Grease Monkey Jive

by Ainslie Paton

A romance about changing the game, finding the truth
and fancy footwork

She thought love was make-believe and
the last person to prove her wrong would be a player.

When ballroom teacher Alex Gibson danced with Dan Maddox she’s reminded of the time she stuck a knife in the toaster, gave herself an electric shock and saw stars. He’s precisely the type of man Alex’s mother warned her off – a player, like the father who abandoned her.

Dan Maddox comes from a long line of men who were hiding under the hood of a beat up old car when the ‘successful relationship’ gene was given out, but he was first in the queue for an extra jolt of chick pulling power.

The chicks in Dan’s life are universally gorgeous, random, disposable, and answer to the name Baby until one drunken night when he picks the wrong girl, hurts a good friend and realises that unless he does something to change, he’ll end up like his violent, unstable father.

It’s Pimp My Ride meets Dancing With The Stars as Alex and Dan come together to compete in a ballroom dancing competition that changes the way they both feel about relationships and love.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Ebooks, Fiction

414 pages, ebook

First published July 4, 2012

About the author

Ainslie Paton always wanted to write stories to make people smile, but the need to eat, accumulate books, and have bedclothes to read under was ever present. She sold out, and worked as a flack, a suit, and a creative, ghosting for business leaders, rabble-rousers, and politicians, and making words happen for companies, governments, causes, conditions, high-profile CEOs, low-profile celebs, and the occasional misguided royal. She still does that. She also writes for love and so she can buy shoes, and the good cat food.

Reviews

[Kristiej · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This book came up as a recommendation through Amazon. Despite the rather silly sounding title, the grease monkey part got my attention as a much prefer a mechanic over a millionaire as a hero. After reading the outline, it sounded good enough for me so I bought it. Since I was in the mood for a good blue collar hero romance I started it up right away and was enchanted with this book. So much I could barely put it down. Only the fact my power kept being used up on my iPad kept me from reading it straight through.

The book starts out with a "grab your attention" beginning. Alex, our herine is a dancer and when she dances for Dan, our hero, the first time she feels like you do when you stick a knife in a toaster. As I've done that I know how it feels. The story then goes back a bit to give us a look into hero/heroine.

Dan is a real charmer. He surfs, he works, he hangs out with his mates and he fucks. Women find him irresistible and he makes no effort to resist them at all when he and his friends hang out at their favourite bar and it would be so easy to dislike him completely, BUT he is beginning to look into his own character and he's not liking what he sees. He sees he is starting to become like his father, a mean asshole of a guy and Dan wants to change who he is.

Alex is focused and driven. She's attending school so she can become a business woman, she's dating a classAjerk of a boyfriend because her mother approves of him. But her real passionis ballroom dancing. She and her partner for years teach dance and are signed up for one final dance completion.

Alex and Dan meet when on a dare Dan and a couple of his mates sign up for dance lessons. Sparks fly right off the bat for the two of them even though they are complete opposites. Dan is a wonderful hero wanting to change. He completely falls for Alex and I love when this happens. There is so much to love about this book right from cover to cover and it hit all my buttons, great chapter development, well fleshed out secondary characters and a tender believable love story. This book gets a Hugh thumbs up.

[Rosario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, I'm one of the many, many readers who bought Grease Monkey Jive after seeing the interviews with the publisher at Dear Author and SBTB (those interviews have probably sold a lot of books for Escape Publishing, I've bought 4 of their titles so far!). The way the book was described was as a romance "that mixes Strictly Ballroom with Pimp My Ride", all set in Australia. That sounded right up my street.

It was. It wasn't perfect, but I really enjoyed it.

Our two protagonists are two very different people. Dan Maddox is a total player. He can attract women just by crooking his finger at them, and he does hookups, not relationships. His life is all about his mates, surfing, sex, and his low-stress work as a mechanic. He parties like there's no tomorrow, and he does so frequently. And then, one night, he does something very stupid, and realises he's turning into his father.

Now, that is a shock to him. His father is a bitter, ugly drunk, a violent man who beat him up as a child, after his mother's death. Dan really doesn't want to be anything like him, and he decides that he needs to change, especially to start relating to women in a different way.

One of his nicest childhood memories is of his ballroom dancer mother, and with the help of a bet, he and his friends end up taking classes at a nearby dance studio. One of their teachers is Alex Gibson. Alex is an excellent dancer, but she's also doing a business degree, as she feels she needs to be sensible about her career. This is therefore the last year she participates in a dance competition, with her partner and fellow teacher, Scott. They've got a very good chance of winning, and the prize money will be extremely useful in helping her pay for the rest of her degree.

