Member Reviews

As I grow older, this is the kind of novel I crave. This is not a lust at first sight, immediate hot sex followed by erotic, lustful nights, then the realization that they are in love. This is a nuanced novel where one of the characters is on a journey to be at ease with herself and she meets a woman who sends her world reeling. Though the attraction is instantaneous, the two characters build a relationship before giving in to the smoldering lust present in their interactions.

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What's not to love. Great story, the main characters are always well developed and the reader is drawn in to enjoy every page of the journey. Can highly recommend.

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Beautifully written novel about life, acceptance, relationships, and love. Eve’s growth mirrored Olivia’s as they both awoke to a true, giving love. The minor characters were essential, especially Molly! What a gift she was to her Auntie Liv, Eve, and her dad. A very good read. I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend this book and any others by this author.

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

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Ronica Black is a master in building sizzling chemistry and it really shows. Two leads feel incredibly real, and the build up between them is so torturously delicious I finished this book in one sitting. Given that one of the leads was straight, the insta-lust at the beginning could have given way to an even slower burn which would have made this book perfect, but I'll forgive the author that since she's given us these wonderful characters and a sweet yet sexy story with just the right touch of angst. Definitely recommended.

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3 Stars for Ronica Black’s Olivia’s Awakening

I requested this book from NetGalley because it reminded me of one of my all time favorite short stories, Learning to Ride by Fletcher DeLancey (found in Ylva’s anthology, Spread the Love). In Black’s novel, after a divorce, Olivia Savage decides to get in shape starting with walk/run up a mountain trail. She makes it to the top but sprains her knee and over exerts herself. At the top she meets fitness trainer, Eve Monroe who helps her recover and get back down the mountain. Eventually, Olivia hires Eve to train her.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as DeLancey’s short story. In DeLancey’s story, Dana buys a used bike and begins to ride a popular route for local cyclists. She first sees Morgan, or rather she sees a blue blur race by and hears a woman’s voice yelling a greeting. The next time she sees Morgan she almost crashes into her, not knowing that “On your left!” means to veer right and instead she veers left almost wiping out Morgan. The story ends when they are in their 70s and planning their 1500th ride together. What I liked about the story is Dana’s slow but determined progression to fitness. She does much of it on her own because Morgan is a faster biker but would slow down or stop to give advice and encouragement.

What I didn’t like about this book is the Insta-Love/Lust between Olivia and Eve. At their first meeting when Eve helped Olivia down the mountain, both fall instantly in love with the other. Normally, instalove doesn’t bother me, but this one did. Maybe because I didn’t feel it. The second thing that bothered me was that although Olivia had a number of serious issues to deal with (i.e. verbally abusive ex-husband, judgmental parents and body image issues) - in other ways she was a superwoman. After her divorce, she went back to school and with a photographic memory, she is cruising through her college classes. Really, photographic memory? She also was naturally strong. When she takes up Eve’s offer to train her, Eve is astonished at Olivia’s natural strength. She had to keep upping the weights on various exercises before Olivia could feel the burn. At one point Olivia was doing one exercise using the same weight that Eve normally uses. Really? And finally, Olivia had completely forgotten a very significant childhood event. Really?

What I did like is Olivia and Eve’s best friends. There is Olivia’s gay and fellow student, Jake. They meet every Monday afternoon for coffee, conversation and advice. Jake tells Olivia that she is the most clueless smart person he knows and with absolutely no common sense. And Eve’s longtime client and bestie, Karen. Karen who knows Eve too well and doesn’t hold back with advice and admonishments. I just wish the two friends met each other. Actually, I would have liked to have seen when Jake met Eve and Karen met Olivia.

Oh well. It appears that a number of readers enjoyed this story more than me. So as always, your mileage may vary.

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Another fab book by a great author Ronica Black.

Olivia's Awakening really touched a point with me as this could have been my life story, married as you think you should then you realise your true feeling later in life. And that's when you're given a second change.

