Scan barcode
A review by kaje_harper
Enjoy the Dance by Heidi Cullinan
4.0
Heidi Cullinan is an auto-buy author for me. Her characters resonate with me, and her writing flows so well. I loved [b:Dance With Me|26153131|Dance With Me (Dancing, #1)|Heidi Cullinan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440366843s/26153131.jpg|16423496], and I'm happy to get this related story.
This book follows Tomás, a young dance instructor (among his three or four jobs) whom we met in book 1. He lives with his immigrant parents, across the hall from kindergarten teacher Spenser. When a 15 year old dance student of Tomás's shows up, after being kicked out of his home for being gay, Spenser's immediate opening of his home to the boy brings him to Tomás's attention.
Tomás is the epitome of the good guy trying to take care of everyone - his parents, his sister's two kids, the dance students. He's the main wage earner for multiple people, and he's working so many jobs that he has really no time to live his own life. But it's not like he can just quit and let them fend for themselves. These are people he loves, so he's trapped. His growing interest in Spenser has to be fit in around a few free minutes here and there.
Spenser is a quiet guy who's been keeping his head down at the Catholic school where he teaches, and spending his free time in solitary pursuits. He never contemplated taking in a foster child, let alone a battered teen. But from the moment Duon shows up bruised and lost, Spenser can do nothing less than his best. The fact that taking care of Duon also means time with Tomás is a confusing bonus, as Spenser's habit of keeping to himself and Tomás's schedule have them dancing around their attraction in a nice, slow burn.
This book has a lot of serious topics in it - the foster care system, LGBTQ teen homelessness, immigration and deportation, child welfare, the MN vote for a constitutional marriage amendment. These are things the author clearly feels very strongly about, and she writes eloquently about the pain and fear and risks of being on the wrong side of a poorly run and underfunded bureaucracy. The Avenues for Homeless Youth that she describes is a great Minnesota organization that I also support. I had a "Vote No" bumper sticker and cheered the results. And the issues of undocumented immigrants, whose lives and families can turn to disaster on a dime, are also important and topical. But it's a lot of intense topics.
The story perhaps suffers a little from the need to get good info about all of these issues into one tale of fiction. There were times when I wanted to get back to the characters in a more mundane way. I also kind of wanted
We only catch glimpses of Ed and Laurie, although it's fun to see them again. Ed's injury and lack of healing do have a moment or two on the page, but the guys are seen from the outside, so we miss the vulnerability and complexity we know they have. The new main characters are great, though. Duon almost steals the show here and there, and Tomás's family are fun to be around. All in all, I enjoyed the read. And if it inspired me to send Avenues another donation, that's not a bad thing either.
This book follows Tomás, a young dance instructor (among his three or four jobs) whom we met in book 1. He lives with his immigrant parents, across the hall from kindergarten teacher Spenser. When a 15 year old dance student of Tomás's shows up, after being kicked out of his home for being gay, Spenser's immediate opening of his home to the boy brings him to Tomás's attention.
Tomás is the epitome of the good guy trying to take care of everyone - his parents, his sister's two kids, the dance students. He's the main wage earner for multiple people, and he's working so many jobs that he has really no time to live his own life. But it's not like he can just quit and let them fend for themselves. These are people he loves, so he's trapped. His growing interest in Spenser has to be fit in around a few free minutes here and there.
Spenser is a quiet guy who's been keeping his head down at the Catholic school where he teaches, and spending his free time in solitary pursuits. He never contemplated taking in a foster child, let alone a battered teen. But from the moment Duon shows up bruised and lost, Spenser can do nothing less than his best. The fact that taking care of Duon also means time with Tomás is a confusing bonus, as Spenser's habit of keeping to himself and Tomás's schedule have them dancing around their attraction in a nice, slow burn.
This book has a lot of serious topics in it - the foster care system, LGBTQ teen homelessness, immigration and deportation, child welfare, the MN vote for a constitutional marriage amendment. These are things the author clearly feels very strongly about, and she writes eloquently about the pain and fear and risks of being on the wrong side of a poorly run and underfunded bureaucracy. The Avenues for Homeless Youth that she describes is a great Minnesota organization that I also support. I had a "Vote No" bumper sticker and cheered the results. And the issues of undocumented immigrants, whose lives and families can turn to disaster on a dime, are also important and topical. But it's a lot of intense topics.
The story perhaps suffers a little from the need to get good info about all of these issues into one tale of fiction. There were times when I wanted to get back to the characters in a more mundane way. I also kind of wanted
Spoiler
a little less positivity at the end, because the wrap felt a little universally sweet, although I appreciated missing some of the potentially stereotypical drama with Spenser's job.We only catch glimpses of Ed and Laurie, although it's fun to see them again. Ed's injury and lack of healing do have a moment or two on the page, but the guys are seen from the outside, so we miss the vulnerability and complexity we know they have. The new main characters are great, though. Duon almost steals the show here and there, and Tomás's family are fun to be around. All in all, I enjoyed the read. And if it inspired me to send Avenues another donation, that's not a bad thing either.