A really solid debut with an intense but passionate queer love story at the center of it. 3.5 stars rounded up

This is not a typical romance. It is much more nuanced and a bit more realistic. It was not what I was looking for when I picked it up, but I enjoyed it.

The story had one problem, it was not focusing on one storyline (which makes me crazy and makes the book only an okay read). It's well written and the character are okay too, but maybe it just wasn't mine book ;)

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the digital galley of this book.

Charley Owens is doing okay and is perfectly content with her life. She’s got a good job, good friends. She doesn’t want much more than that after her relationship of twenty-five years crumbled because of her partner’s infidelity, even though her friends keep trying to set her up with eligible ladies. When she meets the handsome Joanna at the pool, her carefully-crafted life suddenly seems a bit off. There’s an attraction, sure, but is Charley prepared to do anything about it? When a devastating call comes from her ex, a relationship may be out of the question, anyway. Tricia has life-threatening news and wants Charley’s help her get through it. Despite their history, Charley still loves her and wants to be there for her, but will this situation prohibit her from moving on in her personal life? Maybe.

This was a pretty straight-forward romance. I try to seek out stories with older characters when possible, because they seem to be fewer and far between than those with a younger set of characters. I liked Charley and her dedication to her ex, even in the wake of past heartbreak. I liked the tentative friendship and attraction between Charley and Joanna, and Charley’s casual dalliance with a younger woman seemed realistic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in for a Hallmark-style romance or something fairy-taleesque, but this one seemed rooted in reality with its messy characters and ties to past relationships.

It moved pretty quickly, and I was done with it in a couple of days. It’s out now if you’re looking for a mature, contemporary romance. I am slowly catching up on the 2020 backlist and am finding some gems in the long list.

Good story, couldn't wait to keep reading all what was going to happen. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I had high hopes for this book because I love medical dramas with lots of accurate procedurals. I would say this book somewhat met my expectations. There was a lot of emergency room activities in the storyline, but much of it was the mundane (not to the patients who deal with that stuff in real life) daily stuff and less of the life and death drama that keeps you hanging on. Maybe that's the intent and it is to be seen as more of a romance with a medical background. I'm not a fan of first person and I had to fight the desire to stop reading because of it. I think Pierce came off a little juvenile and in the third person that might be more tolerable, but I just don't want that for my head space in the first person. The whole book felt a little bit YA. I still like this author and will read anything she writes. This one might only be a read once book for me though. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved reading this but if it’s a gentle, easy romance you’re wanting, this is not it. Charley Owens isn’t ready to move on with her life even though her friends keep trying to set her up with women. The end of her 25-year relationship two years previously is still something she’s trying to work through but the fact that she’s noticed another woman at the gym possibly means she’s getting there. The security guard at the door flirts with her but she hasn’t considered it as a possibility either. Then, after weeks of allowing her ex’s calls to go to voice mail, she unintentionally accepts a call.

There is a beautiful reality in this story that isn’t immediately obvious. I found I wanted to label and box each character as they entered the story but they stubbornly refused to stay there. There are so many grey areas in relationships and life that it’s never as simple as girl meets girl, they fall in love, they fall out and then make up. Life, like this novel is nuanced, and complicated and feelings don’t just move along when one wants them to.

Charley, Joanna, Neely and Tricia are all as important as each other in telling a story of building a life together, loss of love and finding the space to move on. Charley’s emotions (the story is from her point of view) are so reminiscent of my mother’s after her marriage ended after 22 years. Charley’s are complicated and constantly changing. Just because the relationship ended doesn’t mean the familiarity and love just disappears.

The way Charley negotiated her relationships with her friends and potential interests was irritating at times, sensitive, sensible sometimes, emotionally loaded and always steeped in realism. The development of her relationship with Joanna was beautifully done. There were so many easy options Burns could have taken but she didn’t and I appreciated that. By the same token, there were moments of crazy coincidence but I didn’t even notice until I was finished reading. I think this novel will stay with me for a while.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

This is a bit of a departure from the typical lesfic formula. It's really 90% angst and relationship drama, if that's your thing you're in for a treat and if not this might be a nightmare as the HEA element might not go in the direction you want. I say this because this books explores a long term relationship and the complexities and issues usually involved e.g is the love still there? The main character in this book who does all the speaking (first person novel) ends up choosing between her longtime girlfriend and someone new. I know this will ruffle feathers, I myself wasn't pleased with her final choice especially when it was compounded by poor communication skills. This really is a book of preference, only your preference will determine if you will love or hate it. So if you love prolonged drama and angst this is the book for you.

