Winner of the 2017 Contemporary Romance Award from Books & Benches! Don’t let your past steal your future.Everyone in Kathleen’s life thinks she’s crazy when she decides to spend her well-earned summer working in a tiny, dusty attic sorting through old church papers, but the peace and quiet of working alone is exactly what she wants. She’s back home again and happy, or as happy as anyone … or as happy as anyone who’s left behind a troubled past can be. She has amazing coworkers, a wonderful best friend, a supportive family, and not one single person in her life who knows what she’s been through. So, when Kathleen stumbles across an old French diary written by a battered wife, she connects with the story and Emilie.
Kathleen’s life changes when she meets Grant, a gorgeous local man with a past of his own. Their connection is undeniable, even for her, and proves that second chances are possible if she can just leave her past behind.
The Islander Romance series
Book I ~ Then She Danced
Book II ~ Then She Sang
Book III ~ Then She Dreamed
“This story is so beautifully written that you can’t help but become obsessed with it, especially the parts of the old journal. A story within a story, two fabulous endings, and characters that you will fall in love with.” ~ The Artful Reader
“This book is about love and growth, tears and happiness and healing. I was so deeply affected and moved by this story, I had my own laughter and tears.” ~ Amazon reviewer
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After an abusive relationship with her ex husband, Kathleen is leery of having or starting a relationship with another man. When Grant literally runs into Kathleen he wants to get to know her better. The two learn how to love again in a new way.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Slow-moving and tender tale of healing love
I ‘m volutarily reviewing an ARC of Then She Danced. I like this book. It is a slow, gentle, and bittersweet story of Kathleen, a young Native American woman, and her long-delayed recovery from abuse and loss. A seemingly perfect man is the catalyst that leads her to dismantle the walls of denial and silence which isolate her from friends, family, and life. Grant, the hero, seems at times too good to be true, but overall is a great romantic hero – alpha in a strong but tender way that exactly meets Kathleen’s need for respectful support and allows her to rebuild trust. Kathleen and Grant’s story is interwoven with the journal of a young Frenchwoman, also suffering spousal abuse, who finds friendship, love, and trust with another woman. Emelie’s inspiring story, and the support of friends and family combine with Grant’s steadfast love to restore hope, joy, and confidence to Kathleen’s life.
I haven’t read a book that takes place way up in NE Canada. The setting was well described throughout the book and seems heavenly and relaxing and restful. I love reading about small towns, and this one was no different. I especially liked learning about the historical aspect – super interesting. These characters were amazing and the writing flowed so well I just sailed through this book. The reading was effortless and natural.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This compelling story will touch your heart and have you thinking about it long after it is read. Kathleen is coming into her own after divorcing her abusive ex. She has taken a job translating documents for a church which has her up in an attic away from people. When she is almost rear ended by a truck she meets Grant a man who will change her life completely. With the help of translating a journal and the story it holds helps Kathleen put her past in perspective and allows her to move forward and pass along the comfort to another who is going through the same issue.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Enjoyable
This was a beautiful story of history, overcoming abuse both in the long past and in the present for two different women, but also the healing from friends, family and new love.
Great author… I absolutely recommend you pick this one up.
A standalone read with a HEA. Sex is implied but never described. So any age group could read and enjoy the story. Set in Newfoundland, Kathleen is working for a museum over the summer cataloging and cleaning up papers that have been stored in their attic for years. She finds a journal written in 1947 by a young woman that came over from France to marry a local man. She didn’t know him and he was over 20 years older than her. He was abusive and mean to her and his two daughters – he wanted a son. The whole community knew of his behavior but no one did anything because by law she was his. she made friends with an Indian woman from a local tribe. That was a definite NO-NO at that time so she paid the price for that friendship. That is about as far in the journal Kathleen had got so far.
Kathleen came from an abusive marriage where the husband was the cause of her losing her unborn child. She felt a kinship with the woman writing the journal. She set out on a journey to see if the woman would be still alive. She would be in her 90’s at this time. She meets a young man, Grant. He is local, an electrician by trade and owns his own business. They click and it seems she has found love at last. However, her fears and issues cloud the romance. she is unable to speak of her past and as a result, it controls her future. this is a very interesting story and the secrets and bit of mystery add to it I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.
I was not paid for this review. I am not a writer nor do I know one. I am not kin to this author. I am a reader and this is my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. 8/6/18.
This is a beautiful story of regrowth for Kathleen than a romance story. I loved that this was a clean read first off but that didn’t take away from the emotions that came forth. This isn’t so much about the love from another than about the love she regained for herself and others. She trusted before and it turned all kinds of ugly but she was strong enough to get away and she will survive. With that understanding and now acceptance, She Dances. The soul freeing tribal dance grounds her and gives her the power to release.
I haven’t read this author before but I do love a clean read to clean my palate. I love that her characters are real and touchable and the emotions are felt. The loss from his fiance and the loss from her child. They build a special kind of love from their shared loss and heal.
This book, “Then She Danced” by Janice Godin, was well written, and like any good story should, kept me interested, and needing to know what would happen next, until the last page. Set in Canada, the book did a great job of allowing the reader to imagine the beautiful setting and details of the story. I also enjoyed how the book brought the past and the present together through the readings of a diary and the characters involved in those stories. The connection between Kathleen and Grant keeps any reader, who’s a sucker for romance, enthralled and hoping for love to have a chance despite some events from the past that could stand in the way. This contemporary romance is a must read! I couldn’t put it down!