And then Scott breaks his ankle. Due to a loophole in the rules, they can bring in another partner for Alex until he recovers, but all the good pros are otherwise engaged. Dan, who's actually a naturally good dancer, is their only hope, especially because the chemistry between him and Alex is explosive, on and off the dance floor.

The chemistry might be explosive, but we don't get immediate satisfaction. The romance here is slow and gradual. Alex has a boyfriend (who's quite an arse, actually), and Dan really is determined to change the way he relates to women. He and Alex become friends first, and their relationship takes a while to move to the next level. It's very, very satisfying, especially to see Dan open himself to a type of relationship he'd always completely dismissed.

So the romance at the centre of the book is great, but what I also really liked was that the book is wider than that. Friends and family are well drawn, and Alex and Dan's relationships with them are important, and well-developed. These people around them have a big influence on them, and this is acknowledged.

The other thing to say is that, the premise might sound a bit preposterous, but when you're reading the book, it's actually believable. It helps that Paton doesn't even try to pretend that an inexperienced, if gifted, dancer like Dan could do what has taken pro dancers years of hard work. The whole thing works for him and Alex only because they play up the attrction between them and get lots of extra points for the entertainment value, but even then, they only get enough points to barely hang in the competition without being eliminated.

The book's also got a great sense of place, and I enjoyed the Sidney setting and that it really felt Australian. The language is not made neutral, and I loved that. I actually had to look up a couple of terms that I couldn't figure out from the context (like "ranga", who knew?), but you know what? I'm a grown-up, I can handle that!

Unfortunately, as I said, it's not a perfect book. The big conflict in the romance, when it comes, didn't feel completely natural. It relies on a character pushing the other one away for reasons that didn't convince me, and the resolution of this is pretty drawn out. Which brings me to my other issue: much as I liked the wide focus of the story, it did feel a little bloated, like it needed some editing to tighten it up and trim some of the flab. That could have been done without losing the gradual feeling of the romance.

On the whole, though, this was great, and I'm glad I took the plunge and bought it (it was a really reasonable price, too!). I'm now looking forward to trying the other books I bought on my binge!

MY GRADE: A strong B.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is silly but loved the story. Relationship between Dan/Alex develops like a slow grin. The sexual tension when they’re together is like combustible energy. The romantic/sex scenes while sexy are not graphic. As a matter of fact, they’re so veiled I had to go back and re-read those scenes several times wondering “ok, they did the deed right?” Kind of unusual but didn’t take away from the story for me. After a while some of romantic scenes of the bks I’ve been reading lately just drone on and don’t do anything for me and just seem, well... boring. This bk was a nice change of pace. Minimal sex deets aside I thought this was great story. Loved Dan, of course, and Alex has a few smackable moments holding on to her anger just a mite too long; thought she was a bit of a snob too. Endearing side characters, Alex's posse and all of Dan’s gang (Mitch, Ant, Fluke, etc). Strong emotional moment at the 89% mark, I’m crying, but not from anything bad, just happy tears. Nice character development as they both overcome mental and emotional hurdles. Thought this was just an overall good story.

Will definitely try more bks by this Aussie author.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I mostly enjoyed this while I was reading it, but the more I think about it the less I liked it.

* It's very long, and condensing some of the scenes would have improved the book a lot. Sometimes there's such a thing as too much detail, especially when said detail shows up out of the blue and is never mentioned again. (Like the names of the hero's uncles in the hospital scene. They're mentioned as if they've shown up before and do nothing but leer and argue as if they're auditioning for roles as back-up scene-chewers at a community theatre production.)

* There's a ton of narrative head-hopping -- which I don't mind so long as I can follow the action, but the author would sometimes switch POV mid-paragraph, which caused me some confusion.

* The promiscuous hero... eh, I thought he was a total creep at the beginning and kind of an idiot throughout, but he grew on me eventually. I can sympathize with self-defeating behavior, less so with a golden-boy thug.

* The heroine was an odd mix of self-assured and assertive, but strangely wimpy when it came to putting up with bordering-on-abuse crap from her boyfriend (not the hero). (Which mostly just reminded me that she was only 24, and I'm at the point where that's starting to seem really young.)

* Then came the end and... it was a mess. Strangely rushed and jumbled, with a kitchen-sink approach to adding in last-minute obstacles that get resolved/glossed over with a couple of sentences and a dance scene. Pretty much the opposite of satisfying. (Unless it's scored by Gershwin and I get to see said dance scene.)

