Dancing on the Dark Side

“Dancing on the Dark Side” is set in contemporary Salem, Massachusetts, where an unfaithful fiancé and a skanky roommate send Bliss in search of a new beginning. Miraculously, a place opens up at Windhaven, with both a scholarship and a TA position. Totally unheard of for a transfer student, but she knows better than to question her luck. 

The populace at Windhaven is a bit different. A sexy barista flees the shop after she places her order, but reappears in her dance class. Her roommate, Rowan, always seems to know exactly what to say. More than a few females are resentful of her smooth slide into the TA job. Then there’s the feeling that somehow everything seems familiar, a sort of Déjà Vu…only not in this lifetime.

“Dancing on the Dark Side” seamlessly combines magic, vampires, legends and past lives in a believable, intriguing read. This fast-paced novel features lush imagery, realistic dialogue, and shows as opposed to tells. Bliss is a likable college student whose twin goals include being the best dancer she can be and getting away from a sucky situation. Even though her attraction to barista Ciarán is immediate, her realization that they knew each other in another lifetime is slower in coming, which gives it an authentic feel. Ciaran is a strong character, wrestling both with his love for Bliss and who she was in another life, and how that life ended because of him.

 Máirín Fisher-Fleming draws together fae, folklore, hot dancers, and college-life conflicts into this year’s must-read novel! 

Morgan Stamm