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Unexpected #1
Unexpected Sparks
Falling in love is complicated enough without adding murder to the mix.
In the midst of bookstore owner Kate Shannon's growing feelings for a much younger Nikki Harris, a fatal fire in an insurance office across the street adds another challenge--and one that could be deadly. Subsequent fires make life hot as they rush against time to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Sam Madison, all the while dealing with their newfound attraction. Will the unexpected sparks between these two very different women blind them to the true identity of the arsonist? Or will they be able to stop a killer before anything else goes up in flames?
In the midst of bookstore owner Kate Shannon's growing feelings for a much younger Nikki Harris, a fatal fire in an insurance office across the street adds another challenge--and one that could be deadly. Subsequent fires make life hot as they rush against time to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Sam Madison, all the while dealing with their newfound attraction. Will the unexpected sparks between these two very different women blind them to the true identity of the arsonist? Or will they be able to stop a killer before anything else goes up in flames?
264 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2002
11 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Gina L. Dartt
5 books23 followersGina L. Dartt was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. She grew up with a love of science fiction, particularly Star Trek (though that faded with the end of Voyager and the beginning of Enterprise). (from the publisher's website)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 18, 2014
This was, for me, basically a J/7 uber, by one of my favourite J/7 authors. I enjoyed the story for what it was and I find Gina L. Dartt's writing style very easy to read.
On a slightly more negative note, I felt that what was lacking in this novel was a strong cast of secondary characters. In Dartt's "Just Between" and "Millenium" series, I really enjoyed the scenes that did not focus so much on Janeway and Seven, and sometimes found I enjoyed a story more for the scenes between B'Elanna and Ro, or watching Commander Zar's character develop, than just for the J/7 parts. In "Unexpected Sparks", there just wasn't that depth in terms of supporting characters nor was there a rich pre-existing universe to draw from.
The novel is still eminently readable and quite fun to get through. However, having experienced Dartt's fan fiction, which is superb, I guess I went into this novel with expectations that were slightly too high. I will, however, still read the sequel.
On a slightly more negative note, I felt that what was lacking in this novel was a strong cast of secondary characters. In Dartt's "Just Between" and "Millenium" series, I really enjoyed the scenes that did not focus so much on Janeway and Seven, and sometimes found I enjoyed a story more for the scenes between B'Elanna and Ro, or watching Commander Zar's character develop, than just for the J/7 parts. In "Unexpected Sparks", there just wasn't that depth in terms of supporting characters nor was there a rich pre-existing universe to draw from.
The novel is still eminently readable and quite fun to get through. However, having experienced Dartt's fan fiction, which is superb, I guess I went into this novel with expectations that were slightly too high. I will, however, still read the sequel.
October 30, 2018
Unexpected Sparks is nothing particularly special but still, the end of each chapter kept me wanting to come back and read what happens next. The mystery is rather predictable and I wish there would have been more characters and complexity surrounding it. The romance plot is sweet although some parts of it had me cringing, with it often being too focused on emphasizing the sexuality than on the romance itself. It feels like the equivalent of someone proclaiming their own sexuality almost any chance they get - and while this *is* a lesbian novel, it gives the energy of sticking a big "lesbian" label on one's shirt and wearing it everywhere they go.
The writing is good and the descriptions are imaginatively vivid. We get a clear sense of who the characters are, and the chapters are written with alternating points of view - one chapter is from the point of view of Kate, the second of Nikki, the third of Kate again, and so on.
Both of our main characters have something that the reader can relate to despite being very different from each other. Very pleasant, because it makes you enjoy reading the story from both points of view. The general feeling of the book is very cozy with the winter setting.
In short, while lacking in depth, the story is quite nice and it was a lovely little read despite the few things that could have been easily improved. I will be reading the second book in the series eventually.
The writing is good and the descriptions are imaginatively vivid. We get a clear sense of who the characters are, and the chapters are written with alternating points of view - one chapter is from the point of view of Kate, the second of Nikki, the third of Kate again, and so on.
Both of our main characters have something that the reader can relate to despite being very different from each other. Very pleasant, because it makes you enjoy reading the story from both points of view. The general feeling of the book is very cozy with the winter setting.
In short, while lacking in depth, the story is quite nice and it was a lovely little read despite the few things that could have been easily improved. I will be reading the second book in the series eventually.
July 14, 2021
This is a cute read which I understand is an alternate universe thing with two Star Trek characters, Katherine Janeway and Seven of Nine.
I mean.. Ok! yeah. Do that!
The story revolves around a murder and... a romance. Their romance.
The scene where they first physically acknowledge their attraction is really quite lovely.
Everything else is sweet and warm and this is overall... a nice enjoyable 'cosy mystery' with the added bonus of two women falling in love.
Yes please!
Wish this was on BBC First after Midsummer Murders.
I mean.. Ok! yeah. Do that!
The story revolves around a murder and... a romance. Their romance.
The scene where they first physically acknowledge their attraction is really quite lovely.
Everything else is sweet and warm and this is overall... a nice enjoyable 'cosy mystery' with the added bonus of two women falling in love.
Yes please!
Wish this was on BBC First after Midsummer Murders.
May 9, 2023
A definition of a very well written book, well developed characters and truth about human relationships and how they develop and how they should be understood and nurtured.
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June 18, 2020Unexpected is right. When I downloaded the e-book version of this novel, I had no real hope that this series was going to be worth reading, much less commenting on. Silly me. As it turns out, this book points out the main reason for groups like ours: to find and promote outstanding works of lesbian mystery. It was unexpectedly wonderful.
The main character, Kate Shannon, runs a bookstore in the little town of Truro, Nova Scotia. She is 40, divorced, and straight. But when 26-year-old Nikki Harris—who has a penchant for reading lesbian mysteries—becomes a frequent visitor to the bookstore, Kate is strangely smitten. What happens between the two is one of the high points of this novel. But not the only one.
The mystery starts when Sam Madison, a fairly crass insurance agent, is found dead in the rubble of his torched office building. Because Kate was a witness to certain events that preceded the fire, she—and her new friend Nikki—begin to wonder who had it in for the womanizing man.
As always—or almost always—in lesbian mysteries (this is a good topic for a separate post), the mystery takes a back seat to the characters—not only Kate and Nikki, but the rest of the townspeople as well. Gina Dartt’s description of the small Canadian town and its inner workings is worth the price of the book in itself. Too, the book is told from the point of view of both main characters in alternating chapters, one after the other. It is a literary device that can be difficult in the wrong hands. I found myself looking forward to a Nikki chapter. Then I found myself looking forward to a Kate chapter. Then I . . . Etcetera.
It is easy to be picky about a good novel, because there are so few things to pick at. However, the main clues to solving the mystery come from Nikki just happening to be in the right place to overhear incriminating conversations. And the knowledge of Kate’s wealth comes a bit late, although it is hinted at. But the mystery itself is plausible—the criminal did not have to wear a leopard suit or make himself invisible or engage in some of the equally silly things we see at the end of most mystery novels. And although I have labeled this a cozy mystery of sorts, Dartt is not shy about describing sexual situations. And they are hot.
One the basis of what little I can glean about Dartt, she is more well known for her fan fiction than for this series. This should not be. Even though she probably named Kathryn/Kate after the captain of the Starship Voyager in Star Trek, Unexpected Sparks is original and creative and a better, more satisfying read than 99 percent of the genre. I am looking forward to reading the second in this series (my review of that one will follow below when I write it). Hopefully, Dartt will write a third book to the series and and then quit. Three is enough (another subject of a separate post some time in the future).
Many, many stars for this one.
Note: Kudos to Bold Strokes Books, who is responsible for the ebook version of Unexpected Sparks (I read an edition that was available online in November, 2013). Both the formatting and the editing was first-rate--a far cry from the fairly poor job they did on Ronica Black's In Too Deep. Then again, Dartt deserves that kind of attention far more, and I suspect that she needed it far less.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
The main character, Kate Shannon, runs a bookstore in the little town of Truro, Nova Scotia. She is 40, divorced, and straight. But when 26-year-old Nikki Harris—who has a penchant for reading lesbian mysteries—becomes a frequent visitor to the bookstore, Kate is strangely smitten. What happens between the two is one of the high points of this novel. But not the only one.
The mystery starts when Sam Madison, a fairly crass insurance agent, is found dead in the rubble of his torched office building. Because Kate was a witness to certain events that preceded the fire, she—and her new friend Nikki—begin to wonder who had it in for the womanizing man.
As always—or almost always—in lesbian mysteries (this is a good topic for a separate post), the mystery takes a back seat to the characters—not only Kate and Nikki, but the rest of the townspeople as well. Gina Dartt’s description of the small Canadian town and its inner workings is worth the price of the book in itself. Too, the book is told from the point of view of both main characters in alternating chapters, one after the other. It is a literary device that can be difficult in the wrong hands. I found myself looking forward to a Nikki chapter. Then I found myself looking forward to a Kate chapter. Then I . . . Etcetera.
It is easy to be picky about a good novel, because there are so few things to pick at. However, the main clues to solving the mystery come from Nikki just happening to be in the right place to overhear incriminating conversations. And the knowledge of Kate’s wealth comes a bit late, although it is hinted at. But the mystery itself is plausible—the criminal did not have to wear a leopard suit or make himself invisible or engage in some of the equally silly things we see at the end of most mystery novels. And although I have labeled this a cozy mystery of sorts, Dartt is not shy about describing sexual situations. And they are hot.
One the basis of what little I can glean about Dartt, she is more well known for her fan fiction than for this series. This should not be. Even though she probably named Kathryn/Kate after the captain of the Starship Voyager in Star Trek, Unexpected Sparks is original and creative and a better, more satisfying read than 99 percent of the genre. I am looking forward to reading the second in this series (my review of that one will follow below when I write it). Hopefully, Dartt will write a third book to the series and and then quit. Three is enough (another subject of a separate post some time in the future).
Many, many stars for this one.
Note: Kudos to Bold Strokes Books, who is responsible for the ebook version of Unexpected Sparks (I read an edition that was available online in November, 2013). Both the formatting and the editing was first-rate--a far cry from the fairly poor job they did on Ronica Black's In Too Deep. Then again, Dartt deserves that kind of attention far more, and I suspect that she needed it far less.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
January 10, 2018
I know Gina L. Dartt from her sci-fi works (and history as a fanfic writer), but this is actually my first book by her. It's a nice contained small-town mystery, but I felt the balance between romance and mystery was a little off-kilter at times.
I enjoyed aspects of both plots. From the beginning, I was rooting for the slow-burning romance and mutual shy attraction between small-business bookseller Kate Shannon and unsure, restless Nikki Harris. The age gap between them was definitely a plot point, but it was more about proving the women were exactly what the other needed than making it into an issue. When a deadly fire breaks out at the insurance office of one of Kate's longtime friends, Sam Madison, Kate and Nikki find themselves embroiled in an alluring small-town mystery involving money, love affairs, and dangerous women.
I hate to say it, but a lot of the romantic build-up in this is sort of...boring. There was a nice titular spark between the two women, but the "unexpected" part never came through for me. They had a typical build-up of mutual trust, attraction, and flirting that was very sweet, and the drama involving family and friends finding out seemed fairly appropriate for a book written in 2002, but there was a lack of real conflict until the last (very rushed) 10% or so. They had minor arguments about their age difference, but other than that, I just really wanted them to clash a little more when it came to their stances on getting involved in the mystery of Sam's death and the office fire.
I've read a lot of M/M romance mystery serials, but fewer F/F, and I think I'm going to enjoy the second book in this series a lot more since the characters and their relationship are now established. Despite it being a romance mystery, we saw too little of Kate and Nikki actually solving mysteries together, so I'm hoping for more of their teamwork in the second book. I'm also interested in seeing more of their family, friends, and neighbors.
I enjoyed aspects of both plots. From the beginning, I was rooting for the slow-burning romance and mutual shy attraction between small-business bookseller Kate Shannon and unsure, restless Nikki Harris. The age gap between them was definitely a plot point, but it was more about proving the women were exactly what the other needed than making it into an issue. When a deadly fire breaks out at the insurance office of one of Kate's longtime friends, Sam Madison, Kate and Nikki find themselves embroiled in an alluring small-town mystery involving money, love affairs, and dangerous women.
I hate to say it, but a lot of the romantic build-up in this is sort of...boring. There was a nice titular spark between the two women, but the "unexpected" part never came through for me. They had a typical build-up of mutual trust, attraction, and flirting that was very sweet, and the drama involving family and friends finding out seemed fairly appropriate for a book written in 2002, but there was a lack of real conflict until the last (very rushed) 10% or so. They had minor arguments about their age difference, but other than that, I just really wanted them to clash a little more when it came to their stances on getting involved in the mystery of Sam's death and the office fire.
I've read a lot of M/M romance mystery serials, but fewer F/F, and I think I'm going to enjoy the second book in this series a lot more since the characters and their relationship are now established. Despite it being a romance mystery, we saw too little of Kate and Nikki actually solving mysteries together, so I'm hoping for more of their teamwork in the second book. I'm also interested in seeing more of their family, friends, and neighbors.
December 31, 2016
This was delightful. I read that it was Janeway/Seven AU fic. I have to say their Kate was very much like Kate. You could hear Kate Mulgrew saying all her lines. Seven was just a lovely lesbian. Not much like Seven but that was ok with me. It was a really wonderful story about two women falling in love, in the winter in Canada. There was also a murder. It was a very sweet and honest story, more romance than mystery. The only thing that bothered me was that it was a world without bisexuals. Everyone was confused how Kate could be a lesbian when she'd been married to a man, and no one thought she might have been bisexual all along, the only choices were gay or straight. But I'm glad I found this. There was a list of other lesbian books at the back and I will definitely have to get some of those for next year.
April 24, 2015
It's a charming book with likeable characters. There isn't anything wrong with the book, but there isn't anything truly great about it either. Read if you're in the mood for reading about ladies who love ladies.
July 28, 2011
A charming book. I enjoyed the nascent love affair and the Nova Scotia setting. Gina Dartt of J/7 fame delivers in this Uber romance
November 15, 2014
the fire burning was interesting. kinda like the heat kate experienced by some townspeople. nikki was so bent on solving this. great book
May 13, 2015
Fun! A good start, with a nice base for future books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews