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Out of Whack
Plan ahead, work hard, play by the rules, and you'll be justly rewarded. The maxims that had been drummed into Darcy Morgan were the backbone of her orderly life.
But as she stumbled down the streets of Brooklyn-bruised, battered, and beaten-she began to think she'd been led astray. It didn't do a damn bit of good to play by the rules if the other guys had the game rigged.
Darcy wouldn't survive the night if she didn't find shelter. A chance meeting with a kind-hearted woman could pluck her from the fire just in time. But pulling an innocent into her suddenly tumultuous world was wrong. Thoroughly, unquestionably wrong. But right and wrong didn't seem as clear as they'd always been. The keystones of her life had been shattered, forcing her to care only about survival-her own.
But as she stumbled down the streets of Brooklyn-bruised, battered, and beaten-she began to think she'd been led astray. It didn't do a damn bit of good to play by the rules if the other guys had the game rigged.
Darcy wouldn't survive the night if she didn't find shelter. A chance meeting with a kind-hearted woman could pluck her from the fire just in time. But pulling an innocent into her suddenly tumultuous world was wrong. Thoroughly, unquestionably wrong. But right and wrong didn't seem as clear as they'd always been. The keystones of her life had been shattered, forcing her to care only about survival-her own.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2014
12 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Susan X. Meagher
59 books370 followersSusan X Meagher was born in southern Illinois and grew up in East St Louis. She attended college in Chicago and started her working career there. She and her partner moved to the Los Angeles area in the late 80's. It was there that she started to write. Her first few books were simply posted on the web and became the I Found My Heart in San Francisco series. In 2002 she moved to New York and divides her time between Manhattan and the Jersey Shore. She has published thirteen books in the series and has gone on to write many individual books as well. She has partnered with other authors on two short story books and has written many stories that have been published in other mainstream anthologies. Susan is active in the lesbian author community and loves to attend Women's week at Provincetown and the GCLS annual conventions. Her stories revolve around the relationships that two women can build when given a chance and how those relationships can strengthen the individual and the partnership. Her genre is lesbian romance/fiction and she believes strongly in the happy ending that we all so deserve. Susan X Meagher was awarded a 2011 Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite Lesbian Fiction Writer. She is the recipient of the 2014 Alice B. Medal for her body of work.
From the author's website: I live in New York with my spouse, Carrie. We've lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for significant periods, but New York fits us very well. I love to discuss my work and fiction in general. My goal in writing is to explore feelings. I want to entertain, but I also want to make people think. I've heard that life is all about finding out who we are. To me, life if about finding out who other people are. I'm interested in the small details of life, that's how a story about two young women in college is slowly becoming a 26 book series. The joke in Seinfield was that it was about nothing. I feel the same about most of my books. They are about the many things that happen when nothing is happening. The small joys and sorrows of everyday life can be fascinating, especially if you care about the people involved. I try to create characters that will make a reader care deeply. I'm always interested in hearing how close I am to that goal. So please drop me a line whenever you have a comment or a question about a story. Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit and it's great to know that I'm not alone.
From the author's website: I live in New York with my spouse, Carrie. We've lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for significant periods, but New York fits us very well. I love to discuss my work and fiction in general. My goal in writing is to explore feelings. I want to entertain, but I also want to make people think. I've heard that life is all about finding out who we are. To me, life if about finding out who other people are. I'm interested in the small details of life, that's how a story about two young women in college is slowly becoming a 26 book series. The joke in Seinfield was that it was about nothing. I feel the same about most of my books. They are about the many things that happen when nothing is happening. The small joys and sorrows of everyday life can be fascinating, especially if you care about the people involved. I try to create characters that will make a reader care deeply. I'm always interested in hearing how close I am to that goal. So please drop me a line whenever you have a comment or a question about a story. Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit and it's great to know that I'm not alone.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 15, 2018
Another great read with great main characters and great dialogue by one of my fav authors. The epilogue, which can be found online, is a must read.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
October 24, 2014
I always love Susan X Meagher's books, and she did not disappoint me with this one. Although I have others I have loved more, this was a great story. I was glad there was more to the ending on the website. I didn't feel the story was finished in the book.
