Screen Kiss

by Ann Roberts

Addy Tornado wishes her love life was as dramatic as her name. A true romantic, Addy lives for the movies and yearns for a mate who is as beautiful, sexy, witty, and as smart as the heroines on the screen. Of course that someone would also have to put up with her OCD about color coordination…
Mazie Midnight has one dream—to finish her Master’s program in music performance. She reinvents herself and moves to the west coast to attend Cammon University, hoping a new name and a new start will be what she needs to face the one barrier keeping her from a degree: terrible stage fright.
Mazie takes a job at the Bijou Theater, Addy’s favorite place in the whole world, and the two clash immediately over Mazie’s re-arrangement of the colorful candies. Mazie meets none of Addy’s expectations in a mate, and Addy sees Mazie as nothing more than an adversary…until Mazie opens her mouth to sing.
Believing the world should hear Mazie, Addy vows to help her overcome her stage fright. But can she see Mazie as someone to love? Will they ever share anything as perfect as a screen kiss?

Genre: Romance
Editor: Katherine V. Forrest
Cover Designer: Judith Fellows

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2019

About the author

Ann Roberts is the author of twenty books that span the romance, mystery and general fiction genres. A Goldie winner and a Lammy finalist, Ann was awarded the Alice B. Medal for her body of work. She loves to hear from readers, so she hopes you'll give her some feedback.

Librarian note: Multiple authors with the same name in the Goodreads database; this author is entered with two (2) spaces.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very early reviews for this book have been mixed. Two reviewers that I tend to agree with more than not, both had completely different feelings about this book. I was wondering where I would fall on the scale. I guess the answer is right in the middle. I found this to be a bit of an oddball book. The feel and style of this was not a great fit for me. However, I did find myself caring about most of the characters and wanting to see their journey. Roberts’ Ari Adams series is more my taste but this book was readable.

The story is about a group of people living in a small college town. The two mains are Mazie and Addy. Mazie is a talented singer trying to overcome her stage freight and Addy is a kind and compassionate woman who has an OCD like color affliction. The main storyline is about the women trying to overcoming their personal obstacles and saving a local theater they both care about. Besides the mains there is a good group of interesting secondary characters which really helped the story.

This book is also a romance. You have the connection of Mazie and Addy and actually a few secondary characters too. I would characterize the main romance as more sweet than steamy but I still enjoyed it.

One part I struggled with was Addy’s visions. Besides her issues with colors, she would also slip into this weird fugue state and have mostly erotic visions. It really is a personal preference but I don’t care to read many dream/vision type sequences. And because of that I did find myself skimming over some of the visions even though there were some pretty steamy ones.

I’m finding it hard to really describe this book. It just has this slightly odd feeling to it. It just didn’t quite fit for me personally, but there was nothing that I actually disliked. The writing was good like Roberts always is. I would recommend this to people looking for a romance that is different. I don’t think this will be for everyone’s tastes, but it might be for you.

An ARC ws given to me for a honest review.

[Pin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Roberts has published nineteen books of which I read only three plus two I did not even manage to bring myself to finish. Her writing is really good from a technical standpoint, but her characters and their actions in these books frustrated me a lot. If I had not taken the obligation to write a review for this one, I would not have picked it at all. That would have been a shame because I liked this rather unconventional romantic story primarily because of the characters, both main and secondary. All of them are somehow related to the Bijou Theater (a small independent movie theater) or the bus line 29 of the Wilshire Hills Transportation Department. Addy, Mazie, Nadine, Almondine, Jackie... are all more or less a little offbeat, even quirky, but very likable and interesting. Their mutual dynamics is important to this story just as much as the relationship dynamics between the main couple, Addy (29) and Mazie (41). Those two are good people with a lot emotional baggage from their past and their tender relationship is quite nicely done.
There is lot going on here with a lot of characters and I am afraid it might not be all clear at first glance, but be patient and it will gradually all fall into place. As one of the characters in the novel said -- the ending is a little too pat and corny, but I liked it that way. I am a romantic softie in that regard, and the HEA ending is much appreciated. This story should not be taken too seriously (regardless of some serious life issues touched) or logically, more with an open heart than an open mind. There are a lot of references to lesbian cinema, quite informative without being overbearing.
Overall, to my surprise, I was quite happy with this book, enjoyed reading it and could recommend it.

3.5 stars rounded up
February 10, 2019
*A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.*

[Cindy Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Addy is a bus driver in a small Oregon town. She also has a lot of quirky issues, including an aversion to mixing colors (they all need to be separated) and long stints of daydreaming (usually about sex with fantasy women). Mazie is in her 40s and is getting her masters in vocal performance at the local university, but has been stricken with debilitating stage fright, a problem that could jeopardize her earning her degree. In the meantime, she's the manager of the local indie movie theater and is trying to help its owner keep the theater from going bankrupt.

The two meet in the theater and there's a slow coming together interspersed with Addy's issues at work. There are a few clever plot twists toward the very end that are sweet.

It's refreshing to read a lesbian romance that doesn't feature two beautiful, high achieving characters or the sweetest girl next door. These women, especially Addy, have issues. But the book is only middling engaging with minimal conflict even with the psychological issues both characters have to overcome.

[Belinda Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book! I knew from the opening that I would like it but I actually grew to like it more than I thought I would the further I got into it.

I really liked that the community that the characters interact with seems to basically be made up of the elderly and the disabled. I just thought it was clever that the book would show that people who have similar issues interacting with society might clump together to help each other out. They're all supportive of Addy and her issues and this isn't shown to be bad or coddling.

I also really liked that Addy was having really sexually explicit fantasies. The disabled often get infantilized and I liked that she wasn't.

Mazie was also quite a sweet character and I liked her as a love interest.

[Doug Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two women with very different backgrounds, each fighting their own demons, come together over a love of independent cinema. Their developing relationship gives each extra incentive to resolve, or at least make progress on resolving, the issues that are holding them back. A wide assortment of secondary characters helps make this a good read.

[Elaine Mulligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zany antics by a town of eccentric characters. The nuttiest, most off-beat novel I have ever read. Read the first 3 chapters and you will know if this is the book for you. It does settle down in the last few chapters and deals with some real life hard hitting family drama. There is a huge happily ever after for every one except one guy who got every thing he deserved. so it was a HEA for the reader. Addy Tornado and Mazie Midnight, right there gives you an idea of the story path. Addy is a 29 year old who is a loveable and VERY quirky woman with a resume of jobs 9 pages long, currently driving a bus and occasionally in a fugue state where she doesn't remember how she got from one stop to the other. Mazie is a 41 year old new to the sleepy college town of Wilshire Hills, she is pursuing an advanced degree in the performing arts, the only thing holding her back is her fear of performing, hmmm. The novel has extensive cast of unconventional and very endearing characters that would give Tales of the City a challenge. This will make an exceptional book club choice.

[wren4777 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty ehhh, I guess? I found the novel to be disjointed with poor pacing and vague character backstories. For example, the reveal at the end about Addy's childhood abuse would have been a lot more impactful if it was hinted at more thoroughly in the rest of the novel. Also, for the amount of page time that Addy's colour and daydreaming issues received, there was very little resolution as to how she dealt with them going forward.

Also also: I ordinarily can't stand the stereotype of the trans character making shoehorned-in comments about their bits. I equally dislike the trope of bisexual women who are unable to be satisfied by their female partner. Somehow, this book puts both of those cliches into the same character.

[Sarah Thornton]

I liked the film references but they became repetitive. The workplace relations were unrealistic, and the mental issues if the characters were heavy handed. No one was 'cured', which is refreshing, but the causes came quite late.