Rating: 
Summary: A romance that you'll want to re-read.
Review: After reading all of Kallmaker's Naiad romances, I find this one the book that I go back to re-read. Maybe it's because the book starts out with the heroines stranded in a snowstorm. Or maybe it's because they really don't click with one another at first. Whatever, each of them has a personal history that intensifies her need to find the right lover, and by the middle of the book they're drawn together like magnets. Karin does a skillful job of managing the tension until the reader wants them to end up together as much as THEY do. There's a wonderful mother and a fine dog involved, too. This book is worth every penny, and then some!
Rating:
Summary: Bask in the Moon Light
Review: Bella Books has re-released Painted Moon, one of this reader's favorite Karin Kallmaker romances. The novel deals with issues of grief and healing, self-discovery and coming out, falling in love and loving again. Leah Beck is an artist who lost her lover and partner in a freak accident two years ago. Jackie Frakes is a young architect who is struggling with her dissatisfaction with life. An unexpected snowstorm throws the two women together in a small cabin in the Sierras Nevadas for Thanksgiving. For Leah, the meeting will shock her into realizing that while her beloved Sharla is dead, she is still alive and still an artist. Kallmaker provides interesting illustrations regarding how an artist might see the world. Leah expresses her emotions and even tastes as colors. She speaks about where she grew up as " beautiful, full of life. The greens in the spring would actually hurt my eyes ..." (p48) and watching Jackie's " face flicker with emotions. She would paint it gray uncertainty, purple determination, chartreuse fear. " (p60) The pleasing addition to this re-release is the new cover art. Bella Books is to be commended for their graphic designs in general. This cover is one of their best to date. The photograph is reflective of a pivotal scene over Thanksgiving when the snowstorm breaks and Jackie, Butch --Leah's husky, named because, "she acts really tough, but when you get her on her back, she's a pussycat."(p19). -- and Leah venture out into the snow under a full moon. In an epiphany for Leah, for the first time since Sharla's death, she finds that she HAS to draw, to paint, to create what she sees. "Leah stood frozen, her fingers itching. The top of her head felt as though it was burning. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a faint blue over the snow, across the ground, on the tips of the dark pines. Jackie was etched in cerulean. Her braid spun in the light, the face reflected the moon's glow. Her cheekbones were dusted in blue celeste, and her chin was a blur as she threw herself into another drift of the silver-blue snow." (p37) The resulting series of paintings is titled "Painted Moon." Creative juices are not the only kind that Jackie inspires for Leah. Jackie's epiphany arrives a few hours later when she admits that she finds herself sexually attracted to the enigmatic Leah just as her aunt and uncle arrive to carry her home. There are complications and misunderstandings in the course of the romance. When the two women come together, the energy is electric. And it shows in Leah's work. The artist finds herself creating a highly senuous series of paintings that feature Jackie. (...) Painted Moon has what this reader considers classic Kallmaker elements with interesting characters, wry wit and steamy love scenes. (Some of the images of Jackie and Leah have lingered in my mind for years.) If you missed this title the first time around, or if you are new to Kallmaker's novels, pick up a copy of Painted Moon and bask its glow.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorites
Review: Every once in a while, I like to re-read one of my Naiads (I have quite a collection at this point). This is one of those books that I love re-reading. It's a perfect one for someone looking to curl up with a good romance. I never seem to be able to put Kallmaker's books down once I've started reading them!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: I am someone with mixed feelings about my sexuality. This book helped me alot. I may still not be sure, but at least I know that I truly do love my friend, and that I always will. And even though she is a woman, and I am one, it does not really matter. Anyway, I do not regret reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very sweet Romance
Review: I am still reading it, about 1/2 way through and I really love it already. It is well written, romantic and comparable to Curious Wine, which I also loved. I ordered almost all of Karin Kallmakers books after reading this one only 1/2 way. I hope she continues to write on this level! Thanks Karin!
Rating:
Summary: Touched me in all the right places :)
Review: I compare it to Curious Wine - perhaps not as intricatly crafted as that - but easily has the same emotional impact of committment, self-descovery, and almost loosing that so important one. Easily my most favorite along with curious wine.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kallmaker's best
Review: I found the characters throughly developed and all that transpires believable within the realms of romance. Jackie's coming out takes her months to realize and reconcile based on a reality-shattering moment in Leah's kitchen. The book was erotic and sensitive and I'll read it again soon, I'm certain!
Rating:
Summary: Great read!!
Review: I just finished reading this book. I had started reading this author's recent book "The Dawning" but really couldn't get into it, so I was hesitant about reading any other of her titles. Boy, was I wrong! I picked this up and couldn't put it down. I was sucked in to this wonderfully romantic and passionate story right off the bat. And the love scenes were the most erotic yet dignified I've ever read. It's a book I'll be reading again and again.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best!
Review: I think I've now read this book over about 12 times. It is passionate without being smutty. The passion these women feel transforms them, but they learn that while passion is a wonderful thing, only when combined with trust and respect is it a life sustaining force. I can't recommend this book enough to the romantics at heart, or to the nonbelievers who wonder what the rest of us see in this kind of novel.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!!
Review: It was an engaging, sweet romance between two people who were a bit lost in their own ways. I went and ordered the rest of her books as soon as I finished so I wouldn't miss a word. She is a die hard romantic--just like me.
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