Kenna White

I was in a great mood for a fun read, and I really, really wanted to like this book. Alas, I couldn't.

The writing is incredibly forced and awkward, especially in the first 30 pages or so. The author tries so hard to establish the characters that they seem more like caricatures. NOT GOOD.

The main character is cartoonist Dana Robbins, who has recently taken up temporary residence in a marina. (She's about the only character that comes across as a real person.)

Some of Dana's friends invite show more her to attend a party they're giving, so she can meet some of the local lesbians. Before the gathering, hostess Ruth Ann gives Dana the scoop on who will attend. She goes on -- at length -- about marine biologist / college professor Jamie Hughes, Ph.D. Clearly, Ruth Ann is intimidated by Jamie's education. Okay, I can buy that.

But then Dana attends the party, and she meets Jamie.
And, in this purely social gathering, Jamie promptly introduces herself to Dana with "I'm Dr. Jamie Hughes." Not Jamie, not Jamie Hughes, but DOCTOR Jamie Hughes.

Yeah, sure. Every scientist introduces herself that way in a purely social gathering among lesbian friends. (And I'm the queen of England, thankyouverymuch.)

I went to MIT. I've known a LOT of Ph.D. scientists, and I have NEVER met a single one who introduced him or herself as "Dr....." in a purely social gathering.

And that's just the beginning of the most absurd "party" conversation in the history of the planet. It was utterly painful to read at times. It just feels like forced, rank amateur writing.

Clearly, the author wants us to be impressed with this Dr. Jamie Hughes. And, hey, why kill a fly with a flyswatter if a nuclear bomb is available, right?

As for the rest of the book, suffice it to say that an editor was sorely lacking - and apparently AWOL. How else can you explain writing like the following:

"The call came from who Dana assumed was a colleague running some kind of laboratory tests."

AAACK!

And to top it off, we were treated to commentary like this:

" 'She's not dating anyone right now, but we'd know it if she was. She'd be bragging on how big the girl's bazooms were or how often they did it.' "

I will admit that the book DID get better later on. But not much better.

Trust me on this: consign this one to the bookstore shelves. Spend your time and money on more worthy books. show less

Sara works in a hospital lab, seemingly a combination of a phlebotomist and pathology lab technician. Jessie comes in to have blood tests and put up an ad for her motor scooter.

Jessie is a bartender, an almost professional pool player, and many other things. She and Sara keep running into each other (and the motor scooter thing was a nice through-line for the novel). Sara also has an interesting subplot with her boss, and Jessie has one with her grandfather (who basically raised her, and show more owns the bar where she works). Oh, and there's also a non-Main character plot with Sara's friend Margie and her diabetes.

My main problem with this novel wasn't the characters or the plot, I liked them both a lot. It was the pace and feel of the narrative. The forward movement of the plot was in fits and starts, and a lot of the narrative just felt really flat in places.

It was still a fun plot to follow, but, definitely not my favorite Kenna White to date. show less

The story of Kit, an American ATA Flight Lieutenant in Britain during the second world war. One of the women that ferried planes from place to place. New ones, broken ones, newly fixed ones, etc. Then there's Em, a British Citizen, and granddaughter of a British Lady (literally) who needs a job. Kit winds up renting a room from the Lady, a fact that Em doesn't love. And then Kit signs a recommendation form for Em too so Em can get a job on the same airbase that Kit works on. It takes a bit show more of time for Em to find a job where she doesn't destroy stuff, but she does, and she and Kit even start to like each other... and more (I know, everyone's shocked, just shocked at this turn of the story).

I liked the story. I very much felt like I was back in the time of World War II (never been to Britain so I don't know if that stuff was right). The characters and relationships were interesting as well. Although some of the Em/Kit stuff seemed a bit forced, and the end of the novel just really seemed rushed.

But the stuff I loved best was all the flying plane parts, I mean, nothing will ever take the A-10 Thunderbolt II away as my favorite plane, but the Stearman and Hurricane sound like very cool planes too.

All in all I thought it was an enjoyable lesbian fiction romance. show less

I wish that I had liked this book more than I did. I've read some of her stuff and liked it and so when I read this blurb I thought I'd give it a try. And while there were some parts of it which were cool, overall at some points it felt like it was dragging endlessly and at others that points had been skipped and left me at a little bit of a loss.

It's the story of Dana and Jamie. Dana's a cartoonist who is taking some time away from her relationship to try and figure out why it's not working show more for her (on a houseboat).

Jamie is a marine biologist who Dana meets at a party thrown by one of Dana's neighbors. There's an accident that happens to one of Dana's things, and that keeps them connected for a bit, and then they start getting closer as friends-- then more.

While I didn't love all of the novel, I really did like the secondary character of Julianna (Dana's neice). Whenever she was in a scene she totally stole it. The same thing happened with the character of Dusty too.

I just wish I'd liked the rest of the novel as much. show less