Extremely funny, I loved all the shout-outs to sapphic romance authors and other novels. I laughed out loud multiple times. An astute, but also very loving, satire of the genre. Also surprisingly sweet.

Stressful! But I loved getting to see more of these two love birds

This was a great book, one of my absolute favourites from Harper Bliss. I loved the complex and deeply emotional relationship between the MCs.

One thing that would have made it to five stars is if they had gone on more actual dates though? I understand they were like, “we don’t need to go on more dates to know we love each other,” but, like, the other point of the dating plan was for them to have a proper relationship instead of hiding away, but instead they just kept having dinner at home??? Seeing them interact on more dates would have been nice. Also, would have been a good chance to have someone they know bump into them and be like, “um, what’s going on here?” Which would have made the “telling people” section of the book feel more realistic.

Anyway, I liked this book, it was good, looking forward to the sequel novella.

I really liked Love at First Set, so I preordered this book as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, this book replicates the one issue I had with the previous book (a whiny inner monologue), and adds a bunch more.

First off, I don’t care how much of a city girl someone is, it’s ridiculous and totally unbelievable to see someone shoeing a you’re and think they are stabbing it or trying to rip its leg off, and reaching for the pepper spray. 

Second, I’m super not interested in characters who hate each other and argue the whole time.

Third why is she flirting with the farrier while actively planning to make her homeless! And why is the farrier flirting back after she finds out!

The relationship between the two is so uncomfortable. First off, I hate landlord romances, which this is. Second, since the farrier was literally raised by the MC’s aunt (the MC even stayed in the farrier’s bedroom when she came to stay, and wore her clothes, it’s repeatedly stated the aunt is “the closest thing she had to family” and the farrier was “like a daughter to her” and she was expected to inherit the farm), they are essentially cousins.

The MC’s best friend is awful and insufferable, constantly giving horrible advice like “sleep with the farrier and then throw her out her home” and “live with your mum for the rest of your life even though you hate it”. From other reviews I’ve read, the mum and best friend remain awful for the whole book and nothing is resolved.

It’s a shame because it feels like there is a good book somewhere in here. I want to like it, but I just can’t go on.

A short, very sweet story.

As with some of Harper Bliss’ other stories of women coming out later in life, there seems to be a disconnect between the angst felt by the character, and then the total love and support they receive when they eventually do come out. However, while narratively it feels like a bit of a letdown (so much is built up and then goes nowhere), it is very sweet and also, hopefully, is encouraging to women facing this situation themselves.  Also true to life, at least in my experience of coming out as trans in my 30s!

Far from my favourite by Lee Winter, but as usual form the author it was, for the most part, funny, interesting, clever and heartfelt.

There were some problems though.

Some of the racial dynamics regarding the Maori characters was pretty iffy, especially that the “good” Maori characters didn’t have traditional facial tattoos, but the “bad” Maori characters did. And given the sky high rates of police harassment and incarceration of Maori in NZ, having the white cop be fostered by a Maori family who support her being  a cop, and having her harassing a, seemingly entirely, Maori gang for dealing meth when they weren’t actually doing that, feels really uncomfortable.

It also felt totally unbelievable that Sky and Bob, both respected veterans of the entertainment industry, and Kev, who finally has found a job that he loves, would risk their careers by performing sabotage costing a film presumably tens of thousands of dollars, if not far more, as well as risking fines or prison sentences for wasting police time, just to matchmake two lesbians who had only just met, no matter how drunk they were when they first concocted the idea. Yes, this is a comedy, but that is just so egregious, and doesn’t fit the level of realism of the rest of the book, that it totally broke the suspension of disbelief for me. Maybe if the tone of the book were similar to I Dare You To Love Me by Lori G Matthews it would have worked, but not the tone of this book.

I do always love a story where a cop quits their job though, so I’m glad both of Lee Winter’s cop MCs do just that.

It was great to catch up with Summer and Bess, although I’m a bit confused on where in the timeline between Breaking Character and Skye Storm’s Ultimate Pool Party this landed? It sounded like they hadn’t gone to England yet, but they also seemed very out?

I feel like I’ve read a lot of really great coming out stories lately, and this continues the trend. The theme of being deeply closeted and facing internalised homophobia was really well handled. I really hate the cover of this book—not only does it not represent the mahogany and leather office liked with leather-bound books as described in the novel, but it totally misrepresents the tone of the novel too, making it feel cheap and skeezy, rather than emotional and thoughtful.