Between The Lines

by Bobbi Marolt

When romance writer Gail Prescott meets British actor Tannen Albright, she develops feelings that usually only her characters experience. Despite Gail’s prickly demeanor, Tannen won’t be deterred from striking up a friendship. Gail’s emotional walls begin to crumble before Tannen’s irresistible charms, and she cautiously allows Tannen, and the possibility of love, into her life. Then Gail’s tragic history collides with Tannen’s equally heartbreaking past, and Gail’s life turns into a hurricane of destruction. Hoping to save their love, Tannen asks for the one thing Gail may not be able to give—all of herself. Can their love prevail, or will history destroy all hope for the future? The answer lies between the lines of what has been written and what might be in this sensual, touching romance.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Lesbian Fiction, Lesbian Romance

219 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Bobbi Marolt was born in Pennsylvania and upon graduation from high school enlisted in the United States Army, specializing in telecommunications. After an honorable discharge and two and a half years in Texas, she ambled into Connecticut “to go to school.” That stunt landed her between New York State and Connecticut for the next several years, jammed into quality control positions in various types of manufacturing. After a very brief move to Las Vegas, she again resides in New England. Somewhere in the midst of these journeys she published the romance Coming Attractions, from Rising Tides Press. Her interests include films and classical music—and she cannot do without TiVo! (from the publisher's website)

Reviews

[MaxDisaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars, DNF at 20%
Sorry, but while the premise was kinda interesting and there were no major red flags, it was... pretentious. Both the characters and the writing style itself. And it annoyed me. So I decided to cut my losses.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️. I read some of the reviews and thought I probably wouldn’t like this book, but I was wrong. First book by this author and I am going to come back for more. Gail, the author lady, meets Tannen, the actor lady and the chemistry persists even if they aren’t nice to each other. Gail, who is a brash, East coast author is approved by a British Oscar winning actress who wants to produce a book that Gail wrote many years ago. Gail won’t consider it and you knew there was a deep hurt hiding. Guessed wrong when the secret comes out. Tannen is inordinately patient, through anger, non-communication and aborted love scenes. Lots of some improbable situations drop it a notch in stars, but I enjoyed the characters (especially the sidekick friend Karen) and the story.

[Angie Engles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like Between The Lines, especially since Marolt's more recent Loving Liz is so terrific!

The writing itself is pretty good. The problem, for me, is main character Gail. Maybe she's supposed to be annoying, petty, quick to judgement, slow to fidelity and yet still somehow be redeemable by the end or maybe I'm seeing something that's not there.

All I know for sure is that Gail drove me up the wall almost from the start and I could not figure out what on Earth Tannen sees in her, how she could so madly fall in love with her. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what about behavior?

As maddening as Gail is, though, Bobbi Marolt is a gifted writer! There are definitely likable secondary characters and the wonderful woman who falls in love with our main character is something else entirely. Gail does change by the end, it seems, but for some readers it could be too late for her to become likable.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost gave up on this book at one point because Gail was so unlikeable, but it all eventually makes sense and she changes so much that it's worth pressing on.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bottleneck novel.
No dogs die.
Decent storyline for the genre, but very stilted in places. Switching to first tense was poorly done.
Otherwise a feel-good romance.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good though perplexing story

This book was a good read, though that's despite the confusing & convoluted dialogue & direction making you feel perplexed. So often I felt like there was an underlying conversation that I wasn’t insider enough to get the joke.

[poppp · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I liked Tannen a lot but wanted to strangle Gail for most of the book. It was a fast read, but I wanted something more fulfilling in terms of the relationship.