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Solstice
On the longest day of the year, anything can happen…Sam Delaney has all she asks from a job and a place of her own arranged exactly the way she likes it. The death of her older brother, and her parents’ denial, have left her shaken and grateful her simple needs are being met. She’s not looking for the future—today is all she needs.It’s the last summer Emily MacKenzie will get to spend hanging out with friends, soaking up the sun and checking out the women on Seattle’s sporting fields. Come fall, she’s an assistant soccer coach with responsibilities. She’s planning on making every day of summer count.When their paths cross, Emily is surprised Sam remembers her. Years ago, they played soccer on the same high school team, only Sam was the star and Emily the new kid. Their youthful camaraderie had been simple, but under the warm Seattle sun, simple is the last word that describes their feelings.In this rich story of long days and hot nights, newcomer Kate Christie follows the collision course of two women during the summer that changes their lives.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Kate Christie
37 books250 followersKate Christie, author of In the Company of Women, Gay Pride & Prejudice, and the Girls of Summer series, was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI. A graduate of Smith College, she lives near Seattle with her wife, their three daughters, and the family dogs.
To join her mailing list and receive email notifications of new releases, giveaways, and other news, visit https://katejchristie.com/mailing-list/.
To join her mailing list and receive email notifications of new releases, giveaways, and other news, visit https://katejchristie.com/mailing-list/.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 22, 2020
The writing style here was really compelling. The interactions were shown from POVs of both the MCs. One of them would think they just made a fool of themselves while the other would find it endearing. It was interesting to see them from their own and then each other's eyes. Emily was so childlike and pure, I loved chapters from her POV. The ending felt a bit rushed otherwise a fun fluff read.
September 8, 2023
Solstice is about 2 women who started off on the same path in high school, separated and grew into their own person and reunited at another point in life. Will their paths converge and intertwine or will it run parallel and split again just like in the past?
Slooow burn, dives deep into grief, touches on AIDS epidemic, lesbian culture in Seattle and coming to terms with yourself and taking off the blinders you’ve been forced to wear in a heteronormative society.
This book was like an ad to VisitSeattle. By the end of the book I mentally noted to visit Seattle at some point in my life. It also “encouraged” me to like running. But then again encourage is far from doing.
It’s a slow burn but in-depth. I enjoyed reading Solstice.
Slooow burn, dives deep into grief, touches on AIDS epidemic, lesbian culture in Seattle and coming to terms with yourself and taking off the blinders you’ve been forced to wear in a heteronormative society.
This book was like an ad to VisitSeattle. By the end of the book I mentally noted to visit Seattle at some point in my life. It also “encouraged” me to like running. But then again encourage is far from doing.
It’s a slow burn but in-depth. I enjoyed reading Solstice.
June 10, 2016
I like the main characters of Emily and Sam. It was a nice little look at Seattle. But . . . I had certain problems.
But first, let me look at what I wrote as I went along . . .
Hmm, at the 56% mark I put down
"Unfortunate that I didn't know this was a lesbian-straight relationship book. Also, WTF? 'Why hadn't Emily called? She was the experienced lesbian here. Didn't she know I was waiting for her to make the next move?' - um, you kissed her and then ran. She's the one to make the next move? WTF?"
"Just so I'll remember things later when everything is said and done - Sam kissed Emily on check in bar, then, outside, Emily pushed into and kissed Sam. Whereupon Sam fled. Still, she fled. She's older by 4 years and the one who fled. If playing game of 'who calls next', you'd think Sam would be the one with the obligation to say what the fuck is going on with running."
And then at the 83% mark I put:
"I like Emily and Sam, and I don't always say that or think that about the characters in books, but they are killing me here. Two people with long term crushes who are horribly afraid to be damaged. I need to stop reading books involving 20 year-olds. I knew I'd read a previous book by Christie, but I just realized it wasn't the one I was recalling. I was going to make a comment that doesn't fit now. Ah well."
