Off the Rails

by Rachel Lacey

A wild ride to love…

Gwen Larson is passionate about two things: women and whales. As a marine biologist, she works tirelessly to protect critically endangered right whales, but words aren’t exactly her strong suit. Her grant proposals keep getting rejected, denying the funding her program needs. Things are looking bleak until she boards the commuter train out of Boston one fateful rainy night.

College English professor Mallory Price has a way with words but not with women. Her ex-girlfriend did a number on her self-esteem, and she hasn’t gotten her mojo back yet. Mallory has a crush on the woman who often sits beside her on her evening commute, though, and when Gwen finds herself in an awkward situation, Mallory seizes the opportunity to bail her out.

Together, they hatch a plan. Mallory will help Gwen with her grant proposal in return for Gwen’s help getting back at Mallory’s ex. But will their scheme lead to romance, or will their plans go off the rails?

Off the Rails was previously published as part of the Love is All: Volume 4 LGBTQIA Anthology.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, LGBT, Novella, Queer, Adult, Friends To Lovers

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2021

About the author

Rachel Lacey is an award-winning contemporary romance author and semi-reformed travel junkie. She's been climbed by a monkey on a mountain in Japan, gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and camped out overnight in New York City for a chance to be an extra in a movie. These days, the majority of her adventures take place on the pages of the books she writes. She lives in the mountains of Vermont with her family and a variety of rescue pets.

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

**It's always sad to succumb to the idea of giving up storytelling because of the receptiveness of readers..'

Decent read!
A nice short story with nice chemistry. A recommended book!

[gloria .☆ﾟ. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread: 4 stars

This is lowkey a hidden gem. Lacey makes great use of the novella format. The character interaction was immediate and continuous. The characters of course are not perfectly distinct, but I was okay with that, and especially enjoyed Gwen’s character and the charming talkative black hair character with tattoos thing she had going on.

The plotline is a bit ridiculous but I don’t care!! It was so fun!! I honestly think they had a lot of chemistry, even if I found Mallory’s low self esteem and self-pity a little boring.

You might not think it from the cover or awkward sounding premise but this was a honestly a fun sexy story.

~

➥ 3.5 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

"Please," Mallory whispered.
"Oh baby, I do love to hear you beg," Gwen said as she slid up to kiss her mouth.

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

This was actually cute!!! Thank you Tierney for this recommendation, it reinstilled some of my hope in enjoying this author's work 💞.

This is a short, sapphic novella where Mallory (h) and Gwen (h) team up to make Mallory's ex (who lives next door) jealous...by faking having sex. I had a great time! It was really lighthearted and fun at the beginning, and then turned pretty steamy but always cute 🤭. Perfect novella material.

Gwen rose onto her knees as if she was going to climb off the bed, but at the last moment, she dipped her head, brushing her lips against Mallory's. "It wasn't all fake either," she whispered. "At least not for me."

Mallory pushed her elbows beneath herself, raising up to kiss her back. "Me either."

🥺🥺🥺. I still felt that Lacey's dialogue was a bit awkwardly stilted, but it was far less noticeable than in Stars Collide. Would recommend this one if you need a lil lighthearted sapphic palette cleanser! I liked that they didn't spew "I love yous" too soon (though I did skip the epilogue...oops) 🤗.

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

[T.J. Dallas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant short story. Gwen loves whales, and Mallory (great name, BTW) continually hears her ex girlfriend having wild sex through the thin walls of her flat. They meet on the train commute home from their respective jobs and an uncomfortable emergency, a little teasing, and fake sex lead to much more. (Loved the epilogue too, it felt just as magical as I'd imagine. I'd love to see whales in the wild!)

[JulesGP · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author had me at the rainy day cute-meet. Gwen and Mallory are often seat mates on the train commute from their jobs in the city. They are not acquainted but they’ve secretly crushed on each other for a while. On one particular stormy evening, Mallory invites Gwen to her place as a courtesy. So begins a night of hilarity and heat. Great read that made me laugh out loud. I could see what was going to transpire but no matter because the author made it so freaking enjoyable all the way to the very end. My only complaint is that the characters deserve more than a novella. I hope the author continues their story.

[Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was first published as part of the Love Is All anthology. Two women sit next to each other every day on the train back home but neither has ever dared talk to the other. Until one evening when both catch a much later train.

I always try not to give away too much in my reviews, which for novellas isn’t easy since they’re so short. I don’t want to reveal much about the characters, as finding out about each other is a big part of the story. I’ll say they’re both lovely, with very different personalities, one’s an extrovert and the other one gets lost in her own head. There are whales and very interesting facts about them (but no infodumping). Also, communication is sexy. And the story itself is cute, funny, and hot. 4.5⭐️

Read all my reviews on my blog (and please buy from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light and refreshing short story! This is my first taste of Rachel Lacey, and I’d love to read more! Any recommendations from her collection? 🤔

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute short story and a freebie for subscribing to Rachel Lacey’s newsletter.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun short story with fake sex. I had fun with this.

[AnnMaree Of Oz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hot short with fake sex, lol.

[Statum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great short story. I really liked its fast pace. It was was hot and sweet all in one. This is a quick read with plenty of entertainment.

