Rivals find the line between love and hate is even thinner than they knew in this addictive and steamy lesbian romance. After years of hard work as a news anchor, Valentina is at the top of her game. But when the promise of her own show fails to materialize, she learns that her new, and highly unwanted, co-anchor Madison is to blame. Resentful that the too young and unproven Madison has stolen what’s hers, Valentina sets her sights on a national morning show in New York. In the meantime, she does her best to avoid Madison. A difficult task when they have to feign friendliness on-air. Free-spirited Madison has no idea why the uptight Valentina is so impossible to please. She’s always won people over with her charm, but every attempt at befriending the ice queen only makes her more hostile. When she learns about a job in New York, she decides it’s time to leave tiny Tallahassee behind. Both their plans get derailed after a hurricane threatens the Northern Florida coast. When the two women are forced to work together without time for snarky comments and oneupmanship, they see each other in a completely different light. In this enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, workplace romance, fate dictates if they’ll get a second chance at a first impression. Goode News is an entry in the bestselling Goode Girl lesbian romance series, telling the stories of women loving women in and around a small, all-women’s college in Northern Florida. Books can be read in any order.
I am an independent author writing about fictional lesbians of all varieties.
My writing journey began with fan faction, and as much as I LOVED being part of a community of super fans, I got tired of working with other people’s characters to tell my stories. I started asking myself: Why should we string together pieces of subtext when our community deserves well-developed main-text about LBGT people and those who love them! So, that is what I aim to deliver.
If you want to know a little more about me personally, J.J. Arias is my pen name. I do have a day job, and due to the industry I’m in, I can’t write under my given name. Although who knows, maybe one day I can write full-time and come out of the … office? I am a Scorpio woman (I know, I know, but I’m a nice one I PROMISE) happily married to a uniquely wonderful Cancer lady. Together we have several fur babies of the feline and canine varieties.
So, here I am, and I hope you enjoy my writing! I’m very open to thoughts, comments, critiques, and knock-knock jokes, so please feel free to message me with any of the above – or anything else you would like to say!
This is the second book of the Goode Girl series and since there isn't much connection to the first, it can be read as a standalone. And I would recommend this book because it's really good. A couple of reviews have referenced the Morning Show and I suppose this book has a similar storyline but I can't say much about it because I haven't watched it yet.
But I'd like to say that this book is so much smoother than the first and I think J.J Arias put up a good story on rival news anchors to lovers. The rivalry in the workplace felt real and I think Arias really nailed the pacing of the transition from rivals to lovers. I really love how Valentina and Madison built their relationship with a lot of thought and reflection, open communication and by setting expectations. And I love the dynamics between them. It was so hot!
Enemy-to-lover, age-gap, workplace romance – which is so up my alley. I decided to take a chance and just plunged right into it. The book didn’t disappoint me and I actually enjoyed it. Plot was interesting and story was well written. Uptight 45 years old Valentina, a great believer in a monogamous relationship, locked horns with her newly appointed co-anchor, the much younger and charming Madison who is not a believer of having a monogamy relationship. In the initial phase of the book, you have Valentina ignoring Madison who tried hard to be on Valentina’s good side, they eventually locked horns and tried to get under each other skin, off and on air. And like all good romance, both got attracted to each other but since they both had different beliefs on relationship, it was a bit difficult to ‘steer the boat’, so to speak. So what do they want in a relationship and how far are they willing to sacrifice to make their relationship works – that’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question for both Val & Madison.
This is second in a romance series but they aren't very related. You can certainly read them out of order and not miss anything, I think.
Ugh, Valentina. The first, um, third? was her being really mean to Madison. Yeah, I get it. Her presence derailed a plan you thought was in the bag. Get over yourself and stop taking it out on the innocent bystander. It was petty and unprofessional and I kept going solely because Madison was interesting.
I had an initial concern that Madison's beef with monogamy, and accompanying poly-leanings, was going to be shallow or played for titillation. But it actually held together fairly well and had some nuance to it* so I bought it as background and was looking forward to her developing a connection and what that would look like in a relationship.
And I got nearly half a book of fun relationship developments. Valentina was pretty cool once she let go of her resentment and her care for Madison was nearly as engaging and Madison's care for her. I particularly liked that Valentina was clear about her relationship needs (monogamy, essentially) and stuck to her guns even though she really liked/wanted/lusted for Madison.
And then Valentina decided to manipulate through information-withholding in the way romance authors do to setup future dark moments. And then Arias asks us to believe . So I felt manipulated and all my sympathy for Valentina dropped on the floor and I was done.
I'm going to give a second star for Madison and her strength in standing up to the people who needed to be stood up to. And a bit of that for Valentina in the one issue she had a backbone for.
* A note about Madison's poly thing: Her point is that asking one person to fill all your engagement needs is a big ask. It's an interesting point. Having one person for lit fic and another for night on the town etc. makes sense to a certain extent. But only because Madison is highly desirable and can command her own terms in relationships. I kept waiting for someone to call her on (or her to realize/acknowledge) her strong position in the sexual marketplace and how that maybe she can arrange things to suit herself more than most can. So her philosophy breaks down if you aren't her, essentially. I'm okay that that didn't happen before I stopped reading because it worked as her starting position just fine and I'm good with her growing out of it in finding her person in Valentina. But it would have been an interesting conversation if/when someone called her out on the glaring flaw in her poly position.
A solid 4/5, not quite as engrossing as the Governor, and started eerily similarly to The Morning Show which had me suspicious at first. However due to the author's writing flow, I quickly enjoyed this take on an early morning show, the characters, the horrendously early hours, the jealousy and assumptions of one MC getting in the way of seeing someone's true self. Another slow burn but once that match was lit, shaZAM ladies, pass me some bubbly.
I have read sex scenes, but HOLY FUCKING GOD, SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. That was EPIC. I still feel effing butterflies... the fires. Damn. Crazy writing, I kid you NOT.
Loved the co-host setting, crushed on Valentina, loved their banter and Madison slowly melting Val's ice queen facade. Overall well written age gap with a slightly short but sweet ending.
Enjoyed the begining of this but slowly found I was becoming bored, didn't really gell with either character and though the story demanded excitment it didn't rock my boat. Finished with relief not pleasure.
A very enjoyable enemies-to-lovers story with age difference this was.
After reading a ton of wlw romance of the contemporary variety, it's rare to have a story that manages to make such a compelling narration without falling back on the old cliche of "everyone is terrible at communicating".
In fact, the generally understandable nature of all the conflicts in the series was revitalizing. So many stories rely on misunderstanding, communication problems and characters viewing things only from their own perspective that it can get rather frustrating. This, on the other hand, really felt like two adults, being (mostly) open about their situations and not just taking offense at every slightest opportunity.
I feel the discussion brought up especially in the first third of the book about the way society has caused conflict between women in the workplace is very important, and the way it was shown and discussed from both the perspective of Valentina (who made her way up the ladder in a time when "smile and nod" was the only way for a professional woman to not get blacklisted) and Madison (who rose a few years later and had to deal with a different, albeit no less disgusting form of sexism) and how they were influenced by their experience.
In general, the leads felt quite competent, yet had each their own shares of insecurities and bad experiences in the past, and were enjoyable to read about. Especially Madison, who knew exactly how to get people to like her, was a joy to read about.
The conflict that delayed the relationship initially was also very well handled, I feel. No pointless fighting, just a "This is something that will not work for me, and I don't want to force my values on you" situation.
I enjoyed this book a lot, just like I’ve enjoyed every other J.J. Arias book I’ve read. Once again we have an enemies to lovers plot going on and I found Val and Madison to be great leads. I liked the witty dialogue as well as the sexy scenes. Normally in lesfic, the main characters have a conflict about 75% of the way through and readers wait with baited breath for them to work it out. This one was a nice change of pace because while there’s a small conflict, our mains didn’t break up unnecessarily. They talked like mature adults, acknowledged, learned from it, and moved on. Thanks JJ for another great read!!
A great slow burn. I'm conflicted about the first third of the book because of how much a hypocrite Valentina was. She got better though even if her personality shifted a bit abruptedly once she finally realised her affection for Madison.
I'd like more talk and exploration of Madison's polygamy. For an open relationship woman, she settled into monogamous lifestyle too readily?
