Getting Back

by Cindy Rizzo

Elizabeth Morrison has ascended the ranks of her industry and now runs one of the most successful publishing companies in the US. But even after three decades, she has never been able to get past the devastating end of her relationship with the beautiful and brilliant Ruth Abramson. As Elizabeth approaches her 30th college reunion, she must face the woman who long ago acceded to the demands of her father, a famous Russian dissident, and married the young man who’d been chosen for her. It doesn’t make it any easier that Ruth, now divorced and living openly as a lesbian, is the class luncheon speaker.
As the two women face one another and attempt to reconcile their past, Elizabeth finds she must wrestle with a number of issues she has avoided confronting. And she must carefully decide whether she is more distrustful of Ruth or of herself. Is she headed for another fall with this woman? Or does she want to get close again, so she can be the one to walk away?
When it comes to reuniting with the love of your life, it’s not always easy to know the difference between getting back together and just getting back.

Length: approx. 73,000 words

Themes: 1970s · chosen family · family · Jewish · lesbian · marriage equality · older lesbian · publishing · reunion · Russian Jews · second-chance romance · women's college

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, Second Chance, Lesbian Romance

260 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2015

About the author

Cindy Rizzo lives in New York City with her wife, Jennifer, and the requisite two cats issued to every lesbian household (well, most). She has worked in philanthropy for many years and has a long history of involvement in the LGBT community, including membership on the founding board of Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the organization that first brought marriage equality to the US. In the 1970s and 1980s she wrote for Boston’s Gay Community News and has published essays in the anthologies, Lesbians Raising Sons and Homefronts: Controversies in Non-Traditional Parenting. She was the co-editor of a fiction anthology, All the Ways Home, published in 1995 (New Victoria) in which her story “Herring Cove” was included. She serves on the boards of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in New York and Funders for LGBT Issues. She and her wife have two grown sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and a baby granddaughter.

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ylva-Publishing ARC provided in exchange for a fair and honest review'

Brimming with historical musings and offering uniquely experiential perspectives,'Getting Back' is delightfully inventive,desirable,imaginative,enjoyable,mature audience(readers),exceptionally written and deep. This book or i should specify on how the storyline also captures the emotional complexities of two lost/tortured souls that have toil with fear over the span of a decade with many questions of the 'what if's & whys' lingering between them because of their past college relationship,that both resume to reconnect that once steamy chemistry of the past that they had. The nice part of this Ms.Rizzo's story is that Elizabeth is equally realistic and to Ruth,she's still the most beautiful,perfect person in the world and the only woman that she's ever loved. People often think love's simple because it arises naturally,in one's nature. But Love is no simpler than nature is simple,it makes demands,it requires corresponding actions,it takes concentration,patience,trust,Love insists on kindness and finally it will enhance your Love of each other. Moreover the story was compelling,flawed,heartbreakingly human,nurture dreams big & small,romantic,friendship,family,social issues,loyalty and had hope from the first page to the very last page..highly recommend to everyone

[Harrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Do we ever figure it all out? I mean, really, we make choices and we live with them and we just hope we were right.”

I went in expecting it to be another rom-com but it tuned out to be such an angsty romance. It was a very beautiful love story spanning decades. At more than a few instants it reminded me of 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo'. Maybe because of the nostalgic feel of the flashbacks.

The book set in 2008 when Elizabeth reunites with Ruth after 30+ years. The flashbacks start in 1974 when Elizabeth and Ruth became college roommates and eventually fell in love. We are taken through important event of Elizabeth's life including 9/11. The flashbacks concerning Elizabeth and Ruth broke my heart, even the happy ones because I knew that would make the sad ones all the more painful. It didn't last long thankfully but the angst was way too much. Young Elizabeth's fears, her insecurities were so relatable. I felt every single emotion she did. She was so real and Ruth? I tried to be angry at her but she basically gave up every sort of control to Elizabeth at the reunion, so she made it impossible. The book does spend unnecessary amount of time in Elizabeth's head. I really liked the writing, it was simple but effective.