Re: comment about previous book. I don't know how long it lasted, but there was a period of time there where I thought I'd been reading the second book, by me to be read, by an author who had written a book involving two people who were kept apart for, like, 20 years because of a simple stupid miscommunication. But, I wasn't actually reading that author. I was reading the one who turned Pride and Prejudice into a LGBT book.
Okay, so. Sam & Emily went to high school together. They, apparently, both fancied the other but Sam didn't realize she was gay until much much later, and Emily was put off by the fact that . . . um. Well, intimidated by the fact that Sam was somewhere around 3 to 4 years older. Yeah, that's it. Oh, and neither knew of the other's 'fancing'.
About a year before the opening of this book, Sam's brother died. Let me rephrase that the way it seemed to be hammered against the reader's head: Sam's gay brother died roughly a year before the start of this book. His (and hers . . um, I should say their) parents were quite put off by the fact that . . . I've forgotten his name. The parents were put off and horrified to learn their son was gay. They sent him off to be converted and de-gayified. Kid fled. As in ran away. Years later he returned. To promptly die. From complications relating to AIDS.
The parents blame themselves. The sister, Sam couldn't stand the situation, all the way around, so fled. To Seattle (they lived in Michigan, something like Logan Michigan, though, apparently, they have some connection to Chicago as well). Oh, wait, she moved six months later, not immediately, I think. Six months after that, the book opens.
Emily headed off to a college in the Seattle area. I have the vague desire to say that it was something they kept calling "U-Dub", but that's probably wrong (I can only say with confidence that Sam went to college at Northwestern, in Chicago - right, so that's the connection to Chicago). Emily has just completed her last year of eligibility at college. To play soccer. So she's now on of the coaches. It's the summer between seasons. Or semsters. Or something.
The book literally opens with . . well, I don't recall actually, but somewhere near the beginning Sam is racing around on her bike. Or running. Right, she was running. That makes more sense. Okay, she was running around a lake, spots Emily, almost doesn't say anything but Emily recognizes her and chases her down. They have a conversation. Sam flees. Same day, shortly thereafter, Emily runs into Sam again. They again have a relatively good conversation before Sam again flees.
I'll break here to note: I normally don't like it when there's more than one POV and they cover the same scene. That occurs several times here but - it was actually pretty neat. Because you could see how each saw the conversation/events/etc. What they were focusing on, what they felt, and what they remembered of the event. They did not remember things exactly the same way. So, that was neat to see unfold.
So enter into the mix one (1) lesbian, and one (1) straight woman. Toss in some elements (long term awareness of each other) plus (attraction). Mix up. Let simmer for most of the book. Then have book abruptly end before the 'good stuff' can occur. Well, something like that.
Oh, and in terms of 'the good stuff', I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about 'happy couple.' In terms of sex - there's nothing graphic that occurs and/or is described. I'm not saying whether or not sex occurred, I'm noting that, if any did occur within the pages of the book - it was fade to black kind.
Oh, and I liked Chloe. The cat.
Before I close - I probably could have rated this 4 whole stars if the ending had been extended. Actually, if the chase had been compacted a little, and the ending extended a little. I do not mean - add stuff before the ending that occurred. I mean, add stuff around the ending that extends things beyond the point the book ended.
I was left disappointed by how early the book ended.
But first, let me look at what I wrote as I went along . . .
Hmm, at the 56% mark I put down
"Unfortunate that I didn't know this was a lesbian-straight relationship book. Also, WTF? 'Why hadn't Emily called? She was the experienced lesbian here. Didn't she know I was waiting for her to make the next move?' - um, you kissed her and then ran. She's the one to make the next move? WTF?"
"Just so I'll remember things later when everything is said and done - Sam kissed Emily on check in bar, then, outside, Emily pushed into and kissed Sam. Whereupon Sam fled. Still, she fled. She's older by 4 years and the one who fled. If playing game of 'who calls next', you'd think Sam would be the one with the obligation to say what the fuck is going on with running."
And then at the 83% mark I put:
"I like Emily and Sam, and I don't always say that or think that about the characters in books, but they are killing me here. Two people with long term crushes who are horribly afraid to be damaged. I need to stop reading books involving 20 year-olds. I knew I'd read a previous book by Christie, but I just realized it wasn't the one I was recalling. I was going to make a comment that doesn't fit now. Ah well."
