Everyone kept telling me this was a departure from Susan Elizabeth Phillips' usual vibe. You know, her Chicago Stars books, the witty banter, the laugh-out-loud moments. So I went in braced for something different and honestly? They weren't wrong, but I'm not sure "different" is entirely a bad thing here.
Not Your Usual SEP, and That's Complicated
Here's the thing - I've been reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips since before I had kids, back when I had time to actually hold a physical book and read with both eyes open. Her romances were always my comfort zone. Snappy heroines, grumpy heroes, guaranteed happy endings with a side of belly laughs. Dance Away with Me is... not that. Or not entirely that. Tess Hartsong is a grieving midwife who runs to the Tennessee mountains after losing basically everything, and the book takes its sweet time letting you sit in that grief. The first couple hours felt slow - I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I was doing dishes, half-wondering if I'd accidentally downloaded a literary fiction title instead of a romance.
But then it started clicking. Tess meets Ian North, this brooding sculptor who's basically allergic to human connection (relatable, honestly, after a day of three kids climbing on me). There's a foundling baby situation, a mysterious teenage girl with secrets, and this whole small-town cast that slowly fills in around them. The romance is a genuine slow burn - we're talking hours before anything really sparks between Tess and Ian. If you're here for the kissing, bring patience.
What surprised me was how much the non-romance stuff worked. The scenes of Tess dancing outside alone as grief therapy? Those hit different when you're sitting in your parked car in the garage at 8 PM, stealing forty-five minutes of silence before going inside to face the bedtime chaos. Something about a woman giving herself permission to just... feel things. Without anyone needing a snack or asking why the sky is blue for the fortieth time.
Nicole Poole Does the Heavy Lifting
I'll admit I went in missing Anna Fields, who narrated a bunch of earlier SEP books and basically IS the voice of those heroines in my head. Nicole Poole is a different energy entirely, but she earned my trust. Her Tess sounds exactly right - warm but wounded, stubborn without being shrill. And her male voices? Genuinely good. Ian comes through as this low, reluctant rumble, which is exactly how a man who sculpts alone on a mountain and hates small talk should sound. The Tennessee mountain folks each got their own flavor too - she didn't phone in the side characters, which matters when you've got a whole small-town ensemble showing up.
Her pacing matched the book's slower rhythm, and at 1.25x it felt natural. No weird audio hiccups, no moments where I had to rewind because she swallowed a word. Survived 47 pauses and still made sense - and that's saying something because Sophie decided nap time was optional three days this week.
The Stuff That Might Bug You (Fair Warning)
Okay, real talk. This book tackles grief, death, domestic abuse, teen pregnancy - it's a LOT for what's shelved as romance. Some readers felt it veered into preachy territory, and I can see that. There are moments where Phillips clearly Has Something To Say about women's healthcare and bodily autonomy, and while I personally didn't mind it, it does occasionally feel like the story pauses so the message can catch up. If you want pure escapism, this might feel heavy. Boundary Lines landed in similar territory for me — romance that keeps interrupting itself to deal with real, uncomfortable things, which I respected even when it slowed me down.
Also, the character development for some of the secondary cast felt thin. The fairy-sprite teenage girl (Wren) had so much potential, and I wanted more depth there. She stays a bit too mysterious, a bit too convenient as a plot device. And Ian's "tortured artist" thing occasionally dipped into cliché - though Phillips pulls it back before it gets eye-roll worthy.
The ending is satisfying. Warm. Earned. Not the explosive happy ending of her sports romances, but something quieter and maybe more real. I did NOT ugly-cry at school pickup, which I'm counting as a win. Got a little misty during the last chapter but played it off as allergies.
Who Should Grab This (and Who Should Scroll Past)
If you're an SEP fan expecting Kiss an Angel or It Had to Be You energy, recalibrate your expectations or you'll be disappointed. But if you're in a season of life where a story about rebuilding after loss sounds like exactly the right medicine - and you don't mind your romance served with a generous side of emotional weight - this one's worth the ten hours.
Perfect for multitasking moms who can handle some heavier themes mixed in with their happy endings. Not groundbreaking, but sometimes you don't need groundbreaking. Sometimes you need a book that says "it's okay to fall apart and put yourself back together differently."
My book club will love this (if I ever have time for book club again). Car time approved - just maybe not on a day when you're already emotionally maxed out.
