What do you think?
Rate this book
Strictly Love
Guilty feet have got plenty of rhythm …
Kick off your shoes and snuggle up with this warm and witty new novel from the author of the bestselling Pastures New
Lawyer Emily promised her late father that she'd devote her life to good causes. So how comes she spends her days defending Z-listers, desperate to prolong their 15 minutes of fame?
Katie is obsessed with being the perfect wife and mother - unlike her own one. In which case, why is husband Charlie permanently AWOL these days?
Dentist Mark is licking his wounds after his wife walked out on him and desperately missing his kids. Can he cope with becoming a singleton again - on top of a devastating legal case against him?
Meanwhile, happy-go-lucky Jack the Lad Rob is hiding a secret tragedy…
Isabella's dance class gives the four the perfect opportunity to forget their troubles and re-invent themselves. They can be whoever they want to be - they'll just let their feet do the talking.
Over the weeks, as they foxtrot, tango, waltz and cha-cha-cha their way into each other's lives, they discover the truth about each other - and themselves. But will they like what they learn?
Kick off your shoes and snuggle up with this warm and witty new novel from the author of the bestselling Pastures New
Lawyer Emily promised her late father that she'd devote her life to good causes. So how comes she spends her days defending Z-listers, desperate to prolong their 15 minutes of fame?
Katie is obsessed with being the perfect wife and mother - unlike her own one. In which case, why is husband Charlie permanently AWOL these days?
Dentist Mark is licking his wounds after his wife walked out on him and desperately missing his kids. Can he cope with becoming a singleton again - on top of a devastating legal case against him?
Meanwhile, happy-go-lucky Jack the Lad Rob is hiding a secret tragedy…
Isabella's dance class gives the four the perfect opportunity to forget their troubles and re-invent themselves. They can be whoever they want to be - they'll just let their feet do the talking.
Over the weeks, as they foxtrot, tango, waltz and cha-cha-cha their way into each other's lives, they discover the truth about each other - and themselves. But will they like what they learn?
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
19 people are currently reading
274 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 6, 2022
A sweet, easy to read book. Not too fluffy but very light and a bit predictable. 3.5
May 1, 2022
What a lovely read. I wasn't sure about this book, the author is new to me, and if it was too technical in the dance front I knew it would lose me. However I had no need to worry.
The tale follows four main characters, Emily, Katie, Mark and Rob and the story is written from all their points of views at times. There are many ancillary characters and it all adds up to a well written story with so many twists and turns.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the highs and lows of each of our characters, the writing flowing beautifully throughout. I will certainly look out for other books by this author.
The tale follows four main characters, Emily, Katie, Mark and Rob and the story is written from all their points of views at times. There are many ancillary characters and it all adds up to a well written story with so many twists and turns.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the highs and lows of each of our characters, the writing flowing beautifully throughout. I will certainly look out for other books by this author.
August 12, 2025
I didn't love this. Some of the way the characters are described in terms of weight and appearance has aged very poorly since the book was released in 2008. There was no need for a character to be defined by her dress size or "thunder thighs".
The plot was ok, but I wasn't really invested in any of the characters and didn't really feel anything at the end of this. The story just plodded along without any real emotional investment.
The plot was ok, but I wasn't really invested in any of the characters and didn't really feel anything at the end of this. The story just plodded along without any real emotional investment.
February 19, 2021
5 stars
Absolutely loved this book, it was a nice easy read and fairly predictable but that's what you need sometimes. All the characters were very likeable and the story flowed really well. I've not read a book by Julia Williams in a while but this book reminded me how good they are.
Absolutely loved this book, it was a nice easy read and fairly predictable but that's what you need sometimes. All the characters were very likeable and the story flowed really well. I've not read a book by Julia Williams in a while but this book reminded me how good they are.
June 13, 2017
Light hearted dance fun!
December 26, 2017
Light weight romance entertainment, adresses some contemporary issues from a personal perspective.
October 23, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2pi2...
Part of the #365100books
Part of the #365100books
March 26, 2019
A nice easy read would make a nice holiday read
Not much about the dancing classes more of the characters lifestyle and events
Not much about the dancing classes more of the characters lifestyle and events
May 27, 2022
Not my usual genre and this one won’t be changing my mind. Very predictable but a very easy read so I did at least finish it.
