Jenny Frame

I was cautiously optimistic about HUNGER FOR YOU, as I haven't had great luck with Frame's books in the past but was super excited for lesbian vampires. I'm disappointed but not terribly surprised that I ended up unable to finish and DNF'd at 22%.
The central issue I have with the story is that it starts six months into the relationship and I'm completely unsure why the two heroines fell in love. I read in another review that there's a prequel novella, and perhaps if I had read that, my show more opinion would be different.
The book starts with the two of them in Amelia's uncle's tailor shop, where she works and where Byron has been shopping for decades. They're about to go on a vacation to Italy, which is where Byron intends to finally tell Amelia that Byron's a vampire. This is all fine... if it was like 30% into the book. As it stands, I was confused where the plot was hiding, where the chemistry was, etc. The book picks up at around 10% of the way in, with the introduction of a rival vampire clan, but the half of the narrative that follows the central couple plods along awkwardly.
I'm sure the book improves after the point that I stopped reading, but I gave a month of my reading life to trying to get through this and at some point, you have to throw in the metaphorical towel. I will say that it reads like a lot of the vampire romance that came out after Twilight, just chock full of queer women. If that sounds like something you'd like to read, you may want to check this out. I have no complaints about the sex, the representation I read, etc. It's just that the storytelling itself didn't work for me. show less

Way back when, when I used to read het romance because I didn't really have any access to queer romance, one of my favorite tropes was the "family" type romance where a single woman is either pregnant or has a kid and someone comes into their family. Okay, so I'll admit that I usually just pretended in my head that the guy in the het romance was a really butch woman. But I gravitated towards those types of romances otherwise, because they were usually chock full of fuzzy feels.

I've never show more really seen one of those in lesbian form until I saw the preview on Bold Strokes Books' site for "Unexpected" by Jenny Frame. And as soon as I saw that cover and read the synopsis, I knew that I had to have it. Now, as those who stalk BSB's site obsessively, such as myself, know, BSB is both amazing and evil - amazing, because they list forthcoming books almost a year in advance at times (YAY LOOK AT ALL OF THESE GREAT BOOKS I'LL BE ABLE TO READ), and evil because they list forthcoming books almost a year in advance at times (OH THE AGONY OF WAITING FOR A MUCH ANTICIPATED BOOK).

And you know what? "Unexpected" was really worth the wait!

Dale was, well, *fans self*. Err, I mean, a great character. ;) I really identified with that character almost immediately - she was smart, funny, and seemed to have a great life, and yet she was looking for something a little more. Oh yes, bad girl wanting to settle down? MOAR PLZ. Also a huge fan of that trope (in fiction, at least). ;) And I loved that she was from a working class family and she built herself an empire chasing the things that she loved.

She was perfect for Becca, who was even more reserved when it came to her heart and emotions than Dale was. Becca really needed someone in her life to lean on, and trusting people in the past hasn't worked out so well for her, and she's determined to make it on her own. And she was quite "posh," as Dale kept saying, so the upper-crust-meets-working-class theme was great, too. Add Jake, who hacked into a database to find his "other mother" (the egg donor) because his mummy wasn't feeling well and needed help and the baby on the way, and well, I was just smitten with this story. It's totally a feel-good kind of thing.

The only thing that I really didn't like in this story was Ash. I could have done without her entire presence in the story - there was definitely enough material to keep Dale and Becca's relationship progressing without adding in a crazy ex side story. Ash was about as bad as they can come, too. Why do so many lesbian romances have a crazy ex side story? I really don't understand it. Then again, I do have a crazy ex or two...not the type who would pull what Ash pulls, though. Just the "I hope I never see them again because they be crazy" type.

And then, with all of this build-up with Ash, the author just kind of writes her out of the story without the reader discovering what happens. Granted, Trent talks about suing the newspaper that employs Ash for harassment, but we don't know if that ever comes about. You can't build up this side story and not give us a satisfying conclusion, in which Ash (preferably) is found out for the snake she is and loses her girlfriend (who really deserves better), her position, and hopefully the money that Dale needs to pay back the loan she took out on her business. Come on! It kind of felt like a rushed, sloppy ending, which normally would have lowered the review's rating a bit for me, but I was so invested in Dale/Becca that I really didn't care.

And of course, they U-Haul it a bit in the end, which is almost to be expected in lesbian fiction (and, often, real life). I was okay with that, but the ending just felt a bit rushed to me - like I mentioned above, no satisfactory ending (or, really, any ending at all) with Ash and the relationship just kind of slid home without touching third base first. I could have done with at least another fifty pages in this story.

But it's still okay, because I really did enjoy this story quite a bit - so much so, in fact, that I purchased a paper copy of the book, because I really want to see it sitting on my shelf. :) show less

All the Jenny Frame tropes fill this book: British aristocracy, extreme butch-extreme femme pairing, never-had-sex-before MC; but this one works so well because of the crackling chemistry between the two MCs.

Read the full review @https://bestlesficreviews.blogspot.com/2019/02/wooing-farmer-by-jenny-frame.html

Just One Dance by Jenny Frame

Dreams can come true…if you believe AND put in the hard work.

What I liked:
* Taylor’s business idea of Regency Romance Club as a dating venue
* Watching Taylor pursue her dream and then see it come to life
* Taylor’s family – her moms, three older brothers and their partners and how loving and supportive they were
* Taylor’s willingness to state what she wanted in in her business and personal life
* The supporting characters: Gracie, Lady Catherine, show more Jamie, Mr. & Mrs. Parrot, and others
* That the romance did finally lead to a happy ending

What I didn’t like:
* Bailey’s fretting over the fact that Taylor is 19 years younger and feeling it is inappropriate to date her – it got old after awhile
* Not sure about the breakup – was expecting it and it made sense. but it made me wonder if in fact Bailey and Taylor were actually perfect together

Did I enjoy this book? It was okay
Would I read more by this author? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and BoldStrokes Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars show less