Summer Heat

When I found out that Amazon has quite a few free kindle e-books, I got really excited and decided to browse. I was delighted to find lesbian romance among their collection and chose Summer Heat because the description caught my attention. Even though I haven't read a published romance novella before, I am an avid reader of romancing/erotic fanfiction, so I already have my favorite themes, and holiday romance is definitely one of them.

What I didn't like about the book

Everything seemed to happen so fast. I would love to see more interactions between Cat and Rose. I'm a sucker for slow burn and I know it's a short story, but I do feel that it's possible to have a little more build up in a shorter work too.

It's also a shame we didn't get to know their personalities a little better. The two women seem a bit generic. You have the pretty much standard duo of an older more wild woman who wants to have fun, and a younger, less experienced one, who is more cautious.

What I liked about the book

I like that Cat's parents are supportive of her and we don't have to deal with silly homophobia. There's enough of it in the real world, thank you very much.

The overall mood of the book is pretty great, too - you feel the holiday atmosphere. Sexual tension is also built up pretty well and I did enjoy the sex scenes.

What I'm undecided about

I don't know how I feel about Cat and Rose's interactions. There's a lot of good stuff and realism, but the first interactions seem a bit like intros in porn with “plot”. I guess it's because Rose starts hitting on Cat immediately, turning the whole narrative into a porno prelude.

Overall, I think the story was ok. not as engaging as I'd like it to be, but not nearly as bad as I feared it might've been. Despite my two stars, I still recommend the book, as it's a nice short read when you're in a mood for some romance, but don't feel like getting into a long novel.