[Corporate Slave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book! It’s so deep and the connection between the main character is insane! There was an interesting political/historic twist in it that made it even more interesting . I highly recommend this one :)

[Leonie · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.25 stars)

Honestly this book surprised me a lot. Especially because I didn’t know what I exactly expected from it by only reading the blurb. And therefore, I was positively surprised to find a well written and paced adult romance with soo much backstory.
And I think precisely this was what made me like the book a lot. I am personally a person who adores a good book with a solid backstory that we, as readers, get to know more and more as the book develops and where we can also see how the characters learn from it. And that’s exactly what happened here, and, quite frankly, I adored it. However, I somehow couldn’t fully connect with the characters from time to time and felt like the story itself was promising but didn’t fully deliver. I would’ve loved to see, for example, more of the life after Ruth broke up with Elizabeth. And I would’ve liked to generally see Ruth’s side too outside of the little insight we got through the book on her father.
Nonetheless, the book was very well written and I was able to read it easily. The characters, especially the man characters, are well fleshed out and complex enough. However, I think the side characters could’ve been a bit more complex. However, I still think this was a good story and book. 3 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn between a 4 and a 5. I REALLY liked this book. Probably the best I have read in several months. It’s just grips you by the heart and doesn’t let go. Lots of tears but so so sweet. It wasn't perfect, but it was just a great story. My one main reservation holding me back from 5 stars was that I would have liked it just slightly longer. I wanted more on the relationship. The ending focused more on outside political occurrences than the actual relationship.

[Tiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Ylva Publishing in return for an honest review.

Cindy Rizzo’s newest novel "Getting Back" is an angst filled romance novel set in 2008, with flashbacks of a love affair in the late 1970’s. I personally like a story filled with the two main characters feeling some distress on the future of their love. "Getting Back" did not let me down.

Elizabeth Morrison is a high powered CEO of her family’s business, Morrison Publishing. Queen Elizabeth, as she sometimes refers to herself is all work, all the time. Her life revolves around running the successful publishing house. Elizabeth is guarded and commanding, letting very few into her personal life. She lives her life longing for a love that was destroyed over 30 years ago. It is through her eyes and memories that this story is told.

Ruth Abramson is the other protagonist in "Getting Back". Ruth came to the United States with her parents in the height of the Cold War. The Abramson family risked everything to escape oppression for being Jewish in the Soviet Union. Her mother and father’s courage and strife in escaping their homeland maps the landscape of Ruth’s life.

Rizzo, takes the reader into the present, 2008, and entrenches you in the life and pain of Elizabeth. While unbelievably successful career wise, she was stunted by losing her college sweetheart Ruth. She doesn’t wallow or pull the poor me card, quite the opposite. She works hard, doesn’t enter into series of causal hookups, she goes on with her life always knowing she had lost that special person that made living special. Her life peaked in college when she had Ruth. Ruth, unfortunately chose to bend to her parents dreams, and ended their relationship 3 year relationship to marry a man.

The story is set going back and forth from the late 1970’s to 2000’s. It was fascinatingly told, and being pulled into the two time periods wasn’t confusing, it was poignant to letting you really understand the guarded Elizabeth, and the hurdles she could not overcome to attain happiness. Do not fear, this is not all angst. There is a love store here as well.

After 30 years apart, Ruth makes contact with Elizabeth at their 30th college reunion. The connection between the two is immediate, but it is a slow process of gaining trust again. I loved the journey these two take as they come back together.

There were times in the story that I felt like Rizzo got off on a tangent that was unnecessary. I felt as if I was reading one of those math word equations in elementary school that has that one extra sentence to throw you off. This was the case in "Getting Back". These elements usually involving the sub-characters that were kind off strange. Fortunately it did not take away to much from her overall body of work. "Getting Back" was an interesting read, but did not blow me away.

https://theromanticreaderblog.wordpre...

[Elena Graf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read much in this genre for a long time, so I was pleased to find this well-written book with a carefully developed adult romance. There was none of the impulsive action or silly plot reversals that spoil the realism of so many stories like this. I admit that I enjoy reading about second-chance romances. The opportunity to measure who we've become against who we were is always intriguing. The cautious reunion over the course of the book is completely believable. I especially enjoyed revisiting the era of my youth through the characters and found the side plot of the Russian-Jewish emigres fascinating. The volatile world of trade publishing is very accurately described. After I got over my initial aversion to the main character because she seemed so arrogant and full of herself, I got into the story and couldn't put it down.

