Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: The Flood Between Us
AUTHOR: Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 112 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2019
BLURB:
When a flood hits Grant’s Landing, Jack is one of the first to respond by bringing her construction company to the town to rebuild houses. The town is suffering from lack of supplies, lack of business, and lack of housing, so members of the town are required to call in further assistance. Jill, a member of Hope’s Integrity, decides to drive supplies to the small town, meeting the bruiting Jack who both challenges and excites her. The two women grow into each other’s worlds despite the great differences that they have, but when conflicts from their pasts come to light, will they be able to stick together, or will the floods of differences that they have sweep them apart?
REVIEW:
This is my second novella by author Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue. I enjoyed it more than the first, but there is still a lack of depth to the characters and conflict, and I know that the author has the chops to give it a little more energy.
This story starts amidst the fallout after a disastrous flood in the small town of Grant’s Landing. Jack, a construction worker, takes on the task of rebuilding local homes, but she has a secret—she took on the job because her birth father lives in town. Jill, a humanitarian worker still under the thumb of her nosy boss/ex-girlfriend, arrives in the town around the same time to offer aid, and the two women have a rocky first meeting that slowly blooms into the healthiest relationship either woman has ever had. But as the town goes up, the need to stay in Grant’s Landing lessens—so how will they make it work?
My problem with the last book I read by Higginbotham-Hogue was how one-dimensional the characters were, and how all of the important parts seemed to be left out. I think both Jack and Jill are more well-rounded characters, and they play off each other well. Jack needs Jill’s support and optimism when it comes to bonding with her father, and Jill needs a woman in her life who won’t overbear her like her ex. But the characters still fall into tired tropes—the whole “leaving without a note” situation, the sabotaging ex-girlfriend, the injury that sparks a reunion. There’s more meat to the story, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. At least the two women talk and bond on the page a bit more, giving us an organic relationship that blossoms even in a fairly short story.
Higginbotham-Hogue is a fairly new author, and with each one of her works, I see sparks of creativity not present in the ones before. She has obvious love for the genre and for strong women from small towns who fall for each other despite the odds. This story isn’t perfect, but I am definitely interested in reading more.
RATING: 
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