Anyone who has ever had to trust will be able to relate to Violet Rightmire’s romance Dancing In Time. Her characters are engaging, her dialogue is colorful, and the plot flows smoothly. This novel is a quick read at 182 pages and has enough suspense to keep the pages turning chapter after chapter. Though frequently predictable, Dancing In Time is highly satisfying.
It all starts when Hadleigh Brent, an introverted dancer in her mid-twenties, is coaxed by her outgoing friend Jann into catching the attention of a tall, dark, and handsome stranger at the lunch counter. Both driven and hindered by their baggage and complex backgrounds, Hadleigh and Doctor Collins fight time and doubt in an effort to make things work. For much of the story, our main characters are faced with nothing to act on but faith (or doubt) and love, and seeing them potentially at their worst makes them endearing.
The insider/outsider conflict inherent in the dance world (and addressed in most works of fiction that deal with ballet) gets an interesting and effective twist in Rightmire’s novel. There’s a huge amount of risk involved in letting another person into one’s own private world, and Dancing In Time illustrates that with remarkable tenderness. Besides that, it’s a good old clean love story. I rate it PG and thumbs-up.
Dancing in Time, Violet Rightmire (Debra Webb Rogers)
The Wild Rose Press, 2008
