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Star Cruise #10
Dream Dancer
Micki Allwell is a Comettes dancer aboard the luxurious interstellar cruise liner Nebula Zephyr. She’s offered the opportunity to take part in a celebrity dance contest to be held on the ship but her partner is a billionaire without dance experience or much interest in the contest, which his powerful family has pressured him to enter for their own reasons.
Josh Benfield has a galaxy of business deals going on every hour of the day, all over the Sectors. He has no time for dancing but his professional partner is an intriguing woman who insists he take the competition seriously. He knows she has secrets and he’s intrigued. The intimacy of partnering in dance sparks a romance between the two of them but how long can it last?
Will seven weeks of competition in close quarters aboard the ship be enough to make Micki and Josh permanent partners? Or will the stark differences in their lives and pasts lead to heartbreak? And who is going to take home the trophy?
This 54K word novel is the latest in the Star Cruise series. Have you booked your Star Cruise yet?
Josh Benfield has a galaxy of business deals going on every hour of the day, all over the Sectors. He has no time for dancing but his professional partner is an intriguing woman who insists he take the competition seriously. He knows she has secrets and he’s intrigued. The intimacy of partnering in dance sparks a romance between the two of them but how long can it last?
Will seven weeks of competition in close quarters aboard the ship be enough to make Micki and Josh permanent partners? Or will the stark differences in their lives and pasts lead to heartbreak? And who is going to take home the trophy?
This 54K word novel is the latest in the Star Cruise series. Have you booked your Star Cruise yet?
- GenresScience Fiction Romance
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 2024
7 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Veronica Scott
91 books243 followersUSA Today Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author.
Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
MISC FACTS ABOUT VERONICA
Seven time winner ~ SFR Galaxy Award
Proud recipient ~ NASA Exceptional Service Medal but must hasten to add the honor was not for her romantic fiction!
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt – I’ll improve your process (mwahahahaa)!
Elvis Presley’s best friend once serenaded Veronica on a local TV telethon…now that could be a novel…
Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
MISC FACTS ABOUT VERONICA
Seven time winner ~ SFR Galaxy Award
Proud recipient ~ NASA Exceptional Service Medal but must hasten to add the honor was not for her romantic fiction!
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt – I’ll improve your process (mwahahahaa)!
Elvis Presley’s best friend once serenaded Veronica on a local TV telethon…now that could be a novel…
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 27, 2024
Dancing With the Stars on a space cruise ship! What a fun idea, right? A rags to riches story for the heroine and a class difference romance with her billionaire dancing partner with some intrigue along the way made for one exciting reality competition for both.
The Star Cruise series follows the adventures and romances of the people aboard the Nebula Zephyr. Set in the greater world of Veronica Scott’s The Sectors series of far future sci-fi romance series, but focused on a cruise ship staff and passengers along with a clever sentient ship’s AI.
Dream Dancer is a standalone that is tenth of the Star Cruise series so can be picked up out of order though many of the cruise ship side characters mentioned were the main characters of past books. Mikki is part of the ship’s famous and highly talented Comette’s dance team. She’s getting older and needs to still get her big break to stardom to earn enough money and prestige to be able to retire when her time comes.
Mikki’s partner is a wealthy generational billionaire businessman who barely sets down his business calls to practice. Josh for his part isn’t interested in the dancing, but the chance to discover what a business rival is up to by joining the competition. Mikki’s fire becomes his own and he suddenly wants to win for her sake.
At first, I was a bit ho-hum about the dance competition angle having read other romances set against a Reality TV competition. But, trust Veronica Scott to put an exciting twist to it with that side adventure for them and make me care about the characters and seeing them compete.
Mikki has a gift for dreaming up fabulous choreography and I loved that there were details with that and some of the competition assignments. Thankfully, there wasn’t excess drama from the other competitors or within the growing romance between the dance pair. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there was some good competitor moments and the romance had some snags with them being from two different economic classes. I thought the introduction of the war refugee situation was a tender, thoughtful side piece, too.
