Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Girls Next Door by Janet Marie aka Janet Grivois aka Jadedrogue

How do you make friends – is it a calculated decision or just something that happens along the way? Can you put a finger on what made the difference between the time when you considered someone an acquaintance, a colleague, an old school mate and when you started to think of him or her as friend?

If you follow Em and Leigh you’ll probably agree that there is no defining moment that you can pinpoint as the time when they became friends. It could have been that time at the local diner, when Em came out to Leigh or it could have been during the days Em spent at Leigh’s house while her loft was being cleaned up after she was attached ? On the other hand ... no I think it must have been the night when Leigh decided to look up Em after midnight bringing Chinese Take Away and unintentionally interrupting a “sleep over” !

Anyway the fact is that Em - a more or less out lesbian, popular criminal fiction writer and professor at the local college - do find her self a friend in Leigh – a former high school classmate and US Marshal - now working at the local sheriffs’ department in their hometown Hope’s Corner, Vermont.

And who wouldn’t like to have a new friend ? Well Em doesn’t really do “the friend” thing or let anybody at all get real close. She sleeps around – as in one night stands – and generally keeps people at a distance. Leigh on the other hand is trying to settle into a new life back in her hometown after leaving an abusive relationship, her job as an US Marshall and on top of everything she just lost her parents in a car crash. You could say that Em and Leigh both need something in their lives and as neither of them is looking for love a friend is just the thing - at least for now.

No this time I’m not going to tell you what’ll make a straight woman like Leigh jump the fence, do go look up this romance for your self and see how the sex savvy Em deals with something as foreigner to herself as her own heart and the "straight" Leigh.

As you might have guessed a story with a protagonist involved in police work will not only hold a romance but also something of a crime drama, so don’t be surprised when suspicions of murder and arson start flowing around. I won’t try to relate the core of the drama - just prepare your self for a bit of complicated double-crossing – hmm perhaps just a bit too complicated and imaginative for my taste.

This is most of all a sweet and well told romance, with a couple of likable characters that will keep you well entertained while they move from friends to lovers, and overcome the always present obstacles to “living happily ever after”.

As for the quality of writing you might find that an extra bit of editing could have eased things a bit for the reader as you’ll sometimes have to look real close to determine “who’s talking”, but if I have to choose between a well told romance with a good storyline and extra editing – I’ll go for the romantic storyline anytime.

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