A Wild Sea

by Rebecca Montague

Katherine thought she was coming to Smith Island to say goodbye to the personal ghosts that haunted the place, but some things refuse to go quietly ...

Katherine Jenkins came to Smith Island to say goodbye to the summer house of her youth before having it torn down. She also hopes to finally lay to rest the ghost of her first love, Caroline, who drowned on the very same island fifteen years before.

When she meets Jennifer Brooks, the sparks that fly ignite a passion within Katherine that she thought had died with Caroline, a passion she has not allowed herself to feel since that fateful day so many years ago, leaving her torn between ghosts of the past and the promise of the future.

Her growing love for Jennifer runs headlong into the cherished memories of Caroline she keeps in her heart, finally forcing her to confront what really happened when her former lover died, and what role her death has had in everything Katherine has done since. Will she finally say goodbye to the one woman she has ever loved in order to love another? Or will Caroline have the final say once again?

Genres: Lesbian, Fiction

173 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Realistic. Erotic. Romantic.
These are words I try to encompass in my writing. I like to create characters you can imagine knowing in person and put them in situations where romance is unexpected and yet inevitable.
My themes tend to include coming out and May-December love, because both provide equal doses of resistance and surrender. I don't shy away from description, and plenty of it, because a romance should make your heart beat fast!
I live in Florida with my partner and assorted pets.

Reviews

[Sarah Hahn Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the premise of Rebecca Montague's "A Wild Sea" -- a woman who cannot move past the accidental death of her first girlfriend, and who returns to the location of that accident in order to heal -- had potential, the actual story neglected emotional depth for tedious and often gross description of sex. I wanted to like the narrator, who revealed touching vulnerability in her flashbacks about her first girlfriend, but her tendency to talk about her "wet mound" in her new love affair made me doubt her seriousness. I love a well-written erotic scene, but these sounded so much like each other that I found myself skimming them after awhile -- not a good sign in a romance novel. Of course, it's positive to have a woman narrator who is a professional (she's a psychologist) and who is out and proud, but the sex descriptions were unsexy, and the emotional depth unconvincing.

[Lillie Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book! I had one complaint that I'll get to later. First, the positives. The story was compelling and felt meaningful. Katherine is processing a major trauma throughout the book- the death of her fist girlfriend. It was so beautiful to see her grow over the span of the story. The characters were well developed and lovable, and I recognized the vibe of a lesbian community in the way they interacted, which is refreshing. There's chemistry, there's tension, there's emotion, and there's deep healing from trauma. Lovely.

My one complaint is that they're a little anti butch. 🤢 It's obviously fine to be femme for femme, but expressing contempt for butches in general is a huge turn off to me. Butches are beautiful, sexy, strong, and tender, and there's no reason to broadcast your dislike of them. There's only a couple instances of this and it's not volatile, but I still didn't like that. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book, and I think you would too.

[Julie]

Don't remember.