[Kexx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story with a fair bit of history which was never intrusive, but always helpful. Couple meeting 30 years later after very diverse lives. But moving and never failed to wander. Dealt with sensistive issues. Recommended.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm probably being a bit generous with two stars for this one, but it's not truly horrendous, so I'll let it go. Although, it is guilty of a number of (lesbian) romance tropes--most notably the fact that apparently a college relationship was so completely life altering that neither woman was able to move on in thirty years. So we have that fact, the main protagonist scrap book-obsesses over her ex-girlfriend all throughout her life (it's not sweet or cute, it's creepy), both women are not just well off but grossly rich, and with the exception of maybe a hair or eye color there is almost no physical description of these characters. Most distracting for me though was that this book was deliberately set in 2008. Why? The book was published in late 2015--with the exception of an inconsequential side plot involving Prop 8, there's no clear reason why this choice is all that important--in fact it just reads as a severely dated book. But let's take this epic relationship itself; it SHOULD be something that reads as so amazing that you could understand why they would obsess about each other for thirty years. We're treated to a few college romance scenes told via clunky flashbacks, but they seem to concentrate more on the friends the protagonist had versus her soon-to-be girlfriend. There was just nothing clear in those flashbacks or even the "present day" story to indicate any real chemistry between the two. Finally, there were too many characters--and of course most of which were not only lesbians--but lesbian cliches. It's just disappointing--the description of the book led me to believe it would be more along the lines of the plight of a Russian Jew refugee coming to terms with not only leaving her mother country and the persecution she faced there but also her realization that she is a lesbian. Nope. This merely brushes the surface. Instead, it's a book with absolutely no stakes, where one character lays out exactly how she's feeling, and we have to spend the next 200 pages reading the protagonist hemming and hawing over what to do. What exactly is the struggle there? Why would anyone think it would be an interesting read?

ARC copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed score 2.5 rounded up to 3 only because a) points for it being well researched and b) when borderline, round up, particularly being one of the first (if not the first) to review. It really only just scraped a 3 though.

The best things I can say about this book are that a) it was clearly well researched b) as I am coming to be able to expect and rely on from YLVA publishing, it was typo / grammar snag free. and c) the book is told flash back and flash forwards which can sometimes make it hard to keep track of what's happened when but I never got 'lost' in this regard.

However.

I felt like I was being given a lecture on 'the experience of Jewish lesbians in the USSR 1970 - 2008 under the guise of it being a romance novel. Our two leads were both stilted and formal with little 'observed' warmth between them (lost of 'told' warmth). When the fact that the leads' college love was meant to be so strong it spanned 30 years - the main premise of the book - the reader needed the love. Almost experience it in a way. understand why. Understand the shift that took place in the character's psyche both as a result of the love both at the time and into the present day. I'm usually not squeamish about the 'I still haven't been able to move on after 20 years' trope but this one I just didn't buy.

The book also had one of my pet hates - unethical behaviour by a therapist. Early in the book, CEO of a publishing house Elizabeth goes to see a psych who turns out be the partner of one of her authors. The psych (correctly) says she can't see E for ethical reasons but then when they meet at a party a week later she agrees to become E's 'friend' for no reason other than a hastily/conveniently contrived love of cooking. No. NO. No psych worth their ethical salt would do this. Further adding to my ire we then hear nothing of the voice of the 'friend' who conveniently silently cooks while E tells her about her relationship with Ruth (30 years ago).

While I'm mentioning irritation points, I also found the following, spoilery thing weird That Ruth's son was meant to be a dead ringer for Elizabeth in both looks and tastes even though she has had nothing to do with him. I found it rather creepy

Oh and there is SO. MUCH. ANGST. in this book. Uggggggghhhhh. Now I will admit I'm not a huge fan of angst even when it is well done... and this was not well done...

Overall, I did not connect to the leads, the storyline did not make me feel anything above mild interest, the pwoarrrr scenes are few and far between ( the first kiss in the current day doesn't happen until 73% through the book . and I've read much better. After reading this book I felt like I needed to re-read one of my favourites to wash the bad taste out of my mouth - certainly not the loved up feels or even bittersweet melancholy anticipated. Ugh. I had being so negative but I really have wracked my brains to try and come up with more positives than those listed above and have come up blank each time :( :(

[Ameliah Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching, Tender and Genuine

It is the 1970s and life was about perfect. Elizabeth and her college roommate Ruth are deeply in love, or so Elizabeth thinks. With no warning at all Ruth becomes engaged to the man her Russian refugee parents have chosen for her. After seeing them kiss, Elizabeth takes off to Europe to finish her studies but Ruth is never far from her mind. Thirty years late and they come face to face at their college reunion. Everything has changed but nothing is different.