Re: comment about previous book. I don't know how long it lasted, but there was a period of time there where I thought I'd been reading the second book, by me to be read, by an author who had written a book involving two people who were kept apart for, like, 20 years because of a simple stupid miscommunication. But, I wasn't actually reading that author. I was reading the one who turned Pride and Prejudice into a LGBT book.
Okay, so. Sam & Emily went to high school together. They, apparently, both fancied the other but Sam didn't realize she was gay until much much later, and Emily was put off by the fact that . . . um. Well, intimidated by the fact that Sam was somewhere around 3 to 4 years older. Yeah, that's it. Oh, and neither knew of the other's 'fancing'.
About a year before the opening of this book, Sam's brother died. Let me rephrase that the way it seemed to be hammered against the reader's head: Sam's gay brother died roughly a year before the start of this book. His (and hers . . um, I should say their) parents were quite put off by the fact that . . . I've forgotten his name. The parents were put off and horrified to learn their son was gay. They sent him off to be converted and de-gayified. Kid fled. As in ran away. Years later he returned. To promptly die. From complications relating to AIDS.
The parents blame themselves. The sister, Sam couldn't stand the situation, all the way around, so fled. To Seattle (they lived in Michigan, something like Logan Michigan, though, apparently, they have some connection to Chicago as well). Oh, wait, she moved six months later, not immediately, I think. Six months after that, the book opens.
Emily headed off to a college in the Seattle area. I have the vague desire to say that it was something they kept calling "U-Dub", but that's probably wrong (I can only say with confidence that Sam went to college at Northwestern, in Chicago - right, so that's the connection to Chicago). Emily has just completed her last year of eligibility at college. To play soccer. So she's now on of the coaches. It's the summer between seasons. Or semsters. Or something.
The book literally opens with . . well, I don't recall actually, but somewhere near the beginning Sam is racing around on her bike. Or running. Right, she was running. That makes more sense. Okay, she was running around a lake, spots Emily, almost doesn't say anything but Emily recognizes her and chases her down. They have a conversation. Sam flees. Same day, shortly thereafter, Emily runs into Sam again. They again have a relatively good conversation before Sam again flees.
I'll break here to note: I normally don't like it when there's more than one POV and they cover the same scene. That occurs several times here but - it was actually pretty neat. Because you could see how each saw the conversation/events/etc. What they were focusing on, what they felt, and what they remembered of the event. They did not remember things exactly the same way. So, that was neat to see unfold.
So enter into the mix one (1) lesbian, and one (1) straight woman. Toss in some elements (long term awareness of each other) plus (attraction). Mix up. Let simmer for most of the book. Then have book abruptly end before the 'good stuff' can occur. Well, something like that.
Oh, and in terms of 'the good stuff', I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about 'happy couple.' In terms of sex - there's nothing graphic that occurs and/or is described. I'm not saying whether or not sex occurred, I'm noting that, if any did occur within the pages of the book - it was fade to black kind.
Oh, and I liked Chloe. The cat.
Before I close - I probably could have rated this 4 whole stars if the ending had been extended. Actually, if the chase had been compacted a little, and the ending extended a little. I do not mean - add stuff before the ending that occurred. I mean, add stuff around the ending that extends things beyond the point the book ended.
I was left disappointed by how early the book ended.
November 11, 2011
Had a bit of a Kate Christie binge to avoid the book I'm actually currently reading. Trouble with binging on an author is that themes can get repetitive.
Solstice is another story with a college/soccer setting. But again with two totally adorable main characters that just try to find their way in life. Their struggles/issues were believable and again the setting drew me back to my own college years. The story is written in alternating first person POVs. A good way to avoid the difficulties of a unique first person point of view. The chapters overlapped a bit, and that strategy worked well, in my opinion. Sudden ending that I wish would have been fleshed out more.
