Barnfire

Rating:
Summary: Not As Good As I Hoped
Review: I anxiously awaited purchasing this book, because the storyline seemed like such a fantastic idea, and I loved the cover. The others who have reviewed this book have commented well on Barnfire's strengths. The story is inventive, and it was quite refreshing to read a romance between women of different ages. (As if all women who fall in love together are the same age!) However, Barnfire book did have its bad points. The writing was weak and could have used a bit of development. It simply did not flow well. The book just jumped from chapter to chapter, scene to scene. At times it was difficult to follow what was going on, and who said what. Sometimes the plot was too thin - in fact, at times it didn't even seem as if there was a plot - especially toward the book's end. Description of the characters and their thoughts was often sparse or elementary. It is easy to forget how much of a book those things comprise until they are not there. Eventually things wrapped up, but the writing was just lacking! There were SO MANY grammatical mistakes. Didn't anybody read over this before it was published? The book had a good amount of love/sex scenes, that were amply descriptive. Barnfire would have been highly enjoyable, if not for its many faults. It has never taken me this long to read a book this short! Barnfire just wasn't what I hoped it would be. Perhaps if another writer had tackled this story, or if the author had more experience...? I hope that the author chooses to do some major revisions on Barnfire, because it really could have been so much more!

Rating:
Summary: Two adult women discover they're lesbians together
Review: What happens when a thirty-something and a forty-something discover their attraction is more than just friendship? And they live on opposite sides of the country. One is a city girl and the other loves the country. 17 years difference in their ages seems to be the least of the hurdles they have to clear. The obstacles to these two unfold gradually and it's interesting to see how they deal with them. And there are two refreshing points to this book. The first is a woman well in her forties who is suddenly discovering who she is, which seems so true to life. Not every lesbian comes out of the womb realizing who she is. The second is that not everything goes well, again realistic. The love scenes are steamy and the book is a pleasant read. Highly enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful May-December Story
Review: When it comes to May-December romances, my standards were long ago set by Karin Kallmaker's "Touchwood" which set the bar very high indeed for quality in this particular genre with a genre.

This is the second time a Montague book has made me think of a Kallmaker book, and I can only say that it has to be because Montague is doing something right! Montague's "A Wild Sea" made me think of "Watermark," Kallmaker's sequel to "Touchwood."

Montague is tackling complicated issues of life itself, in the way that Kallmaker does in her atypical "romance" novels. Montague's writing isn't yet the same soul-stirring, heart-pounding prose that Kallmaker manages, but I applaud the effort and I just plain want more. I've given it the same number of stars as "Touchwood," but in truth it is not quite as spectacular, but 4 stars just seemed inadequate when I've given many books weaker than this 4 stars because they showed promise or were pleasing in other ways.

I'm glad to see that this book is a bit longer than "A Wild Sea" because the hard stuff of life takes more time to write about and deserves more depth of character. I sincerely hope that Montague continues to stretch into the harder areas of lesbian life and that her sexy, romantic and undeniably compelling books get longer and richer as a result.

Rating:
Summary: Not As Good As I Hoped
Review: When it comes to May-December romances, my standards were long ago set by Karin Kallmaker's "Touchwood" which set the bar very high indeed for quality in this particular genre with a genre.

This is the second time a Montague book has made me think of a Kallmaker book, and I can only say that it has to be because Montague is doing something right! Montague's "A Wild Sea" made me think of "Watermark," Kallmaker's sequel to "Touchwood."

Montague is tackling complicated issues of life itself, in the way that Kallmaker does in her atypical "romance" novels. Montague's writing isn't yet the same soul-stirring, heart-pounding prose that Kallmaker manages, but I applaud the effort and I just plain want more. I've given it the same number of stars as "Touchwood," but in truth it is not quite as spectacular, but 4 stars just seemed inadequate when I've given many books weaker than this 4 stars because they showed promise or were pleasing in other ways.

I'm glad to see that this book is a bit longer than "A Wild Sea" because the hard stuff of life takes more time to write about and deserves more depth of character. I sincerely hope that Montague continues to stretch into the harder areas of lesbian life and that her sexy, romantic and undeniably compelling books get longer and richer as a result.