The Rules

by S. Renée Bess

Blackmail, murder, missing persons, and hidden identities link lives that otherwise, would have remained unconnected.London Phillips' suburban black middle class background has made her vulnerable to the alienation she feels as she tap dances between the expectations she holds for herself and the expectations other people impose upon her. A full-time realtor and part-time writer, London encounters frustration when she tries to contact Milagros Farrow, a revered lesbian author whose work London would like to include in an anthology she's compiling. Milagros has disappeared from the face of the earth.Rand Carson is a prominent newspaper journalist who is forced to deal with the sudden loss of her financial security and the dissolution of her long term interracial relationship with Willa. Rand seems compelled to pursue London, although it's possible she's more attracted to London's ethnicity than to London herself.Candace Dickerson, a corporate event planner, is married to avarice. In order to chase a more lucrative future, Candace has abandoned her lover, Lenah and Lenah's perceived lack of ambition. She's moved into the city where she executes a plot designed to augment her earnings with other people's money.Lenah Miller is content with her job at a local hospital's Emergency Department. For reasons known only to her, she distrusts women she considers too ambitious or from different social strata. Steeped in cynicism and memories held in secret, Lenah finds it easier to criticize a woman whose gentle nature differs from hers than to accept their differences.The threads entwined around London's desire to connect with a kindred spirit, Lenah's wary skepticism, Rand's inappropriate ardor, and Candace's greed come undone when three people fall victim to blackmail, one reappears, and another succumbs to murder.

Genres: LGBT, Lesbian, Contemporary

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 4, 2014

About the author

Renee Bess is a former high school teacher who has been writing for many years. After her story "At the Beauty Parlor" won first place in a short fiction writing contest, she began exploring the possibility of creating longer pieces of fiction. The result of her exploration was "Leave of Absence," published in 2005 by Borders Personal Publishing/Xlibris. Buoyed by the success of that first book, Renee wrote three others, "Breaking Jaie," "RE:Building Sasha," and "The Butterfly Moments," all published by Regal Crest Enterprises. Renee enjoys creating characters who lead her to stories about African American lesbians, their families and their communities. Her novels are filled with rich language and memorable imagery. They mix intrigue with romance while they explore complex human relationships. Although one of Renee's goals was to create literature
for an underserved audience, her books have cross-over appeal and they attract a wide variety of readers. Currently, Renee is working on a fifth novel.

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very different from your standard lesbian romance story. It is pretty dark, and takes on some serious issues. The plot was complex with quite a few significant secondary characters and lots of threads to follow. I am rounding up to 4-stars for the terrific writing. I will probably read this book again just for the writing.

[LVLMLeah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, loved this book. I'm still trying to figure out how to write a review of it, if I can. Or maybe this is my review? It's so deep and nuanced and maybe too hard for me to articulate everything I felt about it. It left me feeling like I had spent time with an old friend I hadn't seen for a long time, catching up on old times, which by the way is some of the theme of this story.

This story touches on so many different issues, but particularly issues around being an African American lesbian and the expectations of both the white and black community both culturally and on a personal level on being that. The way the characters experience their lives is expressed with a lot of insight into those issues.

It's also about the importance of shared experiences in making relationships work and also the comfort involved in that even if a relationship doesn't flourish.

That this story is about mature women was another huge plus. It's fairly rare to read about women who are at a stage in their lives when experience has taught them that they don't have to rush into anything and can be cautious in relating, but also that they still can have all those exciting and fearful feelings and emotions around new attractions.

Author Renee Bess excels at in-depth characterizations. Each of the characters in this story have distinct personalities and we get to see how each change slightly depending on who they are relating to. They are all connected even if they are unaware of how. And I particularly respect that all of the characters have flaws. Just when I'd think, oh I like this character and hope it works out for them, they do something kind of crappy. However, their vulnerabilities were shown as well, so it was easy to see their point of view even with negative traits at times.

I think this author's writing is getting better and better. Will definitely pick up another of her books.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story, however it makes more sense in the end. Once you get what is happening the book is over. I wish there was more story at the end to extend the ending conclusion.

[Stoppie · Rating 3 out of 5]

liked the last third best.