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Deadline for Love
An opposites attract, interracial sapphic love story.
In the electric, fast-paced world of Washington, DC, Jess, a rising star in television, and Olivia, a law student with a dream of being the best, find themselves unexpectedly drawn together and an undeniable spark ignites. As their romance blossoms, they navigate the complexities of demanding careers, chasing their ambitions, and building a future together. Jess struggles for recognition in the cutthroat television industry, and Olivia grapples with the pressure to succeed in law school.
Their interracial relationship throws unexpected challenges their way, forcing them to confront societal expectations and their own vulnerabilities. Will their love be strong enough to weather the storm, or will the pressures of their individual aspirations and the weight of the outside world tear them apart?
Deadline for Love is a heartwarming and thought-provoking exploration of love, self-discovery, and the courage it takes to define your own path.
In the electric, fast-paced world of Washington, DC, Jess, a rising star in television, and Olivia, a law student with a dream of being the best, find themselves unexpectedly drawn together and an undeniable spark ignites. As their romance blossoms, they navigate the complexities of demanding careers, chasing their ambitions, and building a future together. Jess struggles for recognition in the cutthroat television industry, and Olivia grapples with the pressure to succeed in law school.
Their interracial relationship throws unexpected challenges their way, forcing them to confront societal expectations and their own vulnerabilities. Will their love be strong enough to weather the storm, or will the pressures of their individual aspirations and the weight of the outside world tear them apart?
Deadline for Love is a heartwarming and thought-provoking exploration of love, self-discovery, and the courage it takes to define your own path.
- GenresRomance
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2024
17 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 26, 2024
Once a promising basketball player before blowing out her knee, Jess is now meandering through life, working as a Promotions Producer at a local Washington D.C. TV Station.
While out at her favourite bar to watch the WNBA games, Jess' interest is immediately caught by the fiery woman who dares to ask for the TV channel to be changed to the SEC football game instead.
Olivia has just started her first year of studying law at the Washington Potomac University (WPU). She's under a lot of pressure to succeed and make something of herself, because not only is she a woman... she's a black woman.
Meeting Jess and feeling instantly attracted to her certainly wasn't in Olivia's plans. Can a relationship between them ever work? Can they find a way through life together and cross racial divides?
Jess has never considered herself racist, but she's unknowingly (to her) been brought up in a very privileged white background with no idea of the complexities and difficulties Blacks and People of Colour experience on a daily basis.
Can Jess work through her blinkered and unconsciously biased white-washed life to support Olivia in all the ways she needs to be supported?
Can Olivia lower her defences enough to let Jess into her life, proudly loving her to the depths of her white soul?
This is a great story full of life's challenges as we follow Olivia and Jess' journey together.
There will be adversity, societal pressure, the bigotry of the still-patriarchal law industry, and most importantly of all... there will be love.
*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*
While out at her favourite bar to watch the WNBA games, Jess' interest is immediately caught by the fiery woman who dares to ask for the TV channel to be changed to the SEC football game instead.
Olivia has just started her first year of studying law at the Washington Potomac University (WPU). She's under a lot of pressure to succeed and make something of herself, because not only is she a woman... she's a black woman.
Meeting Jess and feeling instantly attracted to her certainly wasn't in Olivia's plans. Can a relationship between them ever work? Can they find a way through life together and cross racial divides?
Jess has never considered herself racist, but she's unknowingly (to her) been brought up in a very privileged white background with no idea of the complexities and difficulties Blacks and People of Colour experience on a daily basis.
Can Jess work through her blinkered and unconsciously biased white-washed life to support Olivia in all the ways she needs to be supported?
Can Olivia lower her defences enough to let Jess into her life, proudly loving her to the depths of her white soul?
This is a great story full of life's challenges as we follow Olivia and Jess' journey together.
There will be adversity, societal pressure, the bigotry of the still-patriarchal law industry, and most importantly of all... there will be love.
*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*
October 30, 2024
Thank you to Book Sirens for the ARC of Deadline for Love.
The story has potential, but the author relies heavily on telling rather than showing. What I mean by that is this – the majority of the novel relies on the two MCs telling us what has happened or what they were thinking rather than actually showing what happened (or what is happening).