July 8, 2017
This is the first book I've read by this author and it was most entertaining. It's a definite page turner as well as a sweet romance. Will definitely read her other books.
November 8, 2014
Darcy and Tess are polar opposites. They are as different in every single way--upbringing, chosen professions, habits and outlook in life--as night and day. Darcy thrives on order and routine, while Tess suffers from lifelong wanderlust, appreciating the spontaneity and unpredictability of her travels. Both are fairly successful in their professions. It is entirely random that they meet and are thrown together in a life-threatening situation. Stuck with each other by circumstance and by choice, an unlikely attraction develops. But will it be enough to overcome their seemingly insurmountable differences?
That last sentence pretty much sums up the premise of every other lesfic romance. What makes this book stand out is the execution. And I don't mean the main plot point of the two ladies being on the run from the mob and the police. Granted, it's a smart page-turning plot device to liven up this book, and just realistic enough to be plausible, for the most part. But things are just a little too pat and convenient , but hey, that's why this book is labeled a ROMANCE, not a crime thriller. So what makes this book so entertaining? The characters and the scenes. I rarely give angst-free romance books more than four stars. But one of the characters here is so engaging and so lovable that anyone would move heaven and earth to be with her. I think what distinguishes Ms. Meagher from other romance authors is that even after so many books, she is always able to come up with characters that feel fresh and unique and stand out among the thousands I've come across over the years.
In much of the book, the two girls are stuck in close quarters. Rather than bore the hell out of this angst/action-junkie, the author managed to keep my interest in their daily goings-on and their interactions with sparkling dialogue, well-thought out scenes, and the occasional heart-thumping mob encounter. There were some confusing POV changes and character thoughts, but nothing a careful re-read won't solve.
4.5 stars
That last sentence pretty much sums up the premise of every other lesfic romance. What makes this book stand out is the execution. And I don't mean the main plot point of the two ladies being on the run from the mob and the police. Granted, it's a smart page-turning plot device to liven up this book, and just realistic enough to be plausible, for the most part. But things are just a little too pat and convenient , but hey, that's why this book is labeled a ROMANCE, not a crime thriller. So what makes this book so entertaining? The characters and the scenes. I rarely give angst-free romance books more than four stars. But one of the characters here is so engaging and so lovable that anyone would move heaven and earth to be with her. I think what distinguishes Ms. Meagher from other romance authors is that even after so many books, she is always able to come up with characters that feel fresh and unique and stand out among the thousands I've come across over the years.
In much of the book, the two girls are stuck in close quarters. Rather than bore the hell out of this angst/action-junkie, the author managed to keep my interest in their daily goings-on and their interactions with sparkling dialogue, well-thought out scenes, and the occasional heart-thumping mob encounter. There were some confusing POV changes and character thoughts, but nothing a careful re-read won't solve.
4.5 stars
November 29, 2021
Another good Meagher romance. Darcy and Tess are opposites and would have probably never taken the time to really get to know each other if not for the circumstances they find themselves in. That would have been a shame. The way they care and love one another is so sweet. I loved reading about them and I was really happy with Darcy case at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2015
I have never found a book by Susan X Meagher to be anything other than wonderful, nor have I found one that I have not wanted to put down. This one is no exception.
September 19, 2017
2.5 stars
Susan Meagher's work tends to be hit or miss for me. This one was a miss.
The characters felt very shallow, which was a bit of a surprise from this author. The entire plot requires suspension of disbelief (I was sufficiently warned from the story summary :)), but the subsequent decisions they made were just silly and I kept putting the book down because of it.
I did finish the book, but I don't think this is anywhere on par with Chef's Special or The Crush.
Susan Meagher's work tends to be hit or miss for me. This one was a miss.
The characters felt very shallow, which was a bit of a surprise from this author. The entire plot requires suspension of disbelief (I was sufficiently warned from the story summary :)), but the subsequent decisions they made were just silly and I kept putting the book down because of it.
I did finish the book, but I don't think this is anywhere on par with Chef's Special or The Crush.
