Breaking Out – Lise MacTague

Feb 28, 2021 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

This was my first time reading MacTague and I have to say I really loved this book. It was the perfect mix of sport and romance for my tastes, and with the intricacies of both main characters it just made for the perfect read.

KJ loves hockey. It’s her sanity. She considers herself lucky that her hometown has a rink and a women’s team. She’s the best player on the team and loves joining up with her defensive line-mate in pursuit of winning her team a championship. There’s only one problem – her line-mate is pregnant.

Adrienne has moved into town to work as the school counsellor. She’s recently divorced and just looking for stability for herself and her son, Lawrence. She agrees to join the team reluctantly, especially when she and KJ don’t exactly hit it off.

This isn’t a full blown enemies to lovers, but it’s definitely reluctant acquaintances to lovers. It’s also a great slow burn as they get to know each other first on the ice, then as friends before admitting their attraction to each other.

I particularly enjoyed the slow burn of the romance and the way both characters grew through the narrative, both together and as individuals. KJ coming to terms with her family situation is particularly well done.

Lawrence is a great character. I love the way his relationship develops with KJ, first as a friend and then as his Mom’s girlfriend. As to be expected, that’s a hard transition for him, but I thought MacTague did a great job of illustrating this and the disappointment all parties feel, and then the joy. I also love his relationship with KJ’s dog Chester.

The other secondary characters play their parts. The rest of the hockey team are fun, KJ’s family are difficult but redeemed and Adrienne’s family are pretty great.

If you like sports in your sapphic books, you’ll love this, but even if you aren’t a sports fan and like a good romance you should enjoy this one as it has so much going for it. There is some on ice action, but it doesn’t take up too much of the book and it’s more used to discuss their relationship and feelings, than for the actual action itself.

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

Lead Me Home – Shannon O’Brien

Feb 17, 2021Feb 17, 2021 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

3.75 stars. This is a very sweet romance set in a College environment.

Rose has worked at Jones University ever since she graduated. She’s the cafe manager, enjoying her role, especially working with the students in her employment, but perhaps missing something she can never quite manage to put her finger on.

Allison is a new professor to the University, chairing a new department – landscape studies. She needs to convince studies to major in her area whilst dealing with moving to a new area and being a department chair for the first time.

They hit it off quickly through their interactions at the cafe and the main narrative of the storyline is them getting to know each other and their friendship blossoming into a relationship. There are a few twists and turns along the way that keep things interesting and I really liked the two of them together.

I enjoyed the descriptions of landscape studies and its relevance to things in life that I definitely hadn’t ever considered before.

The humour added to the narrative through the students and the situations at the Cafe added some enjoyment to the book for me, and I appreciated the diversity of the students, even with it being a women’s college.

I hadn’t read O’Brien before but I’m definitely inclined to read her other book set in the same universe as this one. If you’re a contemporary romance fan you should enjoy this one. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but is an enjoyable way to pass the time.

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

Closeness – Y.L. Wigman

Feb 17, 2021 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

3.25 stars. This book is a little bit different. I found it to be an interesting read but I probably wouldn’t revisit it. If you like a mix of contemporary and historical romance you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Set in Australia Duscha inherits a home from her estranged father unexpectedly. She’s mourning the death of her partner and the house gives her the opportunity to go back to Canberra. The house is old and needs a lot of work, which inspires her to hire a gardener.

Honor owns her own gardening/landscaping company. Her partner Merrin is the firms accountant after Honor gives her the responsibility when Merrin experiences health difficulties. Honor is called to Duscha’s to give a quote for the gardening work, when they realise they have a connection from their pasts neither expected to encounter again.

The narrative is interspersed with historical information as to how Duscha came to inherit the house. Some of this is done through her discoveries, others are done through historical flashbacks. Whilst I enjoyed the short stories that were told, I found it jarring at times to be pulled from one timeline to another. There’s also a subterfuge plot line for Honor.

I appreciated how their discovering each other again as contractor/contractee and then friends is built into the narrative. It does provide a little bit of angst, but I’m happy to say there’s no crazy conflict and the majority of the angst in the book is provided by their feelings about their situation and the things going on around them.

I liked the relationship Honor had with her father, which grew on me after initially feeling quite differently differently about it, and Duscha’s relationship with her mother. The couple of friendships interspersed in the storyline also helped with understanding both characters.

There were a couple of small bits that weren’t revisited to the full extent I would have liked but I can understand why they perhaps won’t in the overall narrative. However there was something about the book that left me with a sense of it being unfinished. It’s possible it’s because it crams in a lot in a relatively short word count.

All in all I think this book has elements people will enjoy, with a good narrative, interesting setting and elements of mystery, paranormal, romance and family conflict.

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

What Happened After… Celebrities Series Finale (Celebrities #5) – Nicole Pyland

Feb 9, 2021 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

A really great ending to the celebrities series. I’ve always loved how Pyland finishes each series with a What Happened After… collection, and this one doesn’t disappoint.

Usually a WHA normally includes a story for each of the couples we meet in the series, Pyland mixed it up slightly this time, doing two slightly longer stories, each mainly focussing on two of the couples, but involving all four in some way or another.

Both of the stories are seriously steamy and very enjoyable. If you enjoyed the celebrities series you’ll enjoy this. If you haven’t started the series yet, don’t start here, it contains way too many spoilers!

I received an e-ARC directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Live This Love – Jamey Moody

Feb 4, 2021 ~ lgbtqreader85 ~ Leave a comment

I’m really struggling to read anything that isn’t light and feel good at the moment, so thought I’d take the opportunity to read Moody’s first book as I’ve enjoyed all of her others so far.

Happy to say I enjoyed this one too. It has some of the hallmarks of a new author that don’t appear in her later work, but the story is enjoyable and a good read.

I liked both Alex and Riley and their romance, I also enjoyed that any conflict that appears is caused by outside factors and not by some unnecessary conflict between either of them. It deals with a difficult topic in one of their pasts, and I thought it was done really well.

Would recommend to sapphic romance fans, and as it’s set in the Virgin Islands it has a real ‘get-away’ feeling to it as well.