Edward Shull

Jim meets the love of his life, Amanda,while he is working at a club as a bouncer. Amanda soon moves in with Jim and all is going smoothly until Jim receives a letter to inform him he's been accepted into Harvard Law.
Jim decides to ask Amanda to marry him but she tells him shes leaving that day because shes been seeing someone else. Eight years on, Jim has never really gotten over Amanda however he is now engaged to Emily a criminal lawyer that works in the same firm as him. Out of the blue Amanda calls. She's in trouble and needs a lawyer. Jim goes to her aid and Emily goes too,not wanting Jim to be alone with Amanda. Emily doesn't like Amanda, which is only natural. But everyone who meets Amanda eventually falls in love with her beauty and spontaneous nature. She is fun to be around.Emily is not immune to Amanda's charm and is now determined to get her off the charge without a jail sentence. How strong are Jim's feelings for Amanda? Will Emily's attack on the towns DA make matters worse for Amanda? What is Amanda keeping secret from everyone?

I know it's so cliche but, I couldn't put this book down. I was thinking, I really should be going to bed. No, I'll just read one more chapter. OK, I'll just read another chapter and so it went on late into the night.
Everyone loves Amanda.I found myself loving Amanda too. She had a tragic life yet she was happy and carefree (on the outside anyway).She loved Jim so much she had to let him go.
Emily the tough go get them lawyer but really a caring sweetheart underneath that tough exterior. I think some of Emily's decisions were out of character. I would have liked to see her warm to Amanda but retain her straight laced image.
I wasn't sure about the introduction of Kyle. I was thinking all the time, is this going somewhere,is he somehow relevent to the story. I'm just very,very pleased that Jim didn't jump into bed with him.
Even though the outcome of the story was guessed very early on I still needed to have it verified and couldn't stop reading until it was there in front of me in black and white.
I usually read a novel wondering where the tiltle fits in but I was so engrossed I'd completely forgotten about the title until the line dancing comment popped up in the book. Ahhh The Benefits of Line Dancing.

A very enjoyable read. Well done Edward Shull. Looking forward to reading more.… (plus d'informations)

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

There were several interesting plot twists which were enjoyable in this book. For a debut book, the author did a good job. The premise of the story is interesting and involves love, family, corruption and politics. The small town is charming. There were many good take away moments - like the benefits of line dancing, and some clever story points added.

I did not really connect with the characters. Some of the decisions made my the characters in the book seemed unlikely, including the role Kyle played and some of the decisions made by Emily. Some of the sexual context seemed a bit misplaced.

Overall this was a decent debut novel.… (plus d'informations)