[Liz B · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I finished this. And it also took me a while to read. That's a good thing--very few romance novels, especially contemporaries, seem to have any heft to them, and this one definitely does.

I think this is one that is only available as an e-book.

The premise is a fun one, especially for fans of shows like Dancing with the Stars. The heroine is a competitive ballroom dancer whose partner gets injured, so she has to train a new partner. The new partner has lots of talent but no experience; he's also a total player.

The start was terrific--very engaging, some fast but effective characterization, and the first few scenes together for the hero & heroine were pitch-perfect.

As a whole, the book only gets three stars from me because it was too long. Contradiction, of course, but true. I liked that it was long, but not every scene felt necessary. It picks up again at the end, though, so if you like contemporaries and you like dance contests and you like enemies-to-friends, then I recommend it for you.

[Adele Buck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long. So long. Too long. Bloated and poorly copyedited (She "titled" her head. Really?).

The good: the dialogue was excellent. I could hear Australian accents in my head. The dance content was also fun. But damn, it took Alex fully 50% of the way through the book to see that her boyfriend (not the hero) was an emotionally abusive bastard? I get that people tell themselves lies when they think that they're in love, but then it takes her less than 24 hours to get over him. And this in a book that is (did I mention?) WAY TOO BLOATED AND LONG. So the pacing was basically all off.

And there were SO MANY POV CHANGES. Another reviewer mentioned some happened in the same paragraph. I didn't notice that level, but definitely sometimes several POV hops on one page. It was too much.

So this was a DNF for me. I didn't hate it. I just didn't want to spend another two plus hours with these characters.

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to like about Grease Monkey Jive, there are two great characters in Alex and Dan, there is great funny snappy dialogue, the situation of mixing ballroom with a player, and the fact that the characters have an actual story to tell. I immediately got drawn into the story, and liked how it started with the first between Alex and Dan, creating all this chemistry, but then went back in time to show your where it started. It was great getting a glimpse of initial heat between them because a lot of back story is then provided, and it helped knowing it was going somewhere.

There are also great secondary characters in this book, Dan's mates work really well, and I loved the banter they had going on. They also felt so real to me, nothing about them seemed fake. I wondered after finishing this story if any of them may end up with their own.

So all was going well for me, liking the characters, liking the story, liking the growth they are doing, that was until the sex scenes came, and then something happened to the writing that I did not like. They sex scenes made me laugh out loud (and not in a good way). It was like they were written by someone else. They did not have the same sound or flow was the rest of the story. The lines used to describe it were not romantic, but on the "vague but lets be creative side", and kind of repetitive. Just a few examples of this are
- the flat trampoline of her stomach
- her skin was hypersensitive, allergic to Dan's touch
- their outer skins were discarded ... their outer voices discarded too.
- the moguls of his abdomen
- he was too close, too far, too heavy, too light, too nowhere, too everywhere
- they overheated in the warm kitchen, brought to the boil too quickly, too much simmer, too much steam
- hands fast fumbling, breaking away for buttons and zips, coming back together, to grasp, to stroke, too kiss, to push away fabric, to reveal

The sex scene took away the flow of the story for me and it took a while for me get back into it. Personally if the sex scene had not been there but alluded too instead it would have worked so much better, and this book would be a four star read. If the author re wrote them the same would apply. I really did like the story, and it is such a shame this took away from the rest of the book.
Will I read it again? Maybe, but skip the sex scene

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 2 out of 5]

If GR had a 2.5 option, I'd use it for this book. There were some lovely aspects to this book. I loved the dialogue which to me was More realistic than the majority of books I have read. The expletives were perfectly woven through the story. The sex scenes were gorgeous. They made my heart jolt yet they were not at all graphic. And I liked the whole suite of characters and their strong Australian identity. The main protagonists, Alex and Dan, are suited but for me this story was about Dan. He was a sympathetic character and reading his inner struggles was saddening though his strong male friendships were good to see. He was no lone rider.

However, this book was overly long for my liking. I couldn't get into the ballroom dancing scenes which were central to the story. I don't mind head jumping for different characters perspective but I felt there was too much and I couldn't work out why there was so much time spent in Scott's mind. To be fair, my favourite reading is short and intense, category romance style, and this book is not short. At times, I found myself skim reading to the dialogue and I wish it had been slightly tighter. And the fact that I found I was skimming is what tipped me to 2 stars not the other way. I will probably read another Paton book because I loved her dialogue and I am a dialogue junkie. This book would suit people who enjoy longer reads.