Olivia and Eve are both great characters who are likeable and the connection between them is instant, as you continue to read you hope they get to work things out.

RB has the art of writing good sexual chemistry, which she doesn't fail to evidence in this story

Would I recommend...yes, another winner by this fantastic author

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This book had some very good parts and then some boring aspects. The story plot was good. Olivia bring a divorced woman, straight, raised by a negative dominating mother has put Olivia down all her life. For me the author dragged this aspect of the story out a bit much. Olivia has body image issues which relate back to her mother. When she meets Eve, a physical fitness instructor there is a spark of interest between the two. And while Eve wants to help Olivia, Olivia is too hesitant to attempt developing any type of relationship with Eve due to some internalized homophobia.
However a relationship does ensues which has promise. Eve however has such a solid wall around herself that she won’t let anyone close, other than for meaningless sex. I will say the sex scenes are very well written. These two women don’t seen to have a chance foe HEA, or do they?

The secondary characters in this story are very well developed. If it wasn’t for the repetitive crap of Olivia’s mother this would be a five star book. All that being said, the book is well worth a read.

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This is a story about a woman’s realization that she is gay. I read a synopsis and thought I would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I found it difficult. The tempo of the book is slow, and I just could not get into the characters. Just when I felt that the pace was picking up, then it slowed down again.

Eve and Olivia are the two main characters. Olivia has recently divorced from her abusive husband. She was raised by extremely religious parents who put her down. So, one would expect that there would be self-doubt in Olivia’s personality. Eve is a personal trainer and outwardly exudes confidence and strength. However, Ms. Black also has Eve displaying some self-doubt characteristics. It seems as though it was inserted just to cause more angst in the story. Instead, it triggers breaks in the flow of the story.

I do not have trouble with sex in a book. In Olivia’s Awakening, however, the lengthy, explicit sex scenes appear as a main theme. I felt that the awakening of Olivia was deeper that just sex and should have been emphasized.

I have read several of Ms. Black’s books and have enjoyed them all. However, I can only give Olivia’s Awakening 3 out of 5 stars.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Ronica Black is an excellent writer of lesbian crime books and also writes erotica well, this book sadly is not one of her best. I found the character of Eve in particular not well written, she is very one dimensional, a personal trainer who only thinks about fitness and diet which feels like a cliche. Olivia the woman Eve finds after she has run up a mountain when she was too unfit to do so, is slightly better written, the relationship between her and her niece is lovely. The meeting between Eve and Olivia is believable although for Eve it appears to be only physical and the chemistry between them is too, which sets up totally believable and well written sex scenes. I have to say though the relationship was less convincing. There is the usual drama to ensure its not all smooth sailing but that was also unbelievable. I found it really hard to get through this book when I'm usually gripped. I also found the focus on the perfect body, training regime, diet tedious, none of the women in this book seemed to have anything else in their lives but how they looked and how well their clothes fitted.

With thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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When the main character comes from an intolerant, religious family, is recently divorced from a man and questioning her sexuality, expect angst. Olivia is trying to fight her demons in a practical way by getting fitter and into shape. She takes on too much in her very first run but Eve, a personal trainer comes across her and offers some sensible advice as well as her help in the future. Their connection is instant and Olivia is confused by the experience. Eve is too because the feeling is new one for her.

The immediate attraction made me expect insta-lust erotica but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a slow-burn, erotic romance. The build-up of their attraction was fantastic but some of the dialogue could have been more about getting to know each other and less about discussing the reps and form of the exercises. Black writes sex very well and there’s no shortage of it; two very good reasons to read this book.

The anguish kept me reading because I liked them as a couple and I really wanted them to work out. I also enjoyed Eve’s unexpected personal journey. The best friends, brother and niece were nicely interwoven with the storyline making it a little more realistic than erotic romances usually are.

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

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What a great read. Sexy heart-wrenching and fun. From the first page you are drawn in and throughout your journey with this book you enjoy all the new tidbits and the characters.

