Combust the Sun

Richfield and Rivers #1

by Andrews & Austin

If your best friend is your basset hound, you're overdue for a meaningful relationship. Except sometimes, working out the details can be murder...

Teague Richfield is a funny, jaded screenwriter plagued by creative self doubt. Callie Rivers is an optimistic, ethereal, drop-dead gorgeous psychic astrologer who believes in positive energy flow, cosmic predestination, reincarnation, and just about everything else Teague Richfield thinks is patently crazy, but is willing to try if it will get Callie into bed with her.

Combust the Sun is the first meeting of these two dynamic women who amidst the growing sexual tension of their explosive relationship, team up to find out who at Marathon Studios is literally cutting killer deals.

Genres: Lesbian, Mystery, Crime, Detective

204 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Andrews was a radio broadcaster in NYC before leaving to become Creative VP of the largest ad agency in the southeast. She later joined one of the most extensive movie studio conglomerates in the world, where she managed a division of network programming. After forming her own production company, she spent a decade in Hollywood developing and writing screenplays for studios and independents before joining an international entertainment and publishing powerhouse as a division president overseeing television production. Andrews is an accomplished writer, producer, and public speaker.

Austin is a talented Writer/Producer, a former on-air talent, and co-founder of a Hollywood production company. She has served as a segment producer for network specials and animated sports programming and has developed and optioned Movies of the Week and Theatricals for studios, networks, and independents. Prior to owning her own production company, Austin was the co-producer and on-air host of a shopping network. Austin is also a gifted astrologer and psychic. (from the publisher's website)

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Got this on the BSB daily bargain and it looked like a really fun lesbian crime caper mystery sort of thing. Which it is in parts, but like too many of BSB's older books (2006) it's marred by biphobia, racism, and in this case some gratuitously nasty sneers at fat people. Not fun so DNF.

[Dide · Rating 3 out of 5]

It certainly isn't boring with so many action packed events going on with these two especially around Richfield. But this fast pace is also the downside of the book. I felt it was too much and not allowing some interlude for good romance. And their often near death experiences reminds me of the TV duo in PS I Love You....
I look forward to reading the rest in the series though but hope I'd be getting more romance and some semblance of realistic events at least.

[Emelie · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW: Sexual assault.

So, the main character gets sexually taking advantage of at the very beginning of the book. She's turning up to a meeting about her script, and the trope is the young and naive and new in Hollywood, and the person in charge has to rush out of the meeting, but invites her for a new meeting that evening. The main character turns up, a naked massage is given to the high in power person, main characters get invited to massage, and when that is finished gets sexually assaulted, where there has been no clear indication she wanted to have sex, besides that the high in power person 'knows' that the main character finds her very attractive.

And the book makes a point that this happens with every female writer that meets this person, and that it's a rite of passage for them, and something that is joked about at parties.

[August Roberson · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is an insane read. is it well written? no. but is it a good time? absolutely.
i got a little lost in the mystery aspect of it, trying to follow the leads the characters were talking about, but astrology played So Much of a factor that i was so confused. like on one hand there was a moment where Callie speaks in code that ate, i cant lie. but also, a wild amount of their detective work comes down to Callie saying shit like "it was a scorpio moon so the victim was poisoned by a Scorpion at night," and then Teague is like, "ok. thats not real tho." and then turns out, it is.
also, crazy whiplash to go from uncovering clues through visions from the cosmos, to the characters either getting sexually assaulted or offering their bodies instead of being murdered? wild. handled as poorly as you might imagine. even crazier when Teague and Callie say shit like that but are also having non-stop sex the whole book. which, you know, is awesome. work. but im like girl, a man died today. You almost died today. a lot happened.
i also can't recommend this book without talking about the racism. the racism isnt even apart of the plot. all of the criminals are black or latino and are specifically pointed out to be black and latino but it has nothing to do with the plot. they didn't Have to be poc but the narrative treats it like "well of course they're latino, they're criminals in LA." girl what. every other character is white. the only poc are the criminals trying to kill/assault them. oh also, Callie has a line about homeless people choosing to be homeless and drug addicts, which is so crazy that even Teague is like, "wait what," and the Callie justifies it with astrology. actually insane.
that being said, the racism is a small part of the book, and it will go stretches of time without saying anything that alludes to that, so that you kind of forget about it, and then the narrative will suddenly slap you with a line about a "Rastafarian-looking guy" forcing her to ground and you're like woah what. most of the book is just hot, rich, older lesbians sleeping with each other or talking about sleeping with each other. Teague has slept with literally everyone. and it's awesome.
this book is so dated. and kind of dumb. but it's a fun time for sure. i bought it for $1.50 at a thrift store and it wildly exceeded my expectations and honestly that's all i can ask for. it's apparently a trilogy but i probably will not continue reading. those are reportedly worse.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the plot, very interesting and different from what I am used to read.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit more than I thought I would. There is a HUGE suspension of disbelief factor where the plot is concerned, but if you put on your summer movie stupid-fun glasses, it's a fun roller-coaster of a ride. The lesbian romance thankfully is not the main plot of this book and takes a back seat instead to a film noire-esque story about murder, money, mayhem, and the movies. Be in the right mood for this, and it'll leave you entertained. There's a bit of an open ending to this, leaving room for a sequel (apparently, this is now a series with these authors), but I rather liked the element of mystery in my keeping this as a stand alone title.

[Jore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good:
- Lots going on. Always some drama and excitement on the menu.
The Bad
- Writer skips the steps to building a relationship. [Caution Minor spoiler ahead] E.g: In the first minute or so, upon first meeting, the main character physically starts pawing the attractive astrologist, and pushes for a sexual relationship with her.
- Too sudden direction changes in the plot… Common throughout the book. No transitional writing between events. “Choppy” writing.
- So many “bad guy” characters thrown at you, hard to keep track.
Recommend?
- Skip this one… there are better choices in the genre. :)