The plot flows along at a nice pace, and her sex scenes are pretty good with a lot of cheesiness, but no gross, cringe-worthy descriptions of lady parts. My favorite ridiculous quote is this: "The subtle rise of Clay's knuckles and the valleys between her tendons reminded Tess of the rolling countryside around her, enduring and endlessly beautiful." Oh man, can it get sillier than that? I think not. Try saying this to your lady friend and tell us how it goes!
But... there were some issues with this novel that made it less enjoyable than usual. And I'm now worrying about Radclyffe's political inclinations. For this reason, I'm giving it 3 ({})'s out of 5. (Hey, I do still love a Radclyffe romance- she was my first!)
Stop here if you don't like spoilers...the come back after you read to see if you agree with me.
So issue #1: the main characters had a summer romance when they were 18 that was cut short by parental intervention. It is now FIFTEEN years later, and they have been apparently holding a slow-burning torch for each other all that time. For fif.teen.years. Um, sorry Radclyffe, but women in their mid-thirties who've never had a real relationship because they can't get over their teen summer love have serious issues. This is not cute or romantic, it's just sad. It'd be one thing if they had a thing in their youth, led separate healthy, happy, and fulfilled personal lives and THEN came back together, but this was not the case.
Issue 2: Is Radclyffe an environment-hating Republican? Cause it really seems that way, and it makes me sad when my sistren consort with the enemy. My reason for this question is Clay finds herself in Tess' community because her company (really her father's company) wants to start fracking on her land. Of course, Tess and neighbors are upset by this. Clay encourages them to hire an independent consultant to do tests assessing the risks. They seem to be down with this plan, but then no hiring of an independent consultant every occurs! Some super shallow plot devices happen to both bring Tess and Class together, and make Tess OK with fracking. 1) Clay tells her they'll be careful. Yep, that's pretty much it. Would that convince any of our readers? 2) A domineering male neighbor pretends to be against it, but is really holding out for more money. Once he signs a deal, the fracking can just occur on his land, and Tess's is free of wells! Hoo-rah! That will totally work to make her land toxin-free! 3) Another annoying male (see the pattern here?) who has a thing for Tess sabotages Clay's work site, bringing the two together. 4) Clay and Tess realize their evil dads are to blame for separating them as teens, and Clay's dad is the one pushing this drill site, not her, so she just gets to play the messenger. WTH, Radclyffe? It's clear you really think fracking is fine and dandy. Did you sign a deal with the real-life version of NorthAm?
This whole fracking thing is just so problematic. Tess, as described in the beginning of the novel, would not have given in like this without getting her own assessments of the situation. Instead, Clay just reassures her that she's a good person, Tess wants her hot body, forgets her concerns for her farm, and they decide to live happily ever after. This also doesn't make sense for Clay, as before she seemed chained to her dad's will (even though she's in her 30s- these ladies' maturity level is seriously lacking), but all of a sudden decides it will be fine to insta-marry Tess, the girl of her teenage dreams. Ick.
And that brings me to issue #3: Daddy issues. This is not new trope for Radclyffe, but it's never bothered me as much. In another novel, whose title I am forgetting, a hot surgeon is slave to her Dad's will, as she's in residency and he's like the biggest hot-shot surgeon of them all. This kind of makes sense as med students are kinda slaves to the system until they're done with their residency (I think I'm using the right term- but you get what I mean.) But in this one, Clay never manages a successful relationship, and doesn't even try, all because her dad split up she and Tess as teens cause Tess' dad was being an ass about it. Um, I'm sorry, but since she's in her mid-thirties now this is just not going to fly. The dad character is also flatter than usual, because they only interact briefly on the phone, so he's kinda like The Claw in Inspector Gadget or something. And of course there are step-Daddy issues for Tess, but he's conveniently dead. And also a jerk. What we learn is that all dudes are terrible, controlling, manipulative assholes, so then you are left with no choice but to just accept what your less manipulative hot girlfriend says and live happily ever after.
Our advice for these ladies, or real-life ladies who want to follow their examples:
- Don't pine for your teen love forever. I mean, there is no need to follow the child marriage proposing girl's lead from NC pride. So, so wrong.
- If you and your lady disagree on moral and ethical issues, these should be sorted out BEFORE you decide to shack up. Enjoy each other's company as you will, but make sure you can compromise (the real kind of compromise- not like the current Republicans who shut down the government and claim it's cause the Dems won't play nice) on the important stuff before you try to make this soul bond last forever.
- Buck up and quit taking orders from Daddy. You're not a royal or a Huntsberger- choose your own destiny. Just not the one that makes you sound desperate/insane/emotionally stunted.
The dad character is also flatter than usual, because they only interact briefly on the phone, so he's kinda like The Claw in Inspector Gadget or something.
ReplyDeleteThis is the point at which I died from laughter.