Review: Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain

Pretending to Dance

by Diane Chamberlain

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 352

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Molly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She lives in San Diego with a husband she adores, and they are trying to adopt a baby because they can't have a child on their own. But the process of adoption brings to light many questions about Molly's past and her family--the family she left behind in North Carolina twenty years before. The mother she says is dead but who is very much alive. The father she adored and whose death sent her running from the small community of Morrison's Ridge. Her own birth mother whose mysterious presence in her family raised so many issues that came to a head. The summer of twenty years ago changed everything for Molly and as the past weaves together with the present story, Molly discovers that she learned to lie in the very family that taught her about pretending. If she learns the truth about her beloved father's death, can she find peace in the present to claim the life she really wants?


Kritters Thoughts:  Told in alternating narrations by the same character; one storyline is in the present day as Molly is trying to come to the terms that adoption will be the only way her and her husband can create a family, the second storyline is the summer Molly is 14 years old and it will be the summer that changes her life.

I adore books told this way where we learn about the character's past while still moving the current story forward.  The storyline from the past was the main focus of the book and I loved it.  I loved her age at 14 and how the author showed that as a teenager we miss clues and hints that are going on around us as people at that age are very self centered.  

There are many things this book tackles - adoption, a disabled parent, first sexual encounters and more, but it didn't make the book feel heavy.  All the issues (and there are more, but no spoilers!) just effortlessly wove through the story and felt like they all fit into this characters journey.

I have been a Diane Chamberlain fan, have not read everything, but have loved everything I read and this one was right up there with the rest.  She is an author that I know I can read without looking at a synopsis and knowing that I will love it!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from BookSparks PR.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.