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Kate & Jay #1
The Price of Fame
When local television news anchor Katherine Kyle is thrust into the national spotlight, it sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever.
Jamison "Jay" Parker is an intensely career-driven Time magazine reporter; she has experienced love once, from afar, and given up on finding it again...That is, until circumstance and an assignment bring her into contact with her past.
Kate and Jay's lives intertwine, leading them on a journey to love and happiness, until fate and fame threaten to tear them apart.
What is the price of fame? For Kate the cost just might be everything. For Jay, the price could be the other half of her soul.
Jamison "Jay" Parker is an intensely career-driven Time magazine reporter; she has experienced love once, from afar, and given up on finding it again...That is, until circumstance and an assignment bring her into contact with her past.
Kate and Jay's lives intertwine, leading them on a journey to love and happiness, until fate and fame threaten to tear them apart.
What is the price of fame? For Kate the cost just might be everything. For Jay, the price could be the other half of her soul.
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
29 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Ames
29 books286 followersLynn Ames is the best-selling author of sixteen books. She also is the writer/director/producer of the history-making documentary, “Extra Innings.” This historically important documentary chronicles, for the first time ever in her own words, the real-life story of Hall-of-Famer Dot Wilkinson and the heyday of women’s softball.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 22, 2021
Kate and Jay.
I listened to this series a while ago. It was on the audible plus catalogue and I didn't intend to do a review, but I thought about how much I love it, so I decided to pen down a few words about the narrator and this series.
Emily Beresford is an underrated narrator in the lesfic scene. I don't see her name around as much as some of the other narrators but she has a voice that I absolutely adore and she does sappy stories incredibly well. And my gosh, did I swoon every single time she did Kate's voice.
This series is incredibly sappy and there's a lot of action. There are plenty of conspiracies and "run for your life" plots that left some readers wondering why the story's so dramatic. But this reminded me of Melissa Good's Dar and Kerry series. I think it's the similar time period and Kate reminds me of Dar just a little. And I ended up enjoying Kate and Jay's journey a lot - their love story (I love sappy!) and the troubles that seem to follow them wherever they go. But looking from the GR ratings, I think I enjoyed it a whole lot more than some of the others did.
This is a four-part series and I'm giving the first three audiobooks five stars because of how incredibly entertained I was, even though I feel like I need to say that it bothers me how the situation with Jay's parents never got resolved properly. The fourth book is a cross between the Kate and Jay series and All That Lies Between, which I'd likely rate separately.
I'm going to listen to another Beresford-narrated book written by another author soon so let's see if her voice works as well for other types of stories.
I listened to this series a while ago. It was on the audible plus catalogue and I didn't intend to do a review, but I thought about how much I love it, so I decided to pen down a few words about the narrator and this series.
Emily Beresford is an underrated narrator in the lesfic scene. I don't see her name around as much as some of the other narrators but she has a voice that I absolutely adore and she does sappy stories incredibly well. And my gosh, did I swoon every single time she did Kate's voice.
This series is incredibly sappy and there's a lot of action. There are plenty of conspiracies and "run for your life" plots that left some readers wondering why the story's so dramatic. But this reminded me of Melissa Good's Dar and Kerry series. I think it's the similar time period and Kate reminds me of Dar just a little. And I ended up enjoying Kate and Jay's journey a lot - their love story (I love sappy!) and the troubles that seem to follow them wherever they go. But looking from the GR ratings, I think I enjoyed it a whole lot more than some of the others did.
This is a four-part series and I'm giving the first three audiobooks five stars because of how incredibly entertained I was, even though I feel like I need to say that it bothers me how the situation with Jay's parents never got resolved properly. The fourth book is a cross between the Kate and Jay series and All That Lies Between, which I'd likely rate separately.
I'm going to listen to another Beresford-narrated book written by another author soon so let's see if her voice works as well for other types of stories.
