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carpenoctem_st's review
4.0
Another amazing Book by A L Brooks! I loved Bethany and Sarah and the way they build a relationship based on honesty.
This a novel about overcoming your fears and having the courage to do something outside your comfort zone.
A very good read.
This a novel about overcoming your fears and having the courage to do something outside your comfort zone.
A very good read.
mjsam's review
4.0
ARC received fro YLVA in return for an honest review.
I hadn’t read this author before, but the blurb intrigued me so I thought I’d give it a go. Apparently it’s part of the window shopping series or something, but it reads like a standalone.
Sarah is a corporate lawyer and ‘player’ who isn’t looking for a long term relationship, and has trust issues. Bethany is a school teacher who hasn’t been in a relationship in years and is looking to get back into dating and expand her sexual horizons. They meet outside a sex shop and don’t exactly hit it off, but end up seeing each other anyway.
I liked that the relationship unfolded slowly and that even though there were some bumps, they talked about what was and wasn’t working and kept at it (communication between the leads, that rare unicorn of lesfic!). I though Sarah’s trust issues were a little lame to be honest (more understandable once the family stuff was revealed, but still), but since she didn’t really let them hold her back from being with Bethany, I just went with it.
Bethany was sweet and I liked that she explored dating both Sarah and Jessica and decided what she really wanted. I also enjoyed how both women turned to their respective families and talked to them about what was happening in the relationship, (though I did really wish we got to see Sarah meet Bethany’s mother).
Both women also want to experience the bondage aspect of a relationship (luckily from opposite sides) and I did think that maybe a bit of a longer conversation around that would have been better, especially since they had no trouble talking about everything else. I do give kudos for the mentions of safe sex, something rarely addressed in lesfic.
There’s no major drama here, thankfully, and both characters are interesting and their chemistry and relationship is believable. I did think the ending was a bit rushed though, the epilogue is just a few paragraphs of the last chapter, I don’t think an extra chapter to really round things out would have killed anyone. Still I enjoyed this enough to try more by this author. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
I hadn’t read this author before, but the blurb intrigued me so I thought I’d give it a go. Apparently it’s part of the window shopping series or something, but it reads like a standalone.
Sarah is a corporate lawyer and ‘player’ who isn’t looking for a long term relationship, and has trust issues. Bethany is a school teacher who hasn’t been in a relationship in years and is looking to get back into dating and expand her sexual horizons. They meet outside a sex shop and don’t exactly hit it off, but end up seeing each other anyway.
I liked that the relationship unfolded slowly and that even though there were some bumps, they talked about what was and wasn’t working and kept at it (communication between the leads, that rare unicorn of lesfic!). I though Sarah’s trust issues were a little lame to be honest (more understandable once the family stuff was revealed, but still), but since she didn’t really let them hold her back from being with Bethany, I just went with it.
Bethany was sweet and I liked that she explored dating both Sarah and Jessica and decided what she really wanted. I also enjoyed how both women turned to their respective families and talked to them about what was happening in the relationship, (though I did really wish we got to see Sarah meet Bethany’s mother).
Both women also want to experience the bondage aspect of a relationship (luckily from opposite sides) and I did think that maybe a bit of a longer conversation around that would have been better, especially since they had no trouble talking about everything else. I do give kudos for the mentions of safe sex, something rarely addressed in lesfic.
There’s no major drama here, thankfully, and both characters are interesting and their chemistry and relationship is believable. I did think the ending was a bit rushed though, the epilogue is just a few paragraphs of the last chapter, I don’t think an extra chapter to really round things out would have killed anyone. Still I enjoyed this enough to try more by this author. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
jediroot's review
2.0
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I am a fan of A.L. Brooks and usually enjoy her writings. I'm disappointed to say this not really one of those. The synopsis looks good and I usually enjoy this type of trope if written well.
However, I become bored while reading through the novel. I feel like there's not much of good conflict between the two characters, Sarah and Bethany. The reasoning behind Sarah's "player" attitude seems really weak to me. It's type of experience that majority of queer people has in their past, so I don't see how it can make Sarah so afraid of relationships. I could understand if the writer add more complication in Sarah's past to make her so guarded from love.
The romance between Sarah and Bethany is pretty cute and chemistry is decent. Still, I feel like there's nothing new and the way their conversations are written is not really exciting. Especially when there's BDSM involved. I'm glad the BDSM element is written without stereotypes. I'm even more happy that the writer includes safe sex practices! I almost never see that in lesfic novels and that is really unfortunate. It's so important for the readers to see that as a normal thing that we all should do. (I'm going to stop here to avoid getting off topic)
Overall, this is a OK romance. I've read much better materials by A.L. Brooks, so that's why I'm disappointed in this one. I think I might enjoy this a little better if it's written by an author I'm not familiar, because my expectations would've been lower.
I am a fan of A.L. Brooks and usually enjoy her writings. I'm disappointed to say this not really one of those. The synopsis looks good and I usually enjoy this type of trope if written well.
However, I become bored while reading through the novel. I feel like there's not much of good conflict between the two characters, Sarah and Bethany. The reasoning behind Sarah's "player" attitude seems really weak to me. It's type of experience that majority of queer people has in their past, so I don't see how it can make Sarah so afraid of relationships. I could understand if the writer add more complication in Sarah's past to make her so guarded from love.
The romance between Sarah and Bethany is pretty cute and chemistry is decent. Still, I feel like there's nothing new and the way their conversations are written is not really exciting. Especially when there's BDSM involved. I'm glad the BDSM element is written without stereotypes. I'm even more happy that the writer includes safe sex practices! I almost never see that in lesfic novels and that is really unfortunate. It's so important for the readers to see that as a normal thing that we all should do. (I'm going to stop here to avoid getting off topic)
Overall, this is a OK romance. I've read much better materials by A.L. Brooks, so that's why I'm disappointed in this one. I think I might enjoy this a little better if it's written by an author I'm not familiar, because my expectations would've been lower.
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