Would you help an ex that shattered your heart by cheating? That is what Charley has to deal with when her ex, Tricia, calls many times to share some serious news with her. Charley is also dealing with dating two different women, one much younger than herself and one a little older. She has misgivings about both of them for separate reasons. Will one grab her heart, will she get together with her ex or will she stay alone? Read and find out!
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Charley's wife left her after 25 years of marriage. Three years later she's still struggling to move on. Then she meets Neely who is half her age. They have chemistry, they share a passion for writing. Neely helps Charley get her grove back, Then there is Joanna, mysterious and aloof. Charley can't stop thinking about her. Unfortunately Joanna is still hung up on her on and off ex.

Then while Charly is trying to figure out her relationships with these women, her ex-wife Tricia calls with shocking news.

With a good cast of supporting characters, Charley deals with her past and resolves her present. It's not a cheery book. There are heavy subjects. Definitely not an escapism book.

This is such a loving story. Sad at times, because how can you say good bye to someone who left you long time ago, but you still care about. Funny at times, when you meet new people and create new memories. I really liked both characters. They grew together, took time to develop their feelings, and make sure they enter their relationship when they are ready.
This is first one for me from Mary and I am fan from now on.

As I was reading this book I was contemplating how to develop a fair review. When I read a book I like a bit of escapism, meaning that I don’t like like the story to reflect too closely to real life with all of its challenges and heartbreak. This book came too close to those up and downs that we all experience throughout the years. With that said I thought the writing was solid and the pace of the book was good, but the story lacked chemistry between Charley’s ultimate romantic interest, Joanna, and Charley. Then there was an earlier sexual interest, Neely, but this wasn’t a fit either due to a twenty year age difference which also impacted their circle of friends in a negative manner. The book also contained a lot of extra details that weren’t relevant to the overall storyline, i.e. Georgia. Overall I understand that this is a debut novel and therefore I rate it as 3 stars.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Charley Owens' 25 year marriage came to an unexpected end she was at a loss as to what to do next. Move into a new apartment, keep working and try to have a nice peaceful life. No relationships for now even though her friends keep setting her up on these dates she doesn’t want.
But Neely, who works at the gym Charley attends, has other ideas. While it may be tempting to date the much younger woman, and she is tempted, she feels the age gap is just too large, at least for her. What she does do is form a rather nice friendship with the younger woman who shares the love of writing with her. Charley’s been working on the same book for a number of years, so it’s nice to have someone to help her to possibly finish it.
In the meantime she meets another woman, Joanna (at the same gym) who is closer to her own age. This is a woman she can see herself being involved with. Unfortunately her ex wife, Tricia, keeps calling asking for some help. Getting involved with her isn’t something she wants, not now when her life is finally coming together but when she finds out just what the problem her ex needs her for she feels she really has no choice but to help.
Ms Burns keeps a nice pace with this book with some realistic dialogue that makes this a very nice interesting read. I say interesting because while I didn’t really care that much for the MC’s, the story line was enough to make me keep picking up this book. All, in all, a very nice read. I gather this is a first time novel for this author so I’m pretty sure her next will be every bit as interesting as this one.
ARC via NetGalley/Bold Stroke Books

3.25 Stars. A slightly above average read. This is a debut that has some bumps but does show some promise. You can tell that Burns has all the makings of a good author but just needs a bit more experience. This book was perfectly readable and I did enjoy parts of it, it just didn’t all come together as a whole.

I think the best way to describe this is to put the contemporary fiction tag on this. This is a story about a woman who is finally ready to start dating after having her heart ripped out. Charley is torn between two women, one who brings her passion out and the other who makes her stomach flutter. Is Charley finally ready to move on with one of these women or will her ex-wife coming back in her life change everything?

