Birds of a Feather

Rating:
Summary: Too honest
Review: Calhoun is a good writer and because I grew up in Wisconsin I enjoy reading about lesbians in settings I grew up in. I ordered Birds of a Feather after enjoying the novel By Reservation Only. That book had a happy ending. Birds does not. It leaves its women unable to form relationships for realistic and common reasons. But as someone who is like these women, myself, I look to the fictional world for successful everlasting bonding. So instead of escape, I got a book to identify with and think about.

Rating:
Summary: Good Writing, Same Old Plot
Review: In this outing, Calhoun introduces Joan McKenzie, living alone, holding down two jobs and attracted to her life-long best friend, Diane. While on the surface she acknowledges that a relationship with Diane is impossible, she can't seem to establish a committed relationship with another woman.

Calhoun is a talented writer with finely drawn characters. Unfortunately, you only need to read one or two books by Calhoun to know what the plots of all her books will be. In each book, there is the main character who is attracted to her best friend who is not interested so the main character turns to other women for physicality and a gay man for a secondary friendship.

Calhoun needs to stretch her talents to be the best she can be. If she does, that's when we'll have some very, very good lesbian novels come out of the mainstream lesbian publishers.