March 5, 2017
This is so bad. It's so poorly written, it gave me the same second hand embarrassment feelings you get watching middle school children try and put on a play. Their acting is over the top and cheesy, predictable, and usually just plain bad. That's the writing I this book. The dialogue is cliched and overwrought, the plot points are excessively dramatic, and the characters are completely unbelievable and do not represent what anyone is like in real life.
The beginning of this book starts with an explosion at a government building, which seems like it might be an important plot point, but actually only serves as the background for the book's "meet cute" moment. That's like trying to hammer a nail into a piece of wood using a full swing from a sledge hammer. Talk about over kill. There are several other shockingly dramatic events in the lives of these two women which don't tie well together and only seem to exist so the author has the opportunity to write Kate as gallant, protective, unselfish, and a stereotype of the "perfect partner" (that no one would actually want because there's no room to be in a relationship with her, you'd just be hers).
I'm shocked this is a series. I can't imagine what more I would want to read about these two, because even in this one book every obstacle they confronted only led to them learning the same lessons they should have learned from the previous obstacle. There was no character growth in this.
The beginning of this book starts with an explosion at a government building, which seems like it might be an important plot point, but actually only serves as the background for the book's "meet cute" moment. That's like trying to hammer a nail into a piece of wood using a full swing from a sledge hammer. Talk about over kill. There are several other shockingly dramatic events in the lives of these two women which don't tie well together and only seem to exist so the author has the opportunity to write Kate as gallant, protective, unselfish, and a stereotype of the "perfect partner" (that no one would actually want because there's no room to be in a relationship with her, you'd just be hers).
I'm shocked this is a series. I can't imagine what more I would want to read about these two, because even in this one book every obstacle they confronted only led to them learning the same lessons they should have learned from the previous obstacle. There was no character growth in this.
July 2, 2016
This book was OK, but could not hold a candle to some of the other Lynn Ames books I have read. I think part of the issue was this book was written around 12 years ago. So much has changed since then, that some of the same things would not have even happened today. Like one of the characters losing her job for being gay, talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen. I think if I would have read this back 12 yrs ago, when I was 22, this book would have meant and felt more to me and I would have rated it higher. With all the brilliant LesFic authors and books available nowadays, The Price of Fame, falls short.
The romance was way over the top, love at first sight, let's get married after 2 weeks. Not my favorite LesFic trope. Because of that, their whole relationship became a bit unbelievable to me.
When it comes to the characters, I liked both of the MC's. But with the character of Jay, she has had many horrific things happen in her past, and the book just sort of glossed over it. I though Ames missed the chance to delve deeper into her character.
While this book didn't really hold up for me, I'm still tempted to read book 2, but only if I really have the time. I will continue to read Ames's other books though.
The romance was way over the top, love at first sight, let's get married after 2 weeks. Not my favorite LesFic trope. Because of that, their whole relationship became a bit unbelievable to me.
When it comes to the characters, I liked both of the MC's. But with the character of Jay, she has had many horrific things happen in her past, and the book just sort of glossed over it. I though Ames missed the chance to delve deeper into her character.
While this book didn't really hold up for me, I'm still tempted to read book 2, but only if I really have the time. I will continue to read Ames's other books though.
July 30, 2022
I pick up books based on the feeling of the moment and a brief peruse, and by the time I get to read/hear it, I forgot what it was about and I let myself be surprised.
So this was not what I was expecting, but instead, much better: the start of a beautiful love story between Kate and Jay, two career-oriented women who had met earlier on in their lives and are serendipitously reunited.
Without spoiling the plot, I will just say that I enjoyed the selflessness one of these women displays when the career crunch comes, "the price of fame", even though a conversation about it would have been better, but anyway, her choice creates the kind of romantic friction that gives their love/ relationship an epic dimension, so I understand the author's choice in making it so.
I enjoyed this! I'll read some more.
Also very well narrated by Emily Beresford.
So this was not what I was expecting, but instead, much better: the start of a beautiful love story between Kate and Jay, two career-oriented women who had met earlier on in their lives and are serendipitously reunited.
