Georgia Beers

Amelia Martini is having hot flashes, hormonal changes, is divorced, and is way too close to being 50. She hates her life and just wants to go back to being “normal.” Her friends are all a few years younger and don’t really understand what she’s going through and while they remain supportive of all Amelia’s difficulties, she’s sure they are tired of her whining about her problems and her sudden and inexplicable mood changes. She retired at 45 so she could travel the world with show more her wife, but then her wife left for another, younger woman. On the plus side, she has started her own business—a dog-walking service. When she agrees to house sit for a wealthy man who doesn’t want to leave his two dogs in a kennel while he goes to Asia on business, she thinks she can use the time to get on with her life. She wasn’t counting meeting the 35-year-old house painter who has been hired to paint several of the house owner’s rooms.

This is the third, and final, book in this series and it is remarkable and possibly groundbreaking—not because of the age difference between the two main characters, no that’s been done before. It is groundbreaking because it may be the first time where an author in this genre has addressed the realities of menopause. I can’t remember another book in the genre where the main character is going through menopause and the author actually talks about the hot flashes, the mood swings, etc. in detail and with knowledge. Readers may not want to hear about the woes of being menopausal, but they should because, if you’re a woman, you’ll be right there with Amelia one day.

You don’t need to have read the first two books in the series to enjoy this one, but you will probably add the other books to the top of your to-be-read list to learn more about the remarkable women Beers writes about in this series.

My thanks to Bold Strokes Books for an eARC. show less

Julia Martini is the new owner of her family's struggling bar, and she's determined to make it a success - not just because she's sunk a lot of her money into the place, but also because she wants her father to finally approve of her. He loves her, she knows that, but it feels like he's held her at arm's length ever since she came out as a lesbian.

Savannah McNally is a home health care worker who's basically been a caretaker in one way or another since her mother died. She's used to people show more needing her, which is part of why it stings a little that her dad and younger siblings seem to be turning to her dad's new girlfriend, Dina, more and more. Still, Dina seems to be good for her dad, so she tries to adjust. She feels vaguely guilty when she and her friend agree to meet at Martini's, a bar owned by a family that, for some reason, her dad hates - and then she meets Julia and is completely charmed by her.

In the acknowledgements, the author mentions that this series was inspired by her desire to write family-centered romances similar to stuff Nora Roberts and Jill Shalvis have written. Since Beers writes lesbian romances, in order to make the focus on a single family more believable, she opted to center things around three cousins rather than three siblings. This first book focuses on Julia Martini, while Book 2 focuses on her cousin Vanessa (a teacher), and Book 3 focuses on Amelia (who, in Book 1, is going through a painful divorce). Of the three, Amelia is the oldest. They've all been really close since Julia and Vanessa first came out to Amelia, who was already out.

As someone who is personally a big fan of Nora Roberts' "big, loud, loving family" romances, this book clicked with me right away. I loved the way Julia, Vanessa, and Amelia interacted, and there were plenty of family-related complications without making things too angsty.

Although I don't mind angst, it helps to be in the mood for it, and I was grateful that this was generally a low-angst read. There were a few potential issues - Savannah's concerns about her father showing early signs of dementia, incidents with Savannah's addict younger brother, and an overly clingy bar customer with a crush on Julia - but for the most part things didn't get too heavy. The bit that most concerned me was the customer with a crush on Julia. I honestly thought that would take a turn for "call the cops," so it was surprising (but also a relief) when that storyline fizzled out into nothing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and definitely plan on reading more by this author.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Enjoyable and easy to read as always, Georgia Beers’ latest is a classic traditional romance with a sweet likeable heroine.

Kelsey has moved city and started a new life away from family and her ex, opening her own business and making new friends. When she meets a gorgeous woman in her local Starbucks there is an instant attraction that quickly leads to more. But Kelsey’s shop is soon under threat from an unexpected change of landlord, and suddenly her dreams and her personal life are in show more tatters.

Kelsey thought she had her life sorted, or at least moving in the right direction, but she soon learns how quickly things can fall apart, and, more importantly, what really matters the most.

Georgia Beers has a talent for making a fairly straightforward traditional romance come alive and making her characters feel like old friends. We engage so easily with her main characters that we feel part of their lives and are soon rooting for them to sort things out. Kelsey is no exception, we feel her pain, but also the frustration of wanting her to get over her hurt and ‘do the right thing’.

Kelsey’s speciality, selling perfumes, adds a layer of unusual interaction, everything for her is led by scent, how she interprets people and interacts with them. This adds an interesting nuance to the story and a depth of sensory colour that fills out the background very nicely.

Another sweet and charming romance from one of the best, always an enjoyable read and a happy ever after resolution. show less

Evergreen resort and spa isn't doing super well (though not horribly either). Olivia, the assistant manager who was really quite acting as the manager doesn't get the management job when it comes open.

Instead, Haley, the daughter of the owner (although no one knows this) is punished and the punishment is that she is supposed to help the Evergreen Resort make a bigger and better profit in the next four months or she doesn't get her allowance back. Even though, she's never ever run a business show more like this at all.

Of course, the two women fall in love too, even though there are a ton of bumps they can see, and some that Olivia can't see too.

Most of the book was really good. It was a pretty typical lesfic plot, but, the characters really jumped off the page at me (I now am hungry thanks to the food in this novel too).

I do feel like the ending was too easy though. I mean, the conflict was a big one during most of the book, and yet it seemed to be semi-brushed aside a little bit. But, up until that ending it was an awesome book.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books. show less