The novel would be more engaging if it relied more on creating scenes where the characters get to interact with one another and allow the reader to see what’s going on rather than being told what’s going on. For example, there are places where both Jess or Olivia talk about their jobs or studies. Rather than having Jess tell us what she does at the television station, I’d rather read scenes about what she’s doing at work. The same applies to Olivia. Rather than having Olivia tell us what it’s like to be a law student, I would rather read scenes about what’s happening in her classes. There’s one instance where Olivia discusses a microaggression she experienced during one of her classes, and she talks about thinking that this might have been a microaggression. We get a couple of lines of dialogue that confirm her suspicions, but this would have been the perfect time to just take the reader into the classroom with Olivia and experience what she’s experiencing. Flesh out the interaction into a full-on scene so readers see and feel what’s going on rather than simply having Olivia tell us what happened.
The novel switches from Jess’s to Olivia’s perspective each chapter, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I like to get the two MCs perspectives throughout stories like these; however, there’s a lot of time spent on a character going back into what happened during the previous chapter. And that got a bit repetitive and old. I didn’t need to know exactly how Jess felt after something happened during a chapter that was in Olivia’s perspective and vice versa. It seemed like a lot rehashing of the same information. Again, if the story relied more on showing rather than telling, it would change this completely and there would be little need to rehash anything that happened from one chapter to the next.
There are multiple “weird flags” when it comes to Jess. She does some things that are immature considering her age and says some out of pocket things to Olivia including this gem, “As much as you drive me crazy and make me want to punch something sometimes by never letting me have the last word...” I mean, what? How is this a good thing to say to someone, especially someone that you are in a relationship with?
Jess also doesn’t seem like the type of person that really reflects on how she treats people – look at her last situationship for a horrible example of that. She’s a bad communicator. And she’s really quite ignorant on issues that she actually should know more about. It’s okay not to understand everything. I get that. Jess and Olivia come from two very different backgrounds, and they are in an interracial relationship, which can be challenging. And it seems that Jess really isn’t up for that challenge. She’s too self-involved and I don’t see her evolving in any way throughout the book. She starts off as someone that doesn’t respect other people’s boundaries. It might seem cute or flirty or whatever that Jess took advantage of having Olivia’s phone when they first met and sent herself a text, so she would have Olivia’s number. But Olivia didn’t want that. She wanted Jess to put her number into her phone. That was all. The fact that Jess oversteps here is problematic, yet here we are. These are the two MCs and the love interests for the story.
Olivia also isn’t the best communicator. The MCs have two major arguments that go back to Olivia not telling Jess something that she should have known about. I get that miscommunication or no communication is something that happens a lot in romance novels. I mean, what would happen if the characters always talked about what was on their minds? Nothing. Everything would be fine and perfect with rainbows and puppy dogs and kittens filling all of the pages. That isn’t real life though, and a lack of communication can create conflict, which is needed. But the larger argument or conversation that probably needed to happen doesn’t happen here. Why does Olivia not tell Jess certain things? Actually kind of big things when it comes down to it. What’s going on there? Who knows? I didn’t feel like the underlying issues were really addressed in the novel, which made it hard to understand why these two characters remained together.
Overall, the development of Jess and Olivia’s relationship wasn’t built and supported throughout the book in a way that made me think that they should be together. If anything, I wondered how in the world they made it through. And if I were Olivia’s friend, I wouldn’t have recommended she stay with Jess.
I will say the grand gesture that Olivia made was cute and I enjoyed that scene, but I still wondered why these two were together. I just needed more out of the characterization and the storyline that illustrated that these two were meant for each other.
The story has potential, but the author relies heavily on telling rather than showing. What I mean by that is this – the majority of the novel relies on the two MCs telling us what has happened or what they were thinking rather than actually showing what happened (or what is happening).
The novel would be more engaging if it relied more on creating scenes where the characters get to interact with one another and allow the reader to see what’s going on rather than being told what’s going on. For example, there are places where both Jess or Olivia talk about their jobs or studies. Rather than having Jess tell us what she does at the television station, I’d rather read scenes about what she’s doing at work. The same applies to Olivia. Rather than having Olivia tell us what it’s like to be a law student, I would rather read scenes about what’s happening in her classes. There’s one instance where Olivia discusses a microaggression she experienced during one of her classes, and she talks about thinking that this might have been a microaggression. We get a couple of lines of dialogue that confirm her suspicions, but this would have been the perfect time to just take the reader into the classroom with Olivia and experience what she’s experiencing. Flesh out the interaction into a full-on scene so readers see and feel what’s going on rather than simply having Olivia tell us what happened.
