Reviewed by Dee

TITLE: No Other Love

SERIES: The Pink Bean, book6

AUTHOR: Harper Bliss

PUBLISHER: Ladylit Publishing

LENGTH: 59,000 words

RELEASE DATE:  September 19, 2017

BLURB:         

The story of your life is the hardest one to write

Annie McLean’s struggling book shop has been saved by joining forces with the Pink Bean. Her wife, lesbian romance author Jane Quinn, finds her quiet life and steady routine challenged by the introduction of the Pink Bean and its many colourful characters. Both her mind and body seem to be struggling with the new situation.

While Jane figures out how to navigate and adjust to the many changes affecting her, Annie has developed more than a keen interest in Pink Bean owner Kristin.

What happens when a long and enduring relationship is put to the test? Can Annie and Jane rescue their marriage and in the process find themselves, and each other, again?

REVIEW:      

This story is told in third person and from dual point-of-view, which allows readers to get into the heads of both leading ladies.

As always, when picking up a book written by Harper Bliss, her characters are three dimensional and believable.

This story is a long-slow burn, and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. But don’t panic, Harper rounds this story off with a spicy scene fitting of the leads.

The story touches on many topics, women over forty, age-gap, writers block, but what eclipses everything else is the very real issue of suddenly finding yourself crushing on another, despite being ‘so called’ happily married for twenty years.

It’s a topic that the author delves into at length exploring not only how each protagonist deals with their inner turmoil, but how a couple gets through, and past, such a dilemma.

As a reader who has read, and followed Harper for a number of years now, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this story reflected her own life. Ironically, just as I wondered such, her heroine (who wrote fiction) summed it up with these words, “nothing was ever fully made-up, just as nothing was ever literally drawn from her life.”

Another thing I enjoyed immensely about this story is that it touched on the topic of perimenopause and how that not only affects an individual but the impact it can have on a relationship.

Lovers of this series are bound to find a lot to like about this instalment. And those who haven’t read the first five books shouldn’t let that deter them from picking up this standalone story. But, be warned, you’re going to want to back track.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Ladylit Publishing

Amazon