HELLO FRIENDS, I WAS SUPPOSED TO POST THIS YESTERDAY BUT DINGBAT ME GOT THE DAYS MIXED UP! SOOO HERE IS MY BLOG TOUR STOP OF ENJOY THE DANCE BY HEIDI CULLINAN, WITH TONS OF EXTRAS INCLUDING TEASER, AN EXCERPT, MY MINI REVIEW, AND MUCH MORE INCLUDING AN AMAZING GIVEAWAY! LET'S GET STARTED WITH THE REVIEW:
THIS QUOTE IS PERFECT FOR THIS BOOK!
Dance with your heart, and love will follow.
Kindergarten teacher Spenser Harris has carved a quiet, stable future out of his tumultuous past, but his world turns upside down the night a homeless teen appears on his doorstep—a boy whose story mirrors the one Spenser has worked so hard to overcome. The decision to shelter Duon is easy. What’s tricky is juggling the network of caregivers in Duon’s life, especially Tomás Jimenez.
Tomás wouldn’t have hesitated to take Duon in, but his plate is already full working three jobs to support his family. Though Spenser’s carefully constructed walls are clearly designed to keep the world at bay, Tomás pushes past Spenser’s defenses, determined to ensure the man is worthy of his charge. As the two of them grow closer, Tomás dares to dream of a life beyond his responsibilities, and Spenser begins to believe he might finally find a home of his own after all.
But Spenser and Tomás’s world is poised to crash around their ears. Duon’s grandmother isn’t sure she wants him to be raised by a gay man and challenges Spenser’s custody. Tomás’s undocumented parents could be deported at any time, and all the while the state of Minnesota votes on a constitutional amendment against marriage equality and the US Supreme Court debates whether or not Spenser and Tomás get a happily ever after. All they can do is hold tight to their love, hope for a better future…and remind each other to enjoy the dance.
I am so in love with Heidi Cullinan's writing, and this follow up to the amazing Dance With Me once again shows just how talented she is!
Spenser is satisfied with his quiet, predictable life as a teacher, then he aids a boy named Duon and his life changes forever!
Tomas knows Duon and helps Spenser care for him, but what happens when Duon's Grandmother says she may want him back? Added to that the pressure on Tomas to keep his family safe and Spenser and Tomas may have a harder road to love than they can handle!
Pre-order today guys, you will love this book and I can't wait for you to read it! Thanks Heidi, for an amazing story once again!
the 5 Tajin rating :)
YEP, I JUST HAD TO DO THIS RATING! BELOW ARE ALL THE PRE-ORDER LINKS, IT RELEASES ON THE 11TH OF THIS MONTH, GRAB THIS BOOK TODAY!!
HERE IS AN AWESOME TEASER FOLLOWED BY AN EXCERPT!
There was a sparkle to Tomás’s voice he’d never heard before. Like Duon, dance was where Tomás’s passion lay.
It wasn’t Spenser’s. In fact, he frankly hated to dance. He’d been keenly aware every time he went clubbing that some people had natural rhythm and some people did not. He was one of the latter.
Sometimes he wondered if his failure at dance was the reason he never dated. Hookups only wanted a bed, but dates always seemed to involve a dance floor, which meant whatever charm Spenser had managed up until that part of the evening evaporated in five minutes of awkward gesticulations. So now he only hooked up, never dated, and never danced, full stop. Not even at weddings.
But he had made a bargain with Duon, and though initially he’d planned to weasel out, he decided as a parent now his job was to stick to his word. He could hide under his covers and work through his mortification once he was alone at home.
The bell rang to announce the end of noon recess, and Spenser stopped thinking about dance lessons and how much he didn’t want them. Not until the bell rang again, signaling the end of the day, letting him know it was time to pay the piper.
He half-hoped Duon had forgotten, but he had no such luck. Grinning wide enough to split his face, eyes dancing with anticipation, Duon leaped into the car when Spenser approached the high school. “You ready for your lesson, teach?”
Spenser gave a defeatist salute, and Duon laughed. He then peppered Spenser with questions—did he know this move or that one, and he was incredulous when every question received a “no, I don’t” as the answer. Thankfully, it wasn’t far from Duon’s school to the studio, so Spenser didn’t have to endure this for long. Unfortunately, this also meant it was that much less time until Spenser walked into the boy’s locker room, clutching his duffel and wondering what in the hell he’d gotten himself into.
Tomás was in there already, wearing a tight T-shirt and a pair of shorts barely covering his ass and showcasing his…everything. He was a little taller than Spenser and significantly more muscular, though not like Laurie’s husband. His muscles were lean but well-defined.
They were also highly distracting.
Tomás hugged Duon and wished him congratulations on his new official home, and then he smiled at Spenser, an eager grin making the sparkle in his eyes that much brighter. “You ready for your dancing lesson?”
