A review by stargazer3845
Temptation at Randy's by Emily Alter

lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The author handled the trans rep in this book wonderfully, it had me (as a trans woman) feeling very comfortable, which was nice. There was more focus on dysphoria than I expected given the CW at the start, but it wasn't too painful for me personally. There was also more focus on D/s dynamics and kink than I expected, but it was OK with me. (Frankly it was quite hot, and also sweet.) The word "sapphic" was used in some blurbs and in the text, but it didn't feel super sapphic to me, perhaps just generally queer. The spicy scenes were hot, though not what I'm used to as someone who recently started reading sapphic romance novels. It definitely didn't feel straight, though, thank goodness.

I only really have two main disappointments. The first is that the exposition was very timid and therefore confusing. I feel like I lacked some prerequisite knowledge or missed something, like why is a meetup at a diner called a "munch" and inherently kink adjacent? (Am I not queer enough or cool enough to fit in with or understand this crowd?) How does Claude present, carry themself, etc? Frankly, how does Arlene? Not a lot in terms of "painting a picture with words," sadly. Also, I can understand why Claude
might not want to describe 'that video' in detail
but why didn't Arlene tell us more about this important underlying issue, given that it is alternating PoV? That was the kind of questions that I felt while reading. I felt like I didn't really understand the characters very well or get close to them for this reason.

My other disappointment is that it ended rather abruptly and unexpectedly, without a lot of feeling of closure or conflict resolution. I was literally stunned when I turned the page and it said "Epilogue". I would have liked to have the epilogue plus a little more closure in the body of the novel, then a more conventional epilogue with a longer-term flash-forward. I was hoping for a more conventional romance novel "tie up loose ends in a neat bow" ending than I got.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings