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DREAM DANCER Denise Dietz Avid Press, LLC, Brighton, MI, 2001 Historical Romance Trade Paperback ISBN No. 1-929613-63-6, $6.99, 318 pp. Reviewed by Lynne Remick What began between Irishman Sean Kelley and a tight-rope walker Petit Ange in 1850 in Denise Dietz's short story "Dream Angel" [from the "Journeys of the Heart" Anthology] continues with their daughter Calliope under the big top in America in "Dream Dancer." With Sean and Angelique Kelley both killed in mysterious accidents, Calliope Kelley must hold the reins and keep the circus on track. She vows to get to the bottom of her parent's deaths and find the person who is out to sabotage the circus. Lion tamer Brian O'Connor quickly steps into Sean's former role as ringmaster and tries to slip into Calliope's bed. He vows to marry her, but wants her to sell the circus before any more harm comes to anyone. Then a strange fire breaks out and Calliope's world goes up in flames. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember. Something bad had happened. It was her birthday and she blew out eleven candles and wished her name was Mary and Mum fell from the rope. Brian went away. Papa drank because he didn't love her and she tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't so he got killed by the wicked leprechaun. Horses drowned. Susan's legs were shattered and she was shot by Jocko. A lion ate Napeleon and Brian said he loved her...Jocko said people laughed at clowns, then set fire to the big top because a whore laughed at him. Brian went away again.
Calliope obeyed, and stared at the woman who leaned over her bed. With the circus gone, Calliope has no alternative but to go on with her life. Fate lands her a place in polite society, but never forgets about Brian. Only Aaron Fox comes close to making her feel the way Brian did. And only Aaron Fox knows why. DREAM DANCER begins with the promise of a circus romance and big-top thrills, that soon go up in smoke. First, Brian O'Connor makes an unlikely hero. He's crass, disrepectful and wants Calliope to give up her circus--all that's left of her parents. As a result, this underdeveloped romance is hard to swallow. Second, less than one-third through the book, there is no more circus.
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