April 18, 2025
I absolutely loved this book from start to finish very lighthearted nice easy read
June 3, 2022
Picked this up from an op shop not knowing what it was really about & unable to read the blurb or flick through it so literally brought it in the hopes it was good… And well it didn’t disappoint, don’t normally go for this genre but definitely a good book & would recommend to anyone looking for something different to read.
September 16, 2009
Strictly Love is Julia Williams’ second novel and folllows Emily, Katie, Mark and Rob. Emily is a lawyer who wated to devote her life to good causes so how come she’s defending zedlebrities (Julia’s word, not mine)? Katie wants to be the perfect wife – trouble is her husband, Charlie, is away a lot. Mark has just split up with his wife and is wondering if he’ll ever find love again and Rob, happy-go-lucky Rob is hiding a terrible tragedy. A dance class brings them together and they re-invent themselves – they can be anybody they like. Trouble is it may come back to bite them in the bum…
It took me about 5 days to read Strictly Love because I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and really get into it. However for the past two days I’ve managed to sit down and really get into it and I found that I really enjoyed it.
Dancing seems to be a popular topic among chick lit books at the moment – Lucy Dillon’s debut The Ballroom Class for instance. It’s a great topic to read about especially if you enjoy Strictly Come Dancing or shows like that.
Coming in at under 400 pages you might think we won’t have enough time to really get to know each character but we learn enough about them to care about them all. I liked Emily but found her a bit irritating when she went completely off on one with Mark because he lied to her when she herself lied to him. I think she redeemed herself in the end though, and I was happy she finally made up her mind regarding her job! I enjoyed reading about Mark and the unfortunate incident he found himself in. (More about that later) but it was Katie and Rob who made the story for me. I loved how easily they got on with each other and how they could relate with each other even though they started on a rocky foundation (Rob called Katie thunder thighs!). However reading about them dancing together was just brilliant.
I felt for Katie because she was trying so hard to be the perfect wife to Charlie and he seemed completely oblivious. His secret was not what I expected, when he blurted it out I was very surprised. I also really felt for Rob and couldn’t help wondering what on Earth he was hiding that caused him so much pain. I was suitably shocked when I found out!
Along with all of the four having personal problems there’s a storyline running about Mark. One of his zedlebrity clients, Jasmine (who seems to resemble Jade Goody) makes a shocking allegation and he ends up trying to defend himself and not lose his dentists’ job. Trouble is, Jasmine’s lawyer is Emily so that caused a lot of mayhem between the two of them. I knew how the storyline would end but I still enjoyed it.
One final twist in the story is an incident involving one of Mark’s daughters. This I did not see coming! It definitely had me reading on and on, I’ll tell you.
I really enjoyed Strictly Love. The third-person narrative is well written and it was very easy to get lost in the storyline once I was able to really sit down to get into it. It’s well worth a read particularly if you love dancing, as I said.
Rating: 5/5
It took me about 5 days to read Strictly Love because I just couldn’t find the time to sit down and really get into it. However for the past two days I’ve managed to sit down and really get into it and I found that I really enjoyed it.
Dancing seems to be a popular topic among chick lit books at the moment – Lucy Dillon’s debut The Ballroom Class for instance. It’s a great topic to read about especially if you enjoy Strictly Come Dancing or shows like that.
Coming in at under 400 pages you might think we won’t have enough time to really get to know each character but we learn enough about them to care about them all. I liked Emily but found her a bit irritating when she went completely off on one with Mark because he lied to her when she herself lied to him. I think she redeemed herself in the end though, and I was happy she finally made up her mind regarding her job! I enjoyed reading about Mark and the unfortunate incident he found himself in. (More about that later) but it was Katie and Rob who made the story for me. I loved how easily they got on with each other and how they could relate with each other even though they started on a rocky foundation (Rob called Katie thunder thighs!). However reading about them dancing together was just brilliant.
I felt for Katie because she was trying so hard to be the perfect wife to Charlie and he seemed completely oblivious. His secret was not what I expected, when he blurted it out I was very surprised. I also really felt for Rob and couldn’t help wondering what on Earth he was hiding that caused him so much pain. I was suitably shocked when I found out!