Without spoiling the plot, I will just say that I enjoyed the selflessness one of these women displays when the career crunch comes, "the price of fame", even though a conversation about it would have been better, but anyway, her choice creates the kind of romantic friction that gives their love/ relationship an epic dimension, so I understand the author's choice in making it so.
I enjoyed this! I'll read some more.
Also very well narrated by Emily Beresford.
April 10, 2016
The Price of Fame is one of the most ridiculous romance books I've read. It's astonishing to me that the author who wrote "All That Lies Within" (which I adored) also wrote this book. Everything in this story was just so over the top. It honestly felt like the author wasn't sure how to progress a book or a relationship without tragedy or drama.
Like, let's look at some of the first few scenes with Jay (one of the two main characters): she's nearly killed in a skiing accident, she's nearly raped by some random guy, the reader find outs she *was* raped for 10 years by her dad with her mother doing nothing, and she watches helplessly as a stalker nearly murders her love interest. I mean really? I get that people want some conflicts in a book but the entire thing is basically these really morbid situations over and over and over again.
As if that wasn't bad enough - the core relationship was just completely unbelievable and is literally the most absurd "love at first sight" pairing I've ever seen. I can't fathom two people falling in love without even speaking to the other simply by looking at each other after one of them is severely injured and is possibly suffering from a concussion... Furthermore, the author basically uses the idea of a "soul mate" to the fullest extent possible. Like, the characters are connected at some deeper level and they can feel each others pain across great distances. When they have sex, it's like their souls are merging - which is, of course, described in an exceedingly cheesy way.
By the time the 80% point rolled around and I saw the start of the final "conflict," I pretty much gave up. I just didn't have it in me to continue reading about yet another ludicrous situation involving trust issues and betrayal. I ended up skimming through the remainder and it was *even worse* than I expected: one of the women betrays the other and then the person who was betrayed ends up begging to be forgiven for not trusting the first when the first betrayed them to begin with. What??? I don't even. You have the inevitable make up of course - but it's short lived as it ends on a dramatic cliffhanger that makes you realize even more awful things are about to happen.
If you want to read an unhappy book that shows some of the first steps of an author figuring out how to develop characters or create a plot - perhaps this story would be of interest to you (I know I found it fascinating, in a strange sort of way, to see how much the author progressed over the years). However, if you're wanting a cute romance story with realistic characters and pleasant dialogue you should definitely look elsewhere.
Like, let's look at some of the first few scenes with Jay (one of the two main characters): she's nearly killed in a skiing accident, she's nearly raped by some random guy, the reader find outs she *was* raped for 10 years by her dad with her mother doing nothing, and she watches helplessly as a stalker nearly murders her love interest. I mean really? I get that people want some conflicts in a book but the entire thing is basically these really morbid situations over and over and over again.
As if that wasn't bad enough - the core relationship was just completely unbelievable and is literally the most absurd "love at first sight" pairing I've ever seen. I can't fathom two people falling in love without even speaking to the other simply by looking at each other after one of them is severely injured and is possibly suffering from a concussion... Furthermore, the author basically uses the idea of a "soul mate" to the fullest extent possible. Like, the characters are connected at some deeper level and they can feel each others pain across great distances. When they have sex, it's like their souls are merging - which is, of course, described in an exceedingly cheesy way.
By the time the 80% point rolled around and I saw the start of the final "conflict," I pretty much gave up. I just didn't have it in me to continue reading about yet another ludicrous situation involving trust issues and betrayal. I ended up skimming through the remainder and it was *even worse* than I expected: one of the women betrays the other and then the person who was betrayed ends up begging to be forgiven for not trusting the first when the first betrayed them to begin with. What??? I don't even. You have the inevitable make up of course - but it's short lived as it ends on a dramatic cliffhanger that makes you realize even more awful things are about to happen.
If you want to read an unhappy book that shows some of the first steps of an author figuring out how to develop characters or create a plot - perhaps this story would be of interest to you (I know I found it fascinating, in a strange sort of way, to see how much the author progressed over the years). However, if you're wanting a cute romance story with realistic characters and pleasant dialogue you should definitely look elsewhere.
February 2, 2020
The Price of Fame by Lynn Ames is the first book in her series featuring Kate and Jay. I first encountered them in the latest installment, the standalone novel Final Cut, and enjoyed coming back to the beginning to read about how they got together 30 years prior.
Kate and Jay have it all: they’re brilliant, beautiful, talented women who are at the top of their respective careers. Just when it looks like they might be too perfect, we see that they also each have their own flaws, especially around communication. Their snappy banter is particularly endearing and worth the price of the book alone.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/price...
Kate and Jay have it all: they’re brilliant, beautiful, talented women who are at the top of their respective careers. Just when it looks like they might be too perfect, we see that they also each have their own flaws, especially around communication. Their snappy banter is particularly endearing and worth the price of the book alone.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/price...
November 22, 2020
I binge-read multiple book of this writer last week for the first time.
This was her debut work and it had a very strong movie vibe.
The multiple coincidental meeting between the main are a bit too-much, but the action is really well pace though the drama goes overboard and I really hate it when one character don't to talk to the other one and makes unilateral decision.
Last I heard, it takes two to tango and that's how relationships works!
This was her debut work and it had a very strong movie vibe.
The multiple coincidental meeting between the main are a bit too-much, but the action is really well pace though the drama goes overboard and I really hate it when one character don't to talk to the other one and makes unilateral decision.
Last I heard, it takes two to tango and that's how relationships works!
September 1, 2014
Really really cheesy and over the top. I like romance, but all the soulmate stuff and feeling each others pain when they weren't even together, was a bit much! I didn't like the way the women kept being described as 'the writer' or the 'anchorwoman' and also ' the short women' or the 'tall women'. Why not just use their names? That being said I probably will read the sequel just to see if it gets better. An okay read if you like your books seriously mushy.
June 23, 2020
Overall I enjoyed the book, although I can understand why some people didn’t. The problem is the author has tried too hard to pack in everything she could think of to make the story interesting. She turned up everything including the emotion to 11 when she might have been better turning it down a bit.
Once I accepted that this was over-the-top and just went with the flow it became a very easy read. That’s not to say there aren’t problems with the book. At times it is quite ‘cheesy’ and some of the things that happened were beyond ridiculous. It would be very easy to criticise the book for a lack of realism, but given the times we live in, it might be that what I needed was a bit of escapism.
One thing I did struggle with, was when was this story set. There are obvious clues with nobody using mobile phones or email, but some of the attitudes were so Victorian.
In the end I have given three stars although the way the author had Katie having a complete loss of intelligence and behaving like a petulant toddler towards the end of the book, I might have only given two.
Once I accepted that this was over-the-top and just went with the flow it became a very easy read. That’s not to say there aren’t problems with the book. At times it is quite ‘cheesy’ and some of the things that happened were beyond ridiculous. It would be very easy to criticise the book for a lack of realism, but given the times we live in, it might be that what I needed was a bit of escapism.
One thing I did struggle with, was when was this story set. There are obvious clues with nobody using mobile phones or email, but some of the attitudes were so Victorian.
In the end I have given three stars although the way the author had Katie having a complete loss of intelligence and behaving like a petulant toddler towards the end of the book, I might have only given two.
September 21, 2022
Too much trauma.
September 23, 2023
Giving this the 5th star because the touches on abuse and insecurities was well depicted, it isn't a situation i have seen authors present often and if they do just not well presented. There is a lot of mushy love in here and to be sincere, the loving crazed hormone era is indeed mushy so i forgive.
It is a series so as annoying and unexpected as the ending was, it occurred to me the developing story will come up in the next book and i look forward to it.
It is a series so as annoying and unexpected as the ending was, it occurred to me the developing story will come up in the next book and i look forward to it.
September 14, 2021
I originally read this book on a Xena Fan Fiction website. This book would be considered Uber Xena Fan Fiction. Once I realizes it is a published book, I purchased the book on Kindle and re-read it. The published version fleshed out important parts of the book and was even more enjoyable than the free version. I see echos of other storylines in other Uber Xena Fan Fiction and with Xena Fan Fiction as well. This characters have similarities to the original characters but are unique to this series as well. I enjoyed getting to know them. This is a love story and is set in its time period as well. I enjoyed it so much I purchased all 4 books in the series. I will be checking out this authors other books as well.
December 8, 2016
Wow
Lynn Ames can take you on a great adventure. I loved the storyline of Kate and Jay. Kate being Jays knight in shinning Armor. There were a few times I wanted to punch both of them. But I think these two have become one of my favorite couples. I would definitely recommend this book.
Lynn Ames can take you on a great adventure. I loved the storyline of Kate and Jay. Kate being Jays knight in shinning Armor. There were a few times I wanted to punch both of them. But I think these two have become one of my favorite couples. I would definitely recommend this book.
Read
June 10, 2015Excellent story!
This book has everything in it, romance, a powerful love affair, two strong women, soulmates, full of emotions. I like the flashbacks, it shows how their paths crossed several times. The story left me breathless and I long for more. Wow, what a story!
This book has everything in it, romance, a powerful love affair, two strong women, soulmates, full of emotions. I like the flashbacks, it shows how their paths crossed several times. The story left me breathless and I long for more. Wow, what a story!
February 28, 2019
Kate and Jay Book 1
I love this book. The plot flowed nicely, and the characters were beautifully written. Can’t wait to read more stories in this series by this accomplished author!
I love this book. The plot flowed nicely, and the characters were beautifully written. Can’t wait to read more stories in this series by this accomplished author!
March 14, 2019
I loved this book so much I immediately got the next one I had to see how Kate and Jay were making out, I have to admit that it took me a couple of chapters to get into this story but once I was in it I couldn’t wait to pick it back up
April 28, 2021
Cute, if not a bit dramatic.
April 2, 2021
Audiobook narrated by Emily Beresford. Older book written when there were no cell phones but had payphones, VCR's, Greenwich Village. Lots of miscommunication between Kate and Jay that one hoped wouldn't leave a cliffhanger. I did enjoy the story where I could not stop listening until the end, after midnight.
September 5, 2017
I finally did it. I acquired a book by Lynn Ames. I've been putting it off for years because I don't enjoy a)romance novels, b) lesbian romance novels, or c) beach reads. That said, I'm probably being unfair for giving it one star, but damn! Even for the genre, it was so painful to listen to. From the dull mini-bantering sessions meant to give the reader some sense of the couple's playful side to the stilted, unrealistic declarations of love to the ridiculous coincidences the author thought necessary to further the plot, this book made me wince, cringe, roll my eyes and actually cry the word "seriously" out loud more times than I care to remember.
I should mention that I listened to the audio book, and even the reader was annoying - at first - her voice was a little too high pitched and also because she read too fast, but as it went on, I came to appreciate the time she was saving me, which ended up earning this book the second star. The fact that this is the first book in a series boggles the mind. I can't imagine listening to anything more about these two.
I am an editor for a small publisher, and a lesbian so it hurts me to thoroughly trash a book, and I feel that I should say something positive. So I will grant that it took 12 years to get to this book, and in that time, I can only assume that the author has evolved. After all, it does seem like she is a prolific writer with many fans of the genre, and practice usually makes perfect. That said, I'd be hard pressed to give this author another read, any time soon, without a serious recommendation from someone who hated this book but likes some of Ames current writing.
I should mention that I listened to the audio book, and even the reader was annoying - at first - her voice was a little too high pitched and also because she read too fast, but as it went on, I came to appreciate the time she was saving me, which ended up earning this book the second star. The fact that this is the first book in a series boggles the mind. I can't imagine listening to anything more about these two.
I am an editor for a small publisher, and a lesbian so it hurts me to thoroughly trash a book, and I feel that I should say something positive. So I will grant that it took 12 years to get to this book, and in that time, I can only assume that the author has evolved. After all, it does seem like she is a prolific writer with many fans of the genre, and practice usually makes perfect. That said, I'd be hard pressed to give this author another read, any time soon, without a serious recommendation from someone who hated this book but likes some of Ames current writing.
March 26, 2018
Things I wondered as I listened to this.
1. Has the author ever been closeted? I have never met a person living with that fear that acted like the main character. Completely unbelievable.
2. Pacing and tone made no sense. It felt off all the time.
3. Narrator wasn’t very good. Her tone was off all the time as well.
The only reason I finished it was to figure out why people liked it. I was happy to see them get together in the end but not enough interest to read the rest of the series.
Overall it felt amateur. It doesn’t reflect what it was like to be gay in the 80’s or even the 90’s. It would have been a bit better if set in the 2000’s. Maybe the tone wouldn’t have been so distracting.
This was a disappointing book.
1. Has the author ever been closeted? I have never met a person living with that fear that acted like the main character. Completely unbelievable.
2. Pacing and tone made no sense. It felt off all the time.
3. Narrator wasn’t very good. Her tone was off all the time as well.
The only reason I finished it was to figure out why people liked it. I was happy to see them get together in the end but not enough interest to read the rest of the series.
Overall it felt amateur. It doesn’t reflect what it was like to be gay in the 80’s or even the 90’s. It would have been a bit better if set in the 2000’s. Maybe the tone wouldn’t have been so distracting.
This was a disappointing book.
August 20, 2021
A Love Story the Grabs Your Heart Fast and Keeps it Pounding Nicely!!!
Immediately immersed in a timeless Love story one identifies easily with the emotionally wounded main characters and with this author's skilled storytelling we breathe every moment of this highly emotive tale. The portrayal of the wounds left behind by child abuse was both tastefully and delicately done and the travails of overcoming the aftermath in adulthood were deftly and compassionately written within. One salutes this effort with the FIVE STARS rating it deserves! Thank-you!!
Immediately immersed in a timeless Love story one identifies easily with the emotionally wounded main characters and with this author's skilled storytelling we breathe every moment of this highly emotive tale. The portrayal of the wounds left behind by child abuse was both tastefully and delicately done and the travails of overcoming the aftermath in adulthood were deftly and compassionately written within. One salutes this effort with the FIVE STARS rating it deserves! Thank-you!!
December 17, 2020
I enjoyed this book and really don't understand why others feel it was that bad? I read one of the author's other books which led me to this one. I think that unless the readers had to endure the discrimination that many of the community had to go through just for loving in those days, they can't understand this story. I attribute this to be why they did not like the book but I think the overall books success proves that.
I am looking forward to the next book in Kate's and Jay's story.
I am looking forward to the next book in Kate's and Jay's story.
May 19, 2013
Well, not one of my favourite stories. I had to skip several pages in order to able able to finish it up. I felt it was an old-time story - I think it was written before year 2000 which is not so long ago but still, things have changed so fast as far as LGBT rights are concerned.
August 24, 2020
read the whole series on a run.. awesome story line, great characters and way to good to put down. I love happy endings, since there is such a challenge in life and I love Ms. Ames writing.. a great place to withdraw from the world and still be in it.
May 13, 2019
Very good, well paced. I enjoyed the development of the characters and their interactions.
July 26, 2020
Couldn’t wait to get the next in series.
April 28, 2021
I had never been motivated to write a review before I listened to this book. But never before has a book made me angry with the way the writer treats her own characters. So I wrote this some time ago, and set it aside while I read and reviewed a few books that didn't have that effect on me. This is going to be a spoilerific review, and I can't decide yet whether I'll be able to hide spoilers or will need to hide the entire review. Probably the latter. The reason for the anger with the writer is definitely spoilerish and I will get to that later.
First, this book should be called "Mary Sue loves Mary Sue." Primary Sue (Kate) is a TV anchorwoman (who is the highest grossing, most beautiful anchor in Albany, NY, and who is also the best reporter on staff), who's the only reporter covering a major terrorist event, and steps from her reporter's role to rescue civilians while buildings are collapsing around her. She was a model student who also served in skiing rescue, and (at another time) fought and subdued an armed rapist, saving the victim and heroically putting the victim's needs before her own as she was losing blood from a knife wound.
She becomes the subject of a front-page Time Magazine article, which is written by Secondary Sue, which becomes an expected and not-too-badly-handled plot point, except that the writer inexplicably doesn't give her boss a few words that would have made everything perfectly okay.
She's a master sailor, and when the story mentioned a tennis court I knew before hearing the fact that she was a tennis expert who had taught others how to play.
Secondary Sue (Jay) is a novelist who's waiting for her big publishing break by flipping bur... uh, no, by being on staff at Time Magazine, writing a front-page article about the Governor of New York. She and Kate are always the two most beautiful women in any room, but Jay doesn't recognize this in herself due to past trauma.
Jay has a history of being saved by Kate and has loved her since the first occasion, though has inexplicably taken pride in never seeking her out or learning anything about her, though they were at the same university. Neither did Kate follow up with Jay .
Jay is slightly less of a Mary Sue than Kate, but is just as perfect when called upon.
When the two discover their mutual love, there's no hesitation and no development. They each promise undying, eternal love, support and trust - then each oddly doesn't seem to be able to believe that the other would really want to live with her. That could have been handled much better with some emotional progression, but compared to the other problems, the love story is comparatively okay (and the reason I could give the book a second star).
The two major problems, beyond the unbelievable perfection of the protagonists, are heavily spoilerific, so I will tag everything else.
I've seen other reviews that list these or similar issues with the writing, but say that it's worth continuing with the series and other writings of Ms. Ames. Maybe if I'd read one of them first I'd be able to see that this first novel isn't representative. As it is, I don't think I can read another Lynn Ames book.
First, this book should be called "Mary Sue loves Mary Sue." Primary Sue (Kate) is a TV anchorwoman (who is the highest grossing, most beautiful anchor in Albany, NY, and who is also the best reporter on staff), who's the only reporter covering a major terrorist event, and steps from her reporter's role to rescue civilians while buildings are collapsing around her. She was a model student who also served in skiing rescue, and (at another time) fought and subdued an armed rapist, saving the victim and heroically putting the victim's needs before her own as she was losing blood from a knife wound.
She becomes the subject of a front-page Time Magazine article, which is written by Secondary Sue, which becomes an expected and not-too-badly-handled plot point, except that the writer inexplicably doesn't give her boss a few words that would have made everything perfectly okay.
She's a master sailor, and when the story mentioned a tennis court I knew before hearing the fact that she was a tennis expert who had taught others how to play.
Secondary Sue (Jay) is a novelist who's waiting for her big publishing break by flipping bur... uh, no, by being on staff at Time Magazine, writing a front-page article about the Governor of New York. She and Kate are always the two most beautiful women in any room, but Jay doesn't recognize this in herself due to past trauma.
Jay has a history of being saved by Kate and has loved her since the first occasion, though has inexplicably taken pride in never seeking her out or learning anything about her, though they were at the same university. Neither did Kate follow up with Jay .
Jay is slightly less of a Mary Sue than Kate, but is just as perfect when called upon.
When the two discover their mutual love, there's no hesitation and no development. They each promise undying, eternal love, support and trust - then each oddly doesn't seem to be able to believe that the other would really want to live with her. That could have been handled much better with some emotional progression, but compared to the other problems, the love story is comparatively okay (and the reason I could give the book a second star).
The two major problems, beyond the unbelievable perfection of the protagonists, are heavily spoilerific, so I will tag everything else.
