Former dance student Sara Hart had aspired to grace the stage on Broadway, but a reckless decision forced her to renounce that dream. Years later, while struggling with an ungratifying job and an even more unsatisfying love life, she literally stumbles upon a dangerously sexy stranger who sends her heart–and her body–into hyperdrive. His touch makes her feel alive again and sparks a desire to … to rebuild her dance career. But Sara is still haunted by the demons of her past. One dark lie could cost her everything.Real estate mogul Tom Wright caters to the rich and famous. He lives the life of the perfect bachelor, partying hard and dating the most beautiful women in Manhattan. But he has one golden rule–no commitments. Ever. Then he meets sexy Sara Hart, and something about her makes him want to throw the damn rule book out the window. Every time she’s near, the blood in his veins pulses with a raging fire he can’t contain. But Tom’s shadowed history is resurfacing, unearthing ghosts he’d rather remain buried.Will this wicked dance be their last?
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Sara and Tom have a pull to each other that was set up by the path of the stars. The undeniable chemistry between these two enrapture readers to dive head first into their saga and not come up for breath until the last page has been turned. I’m usually not one for cliffhangers, but I have already downloaded the second book, thankful that Liv has already published it.
My daughter is a dancer so I felt an emotional connection to Sara from the first page when the dreaded alarm started going off. The unfortunate turn of events that lead her down the path of working at a dance studio, instead of being a part of the production, spoke to me on a parental level that had my heart soaring for her, wanting to provide her the loving embrace and swift kick in the rear that thankfully others were able to provide.
Tom is like a piece of every fairy tail prince all rolled into one, also containing his own demons and just pure masculine bad ass. Tom reminded me of Prince Charming, Prince Phillip, Prince Adam (The Beast), John Smith, Flynn Rider, and don’t forget Prince Eric, reminding us that sole mates are real, if you believe, love concurs all but doesn’t come without hardwork and trust, and no price is too big or too small for the one you love.
You won’t be disappointed if you chose to embark on this journey!
Wicked Dance by Olivia Boothe is the First book in the Chronicles of a Dancing Heart Series. This is the story of Tom Wright and Sara Hart. Tom is a very successful Real Estate mogul who doesn’t do love but does enjoy the women. Sara had thought her life would be that of a dancer but a car accident that took her mother and left Sara with guilt she couldn’t get past she is left that dream alone. Now in her present day she is an assistant with a Dance Studio, with a boss she doesn’t care for. Then a chance meeting at a coffee show she meets Tom. This starts their journey to finding something neither thought they wanted or deserved but is something they both really need. This book does end with a cliffhanger setting us up for the next installment into their story. This is the first book by this author, and for me I enjoyed her writing.
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.
Olivia Boothe is a new to me author who reached out to me to review her work, and I am SO glad that she did. Wicked Dance is the first book in a duet and it had me on my knees. I am honestly shocked I hadn’t found her work prior to this, and it definitely has me wanting even more of her work.
I was captivated from the very beginning with Sara. Her story is powerful and spellbinding. I was in awe of her strength and her fortitude. She is everything a heroine should be. And then there is Tom. Mysterious, captivating, thrilling Tom. I wish I had more viewpoints from his side. There were a few, but not many and I just wish I had more of a take on his side of things from the very beginning.
Even though I had mainly Sara’s side of things, I fell in love with this story. I wanted more, needed more. I was completely and fully enthralled with everything that is Wicked Dance.
Olivia set the tone for this book in a way that is unmatched. The way she crafted this story made me feel as though I was right there, watching it all take place in front of me. I was part of the story from the very start.
Wicked Dance is a story that you don’t want to miss out on. Tom and Sara will captivate you in a way like no other, making you want more for them. You will cry with them, fight with them, threaten to throw your kindle across the room in anger. You will be right there through it all. And when the story ends, you have no choice but to start the next one right away because you just have to know more.
Five stars for this beautiful slow burn that will have on you on the ride of your life, and when it’s all said and done, you want to go back and start all over again.
I’m not quite sure how to feel about this book. On the one hand, I like the message it sends about pursuing your dreams and overcoming your past. It’s a book about forgiveness and redemption and making peace with your mistakes. Or at least, I think that was the goal of the book. As I said, I appreciated the underlying message but had a hard time connecting with the characters. Although Sara and Tom felt real in the sense that the issues they dealt with – PTSD, self-doubt, insecurity, jealousy, etc. – were real, the intensity of their emotions at times felt overwhelming. Ultimately, this intensity translated into a lot of grief and arguments rather than a love for the ages.
They tell one another ‘I love you’ for the first time roughly two weeks into knowing each other. Sara follows Tom to California for a long weekend in that same time frame and comes face to face with some facts about Tom she isn’t thrilled about. They expect full honesty from one another, but neither of them actually discloses everything about themselves and, honestly, that’s not unexpected given the short amount of time they’ve known each other. What is unexpected is that they have that expectation at all and that they fight frequently over keeping secrets. They don’t really have a reason to be angry with one another about not disclosing aspects of their traumatic pasts. That kind of trust takes time and consistent, open communication. Like I said, the intensity if off the charts. So much so, it felt like the book was on the verge of becoming a suspense novel or a thriller where I was just waiting for one of them to snap and do something crazy.
