on with helping her family and making the best of things.
I liked the hero, Chaz Hollander, too. Unlike Katie, he’s enjoyed a lot of privilege in his life, but that hasn’t affected the man he is, inside. A number of misunderstandings had me hoping against hope these two would find a way to get together. I won’t spoil things by saying if or how their differences work out. One of the best parts of the book is how believable it was. A great and enjoyable read for summer or any time.
Katie Hathaway is so excited to finally see her dreams start coming true. She has always wanted to dance full time as an instructor. To get an offer to teach part time at a prestigious, well known study is a dream come true. And then she finds out her life will change just a few short hours later.
Chaz Hollander loves knowing he can use his Princeton degree anywhere he’d like to live, as long as he puts morals, values, and hard work into each and every day.
He has an offer at the distant family member’s still mill. it is very little income in comparison to what he is looking to attain. He wants some ice cream at his favorite place and is so excited to run into one of his favorite supporters, Katie.
Katie didn’t know how bad the ice cream shop was doing until seeing bills. Chaz didn’t know he was not seeing some schemes going on that could ruin many relationships in his life and have him ruin his own value system. What do these two do in order to maintain their own sense of sanity?
This book gets 5 stars! It was such a good read I read it in one sitting. To have such a euphony around while having a pure story grow into one of molten-golden lava of mature need is what occurs in this novel. To do what’s right and what’s meant to be is the aim of these main characters. To help more than oneself, to keep heritage, legacy, and giving as the most important intent on life is the main focus I saw as I relished this delicious book and sank into the comfort the author portrayed in each chapter.
Trully
A sweet and savory novella set in the 1950s. The heroine is a young woman who dreams of dancing professionally, but is unexpectedly called back to her small hometown to help her family at their ice cream store. This story is full of romance, family love, and small town living that will have readers reaching for more. A great summer beach/pool read, I finished it in 2 days!