[Guerunche · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a satisfying read! Sometimes with short stories or novellas you can feel, well, shortchanged. But that’s not the case here. Fate worked its magic in this surprisingly hot and touching story of two women who were meant to be.

[clara ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

➥ 5 stars ⋆˚࿔

I absolutely loved this!! But then again it’s Rachel Lacey sooo… of course I loved it 💅🏻
I honestly loved everything about it: the characters, the writing, the story… Probably one of my favorite novellas ever!

[Tierney Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun and rewarding story from Rachel Lacey! The 2 leads were charming, and the fake sex they do/have/pretend (??) to get back at the nasty ex of one of the girls is hilarious... until it becomes something else 😉.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. This was a lot of fun. I liked the humor, and the connection between Gwen and Mallory. They meet on the train and have fake sex to get back at Mallory’s ex girl friend who lives next door. That scene was really good because of the real chemistry between the two of them was palpable. They were great and likable characters and I enjoyed this little novella thoroughly.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The seventh work I've read by this author.

A cute short story involving two women who sit next to each other frequently on the train and develop a relationship. One is a marine biologist who studies whales, and the other is an English professor. Both are early 30s (within two years of each other).

Good story, characterization, etc.

Rated: 4.35
March 27 2023

[JWG1973UK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable quick read. This author never disappoints. Looking forward to reading more from her.

[Joon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely fantasy about affection, friendship, care, tenderness, love, jealousy, dreams, and attractive young women with notable jobs. It was very enjoyable. RECOMMENDED

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story with fake-sex to lover trope😂 This is fun to read

[Kristīne Vītola · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Peter DeWolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simultaneously sweet and sexy!

And it starts in South Station, Boston, running to catch the commuter rail. Something I’ve done on occasion.

[Khushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

very short, very gay. (nsfw)

[0848020333 0333 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fake relationship, always a recipe that works. These 2 lovely woman needing a reason to both take a chance. Lovely read

[Zimmy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

too cute!! and had no idea about right whales omg??

[Gaby LezReviewBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very cute and short novella (86 pages) which is offered for free if you subscribe to Rachel Lacey’s newsletter.

As with many of Lacey’s stories, it is low on angst and high on chemistry between the mains. Both main characters are lovely and relatable, perfect for each other and even though the story is short, there’s space for a very steamy scene.

The author is passionate about animal rescue and the welfare of wild animals and these issues are always present in her books. Off the Rails has a lovely secondary character in the form of a “right whale” (who incidentally is based on a real-life whale), I loved how the author added some information about them seamlessly into the plot.

Rachel Lacey used to write m/f romances and a few years ago she started writing f/f romances exclusively. I'm glad that she took that gigantic leap of faith because all her stories are consistently well-written, entertaining, and endearing.

Highly recommended and it’s free! 5 stars.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super cute, and bonus points for creating a character who is not only a marine biologist, but one truly passionate about what she does. If my health ever allows, I still intend to finish my education and become a marine biologist. In the epilogue, when they went looking for Calvin, it almost brought me to tears. That moment...I know that.

Also, bonus points for the sex talk, and even doing it without killing the mood. Not enough romances have this discussion when they really should. I'm not saying it always necessary, even in fiction, but also, two people don't automatically come together perfectly. It is one of the ways that fictional romance can set up false ideals in real life relationships.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW Sexual content

⭐️ Friends to lovers

🌈 Lesbian FMC
🌈 Pansexual FMC

If you're looking for a short, sweet sapphic romance, this is definitely what you need in your life.

Two strangers, a short fake dating situation, and an HEA. That pretty much sums up what you're getting here.

It's fast paced, being a novella, but we still get a decent epilogue at the end (and what a sweet epilogue it is) so I'm still satisfied.

I just wish we'd got to see them falling in love properly between the end of the book and the epilogue. I just needed a lkttle something extra for the in-between.

[KateJoanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved and enjoyed this, I recommend it for a short, sweet (and spicy) read. I wish it were longer and had more of a plot and gradual end, it felt like they were just getting to know each other and then it skipped to the epilogue.
I loveeee whales and that was a brilliant aspect of this book, Gwens love and conservation work/research with the right whales.
Nothing amazing but a really nice, relaxed read.

[Marsha E. Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am quite taken by Ms. Lacey's books.

I found the books to be fairly true-to-life. Because they are romances, no time is wasted in all the relationships that can go wrong. Unlike the books of the 50s and 60s, the love affairs can occur without all the characters being outcasts and hating themselves -- and the women they love.

[Issy Waldrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, short and sweet, this was a very enjoyable novella. Gwen and Mallory were likeable characters as their very short fake romance turned into something more, and the story wrapped up well at the end. Well written, as all of Rachael Lacy's stories are, with quick pacing. My only complaint was that the sex scene ended up being a decent portion of the book.

[Mean Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read a very heavy book and I need a palate cleanser and this book does clean my palate. It's short, spicy, and fun!

It's about two women, one is a whale researcher and one is an English professor and they're in their thirties. It's fast paced but the chemistry is on fire and hot too. Very recommended.