Confessions of a Dreamer – Kenna White

Sep 20, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

A solid book – not quite a four star but I’m rounding up. It’s a pleasant, sweet, easy read, with an age gap romance and a good premise.

Ros is an auditor at a University in Cincinnati. She’s called back to her hometown when her Aunt Bonnie has an accident. Here she’s reunited with her old biology teacher – Stacy, who has taken a role in Bonnie’s life.

I liked both Ros and Stacy as characters and connected with both of them. The book takes a little while to get going but I enjoyed it once it did.

Aunt Bonnie was a great character. I liked that she had just enough craziness to make the book amusing but not so much that the book became too much about her. I thought she was well written and her scenes worked well in strengthening the narrative of Ros and Stacy.

My only complaint is the lack of any real couple time in the storyline. I either needed a slightly longer book, or less of a slow burn. There was also a few pages about three quarters of the way through the book that gave me major anxiety as I anticipated something happening that never did. Not sure if that was intentional from the author or not.

I imagine this is a good depiction of small town living in the Midwest. I enjoyed the writing and I’m intrigued as to White’s other work.

I’d recommend this to any wlw fans, but especially those who aren’t looking for sexiness in their books.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Un]Common Ground – Erica Abbott, Pol Robinson

Sep 17, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

The best word I can think of to describe this book is pleasant.

Short of one particular scene which had me howling with laughter for a couple of minutes, I didn’t really experience any emotions whilst reading this, either positive or negative.

The book certainly isn’t terrible, it’s very well written, in an impressively seamless manner considering it’s written by two authors, but it lacks something quite significant – emotion. The main characters have feelings about their pasts, but never really openly express them, and when they do, it just doesn’t land with this particular reader. They also don’t really appear to have strong emotional responses to each other.

The storyline itself is also amiable. There’s barely any angst which isn’t in itself a bad thing, but when there is some, it’s either resolved and swept away quickly, or doesn’t add any fervour to the situation, which left me feeling somewhat disconnected from the MCs and the storyline. I think the character I connected with the most might have been the dog.

I think it’s highly likely others will feel differently to me about this book. It is at its heart a sweet romance, a story of finding home and a perfectly pleasant way to pass a few hours.

Following Chance – Baxter Brown

Aug 14, 2020Oct 14, 2020 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

This was my first time reading Brown and I pleasantly surprised. Following Chance tells the story of Kate and Lauren and how they come together after 15 years apart. I found the story to be well written, with an interesting plot that made me want to continue reading even when I had other things to do. I’ll definitely be searching out Brown again in the future.

I didn’t enjoy the structure of the book at first – it’s written in alternating chapters between the past and the present for the majority of the book. However, this is very much a me thing – I found myself uncomfortable in the past chapters knowing that we were working towards the breakup of two people that in the present chapters are obviously meant to be together despite protestations. By the time we actually got to the breakup though I’d become much more comfortable with the structure and was actually beginning to enjoy it.

Kate in the present frustrated me for at least half of the book – her feelings for Lauren were clear and in typical me fashion I just wanted to shake this fictional character out of her own head. I did however love her sarcasm, her attitude towards parenting and her character in general. I loved the secondary characters of both daughters. Their sweet relationship and meddling in their mothers lives ended up making the story for me much more believable for me.

Whilst fairly predictable in its outcome, this is an enjoyable book that I would recommend reading when you’re looking for a well written, well paced romance with some attitude on the side.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.