-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Kelly Wilder becomes recently widowed from a much older wealthy man with whom she spent her married life doing charity work, building a lovely home, and, as she says, "pretending to be a whole lot more conservative and stupid and nicer than I really am."
Now, with too much time and money on her hands, Kelly has absolutely no idea what happens next. So on a whim she signs up for a ballroom dancing class, and slowly, step by high-heeled step, begins to rebuild her life with the help of friends old and new: Nik, a young Russian dance teacher who sees the artistic potential she left behind; Carolina, a woman in hospice, anxious to experience a whole lifetime in a few months; and Elyse, Kelly's girlhood best friend who knows all of her past secrets—including the truth about the man who long ago broke Kelly's heart.
In the vein of Jennifer Weiner's novels, Unexpected Waltz is a deeply felt story about moving on after loss and finding a new walk—or dance—of life through the power of second chances.
"Starred Review. Wright…expertly guides us through a moving, layered, and lyrical exploration of transformation." - Publishers Weekly
"Wright's second novel, after Love in Mid Air (2010), captures our fear of the unknown and the tender joys of coming into one's own." - Booklist
"The Unexpected Waltz is [as] inspiring as [it is] awakening of oneself. Additionally, it feels genuine, as new beginnings and second chances aren't always prefect and fairy-tale like, even if outward appearances suggest otherwise. With strong characterization and a cast of intriguing secondary characters, the story dances its way through all the right steps as readers watch Kelly Wilder embrace waltzing through her new life, stumbles and all." - Romantic Times
"An insightful novel about the unexpected places where we stumble upon second chances. Kim Wright writes with wisdom and grace." - Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling author of The Best of Us
This information about The Unexpected Waltz was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kim Wright is the author of Love in Mid Air and has been writing about travel, food, and wine for more than twenty years for many magazines, including Wine Spectator, Self, Travel & Leisure, and Vogue. She has twice won the Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing. This is her second novel, and she also ballroom dances competitively. Kim lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
If you liked The Unexpected Waltz, try these:
by Juhea Kim
Published 2026
A once-famous ballerina faces a final choice—to return to the world of Russian dance that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever—in this incandescent novel of redemption and love.
by Roisín O'Donnell
Published 2026
From an unforgettable new voice in Irish fiction, a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over.
by Nicole Cuffy
Published 2024
A provocative and lyrical debut novel follows a trailblazing Black ballerina who must reconcile the ever-rising stakes of her grueling career with difficult questions of love, loss, and her journey to self-liberation, from a sensuous new voice in fiction.
I have lost all sense of home, having moved about so much. It means to me now only that place where the books are ...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
