This is the story of a nice, cute girl falling in love for the first time. Ever. She explores her newly discovered sexuality with an ultra-beautiful woman who may or may not know how to love her back.
Through risky adventures, she learns about who she is and who she really wants to be.
This had the potential to be a great book. Sadly, the supporting characters - Buddy and Bandit (a lion) were more entertaining. Sarah is a good character. Loves her job, planning for her future, frustrated with her mother's attempts to set her up for marriage and babies. Suddenly there is Toni. Toni is successful, monetarily comfortable and comes across as arrogant and demanding. Sarah gets swept up in Toni very quickly. I wonder if Sarah is emotionally ready for a serious relationship. She bursts into tears after they have one sexual encounter because she hasn't heard from her for a few days. It doesn't occur to her that Toni has a job. Toni seems happy pushing Sarah's boundaries, out of her comfort zone and for the most part Sarah lets her. Their relationship seems very one dimensional. The reader is privy to their adventures and their sex life but nothing on an emotional level. They seem to have been a couple for a week or two when Sarah buys Toni a gift she is sure she will love. I, as a reader, knew Toni would not love it and was right. The best part of this book is when Sarah finds her backbone with her mother and with Toni. There were a few spelling errors and the entire Inspiration Kowalski chapter/retelling seemed to take up unnecessary space. It neither added nor detracted from the story as a whole. And I was left wondering if is Buddy asexual. He never appears interested in a relationship and mentions once he is 'too ace for that'. Buddy and Bandit made this book for me. I'm not sure I could have finished it without their interaction. In full disclosure I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I think this book is incorrectly titled a romance, it's a tragedy. There is no happy ending here. There is no communication. Nothing but superfical laughs and heartbreak. A very well written book, if you don't short out your tablet with your tears.