Conventional Wisdom

by Cheri Crystal

Dr. Janet Weiss, a psychologist at The Women's Mood Disorder Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland, attends a professional convention in her hometown, New York City. Janet rooms with the noteworthy researcher, Dr. Olivia Chase (Chaz), and learns valuable lessons outside the program.
Excerpt:
As part of a therapist’s training, we spent time in analysis. My sexual preference had never entered into the realm of discussion. Why should it? In those days, I was too busy establishing my career, writing sex stories to blow off steam, and not concerned that all of my hot tales had lesbian protagonists. Whenever I tried to address the overwhelming issue of my sexuality, life conveniently got in the way. Besides, plenty of straight women, and men, wrote girl on girl, didn’t they? Pseudonyms came in handy to disguise the identity and alter ego of an author.
I had recently begun to suspect that I was indeed a lesbian and became inept at suppressing my innate desires. I hadn’t had a boyfriend in years and decided to explore and confirm my discovery. I had never made love to a woman, but I had no trouble fantasizing and writing about it. Nope, no trouble at all. The moment I stopped ignoring the fact that I had to have a woman to test out my theory, my stories became unwittingly personal, they received rave reviews, and my fiction started flying off the shelves.

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2010

About the author

Attractions of the Heart, a 2010 Golden Crown Literary Winner for lesbian erotica. Across the Pond by Ylva Publishing is her first novel. In her spare time, Cheri enjoys swimming, hiking, viewing wildlife, cooking, jigsaw puzzles and spending quality time with family and friends. Visit www.chericrystal.com
http://ylva-publishing.co.uk/product/across-the-pond-by-cheri-crystal/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ4PIU6/ref=nav_timeline_asin?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

http://threedollarbillreviews.com/201...

Janet is a psychologist helping women with mood disorders to battle their issues. She also has a side job writing erotic stories to make a little extra cash and provide an outlet for her otherwise unfulfilling sex life. She has noticed a change in her recent stories that coincides with a personal discovery. Her stories are focusing more and more on lesbian characters, and Janet can't help but wonder if these characters are a reflection of her true self. While at a conference, Janet is rooming with a complete stranger who sends Janet's emotions and desires running wild.

This is a quick and enjoyable story about a woman beginning to explore new desires and needs. The character of Janet is well drawn and, as the story is from her point of view, she is understandably more developed than Chaz. Their interactions cause sparks to fly from the very beginning and you just know it will culminate in a very satisfying ending once they give in to their mutual attraction.

The story is well written and it flows smoothly. There are some points where the story veers off course slightly or provides more details than are really needed, but in general it stays on course and drives to the climax. There are many details about New York that readers familiar with the city will likely appreciate and recognize. This is a sweet story of discovery and exploration with a smidgen of spice mixed in to satisfy readers. This was an introduction to a new author for me and I will definitely be looking to read more stories from Crystal.

[Dark Divas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a clear-cut, well-paced, very sexy short story, that made me say “What happens next?” when I reached the end. To read this review in its entirety, please visit http://www.darkdivasreviews.com/?p=5407