That Kind of Girl

by Erica Saltzman

Lex wants two things: a career as a Chemistry professor and marriage to her girlfriend, Jes. Instead, she has spent the past five years marking time.

When Lex receives an invitation to her friend Sarah’s baby shower, her situation is thrown into harsh perspective. Lex and Jes live in New York City, where Jes is a tenured professor and Lex works in a temporary research position she has long outgrown. Meanwhile, Sarah has steadily reached one milestone after another – marriage, career advancement, motherhood – and Lex longs for this settled success.

But Lex’s professional and romantic goals are at odds. Moving forward in her career means leaving New York and losing Jes. As Lex struggles, her world expands in unexpected ways. She makes new friends, finds new professional opportunities, and renews her relationship with her parents. Still, Lex’s problem remains: Jes – the only woman she has ever loved – has set herself between Lex and the life she wants.

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2022

About the author

Erica Saltzman writes stories about flawed people doing their best. She's a former software developer and research scientist who now spends her time reading, writing, and helping other people bring their books to life.

Reviews

[Diane (IF U'RE PRIVATE, PLEASE SKIP ME!!!) Wallace]

**'Having the chutzpah to tell a great story at any given time is the single most powerful weapon in a writer's mind...'

3.5stars!
A nice story --- even though the overall context dealt with this toxic relationship and how not to get involve with a narcissistic and self-centered person. One of the leads (Lex) needed to stop being so co-dependent and get her autonomy in order to move on. Readers also need to know that there's no bonking going on just the after interactions. Still a recommended book!

[Kay read by Gloria]

"I read a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy from BookSirens of, That Kind of Girl by Erica Saltzman. I am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review.” I started reading with excitement as I read several 4 or 5-star reviews. By chapter 5 the story had pushed me away. The two main characters each had their own issues. The first problem for me was the feeling I was reading a negative heteronormative book, about a relationship that should end. I felt like I was swallowed up in the 1950s by both characters. Their attitudes and inability to truly communicate with each other or anyone kept pulling me down. I understand all romance is not a success but this was a train wreck for me right off. These women are old enough not to be hiding who they are from their families.
The story is all angst and no upside by chapter 5 I did not care what happened to either one. I plodded along finding myself even disliking the secondary characters. It did not work for me on any level
I do admit “That Kind of Girl” was well written and very well detained. I had great background on the characters. 1 star

[Cindy Stein]

Lex has been in a postdoc chemistry position at Columbia U for 5 years, not progressing in her career in order to stay in NYC with her gf, Jes, an accomplished tenured professor. An invitation to Lex's best friend's baby shower in a suburb of Chicago sets off a contrast between Lex's stagnant life and her friend's many milestones. But Lex wants to stay with Jes, even though Jes has been creating distance between them and won't engage in a conversation about Lex's career or their future as a couple. What complicates the situation is that Lex has never come out to her parents in Indiana, a sore point for Jes. A fight over Lex's trip to the baby shower becomes the catalyst for a series of painful changes that move the story along to its end.

This book is written in the first person, present tense in Lex's voice. The voice is strong and the book hooked me immediately. It was difficult to read about a dysfunctional relationship. Jes is portrayed as narcissistic and Lex is a bit of a codependent caretaker who hasn't come into her own. The book, of course, is focused on Lex's arc of change.

I'm going with 4 stars and not 5 for two reasons. I wanted to know more about Jes, her past relationships and why she was even in this relationship with Lex to begin with. This, of course, is harder to do within Lex's POV, but the author gave us a lot of backstory about Lex and we could have benefitted from what Lex know about Jes' past. Instead, Jes is drawn as a typical, arrogant, self-centered professor (possibly someone from the author's past) and even a brief rapprochement didn't increase my sympathy for her. My second reservation has to do with sex. There are many references to sex in the book, but no sex scenes. This is normally fine, but a sex scene between Jes and Lex could have given a reader much more insight into their relationship and their connection. And the other referenced sex scene with a secondary character could have provided more insight as well. These were lost opportunities.

It's ironic that both books I've read with this particular cover (Women in Gray and this one) explore serious dysfunctions in relationships and the struggle of the main protagonist to overcome them. I guess it's a good cover for that kind of book.

[Veronica Gavilanes]

Alexandra is a scientist who has been working as a postdoc at Columbia University and living with her girlfriend Jes in her fancy apartment in New York City for five years. When the invitation to her best friend Sarah's baby shower, conflict emerges between self-conscious Alex and dominant Jes. This apparently minor issue makes Alex reconsider the dynamics within her relationship and her professional goals. However, making the changes she would need to feel fulfilled could mean losing everything she already has.

What I liked: This is a very good book, I was hooked from the beginning because the introduction was quick and easy to follow. The characters' development was good and I actually cared about what was going to happen. Sometimes Alexandra exasperated me a little because she was a push-over, but that made her process of self-discovery more engaging for me as a reader. I also enjoyed that the book explored a same-sex romantic relationship with unbalanced dynamics of power.

(I'd like to thank BookSirens and the author, since I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)

[Hannah]

I really liked this book! It was written in an engaging way, the characters were realistic and human. A wonderful story!

(I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)

[Kyra || sylverbooks]

"But just as the five years slipped by with so little variation that they felt so short, these last two weeks have been so full of change that they feel longer."

This book had such a melancholy in-the-city vibe and was a very addicting read. The first-person narration was a little jarring at first, but I soon became wrapped up in Lex's life. Lex is a postdoc in a chemistry lab at the university where her girlfriend is a professor. Their relationship is the type of toxic that breaks your heart - it's so easy to see from the outside that they are bad for each other, but reading how much Lex was trying and how desperate she was for this life to work for her was truly something else.

I love the way Saltzman didn't shy away from the struggle, both personally and professionally for Lex. Her character development was slow - and sad - but very real.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Doc Jeanne]

I just loved this book! Not a spoiler, but it really represented so vividly and honestly how a power dynamic can create such a divide and impact a relationship so greatly. It was a wonderful example of how women (in all types of relationships) are often raised to not rock the boat and illustrated how coming out is a personal and private experience, not to be demanded or forced upon people by others… This book was funny and real and the emotional ups/downs could and do happen in straight relationships, too. One is at the top of their game and the other is just professionally marking time trying not to rock the boat, but wondering when their time will come?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Nathalie]

This book has such realistic characters. It's about Lex and Jes who let life get in the way of themselves as individuals and as a couple. Feeling out of touch, Lex isn't too sure about what it all means and what she wants to change.

I really liked the MC although her gf is a tough cookie to crack.

This book will make you look at your own decisions while trying to figure out how they will get out of this stuck cycle they have found themselves in.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.