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more-books.com - Heart of the Matter
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List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $10.85
Your Save: $ 5.10 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Bold Strokes Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Description:
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781602820104
ISBN: 1602820104
Label: Bold Strokes Books
Manufacturer: Bold Strokes Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 234
Publication Date: 2008-04-15
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Studio: Bold Strokes Books
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Editorial Reviews:
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Ellen Webster, professor of history, can't help but fantasize about her next door neighbor Kate Foster- after all, she sees her on the evening news every night.
Sexy and smart, Kate is Ellen's dream girl, but the dynamic TV newscaster doesn't know she exists. Struggling with a steadily worsening self-image and at a loss as to how to turn her life around, Ellen decides to take time out to finish the book she has always wanted to write. But a rainy night and near-tragedy changes everything when Kate is involved in an automobile accident and turns to Ellen for help. Withdrawing from the world, Kate comes to depend upon Ellen for far more than she realizes-until the day Ellen tells her that she is leaving on sabbatical.
Ellen and Kate's journey takes them beyond the transitory nature of external beauty and into the heart of what is meaningful in a relationship, the inner beauty of each other.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Vanilla Sky meets The Vikings meets Notes on a Scandal meets...
Comment: Rich (tom)boy player with little heart becomes disfigured and loses it all, yep. Handsome rogue with a face scar, yep. An ounce of sex appeal... nope. And I mean it. None of these characters are sexy. Not one character is even remotely likeable for way over half of this story, in fact. I almost committed suicide during the course of this novel because the mindset of these characters is so negative and depressing. We hate these characters as much as they hate themselves... and their pathetic lives. And yet I kept reading. hmm. Probably much for the same reason we can't help staring at a car wreck.
If only we could judge a book by its cover: Ellen, a hot blonde teacher longs for sexy, "handsome" Kate, her famous for broadcast news neighbor who can have any woman she wants. At least for a one-nighter, anyway.
But what we actually get is the *mindset* of what may very well be a hot-for-teacher kinda blonde... and that mindset is prudish, reserved, and wildly self loathing obsessive over being 15 lbs. overweight and undesirable (15 lbs.?!?!?!!??!). Ellen is a doormat. She allows all to just use her and then does the same to the woman of her dreams. No hot fantasy blonde here. I more like pictured evil geezer school marm Judy Dench from Notes on a Scandal who tries to control and possess sexy and immoral Cate Blanchett when she's most vulnerable.
There simply isn't any chemistry between these two characters. At all. They "need" each other. They reflect each other. Ellen's long time attraction is unbelievable when they actually spend time together. She treats Kate more like a child (visualize: evil geezer Judy Dench). When sex actually surfaces in this novel, it's selfish and one-sided. HOW?! do you get the woman of your dreams and NOT want to touch her the first time she touches you? It's telling of how self-absorbed and self-serving people are in the midst of their insecurities. hmm. Perhaps I am guilty of reading too much erotica before I picked up this book and am a tad biased. All I could see was a desert of asexual, damaged goods. Just a little humor, please? A little sexy sex, please?? (visualize: evil geezer Judy Dench.... ahhhhhh).
This book is an exploration of the self destructive ways in which we perceive ourselves and thus shape our worlds. And this is the female condition in general... exceptionally so for many lesbians, so brace yourself because the "stuff" in this book will hit a raw nerve and linger with you long after you read it. Kate isn't any less self-hating than the 'I'm so fat and unloveable' professor, but hey, she's been in a terrible accident and is clearly dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This author sucks at sex scenes, but is damn good at exploring dysfunction (eh...isn't the sex with most lezzies the best when they are the craziest?!)