Tout ce que j'aime ! Une romance saphique en slow-burn avec des tropes que j'adore : Rivals-to-lovers Celebrities Workplace Ice queen Age-gap + Steamy scenes
Kudos pour le caméo de Georgie et Joséphine du premier livre de la série.
This book is well written on a sentence and paragraph level, but the various pieces didn't really hang together for me. The whole set-up was a leap too far for suspension of disbelief (they decide to change the entire format of a news show against one of the anchor's wishes? sure. without her knowledge?! ... no.) Valentina and Madison's transition from enemies to friends was way too abrupt and not particularly believable. And the way Madison's character was handled really rubbed me the wrong way -- first she repeatedly pressures a friend and a coworker to kiss her, despite that person clearly saying no; then she gives up polyamory without a backward glance because it turns out she just needed to meet the right person.
Not for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Couldn't really warm up to Madison. Some story inconsistency, some trails that didn't lead anywhere. Rivalry. Intentional humiliation. Confidence that borders on being inappropriate. Some hypocritical moments that forced me to think "If this were a man it wouldn't be okay". An, at first, almost endless war of generational differences.
*See highlights if curious.*
Not the kind of enemies to lovers I was looking for. HEA
It is a bit of slow-burn kinda romance, but there is still hotness when they finally come together. Of course, things can't be easy when one is a lonely 45-year-old single woman who hasn't been with anyone intimately in over 5 years and another who is a more free-spirited, hard-to-handle, and, as she states, poly practicing person. I've met a poly person in my life, and while she's a fun-loving person at heart, I knew that she didn't have a clue as to what she really wanted out of a relationship and that's why she would gof rom partner to partner and eventually settled for one of them. Still, Madison, calling herself poly when she was in a committed relationship was something that kinda pissed me off. I understand that it is now 2020 and a new decade, but millenials and my generation (Gen-Z), don't all understand the complexities of what it means to be in a healthy, monogamous relationship and this story really brought that whole concept to the forefront. It casted a shadow over the whole story, but when Madison wanted Val and went after her, she knew she had to give up her old ways of being poly. there was a few scenes where I thought she might slip up, like the one with Alex, but then we see that she realizes what she's doing is wrong and feels bad for somehow secretly hurting Val.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I'm at the end of my free month of KU and was searching for a book that I hadn't heard of before. This popped up and I decided to give it a go due to the promise of an enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, workplace romance (three of my favourite tropes!). I am so glad I took a chance - this was really great. Initially, I was a bit unsure whether Madison was a likeable character and whether that would skew my enjoyment. However, I think in hindsight this was what made this book so good. As soon as the conflict resolved between the characters and Madison became likeable, I became completely invested in the slow burn romance between her and Valentina. I think another reason why I liked Goode News so much was due to the plot being something I hadn't seen in lesfic before. As much as I have enjoyed discovering lesfic in the last year or so, sometimes lesfic novels can feel a little too familiar and a bit cookie cutter in their structure. This was a read where I couldn't guess what would happen and I absolutely loved that. Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to reading the The Goode Governor: A Lesbian Romance Series.
This was very compelling and tough to put down. More than 4*. I was hoping all of the drama was before the relationship started and I did get a little afraid the dark moment was coming but i was wrong. Both characters had an arc, and i loved that Valentina was able to state what she needed. The dynamic between the two was interesting as the story went on and their actions spoke louder than their words. Like the first Goode book, the age gap is pretty large. It doesn't necessarily bother me as long as i don't think about the gap as time goes on. But hey, to each their own. I highlighted quite a bit and i'm sure i'll reread my favorite parts at some point again.
I'm still not sure about the ending. Why did Val suddenly stop telling the truth? It was one of my favorite moments when she was able to stand up as push Madison away due to her non-monogamous ways. Even saying "ick" was great, nobody ever seems to worry about STDs in these books. Anyway, they both grew, but Val regressed in that way and the ending with Madison being able to forgive was a great moment, but still seemed weird to watch Val going from stating harsh truths, to scaredy cat. I guess because it meant more as the story went on. I was also unclear on whether they were going to try for new york or not?
This is a very romantic story about two newswomen. Valentina is 44 is a new anchor and has won an award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association. She ends up paired with Madison, who is around half her age, when the boss has this great idea about changing the format of the program, spicing it up a lot with all sorts of changes.
To put in mildly they two women do not get along. Not at all. So you know from this set of books that eventually the two will end up together, the pleasure is in learning just how they manage to do that, what kinds of things they will go through and just how they will end up together.
And yes, there's a good bit of lesbian sex in it (but tastefully done.)
One major point in the book is when there's a major hurricane that hits a region and the two women end up going to the area hit and doing everything they can to help the people deal with what has happened, rescue people if they can and rebuild whatever they can. This to me shows just how dedicated both of them are to their jobs but also to the people they are reporting on.
There's also a lot of restaurant dining, things they are keeping hidden from each other and a lot of stuff going on that makes this book (and this series of books) a delight to read.
Val and Madison definitely don’t get along in the beginning. Not from lack of trying on Madison’s part, but Val was ready for her own thing and suddenly changed without her being part of the discussion. Things started changing after a dinner they were forced to go to. Then with even greater trauma when a hurricane is headed straight for their town and all the employees and their family are called to stay at the office, so people could work and also find safety. I loved when Val and Madison among others volunteered to help in areas that were hit hard to cleanup and help build. I especially loved the moment where Val was so overcome with emotions when she realized that people had died where she was cleaning up and I think it hit her harder thinking of when she was younger and similar things had happened to her.
I really like that when Val and Madison fully came together that Val was honest in only wanting one person in Madison’s life and Madison realizing she only wanted to one person even when she had been living differently before. When the NY job came up and Val turned it down because she loved Madison that much it was crazy, even crazier when Madison also turned it down for love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Gah I couldn’t put this book down to the point that I didn’t manage to get enough sleep and was utterly useless during my day job. It’s been a while since I’ve found a book that makes me desperate to read to the end.
I love both characters. They are at the opposite ends of the spectrum yet both are wonderful. I find the storyline perfectly mapped out. Everything weaved together well. There was tension, romance, passion, suspense.... it’s like the author played with my emotions (but I’m not complaining). I also love how the story remained very interesting yet we don’t have to wait to the end for the leads to get together, instead we get to enjoy their time together while still navigating the relationship (this is a winner!!).
I just have 2 grouses - 1) I need more. Because it’s really good and I don’t want to put it down. 2) Perhaps we can use their names to describe who the scene is referring to instead of just the pronouns. It could be quite confusing because both are of the same gender. But by no means this badly affected the quality of the book so... if anyone is reading my review - read the book!
I love JJ Arias but not this book. I didn’t get into it until the last 50 pages, which admittedly, went in a better direction than I expected. But until that point, I could not get into the story or the characters who didn’t have chemistry. Madison came off as predatory initially and I didn’t love the way polyamory was portrayed; seemed like Madison was collecting traits she liked best (like twisted friendship) vs falling in love with multiple people. I wanted more about why Madison was how she was. Roxanne was my favorite- her commentary on pregnancy cracked me up.
Short summary: like the Morning Show but without the scandal and if the co-anchors were 20years apart and enemies to lovers.
I devoured this!! Like I could not put it down. I loved seeing their sweet moments once they got together. Madison’s mom was the best. Their relationship was sweet. I did have some issues. One being that we got more Valentina pov than Madison’s. Like I need them to be more balanced. Two, was that once they called a truce and suddenly Madison wants to kiss her on their outing. Nothing wrong it just felt like we didn’t really get to see them bond and see their feelings change. And the last thing was the job opportunity. I’m glad it wasn’t a big thing but also just felt rushed when the confession came.
Some really great parts and some not-so-great parts. I did like the character development but the switch from enemies to friends happened in two seconds and felt unbelievable. I tend to have this problem with JJ's books however, so it was to be expected going in. Felt like we got some character development but were missing crucial parts to both MC's personalities and backgrounds. This is also supposed to be centered around the Goode college, right? This was only mentioned once in the entirety of the book, so I am unsure where the interconnection of the series comes in, a tiny complaint though.
This one about two different women, Valentine a anchor woman who is promised the lead when her colleague retired but the boss bring in Maddison a young newscaster and says she is her new partner. Straight away Vaentine decides she doesn't like her and makes it know.Maddison cannot understand why. This is a fantastic and hilarious story , J.J.Aries did a great job writing this and cannot wait to read her next one. Definitely recommend , and 5***** STARS.