Dance All Night by Alexis Daria

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Title: Dance All Night
Author: Alexis Daria
Series: Dance Off #2.5
Published by: NYLA
Release Date: November 25, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 156
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Holiday
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 12 Books of Christmas Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

Broadway hotshot Nik Kovalenko is a confirmed bachelor.

Ballroom champion Jess Davenport is a bona fide Scrooge.

Last year, they shared a midnight kiss at a New Year’s Eve party that made both of them believe—briefly—in the magic of the holiday season. The magic was cut short when Nik went on tour the next day, but he never stopped thinking about that kiss—or Jess.

When the holidays roll back around, Nik runs into Jess again. He doesn’t want to spend another year pining for the Scrooge who got away, so he tells Jess he’ll stay if she’ll give him a shot at being her Christmas Present.

Jess thinks he’s full of it, but she agrees to three dates. If Nik can make her believe in holiday magic in a place as un-wintery as Los Angeles—and convince her that he’s ready to stick around—she’ll give him a chance. But he won’t know until New Year’s Eve. If she kisses him at midnight, he’ll have his answer…

Praise for Alexis Daria:

“An author who clearly adores the world she’s developed—and the characters she’s matched.”—Sarah MacLean, New York Times> bestselling author, Washington Post

“A charming and authentic voice.”—Sonali Dev, author of A Distant Heart

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4.5 stars — OMG, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!  I was sucked in right from the beginning, and it just had so much of what I love in a Christmas novella!

First, I LOVED our characters!  Jessie made me want to smack her a few times, because she was so hard-headed and took forever to see things “the right way”, but she was still such a fantastic character.  She was sassy, dry-witted, and I LOVED the things that she loved.  I can profess to having fallen in love with ballroom dancing, and all the swing fun, even though I never got good at the dancing it part (I have like zero grace).  She was also really vulnerable, lonely and damaged.  And I did feel for her damage, it was just hard not to want to rush her healing.  I also loved that she was black.  I know this sounds weird, but it’s fun learning even little things about characters of another race, like how she talked about taking care of her hair and stuff.  It doesn’t always have to be big stuff, the little stuff opens my eyes too.

And OMG Nik.  Nik is my new book boyfriend.  Nik was the sweetest, most caring, most adorable book boy.  He wasn’t beta necessarily, but he definitely wasn’t alpha.  I LOVED his blushes. OMG I loved his blushes.  And you could genuinely feel how much he’d fallen for Jess over the year, and how sincerely he wanted to pursue something more with her.  I loved the way he loved his family, and how he was just a natural caretaker who instinctively wanted to help his loved ones.  He was attentive, thoughtful, laidback, and he had an adorable sense of adventure and fun.  Watching him share his love of Christmas with Jess just put me in the mood for Christmas myself!

And the two of them together just had a natural butterfly inducing chemistry.  I kind of loved that they started slow, and we got to see them get to know each other first.  It gave me all those new crush type vibes.  And then when it transitioned to steamier?  Um yes please!  Although why I had to be on a plane at those points, god only knows…

I LOVED the glimpses of other characters we got to see.  For those who have read the series, it was super fun to check in with our other two couples (and they made me howl with those cookies).  I also loved meeting Naomi and seeing more of Rhianne (though maybe too much of Rhianne…;) ).

So yeah.  Total Christmas hit.  Total Dance Off series hit.  I can’t wait for more from this author!!