From disco balls to Christmas baubles …

Ex-dancer Emily Williams turned her back on the sparkle of the popular dancing show Strictly Dancing with Celebs to help those in need. Now the only dancing she does is teaching lonely pensioners to waltz, and the closest she gets to disco balls is making baubles with the homeless people in her Christmas crafts class.

She’s certainly not star-struck when Hollywood heart-throb Blake Harris is sent to her at short notice for community service and has no desire to babysit the arrogant actor with his bad-boy antics and selfish ways. Christmas might be a time for miracles, but Blake seems to be a lost cause.

But Emily’s reasons for abandoning her dancing passion mean she understands the Hollywood wild child more than she’d like to admit. Could their time together, coupled with a dash of Christmas spirit, lead to a miracle change of heart for them both?

Titles in the Spotlight series includes — Strictly on Ice – Celebrity SOS: Love Survives – Strictly Christmas Spirit –

Title:  Strictly Christmas Spirit
Series:  Spotlight #3
Author:  Helen Buckley
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 26, 2021
Publisher:  ChocLit
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Strictly Christmas Spirit is the third title in the Spotlight series, and although I’ll always recommend reading any series in order, you could pick up Emily’s and Blake’s holiday-time romance and not feel the least bit left behind on anything.

I’ll let you discover Emily’s reasons for leaving the spotlight of her dancing career for the different types of satisfaction in helping the downtrodden, those who circumstances have not always been kind to, those without hope.  She’s very good at her job and will just as easily teach a waltz step to a lonely gentleman, as she is to lend an attentive ear to someone’s troubles or memories.  She doesn’t regret her decision and loves what she does… except perhaps when a Hollywood bad-boy actor who’s acted out one too many times is sent to her to put in some community service time.  Emily has no time and no intention of babysitting Blake, and he can lose the attitude because he doesn’t impress her one bit – at first, at least.  But there are always the possibilities of Christmas miracles – even for bad boys with attitude.

I loved the changes we get to see in Blake especially, but in Emily as well as they do their own version of an attraction dance and a slow burn romance.  There are always reasons behind why people act as they do, and learning about Blake, watching him slowly lose the attitude, open up to the people he’s been assigned to work with, and falling for Emily was a delightfully charming experience.  I adored Emily from the start but also cheered her on as she grew a bit more and allowed herself to fall in love while taking on the risks of seeking a lifetime of happiness with Blake.  They lit up the page as they danced, fitting together perfectly as the music took them to a special place.

Strictly Christmas Spirit is filled with everything I love about romances set around the holidays.  Hope.  Joy.  Love.  Possibilities.  I’m not going to give away the good parts so it’s up to you now to pick up a copy of Blake and Emily’s story and fall in love yourself with a very good book.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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