August 23, 2016
Susan Meagher is a good writer. Unfortunately, this is not one of her best books, especially if it is supposed to be a thriller to some extent. It moved too slowly and there were pages and pages where nothing much happens. The protagonists also don't have any chemistry and one doesn't feel the attraction till one is specifically told that it's there. Tess' reasons for giving up everything to stick with Darcy are also not convincing, again because there's more telling and less showing.
October 5, 2015
This was a delightful romp. While the whole organized crime element was essentially a contrivance designed to bring the two unlikely leads together, I found both of those characters to be funny, charming, and full of entertaining quirks. It worked for me. Don't come to this looking for suspense, though. While the first few chapters have some tense moments, this quickly settles down into pure romance.
This is, for the most part, a story about two characters in a room. The room changes once or twice, but it's basically a book of thoughts and conversations with a light tone. What drama there is doesn't come from gunfights and car chases, it comes from two people with very different personalities who are stuck together for long periods of time. I would've liked to have felt the danger a little more, but I came to the book looking for a sweet love story, and that's exactly what I got. As comfort food, it satisfied me.
My only criticism here is that the epilogue was kept out of the book and instead posted to the publisher's website, ostensibly to draw more traffic. Without it, the book's finale feels very abrupt. Having access to the book's ending is a fairly big deal, and relying upon the publisher to both stay in business and continue hosting the data of older titles in order to read the story as intended is a gamble I wouldn't want to take again.
This is, for the most part, a story about two characters in a room. The room changes once or twice, but it's basically a book of thoughts and conversations with a light tone. What drama there is doesn't come from gunfights and car chases, it comes from two people with very different personalities who are stuck together for long periods of time. I would've liked to have felt the danger a little more, but I came to the book looking for a sweet love story, and that's exactly what I got. As comfort food, it satisfied me.
My only criticism here is that the epilogue was kept out of the book and instead posted to the publisher's website, ostensibly to draw more traffic. Without it, the book's finale feels very abrupt. Having access to the book's ending is a fairly big deal, and relying upon the publisher to both stay in business and continue hosting the data of older titles in order to read the story as intended is a gamble I wouldn't want to take again.
January 21, 2015
Ok.
If you want to get two polar opposite women to meet and get together in the end, use a cabin in the mountains during a freak blizzard; have a plane crash in the jungle with only them as survivors and they get chased by drug dealers they happen to stumble over, I don't know, anything but what happens in this book.
Because let me tell you: It is so completely and uttery stupid and unbelievable, it's an insult to my intelligence (and my euro's).
While the romance is predictable but OK, Darcy and Tess fairly likeble, the rest of the book is filled with complete ineptitude, stupidity, implausibilty, improbabilty and every other adjective you can come up with, it isn't even funny. I had to go to my optometrist to have my eyes checked because they were over exerted with eye-rolling.
If this was the first book I read from Ms. Meager, I wouldn't have given anything else even a glance. That would have been a shame, because then I would not have read The Crush. Speaking of polar opposites.
If you want to get two polar opposite women to meet and get together in the end, use a cabin in the mountains during a freak blizzard; have a plane crash in the jungle with only them as survivors and they get chased by drug dealers they happen to stumble over, I don't know, anything but what happens in this book.
Because let me tell you: It is so completely and uttery stupid and unbelievable, it's an insult to my intelligence (and my euro's).
While the romance is predictable but OK, Darcy and Tess fairly likeble, the rest of the book is filled with complete ineptitude, stupidity, implausibilty, improbabilty and every other adjective you can come up with, it isn't even funny. I had to go to my optometrist to have my eyes checked because they were over exerted with eye-rolling.
If this was the first book I read from Ms. Meager, I wouldn't have given anything else even a glance. That would have been a shame, because then I would not have read The Crush. Speaking of polar opposites.
November 24, 2014
Amazing as always
Susan x Meagher just keeps getting better and better. I love all her works and read them over and over again. Keep it up.
Susan x Meagher just keeps getting better and better. I love all her works and read them over and over again. Keep it up.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews