Rating: 
Summary: What it's like between women...
Review: Jackie Frakes is in an unsatisfactory relationship. Her boyfriend and she have separate homes and they have been drifting apart. She takes a weekend trip to gather her thoughts and ends up snowbound in the cabin of Leah Beck, a renowned painter, who is recovering from the death of her long-timer partner and from the effects of a creative block that has left her unable to paint.By the end of the weekend Jackie is in Leah's arms and Leah whispers to her, "This is what it's like between women." Stunned by her response to Leah, Jackie doesn't resist when relatives arrive to "rescue" her from the snow and the two women are parted before they were ever really together. (At this point I could not put the book down!) This weekend begins a painful and yet joyous journey of coming out for Jackie that any lesbian will identify with. There's the language to learn, for one thing! For Leah, the encounter finds her creative block finally broken. When the two women meet again they are different people but yet again the passion creates an aching smoulder between them that will please any fan of the lesbian romance genre. For Kallmaker fans, it doesn't get much better than the blouse-tearing, sheet-ravelling, paint-peeling encounter that finally occurs. Wonderfully resolved, well-written, and tightly-plotted, Painted Moon is a classic. Like her portrayal of the symphony conductor in Paperback Romance, Kallmaker is top notch at getting into the head of an artist. This book inspired the short story "Smudges" in her recently released anthology "Frosting on the Cake" where the passion still smoulders just beneath the surface for these two women and, happily for those of us who believe in romance, it seems it always will.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: Karin Kallmaker is one of the foremost lesbian romance writers. Being a hopeless romantic, Painted Moon takes you on a wonderful journey of first and everlasting love.
Rating:
Summary: Hot and cooking
Review: Not only is this a classic Kallmaker book, it is really well done. It has some hot sex and also great cooking:) I use the turkey recipe every Thanksgiving, which then of course prompts me to read the book again...
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorites
Review: Painted Moon is the quintessential lesbian romance novel. It rivals Curious Wine and Desert of the Heart as the benchmark of the genre. Like a favorite old movie, it doesn't matter how many times you visit it, know the plot, memorize the lines, experience the outcome, it never disappoints. It's that good. Artist Leah Beck has hidden herself away in a mountain cabin mourning the untimely death of her long-time lover. Her grief has left her angry, guilt-ridden and creatively bankrupt.
Jackie Frakes is an aspiring and talented young architect working towards her license at a large San Francisco firm. She's trapped in a world of cookie-cutter designs and questionable professional ethics, but knows that it is the consequence for the choice she made when she decided to follow her boyfriend from Boston to the West Coast. Upon her mother's urging, Jackie plans to spend Thanksgiving with relatives in the mountains as a brief respite from her work-a-day world and her weekly 3-hour commute to visit her boyfriend in San Jose. On her way up to her aunt and uncle's mountain cabin, Jackie gets caught in a blinding snowstorm. Driving a vintage MG that her boyfriend insisted she buy, Jackie winds up stranded on the side of the road. Enter Leah Beck, who begrudgingly rescues her. With the storm raging, power lines down and no alternatives available, Jackie and Leah are forced to spend Thanksgiving and much of the weekend together. Their brief encounter changes both women's lives irrevocably. This story has it all: chance circumstances, intriguing setting, faithful dog, haunting dialog, disapproving friends, and among the best sex scenes every written. Kallmaker teases the reader, building enough romantic tension to melt an iceberg. As always, her characters are fully formed and real enough to remind us all of people we know. Painted Moon may follow formula, but it does so with wit, humor, angst and enough believability to pull it off wonderfully. For me, this was the book that crowned Kallmaker the Mistress of Romance.
If you buy only one book from this genre, this is the one. Hunt it down. It's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Defining the Genre
Review: Painted Moon is the quintessential lesbian romance novel. It rivals Curious Wine and Desert of the Heart as the benchmark of the genre. Like a favorite old movie, it doesn't matter how many times you visit it, know the plot, memorize the lines, experience the outcome, it never disappoints. It's that good. Artist Leah Beck has hidden herself away in a mountain cabin mourning the untimely death of her long-time lover. Her grief has left her angry, guilt-ridden and creatively bankrupt.
Jackie Frakes is an aspiring and talented young architect working towards her license at a large San Francisco firm. She's trapped in a world of cookie-cutter designs and questionable professional ethics, but knows that it is the consequence for the choice she made when she decided to follow her boyfriend from Boston to the West Coast. Upon her mother's urging, Jackie plans to spend Thanksgiving with relatives in the mountains as a brief respite from her work-a-day world and her weekly 3-hour commute to visit her boyfriend in San Jose. On her way up to her aunt and uncle's mountain cabin, Jackie gets caught in a blinding snowstorm. Driving a vintage MG that her boyfriend insisted she buy, Jackie winds up stranded on the side of the road. Enter Leah Beck, who begrudgingly rescues her. With the storm raging, power lines down and no alternatives available, Jackie and Leah are forced to spend Thanksgiving and much of the weekend together. Their brief encounter changes both women's lives irrevocably. This story has it all: chance circumstances, intriguing setting, faithful dog, haunting dialog, disapproving friends, and among the best sex scenes every written. Kallmaker teases the reader, building enough romantic tension to melt an iceberg. As always, her characters are fully formed and real enough to remind us all of people we know. Painted Moon may follow formula, but it does so with wit, humor, angst and enough believability to pull it off wonderfully. For me, this was the book that crowned Kallmaker the Mistress of Romance.
If you buy only one book from this genre, this is the one. Hunt it down. It's a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: This book was recommended as "comparing favorably with Katherine Forrest's 'Curious Wine'". I would disagree; the writing does not compare. These characters are not well-developed and some are not even believable. I suppose if the reader is very young or naive she might enjoy this story. I stuck it out, disappointed by the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: I was surprised by its popularity!
Review: This is by far my most popular book, which has me somewhat mystified. I am flattered that some critics compared it favorably to Curious Wine by Katherine Forrest. I can only hope that readers will go on enjoying it while I figure out how to write another book
that pleases as many readers!
Rating:
Summary: First Love, Confusing Love
Review: This is one of Kallmaker's best efforts... not to say her other works are less. I have them all and eagerly await each new offering with anticipation. Being confined to a cabin in a snowstorm brings the two women together in spite of their wishes. And they find love... finally!
Rating:
Summary: Young and Naive:)
Review: This was truly a beautiful book. I would compare it to "Curious Wine". I have read and re-read this book and it keeps getting better. It however does become a little slow in the middle, as every good novel I have ever read has, and in doing so made me connect with the character's and their plight.
Rating:
Summary: A Delicious Love Story
Review: When I bought the book, I wasn't sure what to expect. Since it was recommended by a few net people, I decided to buy it.
It was certainly more than what I expected. It's a delicious story of awakenings and of desire that can not be denied. I find myself re-reading the scenes of exquisite sexual tension between the 2 characters.
You can not help but cheer for the lead characters.
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