Goodreads page with synopsis: We Danced
Confession: I’ve had We
Danced by Jeff Erno on my Amazon Wishlist for a few years now, and thanks
to some Christmas magic in the form of Amazon Gift Cards, finally bought the
book recently. I am a sucker for M/M romance stories where one of them has a kid
and they have to figure out how to be a family. So, I was really, really looking forward to reading this
novel.
I had an inkling that the author derived inspiration from
the Brad Paisley song of the same name, and I was right, since he basically
directly quoted the song in one portion of the novel. In the song, a woman
comes back to the bar looking for her purse she left behind, and the bartender
and her fall in love at first sight and dance “like no one has ever danced
before”. In We Danced, Josh leaves
his cell phone at the bar, and the handsome bar manager Rex is the one who
helps him find it. Cue love at first sight, and things moving way too fast.
Characters
Main characters are Josh and Rex. Josh is a twenty-something
vet student who is in town for an internship at a vet clinic. Rex is a late
twenties/early thirties (I don’t think we ever got confirmation) bar manager
who wanted to be a garage owner who ended up putting his dreams aside when his
mama and sister died in a car accident and he adopted his nephew, Tyler. Both
are, of course, ridiculously attractive. And this is set in the south, so they
have to deal with homophobic family members and community members.
Honestly, the characters didn’t astound me in any way,
shape, or form. They were nice enough. But they could be archetypes for any M/M
romance novel. Nothing really stood out about them. Tyler, as the rambunctious lad
of the novel, really didn’t stand out either because what I’ve found with most M/M
romances where there’s a parent/child combo involved is that the kid is too
smart for his own good, and sometimes that comes off as obnoxious, as is the
case with little Ty.
What saved Ty though was that his relationship with Rex was
tested by outside forces trying to tear them apart, which then tested Rex and
Josh. Now this is where the story got good for me, and where the character
development shone. However, this was basically three-quarters of the way into
the book, and I felt like it was a bit too late.
Aside from the three of them, we are introduced mainly to
Josh’s family, and parts of Rex’s family. Josh’s family is pretty conservative,
with a pastor Uncle, a stuck-up conservative Aunt (more on her later), and Rex’s
family seems to serve the purpose of babysitters for Ty. It wouldn’t be a M/M
romance without a gal pal for Josh though, and we have Dana who somehow has
perfect gaydar after only knowing Josh for five minutes. How about that…
Story
Not much to say on the story. Typical love at first sight in
a small Southern town. Their love is tested by outside forces, though it was
nice that this time it wasn’t tested by another guy coming in to mess things
up. I felt that the Southern setting lent itself well to the plot line of trying
to tear the family apart, but Josh’s aunt’s hatred of Josh just wasn’t
explained enough. The religious aspect was, and I appreciated that, but it all
seemed too simple. It seemed like something else was going on. The soap opera
watcher in me almost wanted Josh’s uncle to really be his dad and for his aunt
to know that and to hate him for it. But alas, it was just a religious hatred
that drove her to try to destroy Rex’s life, and Josh’s in turn.
Other than that, everything was rushed. I lost track of
time. One minute they’re spending their first weekend together, the next Rex is
asking Josh to move in. Turn the page, it’s the end of the book. Like… what did
I miss? Oh yeah. Development. That’s what I missed.
Least Favorite Part
This was difficult, and not for the reason you might think.
There really wasn’t anything I completely disliked about the novel. There were
just mainly things that I was ambivalent about or that just could’ve been
handled better. I feel like if the author had taken more time to develop the
characters more, or given more depth to the relationship between Josh and Rex,
I would’ve cared more. Instead, I left the novel feeling ambivalent. And I don’t
like that.
Favorite Part
The backstory of Rex and the town was nice. Again, as a soap
opera lover, I love a good backstory! But again, the author gave us a bit, but
didn’t deliver. When he started telling us the history of the town, and the
history of Rex, I thought, “Ooo, okay, so now we’re getting somewhere!” And
really, we didn’t get far. But it was a valiant try, and so that’s where my
kudos goes!
Overall
I gave We Danced a
three-star rating on Goodreads. It was neither good or bad, and I’ve definitely
read worse. It was a nice read, and I definitely think parts of it were
enjoyable, but feel the author could’ve put more effort into mining the riches
that the characters and backstory had to offer.
