Jim Anderson is a successful businessman, and his wife, Marilyn, is the perfect wife. And why wouldn't she be? He gives her everything she needs. That's why Jim never expected to come home one day and find Marilyn gone.
After 27 years of marriage, Marilyn has had enough of feeling unloved and neglected. She wants to experience some measure of happiness before she's too old to enjoy it, even signing up for dance lessons, something Jim would never do. What will it take for Jim to finally become the man Marilyn needs him to be?

Combining the literary talents of bestselling author Dan Walsh and the relationship expertise of bestselling author Gary Smalley, *The Dance* is the romantic first novel in The Restoration Series. Readers will get caught up in these flawed but earnest characters as they rediscover genuine love and start a transformation that will ultimately affect their whole family.

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### From Booklist

Renowned relationship-expert Smalley joins with award-winning novelist Walsh to create a heart-wrenching portrait of a painful marriage. The story of Jim and Marilyn Anderson feels as true as any real couple’s, thanks to Smalley’s years as a counselor and Walsh’s excellent attention to detail. Like many women, Marilyn, decades into her marriage, finds herself feeling unloved and disconnected from her husband. Jim prides himself on being the head of his home in a biblical manner, and he’s shocked and furious when he discovers that Marilyn has decided to leave him. What will their grown children think? How will their community accept it? Jim’s world has crumbled, while Marilyn has rebuilt hers. Then, on separate paths, Marilyn and Jim both begin to find healing through ballroom dancing. Jim hopes to win Marilyn back, but her heart may be far too hardened after years of neglect. Readers will be totally drawn into their emotional journey as the wounds, large and small, continue to reveal themselves in the Andersons’ marriage. --Carolyn Richard

### Review

"...Readers will definitely come away satisfied and shedding tears atthe end. Mixing fiction's emotion and nonfiction's teaching workssplendidly here." **―**Publishers Weekly

4.5 Stars/Top Pick - "Walsh's literary talents and Smalley's relationship expertise combine in a spiritually and emotionally powerful start to the Restoration series. Walsh's characters come to life, and important marital and life lessons are woven throughout." -- RT Book Reviews

"...When a novel is in the hands of accomplished storyteller Dan Walsh and the lessons come from relationship expert Gary Smalley, the result is a story that manages to simultaneously teach and entertain...As always, Walsh paints the background with a master's touch: the Andersons' fictional home town sounds so charming readers will want to take their next vacation there. The Dance is the first of a series focusing on the Anderson family. That's good; because this Dance deserves an encore." ― Crosswalk.com