[Kate Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally liked Dan - I mean, he was damaged and a jerk, but he was trying.

But I could not STAND Alex. I guess some of the most annoying snobbery was coming from her dance partner (Scott? I can't remember his name), but she didn't interfere. So they drag Dan into a situation where he's doing a HUGE favour for them, then act like TOTAL assholes to him, and there was no real reason for it. I actually would have liked Dan a hell of a lot more if he'd told them off and quit. I have no idea why he didn't, except that the plot demanded he stay.

And I really, really, REALLY wish Dan hadn't turned out to secretly be an ambitious entrepreneur. It took away the one opportunity Alex had to show some character development - if she'd stayed with him even though he was as lazy and complacent as she'd thought, it would have meant she'd changed. As it was, she was just a bitchy princess who got a guy she didn't deserve.

The head-hopping bugged me a bit, too, and I felt like the whole final wave of conflict was just sort of tagged on to make the story longer. If the novel had been edited down and the last third had been left off, I think I would have been a lot happier with the story.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. A womanizing hero who wants more out of life finds love in his ballroom dance teacher (he was made to take ballroom lessons from a bet). The romance is slow to build and it is a great payoff once it happens. The supporting cast is great too. Really sweet and well done. I def recommend. Full review to come.

[M.A. Stacie]

OMG! I have to read this! Sexy ballroom!!!

[Sarah Bonner · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was great!! "strictly ballroom" with a "little girls just want to have fun" mixed in! I LOVED IT!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this could have been yet another run-of-the-mill romance about a playboy hero, it's not. This is because:

1. Dan hates that he's a player and decides to change.
2. Most people around him condemn him for his lifestyle.
3. His decision to change has nothing to do with true lurve. In fact, he's well on his way to execute his plan to change before he meets the heroine, Alex.
4. He sticks to his plans no matter what happens and doesn't get off the wagon at the first opportunity. Even with Alex.
5. He's a genuinely nice guy who constantly reflects on his behaviour.
6. Not a douche. One could go so far as to say he's dreamy.

Oh, and the rest of the characters are great too, especially all the friends.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the fully realized world that the author created here - all the secondary characters around the two main characters are so lively and recognizable, it gives the story a lot of depth. Also, it was unusually long for a romance, which I enjoyed - it contributed to the strong sense of place created in this book.

[Kristi Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun

[Kat at Book Thingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Click here for my full review at Book Thingo.

Most of the books I read nowadays are romance, so it’s not often that I find a one that makes me feel like I’m reading something new in the genre. Until a book like Grease Monkey Jive reminds me that, yes, this genre is more than capable of surprising me in all the right ways.

Grease Monkey Jive opens with ballroom dancing instructor and performer Alex Gibson having a bit of a moment with dance partner Dan Maddox, and as I read the first chapter, I settled down for a lovely, comfortable read. Little did I know. It turns out that this is only a teaser, and the story flashes back to introduce the characters and the plot. It takes a while for Alex and Dan’s stories to converge and come back to where it began in the book, but it’s a fabulous journey—more so Dan’s than Alex’s.

This book isn’t for readers who have rigid views on how romance novels should be written. If you have hang-ups about point of view, structure, timelines and all the other elements that make romance novels comfortable, you’ll need to let go of them before starting this book. Paton keeps enough romance conventions to make the story familiar—the unbelievable physical chemistry between Alex and Dan, the plot manipulation—but she never lets you get too comfortable. Few of the characters in the story are easily pigeonholed.

Dan is rough and gritty and mostly unapologetic about it—he drinks, he sleeps around, he’s in for a bit of a biffo, he does drugs—as are his circle of friends. He’s basically a modern-day rake, but unlike most romances where the heroine is the catalyst for the reforming the hero, for the most part Dan manages this process on his own. Alex is instrumental in the process, as are his mates and even his odious father, but Dan’s journey to self-awareness is largely internal and at times solitary. Alex’s character arc complements Dan’s, but it’s nowhere near as intense or as compelling.

I think Paton’s narrative style is unique in the genre—I haven’t read a romance book like this before. It’s a double-edged sword. The slow build up will frustrate readers expecting a romance novel as you’d typically find in the genre. But the story as a whole moves rather beautifully, and in particular the way Dan’s story unfolds. At first, I thought it should’ve started later—after Dan has decided to change his footloose ways—but the story would have lost some of its depth and uniqueness if it had been written that way.

