Less than a year into her term, President Jane Kincaid has chosen her battle: gun control. With a Republican-controlled Senate opposing her, she'll need all the leverage she can get.
I'm the author of several lesbian romance novels published by Bella Books, including the Lambda Literary Award finalists "Last Salute" and "No Rules of Engagement". I'm a voracious reader, even more so now that I've retired from a 27-year career as a daily newspaper journalist.
Although ostensibly about Jane and Alex, that relationship isn't really central to this story. Instead, the tension is brought by Jane's recruitment of an old female suitor from Chicago. Basically the plot goes like this - Jane wants gun control to pass through the houses of the American government, but is stymied by a conservative republican senate. Liz (the Chicagoian) is the perfect person to weasel it past all its obstacles. Unfortunately Liz once carried a torch for Jane, and those feelings linger. Will she agree to come help the administration?
I state this is an odd short-story to catalogue because it genuinely is. There is no romance really - Liz's angst is the closest thing too it - and Alex and Jane are separated for much of the novel. But the plot described above genuinely feels beside the point. I think this short-story is more of the jelly bit between the two prior books and some future one - designed not to stand alone, but to introduce a character which can then be focused on without her introduction feeling abrupt. At present, without that hypothetical future novel, the story feels lopsided.
If you like Jane and Alex then you're going to be intrigued, but not satisfied by this story.
A wonderful novella filling in Jane’s past. I recommend you read The Candidate and The Campaign to get a better feeling for the story but it is also a great introduction to the world of Jane and Alex
It was quick and way way too short for my liking. It's a nice addition to the first two books but I'd rather it had been longer. Would be great if Tracey did another full length novel. Who knows?
I really enjoyed The Candidate and The Campaign so I downloaded this short story straight after finishing these books, but I wrongly assumed there would be a full book three in the series and put it on one side until details of book 3 were released. The story is about an incident during Jane’s first term in office. It begins with her plans to try to curb America’s incomprehensible need to allow tens of thousands of people to be killed by guns every year (this includes thousands of children). However it quickly changes into a story about Jane coming to terms with a previous relationship. There is nothing wrong with the story except it is really the first chapter of what should have been a third full novel and it left me thinking of what could have been. I should have given 3 stars, but I’m afraid the thought of the possible full story have made me give just two.
I understand it was supposed to be a novella but it felt more like a sample reading of a book. Two new characters and a plot opening. That’s it, totally inconclusive story. Is there a part 2?
I liked this story. Even though it was only 28 pages long, I felt that somehow this was the prelude to possibly q full fledged novel. If that was not the plan, then what q shame. If that is the plan, then I look forward to more of this story because I love these characters and would like to read some more about Jane and Alex and now Liz and how she will handle the Senator. Very intriguing!
Good story, but just too short, felt it was a chapter of a novel, not a book on its own, also the author had made a mistake, so proof reading needs some work. (In the previous book, Jane's aid Will Carter was killed, in this book he was mentioned and called Jeff Carter) Small mistake, but can ruin a book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.