![American Street](/uploads/profile_image/642/cfe0860c-792a-4b84-92f5-7fe736fdb642.jpg?m=1522362266)
American Street
Book
In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a...
young adults
![The Winter King](/uploads/profile_image/0aa/dc624332-6143-49a9-85ea-326a06aa70aa.jpg?m=1582790738)
The Winter King
Book
From bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, comes a brilliant retelling of the Arthurian legend,...
![It Only Happens in the Movies](/uploads/profile_image/098/c321eb92-39a9-444f-bd32-7eaf92275098.jpg?m=1522325451)
It Only Happens in the Movies
Book
The greatest love story ever told doesn't feature kissing in the snow or racing to airports. It...
young adult
![Captain Marvel: The Death of Captain Marvel](/uploads/profile_image/16a/f277f39a-bc54-4fe5-b63f-81c6ced2416a.jpg?m=1556014199)
Captain Marvel: The Death of Captain Marvel
Book
Collects Captain Marvel (1968) #34, Marvel Spotlight (1979) #1-2 And Marvel Graphic Novel #1: The...
![Barking Mad at Murder](/uploads/profile_image/1d1/84648353-fc37-434b-8147-abb723c1a1d1.jpg?m=1556598376)
Barking Mad at Murder
Book
In this debut novel of her Pet Psychic series, Jacqueline Vick combines mystery, romance, and the...
![The Pensive Gentleman](/uploads/profile_image/83a/5117269f-f8b6-4963-ac9b-615f3f86e83a.jpg?m=1680453539)
The Pensive Gentleman
Book
The Pensive Gentleman is a thrilling and erotic short story collection that explores themes of lust,...
erotica romance
![The Startup Wife](/uploads/profile_image/4a6/c6fe5300-f738-4ccc-b518-fa8b3f3934a6.jpg?m=1647771923)
The Startup Wife
Book
Halfway through her PhD and already dreaming of running her own lab, computer scientist Asha has her...
![His Lordship's Return (His Lordship’s Mysteries #3)](/uploads/profile_image/5a9/a145884c-7149-419c-9839-bb1253c275a9.jpg?m=1684312495)
His Lordship's Return (His Lordship’s Mysteries #3)
Book
For Dominick and Alfie, it feels like they've only just settled into life at Balcarres House when an...
MM Historical Mystery Romance
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/873/04e743b1-2ff7-4cb0-aea2-d7676fe7e873.jpg?m=1522361995)
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Live and Love Again in Books
Feb 13, 2018
This book is admittedly, a fairly stereotypical cheesy romance. But if the New Adult genre can write them so prolifically, then I think it's refreshing to find a novel that actually offers lesbian characters. True, I probably overlooked a few flaws in this book because I'm completely starved for books with lesbian protagonists and romance, but it was still an enjoyable story. The book engages you early on, when Jessica and Sarah meet. I read the first 150 pages rapidly - it drew me in immediately. Sarah is a likable character; as is Jessica, really. You can imagine knowing either of them in your lesbian circles (beyond Jessica's money, perhaps).
Speaking of the money, the book hammers home that point a bit much: Sarah has no money, Jessica has plenty of it. That gets a bit repetitive and the book stalls a little in the middle. That stall is helped by the cliche of the "wounded character hurt by a death in a previous relationship who can't move on." However, that cliche is found in plenty of genres, not just LGBT. Still, Gayle maneuvers her characters around all their issues fairly deftly. You're pretty sure you know how Jessica and Sarah will wind up, but it's still fun watching them get there. The book is sexy (especially early on - maybe that's the real lesbian cliche - ha!), fun, and, as always, refreshing to see some lesbian characters portrayed as real people. Points for the sweet and loyal supporting character of Jimmy the Driver, too. Definitely a fun, quick read.
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley (thank you!); it is available for publication on 1/19. You can check out a review of this novel and many others on my <a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/2fa/dd2f6584-88ed-4897-b021-59479205e2fa.jpg?m=1522353107)
Jamie (131 KP) rated An Eccentric Engagement in Books
May 24, 2017
Both of these plot lines are actually really good, but I felt that they both needed more time to be developed and would have been better in a full length novel. All of the conflict was resolved in a few pages with barely any resistance and the discussion felt more like a lecture that was repeated multiple times. Not that the message was bad, I appreciated the way they approach discussing the mentally ill and the elderly, and I actually liked the Marchand’s way of life, but I think it could have been delivered better.
It also didn’t help that Sorrow kind of annoyed me. When she talks to other people to try and explain her views it again turns into a mildly pretentious lecture. Her insistence on absolute harmony and willingness to throw everything out of the window if she didn’t get her way was also extremely grating. Creating needless drama for the sake of drama is not a good way of filling up pages.
Overall its not bad, it’s a cute and clean love story that will appeal to folks with a strong sense of social justice. It was a fluffy and pleasant way to pass the time, but I didn’t feel much of anything while reading it.