The sex scenes in this book aren’t graphic. If not for the situations in which the characters find themselves, these scenes are almost old-fashioned in their ability to avoid sex words. But they’re freaking hot. Who knew back alley sex could be so sexy and sordid and angsty and lovely all at the same time! Paton has a flair for writing these scenes with a certain lyricism that made me ache.

Who might enjoy it: Readers who love a flawed hero

Who might not enjoy it: Readers who expect Aussie romance heroes to be Hugh Jackman clones

[Ellen (more books, please) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why was I surprised? I don't really know. Maybe because I have never heard of the author. Maybe because I don't remember buying this which means it was either really cheap or free. Maybe because I don't think grease is romantic.

But let me tell you, this was a story that I immersed myself in. I carried my Kindle around sightseeing on spring break (I never take my Kindle out and about) just so I could READ every chance I got. Yes, I even sat in a museum and read a few pages instead of walking around looking at the art, really good art.

I know nothing of dancing or mechanicking, but the situations and set-ups seemed authentic.
Every time I went, oh, obvious plot device, I was shown, no, not so obvious and most believeable. Yes, they are both gorgeous; yes, he does happen to have money; yes, there was a convenient breakage of bone; but there were also back stories and most satisfying ways of incorporating those devices into the story.

I will say there were editing issues, more and more as the story progressed. Wrong words were used (even allowing for the Australian use of words), words were misspelled, and sentence construction at times would almost make you stand on your head. These problems would generally throw me out of a book. In this case, I just plowed on and only got mildly irritated with yet another "alright." In case you are wondering, everybody in the book is "alright." I know this because everybody in the book was asked if they were "alright" at least thirty-two times, at least it seemed like it.

The H/h were believable. Their life situations were believable. While there was insta-lust that was purposely and ruthlessly pushed down for a myriad of authentic reasons, once the H/h did get involved, they worked through that myriad of issues. You read the arc of the relationship. The insta-lust was fed with personal histories, life stories, interaction and it grew to a real love.

As we are dealing with a "romance," it was inevitable that a road block would go up, and it did. It was a large block, it was a realistic reaction to one of those obvious plot devices, but again, it "felt" real. I keep wanting to say "authentic," but it feels too redundant. But authentic it is, well, if you are a professionally trained ballroom dancer and a mechanic.

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed reading this, as in I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning trying to finish it (I did not succeed).

1. It was way too long. A third of the yakking could have been cut out and it would have still been a good story.
2. Despite the extreme length, the ending was a little rushed. How is this possible?
3. While it was written competently, it could have used a little more polishing up. A few misspellings and grammar boo-boos, nothing too egregious, some of the spelling bits could have been formatting issues, as it was often letters dropped from the end of words.
4. There were too many unnecessary p.o.v's and narration shifts. I couldn't always tell who I was reading. And the secondary character views didn't add anything to the story.

However, I did like a lot about the story too.
1. Scott, the gay best friend, wasn't The Gay Best Friend.
2. The friendships between the dudes seemed authentic.
3. Dan was an actual nice guy, just an occasionally misguided, drunk slut, and I bought his transformation. I definitely appreciated that his decision and desire to change wasn't initially prompted by Alex (even if she was later a factor).
4. Australia sounds awesome? As in, yes it sounds legitimately awesome, but some of the slang I didn't get. That's cool though, I used the internet.

I liked this enough to not regret having spent money on it. That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, but considering how often I finish a book and wish I could build a time capsule so I can get back my time and money, it's pretty high praise.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An interesting pair.

Later: bumping this up to 4 stars. I'm reading the follow-up to this, "Desk Jockey Jam" which continues on with Ant's story and am realizing how much I respect Paton's calibre of writing. These books aren't shallow, even if they are romances. They are good value for money, and way better quality reads than a lot of the overpriced hardbacks I've been finding lately.

I changed my star rating because I decided that I was being internally snobbish by not rating these higher due to their genre. That's not fair. They are good books, about human beings trying to get along in their world, dealing with others, juggling responsibilities, trying to be the best they can be. They have jobs, they have friends, they have families, and interesting careers and hobbies...I respect that. This particular novel was about growing as a person, as much as it was about finding a mate.

Have I talked you into trying one yet?

I will say that for an American, the Aussie slang is harder for me to understand than the typical British. But there's always Google, plus I can usually guess from the connotation.