“Hell yes, he is,” Duon answered for him, tossing his arm around Spenser’s shoulders.
Spenser disentangled himself gently from his charge. “I’m fairly sure I’m about to make a fool of myself, but I made Duon a promise, and I intend to keep it.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll go easy on you.” Tomás winked, and Spenser blushed.
He tried to hide in the back, but both Duon and Tomás insisted he be up front. Duon wanted this because he was in the front, Tomás because he pointed out he could see his instruction from there. There were twelve other students, all of them teenagers, most of them male, exactly one of them white—Spenser. Until Laurie came out of his office to lean on the doorway and watch, Spenser was the only one melanin-challenged in the whole studio.
And yes, he understood dancing ability wasn’t correlated to race—the owner of the studio being exhibit A—but he couldn’t help feeling like everyone else present had come with not only a crib sheet but the teacher’s edition to the lesson Tomás was giving. They didn’t laugh at him when he screwed up every single step, but that was almost worse. And the more badly he performed, the more nervous he became, until he left the floor, red-faced, making a great show of drinking from the fountain on the side of the room until he could get his mortification under control.
This was worse than his failed dates in college. This was a goddamned nightmare.
He wanted to call it quits, but when he saw Duon watching him, smiling and motioning impatiently for him to come back to the dance, he knew he couldn’t. Spenser was almost wooden now as he endured the lesson, no longer trying to keep up, only doing his best to get to the end of this class so he could never, ever offer to do something so awful again.
But when it was over, Tomás and Duon ganged up on him, telling him what a good job he’d done. Spenser couldn’t handle it any longer. “Are you insane? I was awful.”
Tomás held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa. You weren’t awful. And you had a pretty big disadvantage, because we’ve been working on this routine for months now.”
Spenser wasn’t having any of this. His face was red, with exertion, with embarrassment, and with decades-old shame. “I’ve never been able to dance. And it turns out when you don’t try for ten years, you get worse.”
Duon and Tomás exchanged a look. Then Duon scuttled toward the locker room. When Spenser attempted to follow, Tomás caught him gently by the elbow and led him to the floor. “Oh no. You, Mr. Harris, are getting another dancing lesson.”
Spenser broke free of the grip and backed away. “No, thank you.”
Tomás did a fancy step and blocked him. When Spenser went the other direction, Tomás blocked him again. And again. When Spenser sighed in frustration, Tomás winked at him. “See? You’re a natural. You’re dancing right now.”
It had been a long day, the next day would be longer if the amendment passed, and Spenser didn’t need this. “I don’t care if I can dance or not. I want to go home.”
“I can’t let you go, not when you’re this frustrated. I’d be a terrible teacher if I allowed you to leave.”
Oh, this was a low blow, because of course he was right. Spenser went for blunt. “I’m tired.”
But Tomás wasn’t having it. “Fifteen minutes. Give me fifteen minutes.”
“Take an hour.” This came from Laurie, who stood at the door to the studio with Duon, who now wore loose sweats and a winter jacket. “I owe a young man some ice cream, and the next class got cancelled because Susan’s sick.” He waved at Spenser. “Knock ’em dead, tiger.”
And just like that, Spenser had landed himself in the middle of an hour-long private lesson.
With Tomás.
AHHH, I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO READ IT! NOT LONG NOW ! HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO CHECK OUT ( I LOVE THE PLAYLIST) AND SOME GREAT INFO FROM HEIDI ABOUT THIS BOOK AND MORE!
Why I Wrote Enjoy the Dance
When I revisited Dance With Me to release the second edition, I was stunned to see how much the world had changed in the three years since it was first published. Particularly in regards to marriage equality, the story I wrote had become a historical, a novel written for another time. I wanted to explore what it had been like for the characters to live through that crazy transition, to show how much would have changed for the characters in novel in the space between then and now. I also wanted to answer a question readers asked me a lot over the years: “What happened to Duon?”
History of the Dancing Series
Dance With Me for years was a standalone title. First published with Loose Id in 2011, it was re-released as a self-published title in fall of 2015. I’d originally intended to follow it up with a short story a few months later, but that short story became this novel, Enjoy the Dance.
Future Plans for the Series
There will be at least one more novel in the Dancing series, likely released in late 2017 or early 2018. Burn the Floor will be Duon’s story.
Series Tie-Ins
Several other books/series I’ve written tie in directly or tangentially into this story.
- Marcus, Ed and Laurie’s lawyer friend who helps Tomás and his family, finds his own HEA in Let It Snow, book one of the Minnesota Christmas series.
- Arthur and Paul, Marcus’s friends from Logan who show up at the Duluth car wrapping, find their true loves in Sleigh Ride and Winter Wonderland, books two and three of the Minnesota Christmas series.
- Ed and Laurie appear in Lonely Hearts, book three of the Love Lessons series.
NEXT I HAVE PART THREE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH LAURA ANDRINA! BOY IS THIS GREAT!
Interviews are a staple of blog tours,
but this time I’d like to shake things up, because while I did my
homework as best I could to write Enjoy the Dance, I’m by no
means an expert. I wanted to let you hear from some people who know a
lot more than me about the subjects touched on in the story, and one
of those people is my friend (and friend to many of you!) Laura
Adriana, who has worked as an immigrant advocate and has worked for
social justice in a variety of ways for over eleven years.
You can read part
one of this interview at My
Fiction Nook and part two at Back
Porch Reader.
You and I have discussed some of the
secondary characters of Enjoy the Dance, particularly the
sisters and mothers and grandmothers, might be easily dismissed by
society and yet have such burdens and such decks stacked against them
that it’s almost impossible for them to succeed. In the Dancing
universe there’s the Halcyon Center and Sandra Stevenson to help
forge community and help them through. Here in the real world,
another population you’ve worked with is survivors of domestic
violence. What do you think is key to helping people, especially
women, forge that community?
I think in these
issues the most important thing a person can do is to open their eyes
and try to be more aware of what is happening in their communities. I
worked in a small idyllic college town and yet, I had a team of ten
counselor/advocates working around the clock with victims and
survivors, whenever I spoke to people about my job the reaction was
almost always “but that kind of stuff doesn’t happen here
right?”. Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence is happening
everywhere to every kind of person, if you are interested in helping
get online and look up your local agency or shelter, give them a call
and ask them if they need some help, they will almost always say that
they do! Get out and support your local events like Take Back the
Night, bear witness to survivors and their stories. They are out
there in your community.
What are some resources you would
direct people to who want to learn more about these issues, either
for education or because they are unauthorized citizens in need of
aid?
A great resource
is The Immigration Advocates Network, another is Immigration
Equality, a great organization working with LGBTQ immigrants.
Is there anything else you’d like to
add?
Just to say thank
you to you for writing this book the way you did. This is something
very close to my heart and I think you are doing a great service by
putting it on people’s radar, and they also get an amazing love
story as well!
I would like to thank Laura Adriana
very much for joining me for this interview and hope you enjoyed
hearing from her as much as I enjoyed speaking with her. Thank you
also to My Fiction Nook, Back Porch Reader, and Bike Book Reviews for
hosting us.
Would you like more behind-the-scenes
information? Follow the rest of the blog tour, with other interviews
and information at my website.
*
Dance with your heart, and love will
follow.
Kindergarten teacher Spenser Harris has
carved a quiet, stable future out of his tumultuous past, but his
world turns upside down the night a homeless teen appears on his
doorstep—a boy whose story mirrors the one Spenser has worked so
hard to overcome. The decision to shelter Duon is easy. What’s
tricky is juggling the network of caregivers in Duon’s life,
especially Tomás Jimenez.
Tomás wouldn’t have hesitated to
take Duon in, but his plate is already full working three jobs to
support his family. Though Spenser’s carefully constructed walls
are clearly designed to keep the world at bay, Tomás pushes past
Spenser’s defenses, determined to ensure the man is worthy of his
charge. As the two of them grow closer, Tomás dares to dream of a
life beyond his responsibilities, and Spenser begins to believe he
might finally find a home of his own after all.
But Spenser and Tomás’s world is
poised to crash around their ears. Duon’s grandmother isn’t sure
she wants him to be raised by a gay man and challenges Spenser’s
custody. Tomás’s undocumented parents could be deported at any
time, and all the while the state of Minnesota votes on a
constitutional amendment against marriage equality and the US Supreme
Court debates whether or not Spenser and Tomás get a happily ever
after. All they can do is hold tight to their love, hope for a better
future…and remind each other to enjoy the dance.
*
Heidi Cullinan has always enjoyed a
good love story, provided it has a happy ending. Proud to be from the
first Midwestern state with full marriage equality, Heidi is a vocal
advocate for LGBT rights. She writes positive-outcome romances for
LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she
believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. When
Heidi isn't writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, playing with her
cats, and watching television with her family. Find out more
about Heidi at heidicullinan.com.
LAST YOU WILL FIND THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY FOR THE BLOG TOUR, AND BOY IS IT AMAZING, BELOW IS THE PIC, THE DESCRIPTION, AND THE RAFFLECOPTER LINK, SO ENTER NOW!
Enjoy the Dance Prize Pack: Enjoy the Dance paperback, Dance with Me paperback, No House To Call My Home paperback, MIKA The Origin of Love CD, a box of Lady Grey tea, a bottle of Tajìn seasoning
AWESOME GIVEAWAY RIGHT? THANKS FOR JOINING ME FOR THIS BLOG TOUR STOP! SEE YOU NEXT TIME GUYS!
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