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This story has been a bit strange for me, mainly due to the excessive doubts of one of its protagonists Olivia. She is very damaged by her recent divorce and the psychological abuse that her ex-husband exercised over her, also due to the burden of her education in a strict religious family, but later when she meets Eve, despite the fact that she does not pressure her, she acts too scared. But once Olivia seems to overcome those fears it is Eve who happens to act strange. So the story stumbles to and fro, with some final revelation that also adds to the general bewilderment.

I did not like that body worship general that is transversally within the story, that fixation with weight or musculature, I know that Eve is a personal trainer and that it has to be part of the story, but Olivia is too much obsessive from my point of view.

So in summary the story was fine for me, nothing more.

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This one was a miss for me. I had a hard time connecting with either of the characters in the book and the pacing seemed to lag. I could sympathize with Olivia as she began to rebuild/reclaim herself, but the situation with her husband/family just seemed too black and white and too angsty.

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Oliva has so much baggage from non-accepting and cold parents to a newly signed divorce the last thing she should be looking for is love. It's a time for her to be working on herself but instead, she meets Eve. Eve stirs something in Olivia that Olvia never realized could be stirred and she quickly develops a strong attraction to eve. This book is full of passion, love, and feelings. I read this book in one sitting!

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I don't think I've ever read a novel written by Ronica Black that I didn't like! I go from liking it to loving it, but I've never read her book that was poorly written. This book is no exception. While I wasn't a fan of some parts of the book (instant, everlasting love), the chemistry between Olivia and Eve is really good and it keeps you in the book, present until the end.

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I really loved this book. I am a sucker for insta love/attraction and was writing my review in my head from the first chapter. I loved the honesty between the main characters. I felt a kinship with Olivia having been raised similarly with a horrible mother. I suppose it made me more sympathetic to her issues and I was impressed with how gutsy she was considering where she came from. This book has some very sexy encounters! I am definitely recommending this book and I'm purchasing my own copy for rereading. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Olivia's Awakening didn't work for me. I found it boring and couldn't waste my time reading more. It's a DNF for me.

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This book was your typical lesbian they see each other and fall in love immediately. While I am sure this happens, it was almost too good to be true. Olivia is trying to get in shape by running up a mountain and almost passes out from the extertion. Eve, who is a personal trainer, sees Olivia in distress and takes over. Also, she tells her what her profession is and that she can train her to make it up the mountain the correct way. Here starts the back and forth of them both of both woman wanting to connect but unsure what the other wants. It's a bit too wishy washy for me. There is too much of this in the book.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Getting Physical but That’s About All
Olivia was raised with cold, heartless parents, her mother is particularly a nasty piece of work. She has gone out of her way to belittle Olivia, making her feel fat, ugly, stupid and useless. Her marriage to a jerk waste of space only went on to reinforce this belief. Now that she is divorced, she has decided to take back her power by going back to school and getting in shape and hopefully, one day she will find a forever kind of love. Eve is a fitness instructor who loves to help women with their fitness goals. She is dedicated and devoted to her job, her mom and her friends. She casually dates but has sworn off love. When Eve rescues Olivia after she pushed herself too hard to job up it, there are sparks of awareness on both sides. Can they maybe help heal each other or will past wounds just be too much…

I usually like Ronica Black’s stories but this one just didn’t do anything for me. I liked the romance and the sexy bits, who wouldn’t, but the rest was just lacking somehow. It was hard for me, who grew up feeling the same pain as Olivia, to see someone else go through that. There was WAY too much angst and drama, even for me. The parents are cold fish but suddenly toward the end, her dad isn’t so bad anymore, the ex-husband shows up out of nowhere just so there can be another jealous, can’t trust her break up (of which there were too many), Olivia’s eleven year old niece is smarter than all of them at this thing called life but where she gets that from isn’t explained as her dad had the same parents and refuses to tell them back the hell off and lets them continue to be their nasty selves around everyone…Even the sexy bits that I usually love were mostly one sided for most of the book and they left me not so enthused. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE to write a less than glowing review but I just can’t with this book. Sorry…

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