One more plus: I'm on my 3rd Paton book now, and she hasn't recycled a plot, or a character, or a scene yet. I sure can't say that about many authors I've come across.

[Lady Lioness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this after reading Jane's Dear Author review.

I liked it, but the first half was much stronger. The fact that the 'conflict' stemmed from their relationship developing rather than outside forces was a refreshing change. I also enjoyed Dan's POV whenever it came around. I thought the supporting characters were very fleshed out and it was kinda nice reading about a romance that wasn't set in the USA for a change.

However, I would have liked a touch more ballroom stuff, like how they were graded, some problems had a rather convenient solution, and I felt like Alex descended into whining and willful blindness by the end.

Overall, though, I think it was worth the 0.99 I paid for it and I'd definitely read another book by this author.

[Georgina Penney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I forgot to write a review for this book. I loved it heaps when I picked it up and read it in one sitting.

Grease Monkey Jive was one of the first romances by an Australian author that I read and it totally converted me.

I fell in love with her hero within the first couple of pages and I'm afraid my memory of the heroine is a little blurry because the gentleman stole the show. (Which doesn't mean the lady wasn't likeable. It just means the hero was so perv worthy I ended up fantasizing about him far too much.)

Her male characters were so convincingly Australian. They were human enough to be likable but hot enough to keep a lady interested and the dialogue was stellar.

If you haven't read this one yet, give it a go. It's awesome.

[Purple · Rating 3 out of 5]

More lust than love. Interesting story but it made sleepy at some point and maybe because of that I missed the major signs of love.
I loved the guys, Fluke more than the others (too bad that Fluke, Mitch and Katie didn't get their own stories).
It was funny and a very good story about friendship. Also, Scott and Trevor were amazing.
I didn't like the abrupt way the author chose to handle Dan's relationship with his father, but maybe it was easier that way.
Alex isn't a very likable character, nor intuitive. Her romantic relationship with Phil is obvious a joke but she'd rather not face the facts. Dan is pure fantasy. Fortunately, the rest of the cast was much more credible.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romantic contemporary set in Australia. The story revolves around a player-Dan, and a ballroom teacher-Alex. Circumstances led them together and the story unfolds as these two "dance" their way to love. Multiple subplots enhance the romantic story line along with some very wonderfully developed secondary characters. We watch as both Dan and Alex reevaluate their lives and learn that while we are the product of our childhoods, we are not our parents. A long story that reads quick and smooth.

["E" · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. It had some interesting characters and good dialogue, but it was in desperate need of some editing to shorten it and tighten up the story.

The hero, Dan, was a tool. But since he knew he was a tool and tried to change, I still liked him. Alex, the heroine, was less likeable and I never really came around to thinking Dan should stick with her and her attitude.

I've now read two books by Ainslie Paton and both were nicely written stories that would be greatly improved with some editing.

[Tressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Grease Monkey Jive. I enjoyed how the relationship between Alex and Dan developed; it was a lovely slow burn.

I do think that there were sentences and paragraphs that could have used more tightening up and some different word choices. I did wish that there were more descriptors of the characters as I did get confused. I think the author, Ainslie Paton, has a lot of promise and I look forward to reading more by her.

[Nicola Marsh]

The world of ballroom dancing intrigues me so I was immediately drawn to this book when I heard dancing was at the heart of it.

It didn't disappoint.

But for me, the hero made this book. Totally.

Dan is compelling, flawed, complex and completely HOT.
He is human, a real character you can't help but be drawn to.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice read featuring a mechanic and student/ballroom dancer. Very good characterisation for both hero and heroine and the secondary characters. I liked the beginning half of the book best because it seemed a little stronger. Another bonus is the length of the story since this is no novella! If you like contemporary romances you'll enjoy this one.

[Susan Scribner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Ainslie Paton fan and I know this book really jump-started her career, but it wasn't my favorite. Too much head-hopping and a long, drawn-out breakup that almost made me forget why Alex and Dan belonged together. Loved the dance scenes and the supporting characters (would love to see Paton write an M/M romance for Scott).

[D.B. Tait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, quirky contemporary Australian romance. A real hero's journey. Fast, funny dialogue and an unlikely setting that really works. Yes, there's a Strictly Ballroom feel to it, but it's about getting real and growing up as well.

[Cate Ellink · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more than a romance - it's their whole lives. Friends and family are swept into this sweeping story that's set in Sydney, Australia. Well worth the read for startlingly true characters, a good deep storyline, and a bunch of rag-tag mates I'd love to have!