As far as Bold Strokes goes... this is one of their better writers. Thompson knows how to write a story. She did her homework on the Civil War and knows something about academic settings. And somewhere after half or three-fourths of the book... I started to like these characters. When did that happen?! Probably around the time they began to accept themselves. In some unexpected way, you grow with them. Or maybe they just grew on me, I don't know. Sometimes *Love Comes Softly* (awesome little hallmark movie). It kept me interested and that's what I like about a good book... highly tempted to give it a 3 (3 1/2 would be perfect), but definitely not giving it a 5, however, due to the bland sex scenes and so-so chemistry between Ellen and Kate in general. She's not too good with dialogue either. And maybe because the dysfunction was a bit much. And geez.. Ellen's sister is just an embarrassing presence in the book. Stunk a bit too much like het-bashing, ironically. Or maybe she's just the product of bad dialogue and stereotypical characterization, which just stinks, PERIOD.
And well done on the ending. 'How the hell are we gonna work this out' is the million dollar question in this whole book. And that's life. Who knows what might happen next.
Not a bad read... I rather enjoyed the Russian news guy who hinted at Kate's future as a sexy, scarface rogue, lol (can someone please remake The Vikings with an all-lezzie cast?)... just don't expect any sexy stuff in this book, k? Pure, indulgent dysfunction.
oh, and ps: What educator accomplishes Phd status and can only type with 2 fingers??!?!!?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Crush Turned Upside Down
Comment: It's the classic unrequited crush the plain Jane has on the head cheerleader. However, in this case it's the mousy Ellen who is enamored with her media darling neighbor Kate - the neighbor who seemingly doesn't know she exists.
All's well for Kate as she can, and does, have any woman she wants. She drives a fast car and has a fast-paced job she loves. That is, until Kate has a disfiguring accident while on her way to pick up her date for the evening. When she finally comes home from the hospital, Kate won't leave her apartment for fear that the public will notice her damaged face. She ultimately has to depend on Ellen for help.
Kate and Ellen develop a strained relationship. Ellen begins to feel almost used by her new friend and is almost relieved when she decides to go on a sabbatical. Kate panics when she realizes Ellen truly means to leave. This is when their true feelings are exposed.
Bottom Line - This is probably Thompson's best book yet. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, loved the characters, was engaged by the writing style, and look forward to her next book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So-so
Comment: I enjoyed KI Thompson's first book, "House of Clouds," although after reading it I shared the opinion of a few other reviewers that I would have liked to have seen more interaction between the two heroines. However, based on the fact that her writing and grammar seem above average when it comes to lesbian romances, I purchased this book as well.
*Possible spoiler information on the way*
I have to say I was disappointed. One of the heroines, the news anchor, seemed very one dimensional to me, which is saying something you're talking about genre writing. Also I thought the author overdid the element of keeping the characters apart for reasons that started to wear thin. I mean, these were not young women, but more mature ladies (around 40, which is not old, but certainly women around this age are usually more self-assured).
The idea was interesting -- a woman whose looks are a big part of her career (television anchor) suffers a facial disfigurement; another woman, who is attractive, smart and confident in many ways, feels very insecure about her looks because she is somewhat overweight. That setup offers some interesting possibilities, but I grew weary of the characters not progressing and of the basic situation repeated over and over: they spend time together, they are interested and attracted, they part ways and then both over-analyze every interaction and fall victim to the same insecurities over and over.
Now, we all have insecurities, especially in the romance department and concerning looks. I'm not saying this rings false, just that it made for repetitive and increasingly frustrating reading, in my opinion. I never really felt the characters moved beyond this until the very last pages.
Also, there were a couple of times where I thought the author used words that she might not have understood the meaning of, which really drew my attention away from the story. I can't recall the instances immediately, but one of the words was "temerity," and I just don't think she used it properly.
Anyway, I don't think I'm being overly harsh; as I said, I mostly appreciated her first book, but this one was lacking. As a lesbian reader, I yearn for books that are better written and more interesting than the standard ones that are printed. And while the explosion of fan fiction and online publishing has given us a lot more books to choose from, it hasn't necessarily improved quality. I wish these publishers would be more critical in their work with authors and push for better stories and writing in general.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Comment: I highly recomend this book to all. This book will make you go through many feelings good, bad, and nerve racking. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent read. I enjoyed it thoroughly! It is a very well written modern day romance.
Customer Rating:
Summary: hot
Comment: good summer romance read!!...loved it... this is the second book I have read from
KI Thompson... love this author so far!
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