Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: The Butch and the Beautiful
SERIES: Queers of La Vista #2
AUTHOR: Kris Ripper
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 257 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 22, 2016
BLURB:
Jaq Cummings is a high school teacher who really wants a committed relationship—as long as it doesn’t keep her out late on school nights or interrupt Sunday mass with her dad. She is absolutely not about to fall for the hot-mess divorcée she hooks up with even if said hot mess pushes all her buttons. Jaq’s white knight days are over.
But one hookup with Hannah becomes two, then coffee, then more incredibly hot sex. And unlike most of Jaq’s exes, Hannah’s not looking for someone to come on strong. In fact, Hannah comes on plenty strong enough for both of them. But she’s just out of a disastrous marriage, she’s in the process of moving across the state, and Jaq can’t take a chance on yet another relationship where she defaults to being a caregiver instead of a partner.
Just when Jaq decides her relationship with Hannah is far too precarious, a crisis with a student reminds her of her priorities and makes it clear that sometimes, you have to take big risks to get what you really want.
REVIEW:
This story is told in first person and completely from Jaq’s point-of-view. Despite my initial misgivings, two things I dislike when reading cropped up early on, I ended up loving the story.
Given the story is told entirely from Jaq’s POV I got to know her extremely well. She’s a complex character and I adored discovering the many layers of her personality. I loved that even though she identified as being butch, and was proud of the fact, underneath her tough exterior, she had a huge heart and was submissive in the bedroom. I mention those facts as I’m sure many people believe if a woman is butch she must play the part of a man in all aspects of a relationship. This story will blow that theory apart.
The fact Jaq’s a teacher added a lot of depth to the plot. In a short amount of page time I came to care greatly for her students. Oh and Jaq’s dad is the bestest!
Hannah’s character isn’t as well fleshed out, and while some readers might feel disappointed about that fact, I didn’t, as really this is Jaq’s story, and I was honored to be a part of it.
The ending I’d call Happy For Now, and I was happy about that. Did that make sense?
The girls hook-up more than a couple of times so there are a number of erotic scenes, which include a great deal of anal play… Hannah has a thing for asses, her words.
This is the first book I’ve read by Kris Ripper and it most certainly won’t be the last. This story can be read as a standalone novel, but be warned you’re probably not going to want to stop at one book in this series.
Last but not least, the story is extremely well edited! Something I treasure in an e-book these days.
RATING: 
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