The novel switches from Jess’s to Olivia’s perspective each chapter, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I like to get the two MCs perspectives throughout stories like these; however, there’s a lot of time spent on a character going back into what happened during the previous chapter. And that got a bit repetitive and old. I didn’t need to know exactly how Jess felt after something happened during a chapter that was in Olivia’s perspective and vice versa. It seemed like a lot rehashing of the same information. Again, if the story relied more on showing rather than telling, it would change this completely and there would be little need to rehash anything that happened from one chapter to the next.
There are multiple “weird flags” when it comes to Jess. She does some things that are immature considering her age and says some out of pocket things to Olivia including this gem, “As much as you drive me crazy and make me want to punch something sometimes by never letting me have the last word...” I mean, what? How is this a good thing to say to someone, especially someone that you are in a relationship with?
Jess also doesn’t seem like the type of person that really reflects on how she treats people – look at her last situationship for a horrible example of that. She’s a bad communicator. And she’s really quite ignorant on issues that she actually should know more about. It’s okay not to understand everything. I get that. Jess and Olivia come from two very different backgrounds, and they are in an interracial relationship, which can be challenging. And it seems that Jess really isn’t up for that challenge. She’s too self-involved and I don’t see her evolving in any way throughout the book. She starts off as someone that doesn’t respect other people’s boundaries. It might seem cute or flirty or whatever that Jess took advantage of having Olivia’s phone when they first met and sent herself a text, so she would have Olivia’s number. But Olivia didn’t want that. She wanted Jess to put her number into her phone. That was all. The fact that Jess oversteps here is problematic, yet here we are. These are the two MCs and the love interests for the story.
Olivia also isn’t the best communicator. The MCs have two major arguments that go back to Olivia not telling Jess something that she should have known about. I get that miscommunication or no communication is something that happens a lot in romance novels. I mean, what would happen if the characters always talked about what was on their minds? Nothing. Everything would be fine and perfect with rainbows and puppy dogs and kittens filling all of the pages. That isn’t real life though, and a lack of communication can create conflict, which is needed. But the larger argument or conversation that probably needed to happen doesn’t happen here. Why does Olivia not tell Jess certain things? Actually kind of big things when it comes down to it. What’s going on there? Who knows? I didn’t feel like the underlying issues were really addressed in the novel, which made it hard to understand why these two characters remained together.
Overall, the development of Jess and Olivia’s relationship wasn’t built and supported throughout the book in a way that made me think that they should be together. If anything, I wondered how in the world they made it through. And if I were Olivia’s friend, I wouldn’t have recommended she stay with Jess.
I will say the grand gesture that Olivia made was cute and I enjoyed that scene, but I still wondered why these two were together. I just needed more out of the characterization and the storyline that illustrated that these two were meant for each other.
October 4, 2024
Spice Rating: 2/5 Somewhere between Open-Door and Explicit Open-door
I received this book as an ARC from BookSirens and Author Candi Tab in return for my truthful review.
TW: Intense conversations about an interracial relationship.
Jess and Olivia meet in a bar by happen chance when Olivia requests for the bartender to change the current blowout of a WNBA game to the Gamecocks football game. Jess is invested in the game and WNBA because she was a former athlete, although no longer playing. From South Carolina, Olivia is a devout Gamecocks fan. Jess slyly gets her number into Olivia's phone and texts her. After weeks of flirting they finally get together for a date and learn more about each other. Olivia is a Law Student and Jess is working at a news station trying to work her way up to a sportscaster. This story talks about the struggles of a gay black woman from a religious background and her falling for a white woman. A rift eventually develops between these characters because of deep rooted triggers caused by an interracial relationship. I'm not going to divulge too much because... no spoilers. Will life find a way for Jess and Olivia to be together? You'll have to read and find out.