All in all, Dream Dancer, got high scores from me and I can’t wait for more from The Sectors and Star Cruise universe. Sci-fi romance fans must add these series on their to-read lists.
Buddy Read with Lola for COYER challenge
The Star Cruise series follows the adventures and romances of the people aboard the Nebula Zephyr. Set in the greater world of Veronica Scott’s The Sectors series of far future sci-fi romance series, but focused on a cruise ship staff and passengers along with a clever sentient ship’s AI.
Dream Dancer is a standalone that is tenth of the Star Cruise series so can be picked up out of order though many of the cruise ship side characters mentioned were the main characters of past books. Mikki is part of the ship’s famous and highly talented Comette’s dance team. She’s getting older and needs to still get her big break to stardom to earn enough money and prestige to be able to retire when her time comes.
Mikki’s partner is a wealthy generational billionaire businessman who barely sets down his business calls to practice. Josh for his part isn’t interested in the dancing, but the chance to discover what a business rival is up to by joining the competition. Mikki’s fire becomes his own and he suddenly wants to win for her sake.
At first, I was a bit ho-hum about the dance competition angle having read other romances set against a Reality TV competition. But, trust Veronica Scott to put an exciting twist to it with that side adventure for them and make me care about the characters and seeing them compete.
Mikki has a gift for dreaming up fabulous choreography and I loved that there were details with that and some of the competition assignments. Thankfully, there wasn’t excess drama from the other competitors or within the growing romance between the dance pair. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there was some good competitor moments and the romance had some snags with them being from two different economic classes. I thought the introduction of the war refugee situation was a tender, thoughtful side piece, too.
All in all, Dream Dancer, got high scores from me and I can’t wait for more from The Sectors and Star Cruise universe. Sci-fi romance fans must add these series on their to-read lists.
Buddy Read with Lola for COYER challenge
May 22, 2024
I read this one as a buddy read with Sophia Rose. Dream Dancer follows dancer Micki and billionaire Josh as they partner up for an interstellar dance competition. I liked the dance competition set up and enjoyed this book. Although it didn't fully managed to hook me I still had a good time reading this one.
The pacing could feel a bit off at times as there are many time skips forward with the focus on the days around the competition live dances and then the start of preparation for the next dance. Due to this the romance also felt like it developed quite quickly, while in fact they had known each other for longer than the few days it felt like.
The dance competition plot was probably my favorite part of the book, it just was very fun to read about. And I wouldn't have minded more about the competition. Now the focus mostly stays on Micki and Josh and the dances they do, I really enjoyed reading about their dances. The other teams who participate only get brief mentions were relevant to the plot and who gets eliminated. Another part I really liked was how the AI Meave plays a role and interacts with Micki when it comes to her planning a dance. There are some fun cameo appearances of a few previous Star Cruise characters as well.
The romance felt well written, but didn't fully win me over. I liked them together and I liked how much they obviously cared about each other, but even so I felt like there was something missing for me to full be invested. I am not a big fan of the billionaire trope, so that part wasn't my favorite, but I did like how Josh obviously cared about the people he worked with and doing good with his money. I didn't like the way he was portrayed at the start of the book, but as the book progressed and we get to see another side of him I began to like him more and I appreciated how he handled things later on in the book. I liked Micki and thought she was a fun character to read about.
I felt the romance went a bit fast at the start with how quickly things heat up and they get together. I would've liked a slightly slower build up. I didn't really care for the steamy parts, something about the way they were written just didn't do it for me, but luckily they weren't very long or detailed even though they were relatively frequent. I didn't like the drama/ conflict part that occurred, the way it all played out just didn't work for me and I was annoyed with how the characters had handled it, although I appreciated how Josh handled things when he realized what happened. The ending was well done and I liked seeing a glimpse of their future.
To summarize: I had fun reading this one even though it didn't fully hook me. I liked the dance competition set up and reading about the dances the couple performs. The romance progresses a bit quickly, which feels even more so due to some time jumps. While I am not a fan of the billionaire trope I liked how Josh wanted to do good with his money and cared for the people he worked with. It took me some time to warm up to him as I didn't like how he was portrayed at first, but he grew more likable as the book progressed. Micki was a fun character to read about. I didn't fully feel their romance, but it was clear they cared for each other. I would've liked a bit of a slower build up and I didn't really care for the steamy parts, luckily the scenes were short even if they were relatively frequent. I didn't like the conflict and how some characters acted, but did appreciate how Josh handled things when he found out what happened. I liked the AI and some characters from previous Star Cruise books who made an cameo appearance.
The pacing could feel a bit off at times as there are many time skips forward with the focus on the days around the competition live dances and then the start of preparation for the next dance. Due to this the romance also felt like it developed quite quickly, while in fact they had known each other for longer than the few days it felt like.
The dance competition plot was probably my favorite part of the book, it just was very fun to read about. And I wouldn't have minded more about the competition. Now the focus mostly stays on Micki and Josh and the dances they do, I really enjoyed reading about their dances. The other teams who participate only get brief mentions were relevant to the plot and who gets eliminated. Another part I really liked was how the AI Meave plays a role and interacts with Micki when it comes to her planning a dance. There are some fun cameo appearances of a few previous Star Cruise characters as well.
The romance felt well written, but didn't fully win me over. I liked them together and I liked how much they obviously cared about each other, but even so I felt like there was something missing for me to full be invested. I am not a big fan of the billionaire trope, so that part wasn't my favorite, but I did like how Josh obviously cared about the people he worked with and doing good with his money. I didn't like the way he was portrayed at the start of the book, but as the book progressed and we get to see another side of him I began to like him more and I appreciated how he handled things later on in the book. I liked Micki and thought she was a fun character to read about.
I felt the romance went a bit fast at the start with how quickly things heat up and they get together. I would've liked a slightly slower build up. I didn't really care for the steamy parts, something about the way they were written just didn't do it for me, but luckily they weren't very long or detailed even though they were relatively frequent. I didn't like the drama/ conflict part that occurred, the way it all played out just didn't work for me and I was annoyed with how the characters had handled it, although I appreciated how Josh handled things when he realized what happened. The ending was well done and I liked seeing a glimpse of their future.
To summarize: I had fun reading this one even though it didn't fully hook me. I liked the dance competition set up and reading about the dances the couple performs. The romance progresses a bit quickly, which feels even more so due to some time jumps. While I am not a fan of the billionaire trope I liked how Josh wanted to do good with his money and cared for the people he worked with. It took me some time to warm up to him as I didn't like how he was portrayed at first, but he grew more likable as the book progressed. Micki was a fun character to read about. I didn't fully feel their romance, but it was clear they cared for each other. I would've liked a bit of a slower build up and I didn't really care for the steamy parts, luckily the scenes were short even if they were relatively frequent. I didn't like the conflict and how some characters acted, but did appreciate how Josh handled things when he found out what happened. I liked the AI and some characters from previous Star Cruise books who made an cameo appearance.
May 24, 2024
Can professional dancer Micki and billionaire businessman Josh take home the dance contest trophy? Star Cruise Dream Dancer is a fun-filled romantic science fiction with intriguing characters, a fast-moving plot, opposites attract romance, and an original spin on celebrity dance contests. I love the way Veronica Scott takes the popularity of celebrity dance shows and injects it into her bestselling Star Cruise series. Star Cruise Dream Dancer is a feast for science fiction and romance readers alike.
Let’s start with the characters. Micki is a dancer on the luxury interstellar cruise ship who’s looking for her big break. An opportunity falls into her lap but she’s not sure what will happen. Micki is such a great heroine and very relatable. I connected with her right away.
Josh is a billionaire who is out of his element in this dance contest. He’d much rather be making deals than learning dance moves. But there’s something about his partner which tickles his fancy. She’s different than the rest of the ladies he’s been around. I liked Josh. He’s the perfect hero because while he’s very rich, he works hard too. He’s a virile man who has depth.