Along with all of the four having personal problems there’s a storyline running about Mark. One of his zedlebrity clients, Jasmine (who seems to resemble Jade Goody) makes a shocking allegation and he ends up trying to defend himself and not lose his dentists’ job. Trouble is, Jasmine’s lawyer is Emily so that caused a lot of mayhem between the two of them. I knew how the storyline would end but I still enjoyed it.
One final twist in the story is an incident involving one of Mark’s daughters. This I did not see coming! It definitely had me reading on and on, I’ll tell you.
I really enjoyed Strictly Love. The third-person narrative is well written and it was very easy to get lost in the storyline once I was able to really sit down to get into it. It’s well worth a read particularly if you love dancing, as I said.
Rating: 5/5
January 27, 2011
This book alternated between being annoying and being fantastic to being just plain average. I didn't feel the connection between any of the characters in the book and I hated that they all seemed to get random bouts of IDIOCY.
They never stayed mad for long enough unless what they were mad about was pathetic. Things seemed to pop out of no where then cause chaos. Things seemed to pop out of no where and make things magically right. A lot of it served absolutely NO point at all, in my opinion and it went on for way too long.
Emily hated what she did for a living but she never even turned to the job section in a newspaper. She just assumed that no where else would pay her as much and blah blah blah.
Katie was miserable in her marriage but never sat Charlie down and asked him what was the matter. She could have saved a lot of time and irritation on my part by talking to him instead of trying to put things right when she didn't have the faintest idea what was wrong in the first place.
Rob lacked depth as a character. He had trauma from the past but it wasn't made to sound like trauma, really. It was like 'this happened. Yeah.'
Mark, for all his love for his children and all the rest, thought of Sam (his ex wife) more than them, even when he was with Emily. He also over reacted to a lot and contributed huge amounts of stupidity to the book.
Like I said at the beginning, this book was good in places and out right terrible in others. I liked a lot about it but I didn't like equally as much.
Not something I'd read again.
They never stayed mad for long enough unless what they were mad about was pathetic. Things seemed to pop out of no where then cause chaos. Things seemed to pop out of no where and make things magically right. A lot of it served absolutely NO point at all, in my opinion and it went on for way too long.
Emily hated what she did for a living but she never even turned to the job section in a newspaper. She just assumed that no where else would pay her as much and blah blah blah.
Katie was miserable in her marriage but never sat Charlie down and asked him what was the matter. She could have saved a lot of time and irritation on my part by talking to him instead of trying to put things right when she didn't have the faintest idea what was wrong in the first place.
Rob lacked depth as a character. He had trauma from the past but it wasn't made to sound like trauma, really. It was like 'this happened. Yeah.'
Mark, for all his love for his children and all the rest, thought of Sam (his ex wife) more than them, even when he was with Emily. He also over reacted to a lot and contributed huge amounts of stupidity to the book.
Like I said at the beginning, this book was good in places and out right terrible in others. I liked a lot about it but I didn't like equally as much.
Not something I'd read again.
May 13, 2013
Good book, nothing out of the ordinary or surprising, but a nice pleasant read. Strictly Love follows the story of four individuals: Emily, Katie, Rob and Mark. Each has their own share of problems and troubles; however, they all meet a weekly dance lesson. And through this meeting we begin to learn a bit more about each of these characters. Emily and Katie are friends and Rob and Mark are friends. Katie is in a no-future relationship with unreliable Callum, and does not especially enjoy her job as a lawyer for Z-list celebrities. Katie is a stay at home with three young children. For the most part, she has always thought that her home life has been great, but lately, with her husband's constant absence she is beginning to rethink her state of happiness. Mark is recently divorced, and has a somewhat complicated relationship with his ex and as relates to raising their two daughters. Rob on the outside seems like a happy-go-lucky outrageous flirt, but he is keeping a secret from his past that has impacted his life for many years. Through their meetings and the dance classes, we learn about each of them and their issues and how they are beginning to rethink their lives with the hope for something better to come along.
April 28, 2015
I was in a horrible mood when I started this book and it did not help my mood.
So, it was a good enough book. The writing it great, the characters were all believable.. except that they were maybe a little too nice,. I mean your wife cheated on you, your husbands gay, the girl you liked is helping this crazy bitch ruin your reputation, that's shit I would never ever forgive but these people get over it in a matter of seconds. It kept me engaged, I stayed up late last night to find out what the hell was going on with Charlie and that's probably why I was so grumpy reading the rest of the novel.
Still I liked the plot, but only miserable things happen to these poor people, it's just bad thing after bad thing and it got so depressing after a while. It takes them 300 pages to sort everything out... 300 PAGES PEOPLE! And I mean, it's great that they all got a happy ending but 289 pages of bullshit until that happy ending started to show was absolutely ridiculous.
It wasn't all that bad, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
So, it was a good enough book. The writing it great, the characters were all believable.. except that they were maybe a little too nice,. I mean your wife cheated on you, your husbands gay, the girl you liked is helping this crazy bitch ruin your reputation, that's shit I would never ever forgive but these people get over it in a matter of seconds. It kept me engaged, I stayed up late last night to find out what the hell was going on with Charlie and that's probably why I was so grumpy reading the rest of the novel.
Still I liked the plot, but only miserable things happen to these poor people, it's just bad thing after bad thing and it got so depressing after a while. It takes them 300 pages to sort everything out... 300 PAGES PEOPLE! And I mean, it's great that they all got a happy ending but 289 pages of bullshit until that happy ending started to show was absolutely ridiculous.
It wasn't all that bad, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
January 9, 2013
Thunder thighs!
I am a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing, so i was attracted to this book Strictly Love tells the story of a year in the life of four 30 somethings, all unhappy with how their life is panning out and decide to take up dancing classes for a bit of escapism. I really enjoyed Strictly Love and it was very easy to get lost in the story line I was able to sit down and to get into it. It’s well worth a read particularly if you love dancing, like me !!
I am a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing, so i was attracted to this book Strictly Love tells the story of a year in the life of four 30 somethings, all unhappy with how their life is panning out and decide to take up dancing classes for a bit of escapism. I really enjoyed Strictly Love and it was very easy to get lost in the story line I was able to sit down and to get into it. It’s well worth a read particularly if you love dancing, like me !!
March 19, 2012
I must admit I found this book a bit boring and the characters annoying. At times I really wanted to just shout at them and tell them to get on with it. A bit predictable in parts as well. However it was an easy and quick read. Not the best book I have read, but not the worst, sort of middle of the road.
October 15, 2016
This book started off really exciting. I would read pages to pull me out of a state of boredom. It was the perfect study break read. But it quickly turned into a before bed read. I would barely get through 10 pages before getting bored and tired.
I'm finally done though and am rather pleased with how the story ended.
I'm finally done though and am rather pleased with how the story ended.
April 11, 2011
I picked this book up for around 99p, and I wasn't disappointed. It was typical chick lit, but it did keep me amused for a while. I'd reccomend this for anyone looking for an easy read, and to get a bit of a smile.
January 3, 2012
A good one for the Christmas hols, because I didn't have to think about it a great deal. Very cheesy but even I had a tear in my eye at the end.
If like me you like to escape reality for a while, where everyone and everything is perfect, this is the book.
If like me you like to escape reality for a while, where everyone and everything is perfect, this is the book.
August 30, 2015
Quite often I wanted to bash the "couples'" heads together. I found this book long and tedious and frustrating. Not the best chicklet out there that's for sure. I gave it two stars because it did have moments of great writing and some unexpected twists but overall it was just too long and tedious.
November 16, 2015
I got this book from the library as I wanted to read it when I saw it in a book shop and from the blurb I thought it would be a really good read, however in the end I found that this book wasn't my cup of tea.
November 29, 2009
A really enjoyable light read in the Jill Mansell style that didn't ask too much of me through a tough week at work. Really like her writing, and her stories have a welcome touch of originality.
March 3, 2012
An enjoyable read though I'd worked out the key to the resolution of one of the storylines very early on so got frustrated that the characters kept missing the clues that were there.
October 14, 2012
it was a nice wholesome book and I enjoyed reading it. however I do feel that had the individual characters stories been set out more in the style of Marian Keyes it may have made a better read.
October 14, 2012
Really liked this book, easy read with a couple of interesting twists
December 31, 2012
The general life of a lawyer! The lesson that not all is what it seems at first glance.
October 27, 2018
Audiobook
Enjoyable "girly" summer holiday novel
Enjoyable "girly" summer holiday novel
October 12, 2013
I liked this book the characters seemed likeable
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews