Out of Order by Lynn Galli

Out of Order by Lynn Galli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is one of those books wherein I loved the characters but . . . wasn’t as enamored with the story they inhabited. There was a story, and it was readable, just not an exciting thrilling story.

I’m not going to do a whole long wrap-up. It is a short story after all.

Lindsay St. James works for the Mayor of a town as a ‘fixit’ person, the person who tries to manage crises generated by the actions of the mayor (and, I suppose, those around her). She has a friend who is a lawyer and works in the public defender’s office (I think his name is something like Yoshi), another friend who is a traveling marketing dude (Thad; rarely seen), and then the three friends from college who Lindsay has nothing really in common with (she is the token lesbian of the group; the name to know of these three bad friends is ‘Valerie’ – niece of Thad), and who she is attempting to disengage from. Though they are kind of not noticing her disengaging. Until I wrote that part right there about her friends, I hadn’t noticed that her two ‘good’ friends are male, and her horrible and disgusting, and maybe even homophobic friends are female. Probably didn’t notice because one of the main themes of this book is watching Lindsay first become friends with someone, then lovers of that same someone. And that person is female, so she can have good female friends (just, apparently, hadn’t happened until that point in her life).

Judge J. McJudge . . . why the bloody hell is her name not in the book description? Mmphs. Okay, looked the person up. Judge Brooks. Judge is not her first name (even Judge Reinhold’s first name isn’t Judge, its Edward. Edward Ernest ‘Judge’ Reinhold) but her profession (no idea why Judge Reinhold goes by Judge). I know she has a first name because there was a point of when it was used and with whom and . . . etc. But that part wasn’t in the sample and so . . . I’m left with ‘Judge Brooks’. Brooks is 1) female, 2) progressive, 3) lesbian – on a court filled with conservative old men. Naturally that creates some tension.

More tension occurs through the story itself – as in the plot device to . . . um . . . have a story. Someone has been bribing judges, that someone apparently works in the mayor’s office. Judge Brooks is asked to help in rooting out this corruption – which, regardless of success or failure, would not exactly develop a greater love between Judge Brooks and her colleagues.

Right. So. The romance part of the story was much more exciting. Watching the two develop a relationship over a long period of time. Handle some hurdles. Grow together. Fun. And, at least once, graphically exciting.

Well, that’s that. Short story. Short review. There were other people and story threads, but, meh.

Rating: um. *juggles apples with ratings painted on them. Drops all of them. Goes back to trying to determine rating* 4.23

December 9 2016




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