I have to agree with a lot of the early reviews that the first part of the book is pretty slow. There are just too many unneeded details like petting the cat, feeding the cat, everyday things that are just too boring and common to include in a book. To me this is something easy that Burns can learn how to edit the minutia out that is not needed. There were even a few times when something interesting happened and it went by quickly or was glossed over a bit and I thought how much I would love to take some of those early details and use them to lengthen these interesting parts. Hopefully Burns can find a better balance in her next book.

I was happy that the second half of the book really picked up. I was enjoying one of the possible relationships and knew something was going to go down once the ex-wife started to call. The book was much better once it hit its stride in the second half and I think Burns writing shows a lot of promise.

I did end up struggling a bit with some of the story choices which led to the main romance being rough for me. The woman I liked that Charley dated, the woman that Charley had good chemistry and hot sex scenes with, was not the one Charley ended up picking. She instead went with the woman who was like a bump on a log and had no noticeable sexual chemistry with. I wish Burns would have been able to turn that character around and make her interesting. Plus she needed to give the pair some heat so that I could have rooted for them as a potential couple.

I do want to give a trigger warning for a cancer storyline. I know I’m not the only one who has trouble reading about characters dying of cancer. The storyline was sad but I was surprised it didn’t really affect me. I feel like it really is mostly bad timing since after reading Erin Zaks new book, a book that caused me to cry my eyes out, this storyline here could not really compete emotionally for me and I could not help comparing the two.

As you can tell from my review this had its debut bumps. Too many details at times, characters that needed more, and I also think Burns tried to tackle a bit too much. However, I really do see promise here. There were parts of this book that were well written and at times I was totally invested. I really think the more Burns writes, the more she will get in her groove and all us readers will all be the better for it.

This was for sure an interesting read. I went through a range of emotions as I read this one. Charley has been divorced from her ex for 3 years. Her friends continuously try to set her up, but she hasn't been ready until something in the last setup takes her on a path to dating. She decides to "date" the much younger Neely, but really she is intrigued by a woman named Joanna who works out her gym. Things really get super interesting when the ex calls her needed help because of her cancer diagnosis. So this tells you that there is a lot going on here.

I admit, I found the first half of the book to be slow. I found myself wondering would I ever get to 50%. Yes this is a long one. I think some of the details in the first half could have been cut out. Once I got over the hump, I found myself really getting into Forging a Desire Line. It is for sure well written. I ultimately enjoyed getting to know Charley by the time I got to the end of the book. The supporting characters were good and I found myself rooting for Charley and Neely a little more than I was rooting for Charley and Joanna. Joanna just seemed to be distracted by her ex-girlfriend. I feel like if some details were cut out from the beginning this would have probably ranked at a 4.5 for me. Taking into consideration the slow beginning I would rate this 3.75 stars rounded to 4.

I liked this book. I liked that it involved an older character as so many books I read these days are written with MC of 30 or under.

At first I was shouting at her not to phone Tricia back, that after being cheated on there was nothing that she could need that was worth it but I enjoyed the characters getting to know each other as friends.

I liked the friendship aspect with Neely but didn’t much care for the romance as it didn’t feel like something the MC would do but I enjoyed the development of their friendship and working relationship

Whilst I enjoyed the pace of the development of the relationship with Johanna I didn’t see the point of introducing Georgia. I didn’t feel it added anything to the book.

All in all this was an easy read that I wanted to keep picking up when I had 5 minutes .

On the one hand, at the beginning this seemed like it was going to be a pretty straightforward lesbian romance, but, as I got more into it,it changed in interesting and different ways.

At its core it's about Charley. There's also Neely and Joanna, who play a big role as well as Tricia (oh Tricia, I had such a love/hate relationship with that character).

It all started as quite the knot of characters. Tricia broke Charley's heart and Charley is gun shy about another relationship. Then she meets Joanna in the YMCA locker room where they both exercise. Joanna is a home health nurse.

Around the same time she also accepts a date from the much younger Neely, who is a writer (like Charley) and the guard at the Y.