Admit it, we all love those stories of the lovers who parted then get a second chance. They are mushy and hopeful and make us feel good. Even the bad ones have the AWWW factor. This one is truly better than most! It is by far the most realistic and thought provoking one I've ever read and I loved it!!

Told through Elizabeth's eyes, the characters are deep and serious...level headed 50 somethings when they meet again. Elizabeth doesn't just fall back into bed with Ruth or even agree to see her at all at first. She does a lot of soul searching. She remembers the past up to the present. She has doubts and fears, needs and desires. Not all of these things are about Ruth. She also has some major life issues to deal with which give the story more depth and dimension.

It is so easy to want to hate Ruth but there is just something about her that like Elizabeth, you really can't. She had her reasons for leaving and her torment about walking away causes her almost as much pain. There is just so much to this book and I will put it into my re-read pile.

[Heinerway · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? I love second chance romances.

[Nora Eliana | Papertea & Bookflowers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This doesn't affect my opinion of the book.

I have to say, this book wasn't for me. Again, this might be because of my cold dead heart. But most of what I think was supposed to be cute or romantic … I found uninteresting, weird and in one occasion creepy. That said, I did enjoy certain parts of the book. The writing style was okay, nothing spectacular, but nothing I noticed negatively either.

I probably should have noticed that the romance would not be exactly my type (though I have absolutely no clue what my type of romance is until I've read it … soooo). Ruth and Elisabeth were college sweethearts about 30 years ago, and Elisabeth can let go. She tells (not shows) us how special and important this relationship was, more than a normal college romance, but I never got that feeling while reading. Sure, the parts in the past were kinda cute, but nothing more.
And her obsession after such a long time? Call me unromantic, but I don't think that cute. Her scrapbook with all the pictures of Ruth, her stalking her life online. Not only occasionally, but always. Sorry, but no thanks.
And Ruth did the same? Like, come on!

Oh, and of course both are extremely successful and rich (Elisabeth has a publishing company and Ruth is a judge). And didn't have any relationship that really mattered afterward (besides Ruth marriage). Though I liked that Ruth and her husband divorced and stayed friends and that he has a nice new wife who was a good stepmother to their children. No extra drama here.
Oh, and what was is with Ruth son and his striking resemblance to Elisabeth? Why? It felt so random and didn't make any sense nor did it really matter to the story …
Oh and on the topic of “It didn't matter to the story” ... Why have it take place in 2008? Not that it was taking much from the story, but I did wonder.

And why did she feel rejected as a lesbian just because the woman she wanted as her therapist! told her she couldn't because she is in a relationship with an author from her publishing company? That doesn't make any sense?! And I did find that Elisabeth used “what's her name” (Tracy?). She tried to be friends after being told she couldn't be her therapist and told her exactly what she would've talked about in therapy? Didn't feel right for me. Also because later on, we didn't she the therapist/friend again.

Oh, and why did she have to go to this reunion if she had trouble sleeping three months prior just because she might see her old love again? If it's that bad, just don't go!

Again, I quite liked the flashbacks of their college times. And some scenes in between were okay or even occasionally a bit entertaining to read. But overall I quite struggled to finish this book.

[Jewel Book Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC received by Netgalley and Ylva Publishing in return for an honest review.

A book can involve me on two levels: emotionally and mentally. This book captivated me more mentally then emotionally. It left me with a lot of thoughts, questions and curiosity.
Thoughts about how our society has evolved since the '70.
Questions about life and relationships.
Curiosity about LGBT community, its history and its organization.
In the last few years the book market has focused the characters on young or new adult, and I loved that this story was about two mature women, more close to my own age.
Elizabeth and Ruth comes from a very different culture and religion. In the late '70 where lesbians and gays were not totally accepted and they lived hiding, didn't give to Elizabeth and Ruth the chance and the courage to live their relationship. Ruth gave up leaving Elizabeth heartbroken. After 30 years apart they meet again. To reconnect it's not easy as expected, but the love for each other is still intact, dispite their life experiences.
The story is set in 2008, but there are a lot of flashbacks to the late '70 at the beginning of their relationship, and to Ruth's family story. The back and forth is very captivating, not confusing, but making the story more interesting. I think that the Russian and Jewish history is very well written and researched.
At the beginning the book seemed to me a little be slow, and I didn't really love Elizabeth's angst and insecurity, all her 'should I?'or 'shouldn't I?', and how she wanted to fit in a relationship as it was a math equation. I loved more Ruth character, her history was really interesting that I wished the book would have been more focused on her that on Elizabeth.
This book was for me an enjoyable journey through our recent social history with the right dose of romance.
I'm new to F/F genre and I think Cindy Rizzo is a really interesting author. I will read some other books from her for sure.