Solstice is another story with a college/soccer setting. But again with two totally adorable main characters that just try to find their way in life. Their struggles/issues were believable and again the setting drew me back to my own college years. The story is written in alternating first person POVs. A good way to avoid the difficulties of a unique first person point of view. The chapters overlapped a bit, and that strategy worked well, in my opinion. Sudden ending that I wish would have been fleshed out more.
August 8, 2013
I read this book because I'm turning into a huge Kate Christie fan and I love soccer more than anything (which probably relates to my 1st point). This book was for the most part lovey-dovey fate coming together, I was completely invested in the characters (especially Sam's story of slowly acknowledging who she is and what would make her happy). I wish there was a little more to the ending, but I'll take it!
August 8, 2014
Cute, fairly mindless fun story. While I was interested in the story throughout, nothing really major happens. The misunderstandings and obstacles along the way feel a bit contrived at times, and the heavy soccer focus at the beginning just disappears towards the end of the book. But it's still a cute story.
March 12, 2016
Too much description at the beginning, and not enough ending at the end; otherwise, the middle part was good.
May 15, 2018
Solid read, but it's clearly early work from Christie. In particular, I don't love the tendency to describe things through both heroines' eyes—like, in a typical dual-POV book, you might have one character cover events ABC, and then the other character go CDE (or ABCD -> DCEF), so there's a little overlap but not much. Here it's more like... ABC -> BCD -> CDE. Slows things down a bit, which isn't helped by the characters not having distinct enough voices for my liking.
And yet. I can't really be too bothered, can I? Hello, lesbian soccer fiction. At their core, the characters are likable; there's at least some discussion of the devastation AIDS wrought on the gay men; the parents, while not as fleshed out as they could have been, avoided being one-note homophobes. (If this sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise—I'm not, I swear. You've just not read enough Bad Lesbian Romance in your own quest for Good Lesbian Romance. The more that gets published, the higher the bar goes (yay!), but ugh, when I first started reading lesbian lit the offerings were...they were ow. Ask me about the character whose favourite author was 'Jane Austin'...)
And yet. I can't really be too bothered, can I? Hello, lesbian soccer fiction. At their core, the characters are likable; there's at least some discussion of the devastation AIDS wrought on the gay men; the parents, while not as fleshed out as they could have been, avoided being one-note homophobes. (If this sounds like I'm damning it with faint praise—I'm not, I swear. You've just not read enough Bad Lesbian Romance in your own quest for Good Lesbian Romance. The more that gets published, the higher the bar goes (yay!), but ugh, when I first started reading lesbian lit the offerings were...they were ow. Ask me about the character whose favourite author was 'Jane Austin'...)
March 10, 2021
After reading and loving a few of Kate Christie's more recent books, I decided to try out her debut. While it's obvious how much her writing improved over the years, this book was still very good, containing a nice romance with just enough angst to keep me interested. I'm glad I decided to read "Solstice".
May 28, 2017
the ending felt rushed, i wanted more from it. But as a whole it was nice.
July 23, 2018
What's not to like? Football, good array of friends, plenty going on and I cared what happened. Excellent as always.
April 21, 2023
I need more novels involving sports!
March 1, 2024
Looooooved all of the Seattle references. Did not love the “closed door” romance 😐
Read
September 27, 2025Great story line with levels of complexity on live, love and grieving.
March 12, 2017
Just reread this. And while this book is good, there are certainly a lot of little annoyances and complete misconceptions throughout the book. One major one that annoyed me is the complete flippancy when Emily is talking about sexual harassment being only something a male can do to another male. Complete and total crap comment, look up the cases filed by men who are harassed by women, it happens, deal with it, not only men are capable of it. But aside from a few little things like that, this was a good book.
June 30, 2013
Like the other Kate Christie book I read this winter (Beautiful Game), this book was pretty much entirely fluff, but really really well done fluff, in which I was totally invested in the characters and the outcome of the story and squee-ing about the adorable gayness of it all.
September 23, 2017
An enjoyable read just not as matured as I would have wanted. The writing style and the characters reminded me of a number of Wattpad stories I have read....so personally not my kind.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews