A Review of

Shimmy for Me

by DeAnna Cameron

Summary

Zenina is struggling to become financially successful in a career as a professional belly dancer, teacher, and studio owner, but finds she needs a day job to bring in enough income to survive. After enticing one of her audience members to join her for a steamy one-night stand, her worlds collide when he appears on the scene in her day job but doesn't recognize her in her normal-person garb. Will she reveal to him that Abby-the-office-assistant is also Zenina-the-sexy-dancer?

Fact Sheet

Title	Shimmy for Me
Author	DeAnna Cameron
ISBN	099 081 4610
Publisher	Fine Skylark Media
Category	Romance Novel
Rating
Number of Pages	146
Published In	2014

Description

Zenina, a tribal fusion belly dancer, is struggling to become financially successful in a career as a professional belly dance performer, teacher, and studio owner, but finds she needs a day job to bring in enough income to survive. Her ex-boyfriend had delivered an ultimatum a year earlier, "It's either me or the studio!" and she chose the studio. Due to her financial problems, she is now very close to losing the business that she has sacrificed so much for, and with it, her dreams.

In her restaurant show one evening, she entices one of her male audience members to join her after the show for a lusty one-night stand. However, her worlds collide when she encounters him the next day as a professional colleague in her day job. He doesn't recognize her in her "mundane" identity as Abby, in her normal-person clothes and makeup. Abby wrestles with the question of whether to reveal to this man that he has met her before.

The primary two roles that belly dance plays in the story line are:

• How Abby meets the man
• The financial struggle Abby is experiencing with the potential loss of her studio, and what she attempts to save it

At only 146 pages, this is a fairly short romance novel. It follows the standard formula for romance novels: man meets woman, difficulties stand in the way of romance, but in the end love conquers all.

Is It Right for You?

You Will Probably Enjoy This Book If...

• You enjoy the genre of contemporary romance novels.
• You would enjoy a book with a belly dancer as its central character.
• You enjoy light stories that you can read quickly.

This Book Probably Isn't Right for You If...

• You're not fond of books with predictable plots.
• You would be frustrated with some aspects of a plot that don't ring true from a belly dance perspective.

What I Liked, What I Didn't

What I Liked:

• There is enough character development to make the characters interesting and multi-faceted.
• The main character's struggle of making a belly dance career financially viable is realistic, and something many belly dancers can relate to.
• The description of the tribal fusion costume, hair, tattoo, and makeup feels right.
• The book's cover art appropriately captures the tribal fusion aesthetic that's associated with the main character.
• The book is easy and pleasant to read, an enjoyable option for vacation reading.

What I Didn't Like:

• The main character seduces her one-night stand in the context of a professional performance. It's not something a typical belly dancer would do, because of the risks of stalkers, being fired from the gig, or damaging her professional reputation. (I would have been comfortable with her seeking a one-night stand dressed in normal-person clothes, outside of her gig, I just found it problematic to have the proposition occur while on the job. It's unprofessional.)
• There are some minor nuances regarding the belly dance aspects of the character that feel a bit inaccurate. It's rare for a tribal fusion dancer to take an ethnic name (the name Zenina is Greek), and it's rare for professional dancers who work in Middle Eastern restaurants to wear the tribal fusion style of costume for those gigs.

Conclusion

If you enjoy the contemporary romance novel genre of fiction, you'll find this to be a well-written story with appealing characters and story line. It treats belly dance with respect, and despite a few minor issues, presents a reasonably positive view of the belly dance lifestyle. I feel comfortable recommending it.

Disclosures

There is nothing to disclose. I have never had any contact with anyone associated with this book.

To Buy It

Web Site: http://deannacameron.com

Copyright Notice

This entire web site is copyrighted. All rights reserved.

All articles, images, forms, scripts, directories, and product reviews on this web site are the property of Shira unless a different author/artist is identified. Material from this web site may not be posted on any other web site unless permission is first obtained from Shira.

Academic papers for school purposes may use information from this site only if the paper properly identifies the original article on Shira.net using appropriate citations (footnotes, end notes, etc.) and bibliography. Consult your instructor for instructions on how to do this.

If you wish to translate articles from Shira.net into a language other than English, Shira will be happy to post your translation here on Shira.net along with a note identifying you as the translator. This could include your photo and biography if you want it to. Contact Shira for more information. You may not post translations of Shira's articles on anybody else's web site, not even your own.

If you are a teacher, performer, or student of Middle Eastern dance, you may link directly to any page on this web site from either your blog or your own web site without first obtaining Shira's permission. Click here for link buttons and other information on how to link.