Nick Baker is not Izzy Rowland's type. Nick Smokes. Nick has tattoos. And she's a woman. Both women have every reason to keep it casual: Nick is looking for jobs across the country and Izzy, a public school teacher in conservative Alabama, is just one year away from tenure. But things rarely work out the way we plan. What starts as a no-strings summer fling gets complicated, Nick Baker is not Izzy Rowland's type. Nick Smokes. Nick has tattoos. And she's a woman. Both women have every reason to keep it casual: Nick is looking for jobs across the country and Izzy, a public school teacher in conservative Alabama, is just one year away from tenure. But things rarely work out the way we plan. What starts as a no-strings summer fling gets complicated, and soon Izzy starts to suspect that Nick is keeping a secret from her. ♥♥♥ The Backstage Romance series follows a group of interconnected couples as they navigate careers and relationships in the theater. Each book in the series can stand alone, but subsequent novels may contain spoilers for certain events in their predecessors. As such, reading in order is strongly recommended. 18+ F/F Pairing HEA Contains Triggers (Discussion of sexualized violence (No actual scenes of said violence) and Homophobia)
The Stage Manager (Backstage Romance)
Nick Baker is not Izzy Rowland's type. Nick Smokes. Nick has tattoos. And she's a woman. Both women have every reason to keep it casual: Nick is looking for jobs across the country and Izzy, a public school teacher in conservative Alabama, is just one year away from tenure. But things rarely work out the way we plan. What starts as a no-strings summer fling gets complicated, Nick Baker is not Izzy Rowland's type. Nick Smokes. Nick has tattoos. And she's a woman. Both women have every reason to keep it casual: Nick is looking for jobs across the country and Izzy, a public school teacher in conservative Alabama, is just one year away from tenure. But things rarely work out the way we plan. What starts as a no-strings summer fling gets complicated, and soon Izzy starts to suspect that Nick is keeping a secret from her. ♥♥♥ The Backstage Romance series follows a group of interconnected couples as they navigate careers and relationships in the theater. Each book in the series can stand alone, but subsequent novels may contain spoilers for certain events in their predecessors. As such, reading in order is strongly recommended. 18+ F/F Pairing HEA Contains Triggers (Discussion of sexualized violence (No actual scenes of said violence) and Homophobia)
Compare
Cynthia –
Pros: - decently written - kinda slow-burn (inasmuch as it's not suuuper insta-lust or insta-love, but in fact not really, see below) - the plot twists are kinda well-done - the homophobia is kinda well-done - the break-up/make-up is done with more realism and divergence from the formula than I expected Cons: - their sex life made me uncomfortable ((view spoiler)[basically, once they decide to casually fuck, all the scenes until the plot twist that makes them stop are of them fucking, and fucking in wa Pros: - decently written - kinda slow-burn (inasmuch as it's not suuuper insta-lust or insta-love, but in fact not really, see below) - the plot twists are kinda well-done - the homophobia is kinda well-done - the break-up/make-up is done with more realism and divergence from the formula than I expected Cons: - their sex life made me uncomfortable ((view spoiler)[basically, once they decide to casually fuck, all the scenes until the plot twist that makes them stop are of them fucking, and fucking in ways/locations – on that note, how did they not get caught in those situations............ – that feel like a power fantasy too often; and then we have them lying about not being in love with each other despite us having seen none of this development (hide spoiler)] ) - their power dynamic in relation to their sex life made me uncomfortable (stuff like the out lesbian keeping calling the innocent looking one "bunny rabbit" and saying she's a "freak" for merely reacting with desire despite looking innocent, but also we get 3 instances of the scarred experienced one liking something in a sexual context because it made her feel "powerful") - the need to put down most (especially the queer) women other than the central couple made me uncomfortable (having a "crazy bitch" ex, having the "you're not like the women I usually date", having all but one straight woman be extremely homophobic) - I'm not sure the (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)] plot twist, and all that goes with it, was necessary (even if it was well-done) - lack of queer people - weirdly slightly wrong understanding of other queer identities (the innocent MC thinking she might be ace when she doesn't like sex, despite experiencing attraction to people?, the experienced lesbian mentioning a non-binary girl instead of an androgynous girl probably – like she doesn't know them, how would she be able to tell they're non-binary if she sees them as a girl?) - I didn't find the ending realistic, which ugh fine it's a feel-good fiction but everything was geared for the opposite A lot of those cons are understandable due to the context (Birmingham, Alabama), so fine. The rest can be explained by the (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)] plot twist but like there's no commentary or further work on her part to unlearn/heal from this coping mechanism of a need for a power dynamic in their relationship, and the other one even likes it without any thought as to any unhealthiness to it, both in their relationship and her lover's coping mechanism (while we see the other coping mechanism dropped by the end), which then presents it as merely slight kinkiness and perfectly healthy.
Kayla Padilla –
Nice true-to-hearth story.
nerdy girl –
G. Ranea Hackworth –
Scott –
Sadie Coffey –
Celin –
JaimeL –
lisa moran –
remina ✧ –
Marc Ecton –
Diana –
Ilos Libris –
Shaindy –
Rebecca Ruddy –
Doreen –
m M –
telzeygirl –
Ilani K.wise –
Venus –
Debbye Campbell –
Angie Rayo –
Christina Hannah –
Mimi –
Nassy Shah –
Phoebe –
Rob Core –
RamenGrrl –
Emily –
Artem Lyskov –