Breaking Jaie

by S. Renée Bess

Jaie Baxter, an African-American Ph.D candidate at Philadelphia's Allerton University, is determined to win a prestigious writing grant. In order to win the Adamson Grant, Jaie initially plans to take advantage of one of the competition's judges, Jennifer Renfrew, who is also a University official. Jennifer has spent the past ten years alone following the murder of her lover, Patricia Adamson, in whose honor the grant is named. Jennifer is at first susceptible to Jaie's flirtation, but is later vengeful when she discovers the real reason for Jaie's sudden romantic interest in her. A lunch with an old cop friend reveals that Jaie may very well have ties to Adamson's death.

Jaie is confronted with painful memories as she prepares an autobiographical essay for the grant application. She recalls the emotional trauma of her older brother's death, the murder of a police detective, her dismissal from her "dream" high school, and her victimization at the hands of hateful homophobic students. She remembers her constant struggles with her mother's alcohol-fueled jealousies and physical abuse she had to endure. This wake-up call causes her to look at her life in new ways.

But Jaie is not the only student applying for the grant. Terez Overton, a wealthy Boston woman, is Jaie's chief competitor. Jaie is drawn to the New Englander immediately but is also unnerved by her. She has no clue that Terez is trying to decide whether she wants to accept an opportunity to write an investigative article about an unsolved murder. Writing that article could put her budding relationship with Jaie in jeopardy.

And just when the angst of old memories and the uncertainty of her future with Terez are complicating Jaie's life, her manipulative ex, Seneca Wilson, returns to Philadelphia to reclaim Jaie using emotional blackmail. Senecas actions serve to wound and break Jaie in many ways. Will Seneca drive the final wedge between Jaie and Terez? Who will win the Adamson grant? And what did Jaie have to do with the death of Patricia Adamson?

212 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Renee Bess is a former high school teacher who has been writing for many years. After her story "At the Beauty Parlor" won first place in a short fiction writing contest, she began exploring the possibility of creating longer pieces of fiction. The result of her exploration was "Leave of Absence," published in 2005 by Borders Personal Publishing/Xlibris. Buoyed by the success of that first book, Renee wrote three others, "Breaking Jaie," "RE:Building Sasha," and "The Butterfly Moments," all published by Regal Crest Enterprises. Renee enjoys creating characters who lead her to stories about African American lesbians, their families and their communities. Her novels are filled with rich language and memorable imagery. They mix intrigue with romance while they explore complex human relationships. Although one of Renee's goals was to create literature
for an underserved audience, her books have cross-over appeal and they attract a wide variety of readers. Currently, Renee is working on a fifth novel.

Reviews

[Mildred Gail Digby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling, dramatic read with lots of twists and turns. The heart of the story is Jaie, an out-and-proud lesbian, who brims with sexy butch charm. She is surrounded by a diverse community of women, each with their own story woven into the narrative.

We follow Jaie from her tumultuous high school years where she has to deal with not only homophobia, but also the challenges of overcoming her harsh upbringing with an abusive, alcoholic mother. She is navigating her PhD when she meets Terez, a competitor for a lucrative prize. Their love story is sweet and slow, sometimes rocky when outside forces cause doubt, or insecurity due to their own lack of communication.

The story keeps moving forward at a brisk pace, with telling moments from Jaie’s past interspersed with the drama of the present. The narrative is a unique 1st POV for Jaie, and 3rd with the others. It works well and the story flows nicely. The mystery is how all these women are connected, which lends a thrilling intrigue to the overall feel.

This is not a typical romance, it’s a story of triumph and failure, justice served and at the same time morally grey-characters who get away with injustice, of unexpected allies who help our MCs along the way and ultimately the triumph of love above all.

Bess brings this group of characters to life. Their struggles and joys, the challenges queer women of color face in academia, and society in general.

If you’re looking for a book that will pull you in with human drama, make you think, and leaves a surprising but satisfying ending, this is for you.

Highly recommended.


My rating: five stars

[Carol Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breaking Jaie is a fine novel. It's a satisfying lesbian love story with a compelling plot. Jaie, an African American doctoral student in English and talented writer, has overcome her past, which included an alcoholic, unsupportive mother and a brother who was killed by a police officer. Jaie has slept with many women, but she finds a woman she could love, an African American woman with a much more middle-class background.

Some predatory women make life difficult for Jaie. Events seem to conspire against her.

I strongly recommend this novel. It's one of the best lesbian novels I've ever read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. Ms. Bess knows how to weave all the elements together and build up the story until I had to know what would happen next. It was one thing after another slowly cascading to the final crescendo. Satisfying read.

[Breanna Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! One of the best books I've read! This is the book for you if you're looking for lesbian romance with some adventure and mystery. So, Breaking Jaie centers around the titular character Jaie, a child abuse survivor who climbed her way out of the ghetto and into a doctoral program. Jaie attempts to create a relationship with Dr. Jennifer Renfrew to assuage her into getting the Patricia Adamson grant that could help her pay through her doctoral program but she becomes caught up in a surprising, unexpected romance with the classy, beautiful Terez with a childhood completely opposite of hers. Before Terez, Jaie had not established or invested in a romantic relationship because of her trust issues, but Jaie opens up to Terez and Terez accepts her for her past and her faults. Jaie falls hard for her. Just as Jaie and Terez's love broils, Jaie's ex-lover Seneca arrives to the scene to tear them apart by framing Jaie, noted for hating female cops from watching a female cop shoot her older brother and a flaring temper, for the murder of Patricia Adamson, Dr. Jennifer Renfrew's partner. Jaie's academic career and relationship with Terez, for a brief, heart-breaking moment, seem to end until Terez researches Jaie and Seneca's files and realizes that Seneca purposely killed Adamson to avenge Jaie for her brother's murder and win Jaie back after she cheated on her with another man. With so many things driving them apart--from Seneca's manipulative, unhealthy love for Jaie to the rumors about Jaie's sexual conquests that Terez hears about--they find a way back to love.

Bess is an excellent writer and master of fiction and the english language. Jaie is the biggest bad-ass! She's intelligent, ambitious, and extremely head-strong. Even though Jaie had an extremely tough childhood, she wasn't a whiny, angsty victim about it. Bess did a great job sculpting Jaie's voice and character.

Terez, equally intelligent, was gentle, seductive, and courageous but did not have many flaws or as much character development as Jaie, but it's not easy to catch these things...

The romance between Jaie and Terez was realistic and beautiful. I've read books where there was too much sexual tension and not enough love, but this romance was perfect because these two weren't just staring at each other. They really got to know each other and moved very slowly. Sex scene was not at all carnal, it was sensual and sweet...

The drama was crazy! The twists made the plot absolutely unpredictable and Bess can set up the stage without needing to go into many details. And Bess does an excellent job of tying the strings together...

The characters were original, extremely likable, interesting, and each character each clearly had motives for doing things and had their own reasonable, emotionally-charged decisions. The antagonist was understandable and absolutely evil!

Best book I've read in, like, four years. If they make this into a movie, you bet your ass I'll be in the front row. Just read the book. Just read it lol

[Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as engaging as I thought it would be. Very similar to Leave of Absence by the same author.