Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Such a Dance 
AUTHOR: Kate McMurray
PUBLISHER: Lyrical Press
LENGTH: 243 pages
BLURB:
When a vaudeville dancer meets a sexy mobster in a speakeasy for men, the sparks fly, the gin flows, the jazz sizzles—and the heat is on…
New York City, 1927.
Eddie Cotton is a talented song-and-dance man with a sassy sidekick, a crowd-pleasing act, and a promising future on Broadway. What he doesn’t have is someone to love. Being gay in an era of prohibition and police raids, Eddie doesn’t have many opportunities to meet men like himself—until he discovers a hot new jazz club for gentlemen of a certain bent…and sets eyes on the most seductive, and dangerous, man he’s ever seen.
Lane Carillo is a handsome young Sicilian who looks like Valentino—and works for the Mob. He’s never hidden his sexuality from his boss, which is why he was chosen to run a private night club for men. When Lane spots Eddie at the bar, it’s lust at first sight. Soon, the unlikely pair are falling hard and fast—in love. But when their whirlwind romance starts raising eyebrows all across town, Lane and Eddie have to decide if their relationship is doomed…or something special worth fighting for.
REVIEW:
Eddie sings and dances for a living. Lane operates mob-run bars. As chances go, these two are actually a rather good pair. If Eddie can get past his crippling fear of relationships, and Lane his fear of loss, that is. Then there is that small detail of there relationship being illegal and highly dangerous to one’s health. 1920’s New York is full of all kinds of health and safety issues, and none more so for two men in love.
I love the setting of this book. In a strange confluence of events I’ve been watching some documentaries on prohibition times in America, so I was really looking forward to reading a book set during the era of speakeasies and rumrunners. Add in a slightly shady connection to the mob and it was looking like a damn fine way to spend the evening. And in fact the setting turned out to be my favourite part of this book. The language spoken, the feel of the people and the various bars and theatres, was great. That it didn’t also skimp on the danger and brutality–as well as the few attractions–present in the gay community of the time was just a bonus.
While I normally find the deviation from MC povs to be annoying, it worked well in this story. In fact I wish we had got a bit more from Jullian’s povs.
Where the story kinda fails though is the ending. There is so much build up, so much tension between Lane–with his mob problems–and Eddie–with his career on the line…and it just ends. Like *poof* problem solved. Everyone gets a HEA, nothing more to see here folks. It was, to be honest, an extreme let down. There was so much promise in that last chapter, and instead of writing a climax/resolution the author just skips right to the epilogue. Gah. I can’t tell you how frustrating that was.
So while the majority of the book was a real hoot, and so much fun to read, the ending was…disappointing. It still is worth the read, especially if you enjoy this era in American history, though.
RATING:
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