The Dance of Desire

Last summer, I adored Delphine Ross‘s The Poetics of Passion, the first in her Muses of Scandal series. Now the series continues with The Dance of Desire, following the middle Bartham sister, Angela, and a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romance with Sunny. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling and a marriage of convenience, all rolled into one charming love story.

Special thanks to Muse Publications and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

Angela Bartham and Sunny, the Earl of Sunderland, were best friends throughout childhood, but that all ended when she turned down his offer of marriage months ago. Now Angela is left standing at the altar by a different man, and Sunny unexpectedly steps up to marry her instead. But this is no simple kindness… it’s also his version of revenge. Angela and Sunny agree to a marriage of convenience that will last only one year; then they’ll quietly annul it and go their separate ways. To escape London’s gossip, they sequester themselves in Sunny’s chateau on the outskirts of Paris, a gothic building with one servant, one bed, and a basket full of kittens. Can Angela and Sunny regain their friendship after all that’s happened? Will they be able to find love together, despite the odds? Or will secrets, duels, and hurt feelings lead to the end of their short marriage?

Review

If you read The Poetics of Passion, you may recall the glimpses into Angela and Sunny’s relationship. Friends for years, she turned down his marriage proposal in that book, ending with him departing for Europe, their friendship over. Meanwhile, Angela got engaged to someone else… and that’s where The Dance of Desire picks things up. The disastrous wedding that starts the book is quite unexpected, and the way things rapidly turn out is even more surprising. I was certainly hooked right from the beginning!

Angela and Sunny were once friends, but now he sees her as an enemy. And this marriage they now find themselves in is, in his mind, an act of revenge. To escape the gossip, Sunny takes Angela to his French chateau near the Bois de Boulogne of Paris. It’s rather gothic, and only one room has a bed. That paired with Sunny’s rules make it a bit of a prison for Angela. This marriage of convenience, meant only to avoid further scandal for her family, will also be a short one, with plans to quietly annul it after a year. But what will a year of forced proximity do to their friendship… and the feelings of love Sunny still harbors deep down?

I loved getting to know both Angela and Sunny. They each have their own backstories, adding depth to how they’ve interacted up until now. Sunny also has secrets about what’s been going on with a French woman, Hélèn, in recent months. Despite his beastly attitude lately, I had a soft spot for Sunny and for how unworthy he’s felt for most of his life. Angela’s previous rejection only adds to his feelings of inferiority, and I just wanted him to know he’s amazing the way he is!

Another thing I loved is the Beauty and the Beast vibes. That is one of my top three favorite Disney movies, and I always love seeing retellings of it. Here, we have the French setting and the gothic chateau (not quite a castle), and even if Sunny doesn’t quite look like a beast, he’s been acting like one. Here, the staff go mostly unseen, which works with the theme. I enjoyed seeing Angela lose herself in ballet, and I was especially delighted by the basket of kittens that shows up in their home!

The Dance of Desire has some exciting action and a touch of mystery surrounding some of the French characters. But I also loved how tender the relationship between Sunny and Angela is, with former friends learning to get along again, perhaps slowly become even more than just friends.

Final Thoughts

The Dance of Desire is a charming and heartfelt book with depth, angst, and a bit of thrilling action. It easily combines a few different romance tropes with a lovely fairy tale retelling, ending up with a novel that is at once original and sweetly familiar. I’ve enjoyed the Muses of Scandal series and look forward to continuing it. According to the author’s note at the end of The Dance of Desire, the next book will follow Lyra Bartham, one of the twins, in a “Romeo and Juliet-inspired tale of forbidden love.” Consider me excited to read that as soon as it’s available! And I hope there will be a fourth book for the other twin, Theo, after that.

Get the Book

You can buy The Dance of Desire here – it’s available as a paperback and ebook.

The Dance of Desire by Delphine Ross
Series	Muses of Scandal (#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	France; Italy; England
Number of Pages	306
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	February 22, 2024
Publisher	Muse

Official Summary

Best friends make bad spouses . . . and worse scandals.

When Angela Bartham of the notorious Bartham family is stranded at the altar on her wedding day, she’s saved from ruin by her old friend Sunny, the Earl of Sunderland. He offers a startlingly generous proposition: a marriage of convenience that will last exactly one year. Long enough for society to stop gossiping. Long enough for the press to lose interest. Then they’ll quietly annul their unconsummated union.

Left without choices, Angela agrees. But Sunny is no longer the sweet but awkward boy she grew up with—and who once loved her. A mysterious trip abroad has transformed him into a surly, secretive beast of a man who can’t seem to stand the sight of her. Nor is Angela the romantic girl who once danced all night under the moon. She’s a heartbroken beauty trapped in a fake marriage that can’t end soon enough.

To avoid the chattering crowds, Angela and Sunny flee London to spend their year of marriage in Paris. But what they don’t take into consideration is that emotions aren’t particularly rational . . . especially when there’s only one bed in the gothic feline-laden chateau they’re stuck inside near the Bois de Boulogne. Forced proximity reveals hidden depths, turning their marriage of convenience into a messy affair of the heart. Will Angela and Sunny’s dance of desire come to an end, destroying everything they hold dear—including their friendship?