Reviews

This is love. Not the kind that takes over your mind when you first meet someone and fall head over heels in love. Not the kind that grows between two people when friendship is no longer enough. But the kind of love that is born from acute need, from kinship, from a pain so ruthless it leaves nothing in its wake.

REREAD 2023. I figured there was a good chance I wouldn't love this quite as much as I did the first time I read it. And I was kinda right on that score; I had my little issues with the writing, some of the believability, and the length. This really could have used 50 more pages of slow burn. If I'd read this for the first time today I'd probably give it 4 stars, maybe 4.5? But look, this still gets the full 5 stars from me because of pure nostalgia, and also because I am who I am! I love age gaps, I love a certain type of taboo, I love romances that aren't necessarily healthy but feel vital and real to both people. This was so good and I loved it so much. It starts out with a healthy dose of co-dependency, and you could argue that that never really goes away, but also... I didn't mind? Whoops. I loved them both so much. Dolores is a complete dream and I really liked being in Sophie's POV. I've read a fair few Harper Bliss books over the years, and I still think this is my favourite writing from her. The exploration of grief is really acute, and I'm glad that Ian is such a huge presence in this book. The books doesn't shy away from the strangeness of the dynamic, of dating the woman who was your mother-in-law in all but name. And IDK, the execution worked for me. I love this couple very very dearly.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Charlotte North, which was amazing. I'm so sad she doesn't narrate more sapphic books, because I love her voices and her style. The way she narrated Dolores was so dreamy. The entire book is really just catnip to me. I'll stop myself from saying more, because my original review is embarrassing and gushy enough. It's definitely not perfect, but it has a special place in my heart, especially as it's one of the books that really got me back into reading lesbian romance.

“But if a kiss can make you feel a little bit like your old self again, a little more human, a little more than the survivor you are now, then I’ll kiss you every day.”

--

HOLY CRAP WHERE DO I BEGIN I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

This should have been tacky. It should have been tacky and silly and I got it with that full expectation, I'm just a dumb lez who likes older women so I thought 'I'll read this and have a good laugh at how bad it is, hopefully it's sexy'.

And while I did laugh, and it is sexy, it's so much more than I was expecting.

Spoiler

In part, it's a story of loss and grief. And that aspect was never trivialised, never minimised. As someone who's also had someone close to me die, I always cringe internally at books that involve grief, because it's often never quite right. Especially in romance novels, where you can just feel the author getting tired of the subject and just wanting to get to the sex and the romance. I was actually just complaining about this very recently from multiple books, albeit vis-à-vis suicide and mental illness and racism; where authors just bring up the topic to lend their book gravitas, but they don't actually address the issue. But this book didn't do that; the grief felt tangible, and even though Ian is dead at the beginning of the book, he felt like a character in his own right, with how much both Sophie and Dolores loved and missed him. And again, it was never trivialised, it never felt tacky or weird. It was SO well written in that aspect.

But this is also a love story, and it's sooooo fucking good at that. An unconventional one, but the romance was sooooooo good. This could have all fallen apart if it was badly written or (arguably worse) badly paced but it was great in that aspect. I adoooooore slow burn, and this was slow enough to more than sate me. (I wouldn't have minded if it had taken even more time for them to realise that their growing feelings for one another were romantic, but this isn't a complaint, because when it did happen it was so ksjhfskjdhfskj GOOD.) Also I love that it all started with one of my favourite tropes, sharing a bed. And it was totally innocent, just about sharing their grief and finding comfort in one another. I would have HATED if it just started out with sex. The fact that it took time to turn into more... I loved it! Sophie and Dolores were great characters, oh man, I care about them so much. Dolores in particular was so well-written. Her age was addressed but not overemphasised, and her experience and light and love for the people in her life came through really well. Even though the book is told solely through Sophie's eyes I feel like I came to know Dolores just as much.

Oh, sidebar: Sophie's letters to Ian? GREAT ADDITION, it really went a long way towards making the whole process feel less weird, more natural, because she worked through her feelings about Dolores in front of both him and us. So to speak.

I just... kept waiting for this book to disappoint me and it didn't. I thought it might, when Dolores and Sophie had their fight and Dolores told Sophie that she should speak to her mother. I was worried for a while that it would devolve into Sophie realising that her mother isn't that bad, or that she should make an effort, or that she's been unfair to sort of cut her mother out of her life. But it didn't! She didn't change her mind! And Dolores apologised for suggesting it! And it was great. Many people, like myself and Ian, have great mothers who we love, but other people DON'T. Sometimes your parents are shit (intentionally or otherwise) and you don't owe them shit. And the fact that this, a momfucker book, brought that up, means so much to me.

(Yeah, I've been calling it the momfucker book in my head.)

What else... the romance, as I said, was good. The sex was, lol, really good. It made me laugh, it made me tear up. The side characters were real and varied and believable. There was no immediate, unconditional acceptance of Sophie and Dolores' new relationship. Sophie came to the realisation that she's bisexual without much fuss, which I was glad for; so many f/f and m/m books seem to be allergic to the B-word. Of course, I need to mention that I listened to this as an audiobook. Charlotte North did an amazing job. One, she just had a voice that I liked, and two... I don't know, she was just really expressive and evocative.

Man... as with all other books that I give 5 stars, I feel compelled to say that it probably wasn't a perfect book. There are probably flaws that I noticed while reading that I'm forgetting now in the happy haze of finishing a book that I really enjoyed. But that's the point. I really really enjoyed this book, I loved it so much, and that's worth the 5 stars to me.

ria_bee_3c's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

elizatanner's review against another edition

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5.0

I am so glad I bought and read this book. I wasn't sure about the topic, but the author did a fantastic job. I appreciated the way she dealt with death and how the main characters each had a way of coping. The relationship between the two main characters while might be seen as taboo or certainly unique, was portrayed in a loving caring manner that had me rooting for them.
I recommend this book highly.

mfg1994's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was fascinating. It tackled grief and taboo in a raw, human way. I can honestly say it’s nothing like I’ve ever read before, and most certainly worth a read.

jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition

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4.0

4 stars. I adored this story. It brought out a lot of different emotions in me which was great. I was an emotional wreck one moment and then swooning in the next. I love Bliss’s writing style and the way she tells a story.

Sophie’s boyfriend dies in an accident and she finds herself emotionally depending on his mother, Dolores. Yeah, the forbidden elements were so good and full of delicious angst and feelings. The romance between them was wonderful and romantic. They are both grieving and Sophie develops a bit of a dependency but the way that it was handled felt real and honest. I liked both characters a lot and my heart hurt for the pain they were in from the loss. Their chemistry was strong and their romance was so swoon worthy and satisfying in the end.

This was an amazing read and easily my favorite that I’ve read by Bliss thus far. It’s hard hitting and so romantic.

squish73's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this book. I honestly can’t say enough about it. Sometimes your read something and you realize that this is the book you’ve been waiting for. When I first read what the story was about I was worried that it might be uncomfortable because of the relationship between the two main characters. But it was just so beautiful.

jazi62's review against another edition

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4.0

Good narrator

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