[Charlotte Loudermilt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s the 70’s. You are experiencing college life, all of the freedoms it affords, and you fall in love for the first time. Life is amazing, liberating, and beautiful among the backdrop of Cat Stevens, Laugh-In, and bell bottoms. But over the course of one summer semester, the girl of your dreams breaks up with you to marry a man.
Getting Back tells the story of successful CEO Elizabeth Morrison and how thirty years later, she is faced with meeting Ruth Abramson- the one that ‘got away’ or rather ‘walked away’ all of those years ago.
The book opens in the year 2008, and continues to hop back and forth between the 70’s and 08. Typically this form of storytelling can cause reader whiplash, however Rizzo was able to transport me through the decades seamlessly. Initially, I found it an oddity that the author chose to present the story in the year 2008. I wondered if it was because by then the characters were already in their fifties and if she placed them in present day 2015, it would make them roughly 60ish? Anyone that knows me, also knows about my undying love for Meryl Streep, who is currently 66, and I find her by far the sexiest woman alive. So I would have no problem reading about older women, but who knows?

We are introduced to Elizabeth Morrison as the main character. She is a successful business woman, CEO of one of the most lucrative publishing companies in the industry, and repetitively identifies herself as ‘Queen Elizabeth’- not the monarch, just a moniker she calls herself.
This is the character I should have been drawn to. (Give me an older powerful woman wearing a business suit, and I am complete putty). This is the character I was supposed to empathize with and whose heart I wanted to mend. But honestly, I could never seem to care about her.
The author continues to say that Elizabeth has the persona of ‘Queen’, but I believe you have to actually write the character that way. For example, the author needs to give her snarky dialogue, ruthless business sense, a signature glare, a clipped tone, or something/anything resembling a superior personality would be great really.

Instead I found Elizabeth to be extremely boring and pathetic in her actions. In the opening chapter, we discover Elizabeth has kept a makeshift scrapbook of sorts that contains articles and pictures of Ruth’s accomplishments from the last thirty years. For me, it was a little stalker-ish, but some may view this as romantic. And I found Elizabeth’s behavior towards a secondary character, Tracy Patterson, creepy and disrespectful. Upon further research in regards to the novel, I found out that Tracy is actually a main character in one of Rizzo’s other novels, so that explains her presence in this one.

Elizabeth’s one redeeming quality is that she is generous to the cleaning staff and anyone else beneath her in the ranks of the corporate world. It reminds me of the famous quote by Albert Einstein, “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” So standing ovation to Rizzo for at least giving Elizabeth that character trait.

I suppose another reason I could not feel for Elizabeth was because I could not get behind the emotional torment she had regarding Ruth. I felt Rizzo didn't make me feel the anxiety Elizabeth was supposedly experiencing over knowing she would see Ruth after 30yrs.

Once again, all the author did was state that Elizabeth couldn't concentrate, focus, sleep, etc... I wanted the author to describe the turmoil, place me in the disheveled suit, put the weight of the bags under Elizabeth's eyes onto my own shoulders. But the author didn't even mention rumpled clothes or heavy eyes. Rizzo just states over and over how Elizabeth can't sleep until she takes ambien. I might as well have been on ambien while reading it because her anxiety wasn't memorable. There was such a lack of emotional pull when it should have been paramount. Just the thought of seeing Ruth after all of these years is a major plot point and could have been fleshed out much more effectively.

On the flip-side, I found the character of Ruth extremely refreshing. Her back story was simply fascinating and rich in historical significance. Rizzo made Ruth’s character likable, interesting, and completely endearing during her collegiate years.

I'd almost believe that the author herself is a Jewish immigrant from how well she writes the perspective of someone who has traveled that path and tries to fit in once they arrive in America. We see Ruth struggle with understanding little things like her friend’s lingo to major issues such as frugality and the apparent waste us Americans are so terribly fond of.
I do wish I could have read things more from Ruth’s perspective, especially when we see her in the later years. I believe whole-heartedly that if the book were told from Ruth’s point-of-view, then I would have had a much more meaningful experience over all.

