What do you think?
Rate this book
Worth Every Step
Family and friends are shocked when Mary Kate Sasser throws herself into the adventure of a lifetime. The small-town Southerner follows her imagination on a quest to Africa, refusing the escort of her boyfriend. His marriage ultimatum echoes in her ears, but she's not going to think about that until she has climbed the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Addison Falk also wants an adventure--and a vacation from her real life. Fresh from her MBA program, she is being lured from Miami to London for a job in her father's investment firm. For all the glitz and excitement a life in lesbian-rich Soho promises, Addison can't bring herself to take that next step without first adding her name to the rolls of those who have stood on Africa's highest peak.
Their mutual undertaking challenges not just daily survival, but also the plans each woman has made for her future. Finding their way back to earth--and back to their lives--may be the most difficult journey of all.
Lambda Award Winner KG MacGregor (Out of Love, Mulligan), with her trademark humor and insight, weaves a captivating story of high adventure and romance.
Addison Falk also wants an adventure--and a vacation from her real life. Fresh from her MBA program, she is being lured from Miami to London for a job in her father's investment firm. For all the glitz and excitement a life in lesbian-rich Soho promises, Addison can't bring herself to take that next step without first adding her name to the rolls of those who have stood on Africa's highest peak.
Their mutual undertaking challenges not just daily survival, but also the plans each woman has made for her future. Finding their way back to earth--and back to their lives--may be the most difficult journey of all.
Lambda Award Winner KG MacGregor (Out of Love, Mulligan), with her trademark humor and insight, weaves a captivating story of high adventure and romance.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 13, 2009
9 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
K.G. MacGregor
37 books331 followersA former teacher and market research consultant, KG MacGregor holds a PhD in journalism and mass communication. Infatuation with Xena: Warrior Princess fanfiction prompted her to try her own hand at storytelling in 2002. In 2005, she signed with Bella Books, which published the Goldie Award finalist Just This Once. Her sixth Bella novel, Out of Love, won the 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Women's Romance, and the 2008 Goldie Award in Lesbian Romance. In 2009, she picked up Goldies for Without Warning (Contemporary Romance) and Secrets So Deep (Romantic Suspense).
Other honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Academy of Bards, the Alice B. Readers Appreciation Medal, and several Readers Choice Awards. An avid supporter of queer literature, KG currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Lambda Literary Foundation.
KG MacGregor divides her time between her homes in Miami and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. When she isn't writing, she's either on a hiking trail, a golf course, or if she's really lucky, a cruise ship.
Other honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Academy of Bards, the Alice B. Readers Appreciation Medal, and several Readers Choice Awards. An avid supporter of queer literature, KG currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Lambda Literary Foundation.
KG MacGregor divides her time between her homes in Miami and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. When she isn't writing, she's either on a hiking trail, a golf course, or if she's really lucky, a cruise ship.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 11, 2019
Oh man, why have I not read a KG MacGregor book before? Another shame on me. I’ve been lucky with my Fallback books so far because they’ve all been outstanding reads. This book was published in early 2009 so I think it still makes it under the wire for Fallback.
We meet Mary Kate who is trying to settle into small town life in Georgia and accept the inevitability of marrying nice guy Bobby, have children, and teach until retirement. That’s what everybody does and she can’t disappoint her family or veer too far off course. Only, Mary Kate is just 24 years old and she’s got this deep down suspicion that there’s more to her and a much bigger world that she’s afraid to miss if she follows course. So in a brave move of insane proportions, she’s inspired to travel to Africa to do the Kilimanjaro hike. She plans, trains hard, and saves money diligently because she’s still cautious Mary Kate. The family and Bobby wave goodbye, shake their heads, and off she goes.
Addison too is being pushed into a life she does not want. Uber successful Reginald Falk is a London financier who expects his daughter to follow in his footsteps and has basically painted her into a corner. Her trip to Kilimanjaro is both a fundraiser and one last independent decision before leaving Miami to join her father’s world.
Mary Kate and Addison meet in Africa and build a charming bond that absolutely melts your heart. It’s pure author’s skill that makes you believe that their friendship and romance are genuine after only two weeks on the mountain. The rest of the characters, who are all part of their climbing group, are distinct and funny. The dialogue is crisp and clever. But the hike itself is another star in this book. We get a lot of technical information but because it’s seamlessly intertwined with the characters’ actions, it goes down easy and sets the place in picturesque details.
Big winner for me.
We meet Mary Kate who is trying to settle into small town life in Georgia and accept the inevitability of marrying nice guy Bobby, have children, and teach until retirement. That’s what everybody does and she can’t disappoint her family or veer too far off course. Only, Mary Kate is just 24 years old and she’s got this deep down suspicion that there’s more to her and a much bigger world that she’s afraid to miss if she follows course. So in a brave move of insane proportions, she’s inspired to travel to Africa to do the Kilimanjaro hike. She plans, trains hard, and saves money diligently because she’s still cautious Mary Kate. The family and Bobby wave goodbye, shake their heads, and off she goes.
Addison too is being pushed into a life she does not want. Uber successful Reginald Falk is a London financier who expects his daughter to follow in his footsteps and has basically painted her into a corner. Her trip to Kilimanjaro is both a fundraiser and one last independent decision before leaving Miami to join her father’s world.
Mary Kate and Addison meet in Africa and build a charming bond that absolutely melts your heart. It’s pure author’s skill that makes you believe that their friendship and romance are genuine after only two weeks on the mountain. The rest of the characters, who are all part of their climbing group, are distinct and funny. The dialogue is crisp and clever. But the hike itself is another star in this book. We get a lot of technical information but because it’s seamlessly intertwined with the characters’ actions, it goes down easy and sets the place in picturesque details.
Big winner for me.
November 29, 2018
Who am I? Who do I want to be? Lovely read with one character looking to find herself, Mary Kate Sasser and another character willing to help her find herself, Addison Falk. Learned quite a bit about what it takes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Between the education and the will she won't she, I was caught up in the read. Pretty enjoyable read.
October 25, 2021
I attended a virtual event where KG MacGregor was on the panel and I found myself a little intrigued. A quick trip to Goodreads showed me I read exactly zero of her books. I needed to immediately correct that (due to above mentioned intrigue). I looked through her books, saw one that Lex Kent gave 5-stars, and then moseyed on over to the Bella Books website to purchase it. Now that I’m done giving an unnecessary backstory, I should leave a book review:
I loved this book! A sapphic romance that builds during a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro! It was so cool getting a glimpse into what goes into such an adventure (but I’ve never been more sure that anything that adventurous is my personal nightmare).
The dialogue, the characters, the Tanzanian backdrop…all perfect.
Slow burn with a steamy payoff.
I loved this book! A sapphic romance that builds during a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro! It was so cool getting a glimpse into what goes into such an adventure (but I’ve never been more sure that anything that adventurous is my personal nightmare).
The dialogue, the characters, the Tanzanian backdrop…all perfect.
Slow burn with a steamy payoff.
March 24, 2021
I almost felt I was with the characters experiencing the climb and descend. The author did a great job on that.
On the romance, it was fast and sweet...for me, moderately believable.
In all, the whole experience i had reading this is worth the stars i have rated it.
On the romance, it was fast and sweet...for me, moderately believable.
In all, the whole experience i had reading this is worth the stars i have rated it.
October 26, 2017
It’s simple, realistic and very efficient !!
Mary Kate Sasser is a Southern teacher almost engaged with Bobby, the handsomest guy in the entire Hurston County where she lives in the small-town of Mooresville surrounded by her family. She was born and raised there. Bobby wants to marry her. She thinks her parents want her to marry him no matter what and she freaks out at the idea she could disappoint them …
Addison Falk, born and bred in Miami is an out lesbian, with wealthy parents who live in London for her father and in Peru for her mother. Her father pressures her to come live and work in London with him (he wants to hire her in his firm) and for that, he sales her home in Florida…
Mary Kat and Addison’s opposite lives will collide very far away from the U.S because of their own projects to climb the summit of the Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania). For Addison it’s for an external « good cause », for Mary Kate it’ her adventure of a lifetime . Neither Mary Kate nor Addison has expected to fall in love ...
There’s a sweetness which flows through the entire novel which relate an amazing trip abroad but also on the inside of the 2 main characters's minds. Yeah, Mary Kate and Addison are very different by nature and social life but in the end they are more alike than everyone could think. The both need to figure out something about herselves and the life they want to live : Following their hearts or bending under the pression of her surroundings to live a life pre-planed by others .
The ascent of the Klimanjaro is very well described, it gives the envy to try the adventure !
I like a lot the dynamism of the story given also by the humor of the very good secondary characters … The few pudic and sensual love scenes are a plus.
The economical and ecological messages are also very important in this novel (and for me). It reminds us what are the conditions of life in the Third-World countries and how the magnificience of Nature and Wildlife are threatened by poachers for profit and by some western people (let me say assholes !!) for fun and sports ….
« Worth Every Step » is the 1st of KG MacGregor’s novels I’ve read … and it give me the desire to read more of her work ‘cause I deeply loved it !!
Mary Kate Sasser is a Southern teacher almost engaged with Bobby, the handsomest guy in the entire Hurston County where she lives in the small-town of Mooresville surrounded by her family. She was born and raised there. Bobby wants to marry her. She thinks her parents want her to marry him no matter what and she freaks out at the idea she could disappoint them …
Addison Falk, born and bred in Miami is an out lesbian, with wealthy parents who live in London for her father and in Peru for her mother. Her father pressures her to come live and work in London with him (he wants to hire her in his firm) and for that, he sales her home in Florida…
Mary Kat and Addison’s opposite lives will collide very far away from the U.S because of their own projects to climb the summit of the Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania). For Addison it’s for an external « good cause », for Mary Kate it’ her adventure of a lifetime . Neither Mary Kate nor Addison has expected to fall in love ...
There’s a sweetness which flows through the entire novel which relate an amazing trip abroad but also on the inside of the 2 main characters's minds. Yeah, Mary Kate and Addison are very different by nature and social life but in the end they are more alike than everyone could think. The both need to figure out something about herselves and the life they want to live : Following their hearts or bending under the pression of her surroundings to live a life pre-planed by others .
The ascent of the Klimanjaro is very well described, it gives the envy to try the adventure !
I like a lot the dynamism of the story given also by the humor of the very good secondary characters … The few pudic and sensual love scenes are a plus.
The economical and ecological messages are also very important in this novel (and for me). It reminds us what are the conditions of life in the Third-World countries and how the magnificience of Nature and Wildlife are threatened by poachers for profit and by some western people (let me say assholes !!) for fun and sports ….
« Worth Every Step » is the 1st of KG MacGregor’s novels I’ve read … and it give me the desire to read more of her work ‘cause I deeply loved it !!
January 30, 2021
3.5 stars. This was one of the first lesbian romances I read years ago. Somehow I remembered it and was in the mood to read it again.
I enjoyed it. I felt Mary Kate's excitement to go to Africa, how suffocated she felt in her small town, how everything was different with Addison.
While the book was enjoyable and the two mains fit well together, the spark of the book was somehow missing. It was all Vero predictable.
But if you like a nice, low on angst romance, this is perfect.
I enjoyed it. I felt Mary Kate's excitement to go to Africa, how suffocated she felt in her small town, how everything was different with Addison.
While the book was enjoyable and the two mains fit well together, the spark of the book was somehow missing. It was all Vero predictable.
But if you like a nice, low on angst romance, this is perfect.
September 4, 2011
I'd actually give this 3.5 starts, but it lost some star points for me in the beginning with a ridiculous prologue that had action that takes place after the book begins and much of it is repeated. Then there were the info dumps. I put the thing down several times in the first few chapters. But once the info was all dumped, the story really moved along. The climb up the mountain was obviously written by someone who has done that and I felt confident that this is an adventure I don't need. Bleeding eyeballs? No thanks. The romance is one very long flirtation, but I enjoyed it. There were no phony obstacles to these women getting together. After the trip, there was some tension--even a desire to slap Ms. Sasser silly for one statement. But there's a nice twist thrown in and an enjoyable HEA.
It reminded me of what it was like to be in my early twenties and still tied to the family. Mary Kate didn't need to come from a rural backwater to be believable. At first I was, "Oh please." Then I remembered what I was like at that age, and it was more, "Oh, yeah. Right!"
I ended up really liking it. Just wish it had gotten off to a better start. So stick with it. It's...wait for it...WORTH IT!
It reminded me of what it was like to be in my early twenties and still tied to the family. Mary Kate didn't need to come from a rural backwater to be believable. At first I was, "Oh please." Then I remembered what I was like at that age, and it was more, "Oh, yeah. Right!"
I ended up really liking it. Just wish it had gotten off to a better start. So stick with it. It's...wait for it...WORTH IT!
October 6, 2015
Good romance with little adventure. 3.5/5
July 14, 2017
Full disclosure, I read the possibly shorter, but original 2003 Xena Uber version. Loved it. Makes me think I need to start training for hiking. Fun book, characters were hard to keep track of (even for the author at one point), but enjoyed them all.
March 20, 2022
Mary Kate surprises her family and friends by refusing to say yes when her boyfriend proposes and instead trains and plans on leaving small town Georgia going to Africa and climbing the summit if Mt. Kilimanjaro. Addison is expected to leave her Miami and move to London to join her father’s investment firm after graduating with her MBA. First she wants to have an adventure before starting a life she isn’t sure she wants. When these two women meet, sparks fly. Will they be friends? Will they each follow the path their family expects of them? Or will they follow their own hearts? One woman is just awakening to her sexuality The other refuses to be closeted. This is a wonderful Lesbian Romance by a really good author of Sapphic fiction. If you have ever wondered what climbing Africa’s highest mountain or what going on an African Safari would be like, then this book may be for you. I loved the strong sense of place of this novel. I read this book in paperback from my own shelves. KG MacGregor writes good novels.
September 17, 2019
An adventure to build fortitude also brought freedom
“People are happiest when they make their own decisions. Even if we screw up, that’s better than marching to somebody else’s drum.”
“If you feel anything at all about me like I feel about you, and I don’t mean just sexually. I mean if you’re falling in love with me, then what’s happening between us is worth keeping.”
+ • + • + • +
It was a very enjoyable & easy to read as the story developed & unfolded with a good cast of characters.!!
“People are happiest when they make their own decisions. Even if we screw up, that’s better than marching to somebody else’s drum.”
“If you feel anything at all about me like I feel about you, and I don’t mean just sexually. I mean if you’re falling in love with me, then what’s happening between us is worth keeping.”
+ • + • + • +
It was a very enjoyable & easy to read as the story developed & unfolded with a good cast of characters.!!
May 18, 2017
This is a favorite of mine. K.G. MacGregor has created delightful characters, of course, but the special appeal of Worth Every Step is their journey up Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Now that I'm planning my own trek, it's especially interesting to follow the characters day by day (and step by step) up the same route that I will be taking. A great adventure story as well as romance.
July 23, 2020
I've recently found this story in my computer, saved from a long time ago, but it was called "Road from Kilimanjaro", which title I prefer. Just read it. I enjoyed the story, the steps of falling in love, to be inside the characters' heads, this author manages too many characters very well, down to earth, everyday characters. I gotta stop reading this author or I might become the romantic type.
April 17, 2023
Great adventure read! The entire cast of characters were enjoyable, but Mary Kate and Addison were superb. MK's struggle to stand on her own, to not simply follow other's plans for her life, is on point and so familiar to many of us. Addison's confidence and tender support is beautiful to watch.
Loved this book.
Loved this book.
December 6, 2017
awww, this was sweet! I liked that the romance between the two women was balanced with their journey up the mountain. Some of the conversations could get repetitive or tread the same ground, but it was overall a great fun read!
May 16, 2019
a really nice book, Africa's on my bucketlist!
Read
July 10, 2019Don't remember.
September 30, 2024
I think KG MacGregor is one of the absolute best of the "lesfic" genre. I love books about mountain climbing so this was perfect for me. In this case, the protagonists are climbing Mt. Kilmanjaro. I did not know that ordinary but fit and trained people (aka not mountain climbers) can do this as long as Tanzanian porters carry all their gear and tell them what to do. In this story, two American climbers meet and fall in love. One is a wordly, sophisticated lesbian and the other a not-as-straight-as-she-thought young woman from a small Southern town who is feeling trapped into marrying her fiancé Bobby. There was no contrived impediment or misunderstanding to keep the two main characters apart, just their own very realistic indecision. It's a romance so I had to figure the two would end up happily together in the end, but I was truly on the edge of my seat through some twists and turns.
I thought the character of Mary Kate (the one from the small Southern town) was very realistic and sympathetic. I think it was a good choice to give her this kind of "old fashioned"/homophobic background because sometimes in this genre the young protagonists can seem quite improbable because they come from a different generation than the writer. The one thing I thought was peculiar was that Mary Kate didn't even really consider for a second that she might be bisexual/pansexual. It was as if bisexuality does not exist.
I thought the character of Mary Kate (the one from the small Southern town) was very realistic and sympathetic. I think it was a good choice to give her this kind of "old fashioned"/homophobic background because sometimes in this genre the young protagonists can seem quite improbable because they come from a different generation than the writer. The one thing I thought was peculiar was that Mary Kate didn't even really consider for a second that she might be bisexual/pansexual. It was as if bisexuality does not exist.
January 31, 2016
I chose to read this romance because I needed just a nice story without the usual suspense or action that most of the books I read have. This book provided great introduction to the main characters while building the setting. While the characters meet you also delve in the adventure in Africa. You see the romance building on some rocky ground and blossom under the majestic setting.
The book is written wonderfully, making it easy to read and follow. Everything flows well throughout, keeping me interested on what happens next. I would have loved another chapter to tie everything together a bit more.
Overall it was an enjoyable read.
The book is written wonderfully, making it easy to read and follow. Everything flows well throughout, keeping me interested on what happens next. I would have loved another chapter to tie everything together a bit more.
Overall it was an enjoyable read.
February 5, 2017
I loved this book.
OK. So it was published in 2009 and I'm just getting to it now. These things happen. I loved this book. We watched Mary Kate face a huge physical challenge and make life altering changes. Story of courage and strength in a beautiful setting.
OK. So it was published in 2009 and I'm just getting to it now. These things happen. I loved this book. We watched Mary Kate face a huge physical challenge and make life altering changes. Story of courage and strength in a beautiful setting.
April 7, 2013
Great descriptions of the climb to the top of Kilimanjaro. Nice build up to the romance.
April 2, 2025
More Killemanjaro than relationship...
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews