Synopsis
From disco balls to Christmas baubles …
Ex-dancer Emily Williams turned her back on the sparkle of popular dancing show Strictly Dancing with Celebs to help those in need. Now the only dancing she does is teaching lonely pensioners to waltz, and the closest she gets to disco balls is making baubles with the homeless people in her Christmas crafts class.
She’s certainly not star-struck when Hollywood heart-throb Blake Harris is sent to her at short notice for community service, and has no desire to babysit the arrogant actor with his bad boy antics and selfish ways. Christmas might be a time for miracles, but Blake seems to be a lost cause.
But Emily’s reasons for abandoning her dancing passion means she understands the Hollywood wild child more than she’d like to admit. Could their time together, coupled with a dash of Christmas spirit, lead to a miracle change of heart for them both?
Book 3 – Spotlight Series. Book 1 – Strictly on Ice. Book 2 – Celebrity SOS. Book 4 – Keeping Up with the Kershaws. Book 5 – The Great Christmas Cook Off.
Helen Buckley
Helen Buckley lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and two sons. After working in the charity sector in the UK and abroad, she turned her hand to writing and her first novel, Star in the Shadows, was published in 2019. She writes any moment that she can, enthralled by stories of fame, romance and happy ever afters. Apart from being addicted to writing and enjoying soft play with her sons, she’s an avid reader, action-movie fan and chocolate addict.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
---|
What a lovely book. Helen’s done it again. I loved Emily and Blake and their journey. Emily is an ex-dancer, managing a drop-in centre for the homeless and Blake is forced on her as part of his community service order. Helen creates such believable characters, placing them in scenes, that are so well described, I felt I knew the centre too. The fact that both come from completely different worlds and are forced to work together creates a real page turning tension, but they are both characters you want to invest in. I couldn’t put the book down. So glad to hear there are more from Helen on the way.
This is a real feel good story. Ok, bit clichéd but different and up to date enough for me to thoroughly enjoy. Blake our hero is bad boy does good, Emily a good girl who saves him! The writing and descriptions used I found very good and took the book up a lot from what the synopsis would have you believe. A great book to keep handy for an easy read during the Christmas season.
Thoroughly enjoyed this latest novel by Helen. Emily works at a homeless shelter. Blake is a spoilt successful actor sentenced to carry out community service at the shelter. They seem like complete opposites with nothing in common but everyone has secrets, including Emily and Blake; can they overcomes their issues to help each other move forward?
A light-hearted, seasonal read
When Hollywood actor Blake Harris, goes on a drunken bender and trashes his hotel room, the actions of his behaviour result in being arrested and receiving community service.
Emily, the manager of the community centre, is unimpressed when he arrives late on his first day with an uncaring and uninterested attitude.
Once a celebrity herself, Emily is now dedicated to running the community centre for the homeless, needy and lonely and doesn’t want to babysit someone who’s intent on self destruction. Blake soon befriends the volunteers and takes time talking to the regular visitors, even finding ways to improve their lives.
Emily requires Blake’s involvement in organising the centre’s Christmas party, but first they need to stop arguing.
An excellent way to relax with an easy read.
A lovely Christmas story about second chances and not judging people by first appearances. Emily, an ex-dancer, works at a Community Centre helping the vulnerable and homeless. Blake is a famous actor but he is having to do community service after drunkenly trashing a hotel room. He’s got an alcohol and on his third divorce.
Emily is already at breaking point trying to run the centre on a shoestring budget, and now having to babysit a petulant actor at the request of her boss Rowan is the last straw.
Understandably, they clash when they first meet but Blake begins to change his snobby attitude when encountering the clients of the centre and realising he has more in common with them than he thought,
Also, both he and Emily have painful memories to deal with. Will the Christmas season bring them together?
Loved reading this book. It was just as good as Strictly on Ice (previous book release by Helen Buckley).