Book Description 

Sparks fly in this summer romp for fans of Casey McQuiston when dancers at a Catskills resort try to pull off the perfect show, and find happiness and a place where they belong on the way.

Archer Read is 27 and desperate to find his place in life. Five months ago, he quit his soul-destroying accounting job in Ohio and moved to Manhattan with dreams of making it on Broadway. And now he has nothing to show for it but a string of rejections. Even for a ray-of-sunshine like Archer, hope can only go so far. A musical revue at Shady Queens, a queer-friendly resort in the Catskills, is his last chance to break into show biz—otherwise, it’s back to Ohio, broke and hopeless. He arrives ready to dance his heart out, only to find he’ll be working with his teenage celebrity crush, the Broadway star Mateo Dixon.

What is Mateo doing working at Shady Queens? Besides barking orders and glaring at everyone…when he’s not absolutely smoldering at Archer on the dancefloor. As Archer tries to forget his teen crush and get to know the real Mateo, he’s caught up in a romance with his hot, temperamental bunkmate, Caleb. Between Mateo’s baggage and the dance crew’s drama—partying, flirting, breaking up, getting back together, then breaking up again—it’s no surprise when the show starts to fall apart. Archer quickly discovers that when it comes to dance, sometimes you can’t leave all your problems backstage.

Filled with colorful side characters, about a million Broadway references, and enough drama for a high school summer camp, Flirty Dancing is a delightful romantic comedy that shows love, like art, is worth a little sacrifice.

My Review 

I love Dirty Dancing, so I was thrilled about the opportunity to read this queer take on the film classic. 

The heyday of Catskills resort life is gone, but Shady Queens is still going strong. Getting the gig as a dancer isn’t Archer’s dream come true, but it was the only gig he’s gotten since leaving Ohio to pursue his Broadway dreams in NYC. 

I enjoyed this book, but there are some aspects that I think are important for readers to know. This doesn’t really work well as a romance novel per se because Archer spends most of the book in a toxic relationship with Caleb rather than the handsome and talented Mateo. However, when framed as a coming-of-age book, the romance arc makes more sense. That being said, Archer is a bit old for a coming-of-age book. 

The book is very light in tone with lots of witty/catty asides and Broadway humor. There’s also a recurring bit in which Archer’s roommate tries and fails to propose to her girlfriend multiple times over the course of the summer. Maybe it’s just me, but the bit got stale after the second failed attempt. 

I would recommend Flirty Dancing. It is a fun new take on a classic story and Archer is a total sweetheart even if he is way too naive and trusting. It took most of the book, but Archer and Mateo deserved every bit of their happily ever after.   

I received a digital ARC of this book from St. Martin’s/NetGalley.