Book Title: The Winner: A Ballroom Dance Novel by Erin Bomboy
Category: Adult Fiction, 326 pages
Genre: Women's Literature, Literary Romance
Publisher: Curtain Call Press
Release date: Dec 20, 2016
Content Rating: PG-13: (four brief sex scenes with no named body parts and written in metaphor, five minor instances of profanity (no f bombs), no violence)
Book Description:
The most prestigious ballroom dance competition in the United States.
Two dancers need to win.
Only one can.
Nina Fortunova wasn’t supposed to end up almost thirty, divorced, with her dreams of winning shattered. She teams up with Jorge Gonzalez, a Latin dancer, to reinvent the flashy Smooth style. When the Chairman of the Judges offers to throw the competition in their favor, Nina must decide how far she will go to win, even if it means losing Jorge.
Carly Martindale is doing everything she’s been taught not to do—placing her happiness first by dancing with Trey Devereux, the former three-time champion who’s returned to competition for mysterious reasons. Carly becomes obsessed with Trey and allows him to control her every move at great risk to her physical and emotional health. How far will she sacrifice herself, so Trey and she can win? Co-workers, then friends, and now arch competitors, Nina and Carly face off to determine who will be the winner.
Bright, emotive, and told through dual narrators, The Winner examines the costs associated with winning, the internalization of parental ambition, and the effect of gendered roles on and off the dance floor. A literary romance, The Winner is perfect for readers who love Dancing with the Stars, Strictly Come Dancing, So You Think You Can Dance, and the old-school elegance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The Winner contains a fact-versus-fiction section at the end.
Praise for The Winner:
“ . . . educational, enjoyable, and engrossing.”
- Midwest Book Review
“The Winner is a winner.”
- Goodreads Review
“Rousing, bittersweet, and heartbreakingly beautiful.”
- Amazon Review
To read more reviews, please visit Erin Bomboy's page on iRead Book Tours.
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Meet the Author:
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Erin Bomboy trained as a classical ballet dancer before spending a decade as a professional competitive ballroom dancer. She holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter where she works as a writer, editor, and teacher in the dance field. In her free time, Erin enjoys bacon, books, cats, and wine.
She is the author of The Piece: A Contemporary Ballet Novel and The Winner: A Ballroom Dance Novel. Her next novel, tentatively titled The Pas de Deux: A Classical Ballet Novel, will explore the relationship between a ballerina at the end of her career and the much-younger dancer with whom she falls in love. Taking the shape of a traditional pas de deux, it will premiere in 2018.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter
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Review:
This was supposed to be Nina Fortunova's year to win. Instead, she is divorced, without a partner on and off the dance floor. Nina takes to training a young couple, Carly and Sam. Soon, teacher and student become competitors as Nina finds a new partner in Jorge, a Latin Dancer who wants to transition to smooth and Carly gets picked up by Trey, a three time National champion. Both ladies will do whatever it takes to win, but will they take it too far?
Riveting and captivating, The Winner threw me into the exciting world of competitive ballroom dancing. I did ballroom dancing for a few years in college, which is what initially sparked my interest in the book, so I had no trouble following along with the styles, techniques and feelings evoked by each dance. However, even if you know nothing about dance, you should be able to follow along just fine without feeling overwhelmed. The scenes described in the practice studio and the competition were so vivid that I could smell the sweat and hairspray. I enjoyed reading the contrasting storylines of Nina and Carly. Nina, an older dancer who, determined to win the Nationals after working her way through the ranks and Carly, a new dancer to the scene who wants to win Nationals in a short period of time. Both Carly and Nina are determined and talented, but have very different motivations. The side stories of both Nina and Carly's backgrounds added drama to the story. Nina believes she must accomplish a great feat and be successful for her mother who sacrificed everything to come to America and give her opportunities; whereas Carly's parents are forcing her to be a special education teacher in order to better help people like her brother, Archer, who is autistic. When Carly finds a dream of her own, they are not supportive. What was highlighted most for me however, was the connection you find while dancing, especially with a partner.
"And with connection, all things were possible. One person's limits were halved and his or her prospects doubled when paired with another. Four legs rooted into the earth, allowing two hearts and two heads to reach heavenward."
The ending was very surprising and moved quickly through time seeming a little disjointed with the rest of the book. Overall, an immersive and enthralling read taking you deep into the world of ballroom dancing.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Guest Post:
BALANCING FACT AND FICTION IN THE WINNER: A BALLROOM DANCE NOVEL
By Erin Bomboy
While writing The Winner, it didn’t take long for me to realize I had a problem. A big one. There was no way to accurately reflect the world of competitive ballroom dancing AND craft a page-turning narrative. Ballroom dancing is too complex, too lively, and most of all, too cyclic to be realistically depicted thanks to word-count limitations. This meant I had to make changes, knowing that whatever ones I did make, both major and minor, were likely to irk readers who are ballroom dancers.
No matter what the story required, I refused to compromise the dancing. All steps and techniques align with the syllabus of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Every description of dancing is true to my lived experience and those alongside whom I danced. I must add the caveat that words can never fully represent the visceral reality of dancing.