The time span covers many important historical events such as the holocaust, feminist/early gay movement, 9/11, and even the original outcome of Proposition 8. Therefore, the historical part is heavy in content, importance, and grief. And then it's paired with thirty years of extreme pinning and missed opportunities. I think this book comes with hard liquor if you purchase the paperback.

SPOILER: The ending is entirely unromantic (don’t worry the ladies end up together). But the ending even managed to be depressing by focusing on how in 2008 Prop 8 was approved. So, we have the holocaust, 9/11, thirty years of angst, and now let's incorporate more misery into the characters' lives with Prop 8. Could Rizzo not at least have ended the story in 2010 when Prop 8 was overruled? Why end the novel with an outdated version of Prop 8? I could understand it if the book had been published in 2009, but for a 2015 book it seemed odd. Remember how I found it peculiar that the story was told in 2008? Well, I guess this was why. END OF SPOILER.

In addition, I found the story line was filled with too many inconceivable notions. Take for instance, Ruth’s son Mark. He favors Elizabeth in appearance, even down to the patrician nose, which isn’t too far of a stretch- god knows my brother doesn’t look anything like our parents. But then it gets completely ridiculous when Mark even carries the same traits, tastes, and mannerisms of Elizabeth. Mark dreams of working in publishing, and his love of Casablanca and Thomas Hardy just happened to be the topics of Elizabeth’s senior thesis some thirty years ago- I mean come on. That’s just too much. For a moment, I thought maybe Ruth had sought out a sperm donor that resembled Elizabeth in order to explain the similarities because at least that would have been believable, but no.

Another concern I had about this book was how it goes from 3rd person to 1st person, sometimes in the same paragraph. I am uncertain if the fault should lie with the author or the editor on that? It is one thing to tell a chapter in one narrative and then to tell the next in another, but to do it in the same paragraph seemed grammatically incorrect, awkward, and disruptive of the flow.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great things about this book.
1-It's not the typical lesbian story.
2- I love that the characters are older women.
3- It has great historical references throughout that the history nerd in me enjoys.
4- I like that it tackles the issue of what happens when the woman you fall for gives into society or familial pressures instead of being true to themselves. (God knows that one hit me right in the gut, making me thing of my own first love).

I am grateful Rizzo did not follow the typical formulaic tale that we normally get with lesfic. This story is not mushy, sappy, or so ridiculously sweet that you get a toothache reading it. And I especially appreciate that I haven't had to read about how sparks or tingles or butterflies erupt all over the two main characters every time they look at each other. Rizzo most definitely owns a thesaurus and chooses her descriptors carefully and beautifully.

It is also profusely apparent that months of research went into the physical aspects of this story. The reader will have no problem visualizing every setting, room, or article of clothing the character is wearing. Rizzo does an impeccable job of creating scenes- so much, that I truly felt as if I were along with Elizabeth and Ruth during their walks through Riverside Park.

When I saw the premise of this novel, I couldn’t get my hands on it quick enough. However, overall I felt disappointed with this book
due to its continued angst, heaviness, and implausible content. I will give Ms. Rizzo a second chance and read other works of hers as I have no doubt she is a gifted writer. This book had the framework to be phenomenal, but instead it fell flat for me.
NOTE: This book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

[Aj Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have one significant issue with this book; if a psychotherapist refuses to treat someone on the basis that there's an ethical conflict in treating your partner's publisher, why would the aforementioned psychotherapist then agree to go to the publisher's home and give her cooking lessons? Once I managed to put this aside, I was able to relax and enjoy a very well written piece of fiction.

Rizzo manages to combine a modern romance with historical fiction about the plight of the jews in the USSR, without making this heavy reading. A few mentions of WWI and Soviet historical events lead to a slightly murky timeline but I was able to overlook these. Both lead characters are very likeable, mainly because of how very human and flawed they are. This is no whirlwind romance, there is no dashing butch about to sweep anyone off her feet, just two very real ladies (and I use that word deliberately) desperately trying to reconnect and find atone for the past.

Beautiful and well worth your time and money.

