Dawn of the Dance

Dance #1

by Marianne K. Martin

Moni seeks the healing touch that only another woman can give, but Paige turns out to be a heartbreaker. Devastated, Moni vows to never get close to a woman again—until she looks into Katherine’s sweet, seductive eyes. Among her varied careers, Marianne K. Martin has been a public school teacher, a photojournalist and collegiate field hockey coach. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Genres: Lesbian Romance, LGBT, Lesbian, Fiction, Romance, Lesbian Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Ms Martin taught in the Michigan public school system for twenty-five years, has worked as a photo-journalist, a photographer, and coached both high school and collegiate teams as well as amateur ASA teams. Her coaching career produced many Tri-County and MHSAA championship basketball and softball teams and championship ASA softball teams. She was founder of the Michigan Woman's Major Fastpitch Assoc. and its president for ten years. In 1973 she won the precedent-setting case in a Michigan court establishing equal pay for women coaches.

Ms Martin is the best-selling author of Legacy of Love, Love in the Balance, Never Ending, Dawn of the Dance, Dance in the Key of Love, and three Lambda Literary Award finalists, Mirrors, Under the Witness Tree, and For Now, For Always.

Her short stories have been included in a number of anthologies. Her most recent, Fire and Ice, appears in the second edition of the on-line issue of Read These Lips.

She is co-owner of Bywater Books and currently splits her time between her publishing responsibilities and writing.

Reviews

[Lillyfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

im very torn about this book bc love me some lesbian first love and older woman drama and some of the sentences were so beautifully written but sometimes it felt like there’s something missing of the storyline and the ending was super random tbh but overall easy read and the author managed very well to put the sapphic tension and longing for love of another women into words like these sex scenes made me blush and giggle on the beach #lesbians

[Dide · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a splendid read. There are a number of lines here that I am craving to be the subject of and to in turn evoke.
Applause to the author but the book cover really doesn't do justice to the quality of the content.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book vaguely unsetting. I'm not sure if it was the student/teacher relationship or the first love unresolved disappearance or perhaps a combination. The writing was very good and the main characters interesting as well as the supporting cast, but sometimes I found myself trying to find where in the timeline I was at times. The story did resonate as much of the plot was similar to my college experience in the late 70's. This book was/is a testament to the times when it was written and the lifestyle at the time. I plan to read more of the author's work. This was a quick read.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly good, too much material felt skipped over. Some sentences were very good. Premise was weak, and the ending was trite.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Marianne Martin's writing style. I tend to nit-pick at every book finding grammatical flaws and sentence structures that don't belong. That takes away from a book. But i find that this author has a style of writing that flows so well that you don't give a crap about punctuation or fragmented sentences. Her writing is poetic. you are transported into whatever emotion she is trying to convey. It's what she does so well and will always get 5 stars for her ability to express stories and emotions through words.

The story though, wasn't a 5 star story for me. I don't doubt the veracity of situations happening like that within the walls of education. But i haven't lived it, so it didn't speak to me personally. I didn't like the telling of this story as much as the others i've read of hers, mainly due to the first part of the book that has Moni flashing back and forth in time. I read this book originally in April, and now again months later, and found myself still spending time going over and flipping back and trying to figure out what is going on and what year we're in now. Is she in front of the house in the past or the future here? etc.

I loved the chemistry she depicted between Moni and Katherine, when i got to that part the second time i read it, i lingered over and savored every word, even though i remembered it well. This is a poetic love story.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why another Good Reads member called this book "preachy." This title pales in comparison to Marianne K. Martin's other novel _Love In The Balance_, which had a smoother, more natural flow.

It's not that there isn't reason for a preachy attitude here (the two main characters have to deal head on with misogyny AND blatant, violent homophobia), but that the writing just didn't jell well in the handling of subject matter. To be fair...it's hard NOT to get preachy when dealing with so much hate from people who have serious problems with gays and lesbians. Still, it makes for an altogether awkward read.

[Bywater Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Moni Matteson fell for Paige Flemming she thought her loneliness was over. Paige, the sleek athlete with the mysterious past, taught Moni what it felt like to want, to need, and finally to love. She also taught her what it felt like to be left--

College finds Moni studying hard and trying to put the past behind her. Romance has no room in her life, until she meets Katherine Cunningham and faces a challenge she is ill prepared for.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read three books by Marianne K. Martin. And every time I have the same dilemma. I think some parts are very good, while there are also parts that are not of the same quality. There are dialogues between the main characters that really touched me, and those scene's are written very tastefully. Still, I do not know whether it is a book that I must keep in my book collection. The question is, would I read it again? I have no answer to that at the moment.

[Female Person · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so damn preachy. Every aspect of this book was smothered by the preaching. There was nothing left to enjoy.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought it was pretty good.

[FionaH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but lost a star as I don't like being lectured at by fiction.