Split the Aces

by Jove Belle

In the neon glare of Sin City, two women ride a wave of passion that threatens to consume them in a world of fast money and fast times. It's lust at first sight for blackjack dealer Rae Sutherland and aspiring Vegas singer Cori Romero.

Genres: Lesbian, Erotica

227 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Jove Belle was born and raised against a backdrop of orchards and potato fields. The youngest of four children, she was raised in a conservative, Christian home and began asking why at a very young age, much to the consternation of her mother and grandmother. At the customary age of eighteen, she fled southern Idaho in pursuit of broader minds and fewer traffic jams involving the local livestock. The road didn’t end in Portland, Oregon, but there were many confusing freeway interchanges that a girl from the sticks was ill-prepared to deal with. As a result, she has lived in the Portland metro area for over fifteen years and still can’t figure out how she manages to spend so much time in traffic when there’s not a stray sheep or cow in sight.

She lives with her partner of twelve years. Between them they share three children, two dogs, two cats, two mortgage payments, one sedan, and one requisite dyke pickup truck. One day she hopes to live in a house that doesn’t generate a never ending honey-do list.

Incidentally, she never stopped asking why, but did expand her arsenal of questions to include who, what, when, where and, most important of all, how. In those questions, a story is born.

Reviews

[Jae Jae]

Maybe it’s a personal preference for longer books, but I thought there was too much sex and too little character development. It’s part of Bold Strokes Book’s Matinee romances, and I’m learning to avoid them since they don’t have enough “substance” for my liking.

[LVLMLeah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win this book at Dear Author during their GLBT Gay Writes in honor of National Coming Out week contest. I’ve read one other book of Jove Belle’s before and really loved it. So I was excited that I ended up with this book, which I’ve been wanting to read.

First, this is a much different book than the other one I read, Edge of Darkness. Edge of Darkness was a dark, gritty suspense novel with complex characterizations and a gripping plot. Split the Aces is very different. It’s far more erotic and it’s mainly about two characters falling in love set in the what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas backdrop.

Rae is a character that some might find hard to take at first. She’s a player in the true sense of the word. She works the black jack tables all the while constantly scouting the casino for women to seduce. She doesn’t care about who they are or even what their names are, she just wants uncomplicated quickies in the janitor’s closet. This has been going on for years and she’s come to accept that this is just who she is.

I think many will dislike her because she is so cool and callous in a way. In m/f she would be that rogue guy who sticks his dick into anything that moves, not quite the type of character one can warm up to. She’s also very ambitious and will not let anyone interfere with her getting her degree so she can run her own show one day. She doesn’t plan on being a company peon forever.

So generally, she’s forsaken any type of love relationship to get where she wants to go.

Cori on the other hand is a sympathetic character. She’s a quiet girl who doesn’t like partying too much and is just living life in Seattle as a massage therapist. She would like a woman she can love and share her life with, but it’s not happening for her.

Cori and her friend from work go to Vegas for some work related events and Cori decides she’s going to let go and do something wild and crazy, to come out of her shell for the weekend. While sitting by the pool, Rae sees her and buys her a drink to seduce her. Cori is immediately attracted and they end up getting it on.

This time though, there’s an unusual twist, Rae finds herself feeling a bit more with Cori than just scratching a horny itch. She starts wondering why she feels that, while at the same time trying to figure out how to spend more time with Cori.

Cori for her part really wants Rae, but notices that until now Rae has been a player and she’s not interested in anything serious or long term. She even gets jealous when she ends up at a party and sees Rae getting off with some other woman. What she doesn’t know is that Rae is falling for her and wishes it was Cori she was with and that Rae was upset about that happening.

You can guess by now that the main conflict in this story is the big misunderstanding. Rae is fearful to really come out and share with Cori her growing feelings, but that has much to do with her own fears of falling in love in general. And Cori doesn’t want to be another notch on Rae’s belt so she keeps her feelings to herself.

The non communication and misunderstandings go on for quite a while on both sides. It’s not my most favorite conflict device, but Jove Belle didn’t take it to an annoying level thankfully. I actually rather liked that Rae as a character changes quite a bit during this whole thing. It’s definitely one of those stories of meeting someone you have an immediate attraction to and it changing who you are and what you feel about yourself. So on that level I really enjoyed this story.

And I also liked that Jove Belle took this a bit further than just an erotic tale by showing some of the family backgrounds for both women. What’s interesting is that the jaded Rae has a very close relationship with her mother who accepts her and supports her totally. Whereas the more serious Cori comes from a family of homophobes and coldness from her parents. I felt this made the characters much more interesting than two quite different types who hook up for sex.

While for the most part I loved this story, it did hit the skids for me at one point though after Cori goes back to Seattle and both are trying to deal with each wanting the other but not expressing it. Their only contact is through curt emails. But one day they talk on the phone and go through this whole phone sex type thing, which I felt was totally out of character for both women since they had been cool with each other for a while. Also, Cori is a kind of straight type of person and she was acting in a way that was quite different than her characterization until that point. It felt off to me. However, the story did get back on track and there is a happy ending.

I recommend this story if you’re in the mood for lots of hot sex, a love at first sight type of story, or one in which character growth through unexpected love turns you on.

[Jill Sorenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blackjack dealer Rae likes quickie encounters with faceless women. Massage therapist Cori comes to Vegas looking for a meaningless fling. These two get together and find more than they bargained for--an emotional connection that leads to heartache when they part ways.

Jove has a witty, sexy writing voice. This is a light and enjoyable read with some unique aspects. Both heroines hook up with other women (or several!), for example, and there is a hedonistic vibe that fits the setting. But the characterizations aren't memorable, particularly with can't-commit Rae, and the story sometimes comes across like a string of rushed sex scenes.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant, yet somewhat average, book. It didn't have anything offensive to me; like poor writing, grammar, lack of editing, unlikable characters, or a too abrupt ending. The characters were fun, the chemistry was hot at the time of reading, but not too terribly memorable. it's definitely worth the price for a quick, painless read with ample hot and steamy scenes.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick, dirty read. A little more sex than substance, but I still believed in the relationship, even if I was occasionally frustrated by how many situations could have been solved by a conversation. I'll probably read it again later.

[Jove Belle]

I wrote it, so I'm biased...

[MissyGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story with just enough angst to make it interesting. Equally sexy and sweet. Fast paced. Definitely a 4 star read for me!

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not against sex in WLW romances, but it needs to have some balance with character development and story. This story about a meet up in Las Vegas seems like an homage to Sin City and what people dream or think happens there. Seventy percent of the story is pure sex and the story just seems forced to create a framework. I didn’t learn much about each of the Main Characters and quite frankly, neither did they. I found myself just skimming through the book. Too bad, as I like the author.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gambling on more than money in Vegas

Its a sensually decadent, entertainingly 🔥🔥🔥🔥 story with a casino blackjack dealer playgirl & a conference attendee vacationing! Serving up captivating characters & explicitly enticing sex scenes of pleasure.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just sex. Ish!