Book Review: Dance Sisters by Alan Clay

This is an original image created by Melissa Reese Etheridge especially for this post.

Dance Sisters by Alan Clay is the second book by this author that I've read in the past week. It is not like Believers in Love, which threw me for a bit of a loop when I first began the book.

The Plot: An all-female musical trio plans to compete in a music contest but Pearl, one of the founding members, feels out of touch with the group. So, she joins a cult that uses dream therapy and group sex along with astrology to get folks back in touch with themselves. Eva, the newest member of the group, will do anything to keep the trio together, so she agrees to go along to the cult meetings in order to keep an eye out for Pearl. Eva is sexually attracted to one of the group's members and is torn between continuing with her outside life or joining the group also.

The characters:

Pearl~strong-willed, founding member of the group; she feels left out when the trio hires a new manager.

Moana~Pearl's one-time lover and also a founding member of the trio; she feels resentful that Pearl has found a new outlet for friendship and acceptance.

Eva~the newest member of the trio; she is trying to keep the trio together in spite of the growing rifts among the members.

Matt~Eva's virtual lover (ha, that sounds intriguing doesn't it?) who wants to be close to Eva, but cannot since she's not a member of the cult/group.

Angel~the musical trio's hard-working manager. Sometimes, she seems like the only one who has her head on straight.

The Leader~the leader of the cult (dominitrix?); intent on not letting go of her authority.

The Setting:

Australia or New Zealand (shame on me for not knowing my geography)

My Verdict: I thought it was a bit bewildering at first, but I soon realized that it is a stand alone novel; not written for the same audience as Believers in Love, so I was able to get into it. In fact, I got into it so much, that I read it all in one sitting~about an hour and fifty minutes.

*There are some allusions to lesbian and group sex, but there are no graphic sex scenes in the novel.