By Design
by J.A. Armstrong
Pages: 117
Date: April 12 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: By Design (first in series)
Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 8 2015
For better or worse, I do not particularly like Candy and J.D. as much as I like Addy and Em. Not exactly sure why. I do like, though, how we finally have two lesbians involved. I'm so bloody tired of two women meeting, one is a lesbian, other isn't and then . . . ooh, I'm a lesbian, I just didn't know (that would be Em in that other series by Armstrong, who didn't realize she was a lesbian).
Right, so, both Senator Candy, and Architect J.D. are long time lesbians long before either meet. I'd make some age joke to lead into the age difference, but J.D. probably has been a lesbian longer than Candy. Since Candy only came out as a lesbian after she divorced her husband 12 or 17 years ago. Or however long ago it was.
Right, both lesbians. One's old enough to be the other's mother (Candy being something like 55, and J.D. is something like 35).
Interesting enough story. Well rounded. Well constructed characters, both in terms of the leads - J.D. and Sandy, and the sub-characters. For the most part. That was one of they annoying things, though. The huge number of characters. I didn't actually reread the opening chapter, but for a while there I feared I'd need to. Just so many people's names slamming into me right at the start. And J.D.'s connection to the Senator was needlessly complicated. Reminded me of Space Balls. When Dark Helmet (or whatever his name was) told the guy playing the parody of Luke that he was his . . . father . . .'s roommate's uncles, hairdresser's nephew (or something like that).
J.D. went to school with Steven. Steven's married to Dana. Dana works for Senator Candy. Senator Candy has been thinking of remodeling her house for 15 or so years. J.D. is an architect. That isn't too complicated, it was just a ton of names hitting me all at once and I couldn't figure out just what the fuck connection was immediately. And yes, more names were slamming into me at the same time. There was a Susan, I think, always in the mix. Maybe more.
The first story in that other Armstrong series really made me want to continue reading, to see where everything goes. This one, though, seems sufficiently self-contained and complete. I'll probably read the next two parts but . . . I'm less eager to do so this time.
Under Construction
by J.A. Armstrong
Pages: 92
Date: May 4 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: By Design (2nd in series)
Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 8 2015
Huh. I'm kind of surprised. After the first story in this series, I'm surprised by how much I loved this story here. I always seem to get smacked by family stories. Family gathering stories, I mean. Not really sure what that's about. If well written, I seem to end up loving them. Which is weird, because I don't think I actually like family gatherings.
Right. So. J.D. and Candy have their families over for a July 4th celebration. Meanwhile both are working really hard at work, while at the same time adjusting to being in a loving relationship with each other.
Meanwhile Candy's kids are adjusting to having J.D. in the family. Well, mostly Marianne, the oldest.
re: J.D. - I tend to try to use the names as used in stories/series. For a while there I thought it was going to be J.D. so I used that. I'm not sure anyone called her J.D. in this one. mmphs. hehe. Everyone was calling her Jameson. Ah well, I got stuck using J.D. so . . ..
Solid Foundation
by J.A. Armstrong
Pages: 105
Date: June 4 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: By Design (3rd in series)
Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 8 2015
A nice enough story. Some may wonder, who I don't know, why the rating dropped down from 5 stars from the previous story. Well, this was a nice enough story. Liked it even. Just didn't love it. Nothing really that I disliked, just nothing that pushed it into the "loved it" column.
I don't really have anything else to note, so I'll just leave it at that.
Rough Drafts
by J.A. Armstrong
Pages: 158
Date: August 26 2015
Publisher: Author
Series: By Design (4th in series)
Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: September 1 2015
Started out a little roughly. Mostly because I couldn't tell what was going on, who the people were. One of the problems of multiple series, when you pick up a series after a little bit, takes some time for everything to click back into place.
Well, it wasn't so much forgetting as it was a feeling that I had missed something. Story started off in a way that made me think I had forgotten to read something in between the last story I had read, and this one.
So. This story had three main story-lines. Candace is running for Governor. J.D. is working on a project that makes her interact with an individual named 'Scott'. A person she hasn't seen in a really long time, but one who she grew up with as best friends. One of Candace's kids turns up unexpectedly with, in their mind, embarrassing news.
A good solid addition to the series, baring my confusion at the beginning of the story.