For those new to ballroom dancing, it may surprise you to learn that its vocabulary isn’t especially challenging — mostly because the steps are based on weight changes: left, then right, left again. The average person can show up at a local studio and, in just a handful of lessons, learn to execute a few basics with reasonable competence.
But that is only the beginning, which is far from the ending. Getting good, much less great, takes thousands of hours. Ballroom dancing is extraordinarily nuanced, each action consisting of tiny particulars — a tilt this way, a sway that way. Competitive ballroom dancers spend years chasing first place, whirling through a sweaty, tear-soaked loop of practicing, perfecting, and competing.
But this is boring, both to write and to read. In the interest of keeping my story taut and vivid, I condensed time. For instance, one of my characters goes from teacher-training class to having a better than good chance at winning a professional title in a little over two years — a feat that usually takes a decade or so.
When I felt it appropriate, I altered space. As an example, I moved the location of the national championship from Florida, its current location, to New York, its original location, which is also the setting for much of the novel. This kept my climactic moments from being dragged down with travel minutia.
The Winner ends with a fact-versus-fiction section, so practitioners can appreciate my reasoning and newbies can gain a fuller picture. If you do me the honor of reading, I’d love to hear what you think about this world I created that evokes, but doesn’t represent, competitive ballroom dancing in the United States.
This was supposed to be Nina Fortunova's year to win. Instead, she is divorced, without a partner on and off the dance floor. Nina takes to training a young couple, Carly and Sam. Soon, teacher and student become competitors as Nina finds a new partner in Jorge, a Latin Dancer who wants to transition to smooth and Carly gets picked up by Trey, a three time National champion. Both ladies will do whatever it takes to win, but will they take it too far?
Riveting and captivating, The Winner threw me into the exciting world of competitive ballroom dancing. I did ballroom dancing for a few years in college, which is what initially sparked my interest in the book, so I had no trouble following along with the styles, techniques and feelings evoked by each dance. However, even if you know nothing about dance, you should be able to follow along just fine without feeling overwhelmed. The scenes described in the practice studio and the competition were so vivid that I could smell the sweat and hairspray. I enjoyed reading the contrasting storylines of Nina and Carly. Nina, an older dancer who, determined to win the Nationals after working her way through the ranks and Carly, a new dancer to the scene who wants to win Nationals in a short period of time. Both Carly and Nina are determined and talented, but have very different motivations. The side stories of both Nina and Carly's backgrounds added drama to the story. Nina believes she must accomplish a great feat and be successful for her mother who sacrificed everything to come to America and give her opportunities; whereas Carly's parents are forcing her to be a special education teacher in order to better help people like her brother, Archer, who is autistic. When Carly finds a dream of her own, they are not supportive. What was highlighted most for me however, was the connection you find while dancing, especially with a partner.
"And with connection, all things were possible. One person's limits were halved and his or her prospects doubled when paired with another. Four legs rooted into the earth, allowing two hearts and two heads to reach heavenward."
The ending was very surprising and moved quickly through time seeming a little disjointed with the rest of the book. Overall, an immersive and enthralling read taking you deep into the world of ballroom dancing.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Guest Post:
BALANCING FACT AND FICTION IN THE WINNER: A BALLROOM DANCE NOVEL
By Erin Bomboy
While writing The Winner, it didn’t take long for me to realize I had a problem. A big one. There was no way to accurately reflect the world of competitive ballroom dancing AND craft a page-turning narrative. Ballroom dancing is too complex, too lively, and most of all, too cyclic to be realistically depicted thanks to word-count limitations. This meant I had to make changes, knowing that whatever ones I did make, both major and minor, were likely to irk readers who are ballroom dancers.
No matter what the story required, I refused to compromise the dancing. All steps and techniques align with the syllabus of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Every description of dancing is true to my lived experience and those alongside whom I danced. I must add the caveat that words can never fully represent the visceral reality of dancing.
For those new to ballroom dancing, it may surprise you to learn that its vocabulary isn’t especially challenging — mostly because the steps are based on weight changes: left, then right, left again. The average person can show up at a local studio and, in just a handful of lessons, learn to execute a few basics with reasonable competence.
But that is only the beginning, which is far from the ending. Getting good, much less great, takes thousands of hours. Ballroom dancing is extraordinarily nuanced, each action consisting of tiny particulars — a tilt this way, a sway that way. Competitive ballroom dancers spend years chasing first place, whirling through a sweaty, tear-soaked loop of practicing, perfecting, and competing.
But this is boring, both to write and to read. In the interest of keeping my story taut and vivid, I condensed time. For instance, one of my characters goes from teacher-training class to having a better than good chance at winning a professional title in a little over two years — a feat that usually takes a decade or so.
When I felt it appropriate, I altered space. As an example, I moved the location of the national championship from Florida, its current location, to New York, its original location, which is also the setting for much of the novel. This kept my climactic moments from being dragged down with travel minutia.
The Winner ends with a fact-versus-fiction section, so practitioners can appreciate my reasoning and newbies can gain a fuller picture. If you do me the honor of reading, I’d love to hear what you think about this world I created that evokes, but doesn’t represent, competitive ballroom dancing in the United States.
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