The rest of the characters round out the cast well. Each character in Star Cruise Dream Dancer has their own voice and personality. If you’ve read other books in this series, you’ll see a few characters from previous books.
What makes Star Cruise Dream Dancer so fabulous is the original plot. A celebrity dance contest set on a space cruise ship…I was so in my element while reading. Veronica Scott takes readers behind the scenes of a dance contest so we can view all that takes place. The training, the dancing, the tension, the romance, the ups and downs all combine to make Star Cruise Dream Dancer impossible to put down.
If you’re a fan of celebrity dance shows, you’ll want to read Star Cruise Dream Dancer. If you love romantic science fiction with an imaginative spin, pick up this book.
My Rating: 5+ stars
Reviewed by: Nancy
This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po...
Let’s start with the characters. Micki is a dancer on the luxury interstellar cruise ship who’s looking for her big break. An opportunity falls into her lap but she’s not sure what will happen. Micki is such a great heroine and very relatable. I connected with her right away.
Josh is a billionaire who is out of his element in this dance contest. He’d much rather be making deals than learning dance moves. But there’s something about his partner which tickles his fancy. She’s different than the rest of the ladies he’s been around. I liked Josh. He’s the perfect hero because while he’s very rich, he works hard too. He’s a virile man who has depth.
The rest of the characters round out the cast well. Each character in Star Cruise Dream Dancer has their own voice and personality. If you’ve read other books in this series, you’ll see a few characters from previous books.
What makes Star Cruise Dream Dancer so fabulous is the original plot. A celebrity dance contest set on a space cruise ship…I was so in my element while reading. Veronica Scott takes readers behind the scenes of a dance contest so we can view all that takes place. The training, the dancing, the tension, the romance, the ups and downs all combine to make Star Cruise Dream Dancer impossible to put down.
If you’re a fan of celebrity dance shows, you’ll want to read Star Cruise Dream Dancer. If you love romantic science fiction with an imaginative spin, pick up this book.
My Rating: 5+ stars
Reviewed by: Nancy
This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po...
January 2, 2025
Set aboard the Nebula Zephyr, the Interstellar Stars Dancing competition has celebrity stars and professional dancers, and they’ve picked Micki Allwell, a Comettes dancer aboard the ship to compete. The competition is going to be just seven weeks and will be set on the ship. One of the celebrities competing is Josh Benfield, a billionaire businessman - who is picked to partner with Micki. As Micki comes up with fantastic choreography, they are able to stay in the competition, and become very close. They come from very different backgrounds, but can their romance turn into something more? It was fun watching this couple get closer and learn more about each other, and even though there are some misunderstandings and a bit of danger, they work well together and I thought they made a great couple. I loved how a few people from other stories appeared in this one, but you don’t need to have read any other The Sectors series stories to enjoy it.
January 28, 2025
This is part of a series, but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone. I absolutely love this series! I held off reading this one, because I'm not a fan of the dancing competition with TV show. Wow! What a surprise! I'm sure ones that love the show will enjoy it even more, but I thought it was amazing! There is humor, twists, mysteries, wonderful characters, sci-fi elements, action, and romance. The plot is very engaging and I couldn't stop reading until the end!
April 16, 2024
It all came together well
I enjoyed it. It moved along smoothly from beginning to end. There were no glaring grammatical or spelling errors; which makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of the novel.
I enjoyed it. It moved along smoothly from beginning to end. There were no glaring grammatical or spelling errors; which makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of the novel.
April 17, 2024
I have loved all the Star Cruise stories and this one is no exception. Billionaires, show-biz, and a mystery. As always, the characters are compelling and the relationship development is spot-on.
July 27, 2024
DREAMS FIGURATIVE AND REAL
Dancing, dreamed and real, and life changing. Drama and romance. Building love and a future thru dance.
Very highly recommend.
Dancing, dreamed and real, and life changing. Drama and romance. Building love and a future thru dance.
Very highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews