I enjoy the occasional historical fiction novel, and am a fan of Jane Austen’s wit and characters. Julie Klassen is too, and her novel The Dancing Master perfectly fits this genre.
Fans of the Jane Austen Regency period, or even the World War I Downton Abbey setting, will enjoy the peek into life on the country estates in Devonshire England.
Young Alex Valcourt moves to the country with his sister and his mother. They move in with his uncle when his father’s death forces them out of London. There seems to be some sort of scandal in regards to his death, but Alex is confident that he can take his place as the man of the family, earning money as a dancing and fencing master as he did in London. However, when he begins to make inquiries, he finds that Lady Amelia, the village matriarch, has prohibited dancing. The reader isn’t sure why, but knows it has something to do with the death of her brother and sister twenty years before.
Her daughter Julia notices Alex and he notices her. Lady Amelia offers him a job as clerk on her estate when he discovers that he can’t get work. She wants to keep him away from her daughter and to remove his incentive to encourage dancing.
Julia and Alex try to figure out their attraction to each other, which intensifies as Julia uncovers secrets about her family and Alex comes to terms with his own past. A mysterious man who has returned to town with a past of his own helps them each as they deal with their histories.
This book was slightly slow to get started, but once I got to know the characters, I was glad to experience the story as it slowly unfolded.
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This sounds great. I love reading historical fiction.
I like books of this time period.
I love reading books set in this era in England.
Key Work: Jane Austen. Big fan of anything resembling her work.
Nothing like a good romance on a cold winter night. Thank you for introducing me to this one.
It doesn’t matter what kind of book it is, I love to read!
I love books of this time period.
I love historical fiction and the characters in this story sound wonderful. Thanks for having the giveaway.
Love historical romances
Because I love books set in this time period.
I have always been a fan of amish romance books and now i’m starting to branch off to historical fiction. I’m loving the elegance of past times romance. This book looks like a good read and I love the cover.
I love this genre of books 🙂
I really like historical fiction.
I am a fan of Jane Austen, Downton Abbey and historical fiction so I think I would enjoy this book.
I love reading historical fiction and would love to win this
The fact that it is historical fiction.
this would be a great book for me to read one lazy weekend. it sounds fantastic.
Historical fictions are one of my favorite books to read.
Historical fiction is quite enjoyable when I have the time to read something.
I love historical fiction and I think I would enjoy this book a lot.
Julie Klassen is one of my favorite authors!
I like reading historical fiction.
I enjoy reading historical fiction
because i am a fan of the author’s work. i loved her book about the apothecary’s daughter!
The story sounds amazing and I love the historical era.
love historical fiction books. looks great!
I love historical fictions and this sounds interesting!
me mom loves all jane austin bet she’d like this one too
I love historical fiction as well as trying new authors!
I like to read historical fiction.
I read & enjoyed Klassen’s book Lady of Milkweed Manor, so I’d love to check out this one too.
Because of it’s connection to the worlds of both Jane Austen and Downton Abbey.
This is pretty much like every book I read or show/movie I watch!
i love the time period, watching Downton Abbey right now
I like to read historical romances.
I love Historical Romances
i love julie klassen and this new book sounds great.
I have always enjoyed historical fiction books
I love a variety of book.s
I enjoy historical fiction.
This sounds like a great book!
I’ve seen this around and wondered about it – thanks for the opportunity to perhaps win it!
I love historical romances and this period is one of my favorites!
I really enjoy reading historical fiction, so this book has caught my eye.
historical fiction has always been interested I love to study history and when it is written where the story is set in history and the life of a character becomes very interesting for me
I love historical fiction and this story sounds like a great book to read!
Anything by Julie Klassen is interesting to me!
This historical sounds captivating and special. thanks.
I also love Jane Austin books – a book of that genre sounds great.
I love Historical fiction (and Downton Abbey), this books looks like a great read for me!