From there it gets more complicated, but, in a way that I would definitely call 'adult'. i.e. while there was drama in these pages, it wasn't overblown, it wasn't the angst and unbalanced relationships (at least when it came to the relationships we were supposed to like) of some books I've read in the past.

It was a fun read.At times it seemed just a teeny bit too much explain-y, and that would jerk me out of the narrative, but, it thankfully didn't happen to often. Really awesome for a first book for sure.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

A good book by a new author!
So I have to say, if I would have known what's Tricias diagnosis would going to be, maybe I wouldn't have read this book, but only because I have personal experience with it. All the more did I appreciate it that it didn't take as much room as I was going to expect! Because it's still sad as it is but not that depressing. On the other hand it was a really unique and beautiful lovestory between the main characters. Slow but authentic and I really enjoyed their journey together and also to each other.
So I would totally recommend it. It's not the typical feel-good story but it kind of still is.

You could go either way with this book, but I think for me it leans more towards not liking it.

Charley works as a PA in New York, after her divorce a couple years ago she picked up swimming at the Y. She has a very loyal group of friends that she gets together with every week to watch American football. Every once in a while they try and set her up, but she doesn’t want to be set up. Until she meest the most recent person who sets in motion a chain of events for Charley. She leaves the dinner party without telling anyone and takes some steps in flirting and the dating pool herself. She goes out with a young writer/ security guard, and thinks about another person the whole time. She finds a way in with the other person as well, but not everything works or is easy.

I really didn’t care for the storyline with the younger character, mostly because it gets almost abandoned once Charley ‘crosses’ a line. I also don’t like this story because as a reader you know Charley already knows she doesn’t want her, she wants the other person and won’t want it to amount to something. I was hoping the book would surprised me and have Charley ending up with Neely, but no surprises. I figured to book would be be about loss, a marriage that didn’t work, finding yourself again and all those type of things. However I feel there is really none of that happening, nor anything else in actual fact. Charley is a writer who has struggled with a writer’s block, as did the author of this book, I believe it shows on the pages. I think she wants to get too many things on the page and it makes sense, the story is fine, but there is also a lot of clutter. For example the NFL, it gets mentioned so many times you might think this book is sponsored by the NFL. But it’s just that, it gets mentioned and dropped, and mentioned and dropped, as do many other things.
I hope this author finds her groove, because I can see great things in this book. For example the characters are really good. But this one isn’t for me.

3.5* – Despite her friends’ efforts to set her up with all kinds of women, Charley Owens doesn’t mind being single since her twenty-five years relationship ended abruptly three years ago. Love often comes to those who don’t expect it nor look for it, and Charley suddenly finds herself interested in two women, one – Neely – much younger but sweet and fun, the other – Joanna – closer to her own age, dark and mysterious. Her job as an executive assistant allows her time to revisit the novel she had tried writing before writer’s block stumped her for twenty-odd years. These developments – dating again, writing again – are brand new in Charley’s life when we meet her, then the past comes back blasting when her ex, Tricia, asks for her help while she fights lung cancer.

This novel didn’t work for me. It felt well-written but dull and, at times, dated. It’s sometimes too wordy and there’s too much minutiae. I don’t want to read so much about cleaning and other house chores, it is not exciting and it slows the pace too much. It made connecting with the characters difficult, made me feel insensitive, as I couldn’t get myself to care whether Tricia was going to beat cancer or not.

Forging a Desire Line has many of the marks of a debut novel: it parallels the author’s life (as in, write what you know), and it goes simultaneously in too many directions, as if the author hadn’t been able to choose between all her ideas, which makes it feel a bit disjointed.

There’s a lot of promises in this book, however. My impression is that the writing is there, now it needs emotions. I found out, reading the author’s bio at the end, that, while this is her debut novel, I have already read her prose, and enjoyed it a lot. Last December, I reviewed the Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year (volume 4) anthology, edited by Sinclair Sexsmith, and Burns’ short story, Leviathan, written under the name of Catherine Collinsworth, is one of the two I remember best. So I know she can do emotions and scorching hot scenes. Maybe now that she’s exorcised her writer’s block, through Charley, she can let her writing flow more freely. I’ll be looking forward to her next novel.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.