Book Review: You Make me Feel Like Dancing by Allison Bottke

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Allison Bottke was such a delightful read. I enjoyed this book so much! This is Christian Fiction at its best. This novel is warm, funny at times and emotional at others. Above all it touched my heart and left me feeling good and I love that in a book.

The main character Susan is in her fifties and has always had a passion for anything disco. She owns a fantastic hair salon in Las Vegas called Disco Diva which has gotten itself a very good reputation over the years not only for the talented stylists but also for the heart felt advice that Susan manages to slip in here and there. The salon is decorated with disco memorabilia and more often than not you can hear a good old disco tune playing on the speakers.

Back in her younger days Susan was one of the beautiful people in New York. She loved to dance and had tried dancing although she never made it. She ended up meeting a man who was rich and loved to lavish her with gifts which is how she acquired her collection. Things didn’t go according to plan though and Susan is left wondering how to pick up the pieces of her life. She moves to Vegas, meets her now husband Michael and starts a new life, but never ever forgets her old one.

Susan is so easy to like. She’s one of those warm and caring people you just love to know. She has a huge heart and is always willing to step up and help someone in need. However things aren’t all rosy at home and she and her husband are struggling. They have their faith though and they have their love; hopefully that is enough to pull them through the tough times to come. And there will most definitely be events to come that will try their faith in each other. Susan’s past comes roaring up to hit her head on and thankfully with the love of a good man and wonderful friends, she pulls herself up and above to find an even more fulfilling life.

This novel is full of wonderful characters. Susan’s husband Michael seems a good man although at the beginning I was irritated with him. She has her online friends – the Boomer Babes and, although they’ve not met, they are all ready and willing to help out in the face of trouble. They really reminded me of my online group of lady friends, the Page Turners. We’ve all known each other six years I think it is now and they have become family to me. The Boomer Babes are like that. In addition, there is a wonderful cast of characters surrounding Susan, my favorite being Lily. Lily is an older woman who has more money than she knows what to do with but not a pretentious bone in her body. Just her comments and her ways with people are amusing and you can’t help but love her. There are other supporting characters like Loretta, Ryan and Tina who are just awesome too!

While this is Christian Fiction, it is not preachy at all. The Christian element is very subtle and if anything it shows us how God works in our lives if that is what we believe. How everything that happens, happens for a reason. We may not know why at the time or be confused by why something happens, but sometimes down the road the reason becomes so clear to us. I enjoy Christian Fiction so this was such a heart warming book for me. I also really enjoyed the Boomer-Lit aspect of this novel. It’s so refreshing to read a book geared toward women in their 40’s and up.

This is a wonderful read and I would recommend it to those who like chick-lit with that added element that makes it so much more. This novel will touch your heart. You will laugh, you will cry but I don’t think you will come away from reading this book untouched. It shows us the power of love and friendship; for ourselves, for those around us and for God. The greatest thing is that this is the first in a series apparantly and I simply can’t wait to read the next one that Allison Bottke has in store for us.

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing was released by David C. Cook on June 1, 2009. You can buy this novel here in the US and here in Canada. Make sure to check out Allison Bottke’s website here as well. Many thanks to Audra for sending me this wonderful book!

I’m going to leave you with the book trailer…Enjoy…

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, by Allison Bottke from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

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