I mean this in the best possible way when I say this story is about nothing. There is no plot like fake dating or enemies to lovers or forced proximity. It's just about life and it was really refreshing to read. I'm not usually into romance novels that are about nothing but this one really got me because I got to see the struggle of a black woman and the shit she had to go through as a law student even though she was better than everyone else. A lot of issues in this book were eye opening to me as a white person and I am more knowledgeable for reading this. Also, my spouse is a lawyer so I got to read about some of the insane things they had to go through during law school. I never had to experience this with them as I met them not too long after they graduated and passed the bar.
I received this book as an ARC from BookSirens and Author Candi Tab in return for my truthful review.
TW: Intense conversations about an interracial relationship.
Jess and Olivia meet in a bar by happen chance when Olivia requests for the bartender to change the current blowout of a WNBA game to the Gamecocks football game. Jess is invested in the game and WNBA because she was a former athlete, although no longer playing. From South Carolina, Olivia is a devout Gamecocks fan. Jess slyly gets her number into Olivia's phone and texts her. After weeks of flirting they finally get together for a date and learn more about each other. Olivia is a Law Student and Jess is working at a news station trying to work her way up to a sportscaster. This story talks about the struggles of a gay black woman from a religious background and her falling for a white woman. A rift eventually develops between these characters because of deep rooted triggers caused by an interracial relationship. I'm not going to divulge too much because... no spoilers. Will life find a way for Jess and Olivia to be together? You'll have to read and find out.
I mean this in the best possible way when I say this story is about nothing. There is no plot like fake dating or enemies to lovers or forced proximity. It's just about life and it was really refreshing to read. I'm not usually into romance novels that are about nothing but this one really got me because I got to see the struggle of a black woman and the shit she had to go through as a law student even though she was better than everyone else. A lot of issues in this book were eye opening to me as a white person and I am more knowledgeable for reading this. Also, my spouse is a lawyer so I got to read about some of the insane things they had to go through during law school. I never had to experience this with them as I met them not too long after they graduated and passed the bar.
October 28, 2024
Jess and Olivia meet in a bar and feel an almost magnetic pull to each other. Jess works in TV and Olivia is studying to be a lawyer which involves a very intense course.
There’s lots of ups and downs as they try to navigate a relationship with a blossoming TV sports role and a hectic course schedule.
There was a bit too much telling and not enough showing especially in the earlier chapters but the story got more and more engrossing as it continued.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
There’s lots of ups and downs as they try to navigate a relationship with a blossoming TV sports role and a hectic course schedule.
There was a bit too much telling and not enough showing especially in the earlier chapters but the story got more and more engrossing as it continued.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 25, 2025
DNF. All monologue, no action
The book started with a lot of promise-- a meet-cute in a bar that goes south fast, but recovered. Then it falls into info-dumping in an internal monologue of memory and explanation. It's too bad, because there were interesting characters and a good setup. It just became so passive with a lot of telling and no showing. I made it to 14% before I realized I was bored.
The book started with a lot of promise-- a meet-cute in a bar that goes south fast, but recovered. Then it falls into info-dumping in an internal monologue of memory and explanation. It's too bad, because there were interesting characters and a good setup. It just became so passive with a lot of telling and no showing. I made it to 14% before I realized I was bored.
February 14, 2025
I really enjoyed this read. However, there were some parts throughout that felt repetitive. We would get a moment from one perspective and then that moment would then be more detailed form the other MC’s perspective. It felt a bit more meaty at times than needed but the love story was executed beautifully and the highlight on fears about interracial dating was well done
October 22, 2024
Just finished Deadline for Love by Candi Tab! Enjoyed reading a romantic love story about an interracial couple tackling modern day issues. Spice level (to me) 🌶️🌶️
Spice and love! Perfect combo!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Spice and love! Perfect combo!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 15, 2025
Disclsimer: I'm a white person. My POV is that. But yeah, the racial discussion felt both very clumsy and anvilitious. A lot of characters just lecturing each other, and it left me cold.
News reporter meets law student, they date, third act breakup, get back together.
News reporter meets law student, they date, third act breakup, get back together.
December 11, 2024
I liked it!!! It show me another perspective about the black woman struggles. It was a refreshing lecture!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews