Sherri Wilson Johnson's To Dance Once More ~ Reviewed

To Dance Once More

By Sherri Wilson Johnson

Published by Oak Tara

ISBN: 978-1602902862

Back Cover:

All Lydia wants is to travel the world before she has to settle down with a husband. But she may not have that choice anymore.

April 1886

Debutante Lydia Jane Barrington lives a carefree, protected existence on Live Oaks Plantation in Florida. But while her sisters happily learn the traditional tasks of women and talk of courting, Lydia dreams of adventure and independence. Even her friendship with handsome Hamilton Scarbrough isn't enough to hold her back.

Then one day Hamilton opens Lydia's eyes and her heart to love. But before they can receive permission to court, Lydia overhears a secret conversation about an unscrupulous business deal. Worse, it has everything to do with her and her future. Now she's faced with the biggest decision of her life--to concede or to fight. Either choice will require great sacrifice...and, perhaps, countless rewards.

Review:

The civil war is over, and while many in America celebrate their new-found freedom, Lydia Jane Barrington feels oppressed, enslaved. Not to race, but instead, to her gender and societal expectations. How she longs to be free to explore the world and seek after her dreams. It isn’t that she hates men. In fact, there is one man she is quite fond of. It is just that she longs to be more than the lady of the manor, and she fears marriage may rob her of herself.

If only she had been born in a different century! Does no one understand her longings? Her sisters certainly don’t. They are perfectly content to spend their time attending balls and staying alert to potential suitors. In fact, they find her views rebellious and urge her to squash them.

Only one, it seems, understand her—the man who very well might steal her heart.

To Dance Once More has an elegant feel to it. The plantation setting, the balls, the rules of courting. The first few chapters were a little harder for me to get into, but by the time I got to chapter four, I was hooked. Lydia’s struggle between love and freedom was authentic and engaging. The setting swept me away, sweeping me back to a time of elegance and grace, and the blossoming of true love. 

Reviewed by: Jennifer Slattery