I did like that Tom was upfront about how he felt about Sara. I think a lot of successful, alpha males in romance novels tend to be underwhelming in their verbal displays of emotion, so seeing Tom continuously lay all his emotions out there was refreshing and something I’d like to see more of. Likewise, I liked how headstrong Sara was. She was feisty and witty once she became more comfortable with Tom.
*Thank you to Goodreads, Amazon Digital Services, and Olivia Boothe for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!
This new to me author has a new fan!! That’s me!
Wicked Dance is the beginning of the story of Tom and Sara.
These are not perfect characters, they have flaws and scars and that makes them all the more believable and relatable.
Sara has a past that has haunted her. She has changed her whole way of life because of a tragic accident. She is quick to judgement and rash to jump to conclusions. But this makes her human, it makes her an honest representation of human nature and the choices we make.
Tom, oh this character! I saw so much of my hubby in him. A war vet with scars of his own. He has built walls around his heart to keep himself and the people around him “safe”. He is the epitome of an alpha hero! All the swoon and strength I love in a hero!
When Sara and Tom meet, the chemistry between the two of them is epic! I loved how Sara became a bit of a stalker and how Tom ran hot and cold. I also loved the alternate POV’s! I like to be able to get into each of the main characters heads and see what makes them tick. I loved the angst, jealousy and heat between Sara and Tom! The beginning of this relationship isn’t hearts and flowers (well it is a little bit) but it’s gripping!
The secondary characters bring a richness to the story. I can’t wait to see how the secondary story lines play out! I could not put this story down once I started!
I loved how this story ended, it’s like it’s just the beginning and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this series!!
Well done Ms. Boothe! You have started an amazing story with these characters!
Spellbound romantic read!! Lana~White Hot Reads
The cover and title are what sparked me to read this. I love how you haven’t seen a story about a dancer. Sara and Tom are explosive with love at first sight. They are drawn to each other like a moth to a flame. These two have secrets that are haunting and realize that together they can help each other. I wasn’t expecting that ending and can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.
Olivia Boothe is a new to me author and quickly became an author that I will continue to read! I was completely hooked on this story from the very beginning.
Sara and Tom are two damaged souls who were drawn to each other, who saw the pain and hurt behind their walls and slowly broke those walls down and found something they had both originally given up on with each other. Their road was not easy and was emotional. Despite the rocky road of their relationship, they had an instant connection. From the first moment they ran into each other they couldn’t forget the one another.
This story was so much more than I expected. The tragedy that Sara had experienced and the lasting guilt was heartbreaking. The pain, loss and emotions Tom had experienced had me wanting to go through my kindle and give the man a hug. I love that they found each other and were able to slowly help each other.
I couldn’t put this book down. The story had me hooked. I was invested in the characters and had to know what was going to happen next for Sara and Tom. The descriptions of the scenes were beautifully written and painted such a vivid detail in my mind. The growth in both characters, especially with Sara, from the very beginning to the end was strong.
The secondary characters were interesting, I am definitely intrigued by them, especially Tom’s business partner and best friend, Jake. Sara’s roommate Jen was interesting and played a major part in Sara’s life, she really was more like a sister to her than anything. Tom’s personal assistant and friend, Tiffany, was someone I just loved to hate. I felt that there is so much to her that we don’t know.
I truly cannot wait for the second book to get more of all these characters and their stories! This book is a MUST READ for me and definitely one I would highly recommend to anyone who loves contemporary romance.
This is a debut novel from this author? I can’t believe that’s true. From the very beginning I was pulled into Sara’s story and what happened in her past to have her in the career she is in now. Once we’re introduced to Mr. ID things only get more intriguing, there’s something about that that had me wanting to know him on a deeper level just like Sara had. Little by little both of their layers are peeled back both individually as well as together and a heartbreaking, beautiful story is told. This story has a great mix of deep emotions that will have you fighting back tears and then other moments that will have your BP rising high. Tom is a man that proves you can change if you truly want to. Its not forced upon you, you feel it in your soul. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.
To start off, I hadn’t realized that this was the first book by this author. Having just found that out, I’ll say that I am impressed. I was for the most part thoroughly immersed in the story, didn’t really want to put it down. However, there were some things that annoyed me a bit and just didn’t make sense.
I’ve always been fascinated with dance, even if I can’t dance myself. So I’m always excited when a book features a character with a dance background. Sara’s life revolved around dance until an accident caused her to give up her dreams of dancing. As an outsider looking in, I can understand why she gave it up.
When Sara sees Tom for the first time I thought it was cute how she was shy and speechless and awkward. And I liked them together as a couple. But there were just certain things that I didn’t understand, particularly the various things that they didn’t seem to want to tell each other. But in the end them coming clean with each other was the best thing that could have happened and I was excited to read more. And then an incident at Sara’s place of work happened, causing Tom to step in to defend her and then…. The end!
I totally get this book is part of a series, and being that there was no information about book two, I didn’t realize that the story would be continued in the next book. At least I’m assuming it will be continued in book two. I’m unsure whether to categorize it as being a cliffhanger (and for the record, I don’t have a problem with cliffhangers) but there were definitely story points that were left unresolved. It just ended so unexpectedly that frankly I was really disappointed. I mean I stayed up til 3 o’clock in the morning to see what happens, particularly because of how intense the story became only to have it suddenly end.
I would like to read the next book, because I need an ending (aka. a happily ever after).