[Sena · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5. Not a bad read (decent pacing, interesting character dynamics and historical tidbits), but was repetitive at times, lacked depth and wasn't always believable.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.
I was actually surprised that I liked this book as much as I did. I'm not usually one for books that have a lot of flashbacks in them. In this case, it was necessary to understand the history between Elizabeth and Ruth, and to understand the fears and overwhelming emotion Elizabeth has about Ruth. Truthfully though, the story was so engaging that I didn't mind. I also liked how the flashbacks weren't solely centered on their relationship in the '70s. I thought the passages about 9/11 were especially interesting, and they give people who weren't there just a bit of how it felt to be there and to have loved ones in the area and not know whether or not they survived, and not be able to find out.
The part I had a hard time with, and I know this is my own problem, is that thirty years is a long time to carry a torch for someone who treated you so poorly. Part of me thinks it's sweet and romantic, but the larger part is just thinking, get over it already. Thirty years that she never contacted you, never apologized, never tried to resolve anything, even after she was divorced and finally out as a lesbian. That being said, I liked how Rizzo handled the reconciliation. She didn't immediately make everything flowers and love. Both women had things that were unresolved, that they had to get past in order to allow themselves to be open to one another again. I really liked that this part wasn't rushed or glossed over.
This is a slower paced book, with things taking time to develop fully, and trips into the past to help the reader understand the why of the emotions these women have. Very good and if you're looking for a well-rounded reading experience with an older couple in it, I would definitely recommend it.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Ylva Publishing in return for an honest review.

This is what I did all weekend instead of homework. It couldn't be helped. A delightful escape, I got lost in the world Rizzo built and was unable to put it down. The characters are endearing and the story is heartwarming, and the fact that the book is well-written is refreshing, and didn't make me feel *too* bad about procrastinating the academic reading.

Elizabeth and Ruth were inseparable in college, but Ruth broke it off to settle down with a man and start a family. Now the pair will face each other for the first time in thirty years at their college reunion. When the opportunity to start again presents itself, they must decide if there is anything left between them.

I loved that Elizabeth and Ruth weren't twentysomethings trying to figure out their lives. Both have so much history together and apart, which makes them all the more interesting. Rizzo has got a knack for characterization, and I definitely want to go back and read Exception to the Rule. Can't wait to see what else she'll do in the future.

[Rhayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful read that I can’t wait to recommend to my friends. I adored the characters and caught myself holding my breath awaiting resolutions of scenes throughout the book. The back and forth between present time and the main character’s college years was smooth and easy to follow. I couldn’t put it down, I just had to know what was going to happen next! There was plenty of nail biting, sighs of relief, tearing up, chuckling and smiling like a fool to be had.

Well written, edited and formatted I found very few errors and those which were present weren’t enough to cause me to stop reading. The plot moved along at a good pace without rushing or stalling out and the ending was perfect. I’ll definitely be passing word about this book along to fellow readers!

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review by Inked Rainbow Reads

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!

These types of books break my heart when you have a couple break up for some reason and then become reacquainted many years later. What is even worse about this book is that it is 30 years till they come together AND it could have been so much sooner! Broke my heart but loved reading about the flash backs and the current times between Ruth and Elizabeth.

The ending was sweet! Great read.

[Mirtha Siblesz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book!

I was glued to this story from the start. As usual Ms. Rizzo hit it out of the park. This is a very compelling story with and ending I found I could relate to because my wife and I are one of the 18000 couples the passing of Prop 8 made into a different class which resulted in the Supreme Court defeating it 2013. Loved the book!!!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

j'ai adoré

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this ARC by Ylva Publishing in return for an honest review.

I had high hopes fro this book but was left a bit disappointed. It felt a bit unrealistic that the relationship they had in college affected them throughout their lives and they could never really love anybody else. It was also a bit creepy how the main character collected everything she could find about the other main character and made a scrapbook of her. There were also too many details about her working and her job in general.

[FM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected

My title sounds a bit blaze...because an excellent book does just that takes you on unexpected twits and turns...but this story branched too many times into other stories leaving us with an incomplete understanding of the two main characters...there were times I was like What the ...

[Silveda]

America! Americaaaa! Amerikka fuck yeah! America good, commies bad! America nice!

Oh, there is also somewhat of a love story between the heavily biased historical propaganda. And it's kinda nice so far, even if mainly unbelievable.

[PJ Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Story Couldn't Put It Down

This is a wonderful story ,great characters and works history with social consciousness to a whole different level. This was my second Rizzo novel glad there are more.

[marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it. wish it was longer.

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can tell one sure thing ..while reading u will get angry at situation and ruth but as story goes on everything just feels right....

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5