I've seen other reviews that list these or similar issues with the writing, but say that it's worth continuing with the series and other writings of Ms. Ames. Maybe if I'd read one of them first I'd be able to see that this first novel isn't representative. As it is, I don't think I can read another Lynn Ames book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2022
I hated every second of this book; I guess you get what you pay for in FREE AUDIBLE BOOKS. Never have I ever read such drivel. I mean, my God, what the fuck? Firstly, the author, I guess fearing that she will never have it in her to write another book ever, stuffed this novel with every dramatic action you can think of. Hit and runs, sexual assault, sexual abuse, bombings, stalkers, muggings, and that was only in the first half: I didn't even finish the damn thing. Secondly, I guess in order to make it to each of these epic events, she decided to cut down on character growth and development and even introduction. Like, who the fuck even are these characters? I don't know 'em, do you? They have throwaway lines about what they do and what they like, but that isn't a character. That doesn't tell me anything about them, it just plays into some convenient plot point the author thinks we will think is interesting or sweet. SPOILER: they aren't.
The only positive thing I can take away from this garbage is the fact that I have been too hard on other lesfic authors in the past. Georgia Beers, Radclyffe, I am sorry. I did not know the error of my ways. Your works, though flawed are human and entertaining and make sense at least. I expected more from you, but now I know what less is. I will have to re-rate some of your books, for now I know what true failure is.
I just can't bash this book enough. It reads like bad fan-fiction; like an eight graders first attempt at writing a full length feature. How in the hell did this get published? How did the author amass a following/fanbase? It is so poorly put together that I am astounded. I have created an entirely new shelf for it: The Worst Book Ever shelf. Sure, I'm sure other books will have the disgraced honor of joining it (I have a few in mind already) but this book shall always be their leader. When they sit in their corners in their niche they will know that it was this book's atrocity that gave them a home and a shelf to call their own.
0/5
The only positive thing I can take away from this garbage is the fact that I have been too hard on other lesfic authors in the past. Georgia Beers, Radclyffe, I am sorry. I did not know the error of my ways. Your works, though flawed are human and entertaining and make sense at least. I expected more from you, but now I know what less is. I will have to re-rate some of your books, for now I know what true failure is.
I just can't bash this book enough. It reads like bad fan-fiction; like an eight graders first attempt at writing a full length feature. How in the hell did this get published? How did the author amass a following/fanbase? It is so poorly put together that I am astounded. I have created an entirely new shelf for it: The Worst Book Ever shelf. Sure, I'm sure other books will have the disgraced honor of joining it (I have a few in mind already) but this book shall always be their leader. When they sit in their corners in their niche they will know that it was this book's atrocity that gave them a home and a shelf to call their own.
0/5
August 20, 2018
No es mi tipo de libro. Cuál? El que se ademeja a un dramón de telenovela en el que todo le pasa a las protagonistas. El drama no es lo mío.
Otra de las cosas que no me gustaron fue que a menos de una semana de estar juntas las protagonistas ya se estaban declarando amor eterno! Está bien, se "conocían" de años atras, pero de los 3 encuentros previos hablaron 2 veces y en circunstancias especiales. Pero lo peor es cuando una de ellas decide inilateralmente tomar cierta decisión que sabe va a lastimar a la otra, pero como ella tiene complejo de héroe y sabe qué hay que hacer mejor que nadie....
No estoy segura que vaya a leer las continuaciones.
Otra de las cosas que no me gustaron fue que a menos de una semana de estar juntas las protagonistas ya se estaban declarando amor eterno! Está bien, se "conocían" de años atras, pero de los 3 encuentros previos hablaron 2 veces y en circunstancias especiales. Pero lo peor es cuando una de ellas decide inilateralmente tomar cierta decisión que sabe va a lastimar a la otra, pero como ella tiene complejo de héroe y sabe qué hay que hacer mejor que nadie....
No estoy segura que vaya a leer las continuaciones.
April 10, 2023
Fairly old, but it holds up fairly well. I’m looking forward to reading stories written more recently! Also, I’m an audio book reader. This book says it was exclusively recorded for Audible. I really liked the narrator.
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