Her Hometown Girl by Lorelie Brown

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

First off, a little snippet on why my rating isn't higher than it is: It is quite possible that if one specific aspect had not been included in the book, I would have likely liked the book about . . . oh, maybe 75% more than I did. It is one of those things that just shuts me down, drives me away, and makes me want to not read what I'm reading. If this book had been by anyone else, and if I hadn't already read the two previous books in this series and loved them - I likely would have not been able to continue, would have had to not finish the book.

I'd love to say that either I worked past that issue, or that the issue was not a large one in the book. However much anyone else might feel about the subject, it was large enough to adversely impact me.

This is a book that involves a woman who had to tightly control themselves in their small town in Idaho and couldn't wait to spread her wings in some much larger location - because she's a lesbian ('funny' how the tone changed on that aspect later in the book). While reading that, like say in a flashback or something, would not have been a favorite thing for me to read - it is not what I'm referring to nor are there any flashbacks in this book. That same woman then, once she arrived at a California based college, allowed herself to be 'taken over' by another woman. One who constantly berated her and controlled her. One who she only finally got away from when she caught the woman humping one of the caterers on their wedding day (that then didn't happen - the wedding). That's how the book opens, by the way - with Tansy finding Jody on top of a man. But no, as hard as it is to read about an abusive relationship, and about a woman trying to recover from that relationship (that included, and this is an important type of trigger warning, but also a spoiler, so I put behind a spoiler tag - there's just one word there rape, that also isn't the issue I had problems with. Well, I don't particularly like reading about abuse and the like, and I have skipped books that included it, but that isn't the issue that caused me to not wish to continue this book when it first popped up (then relatively easily pass by; much much harder to pass by the second time - I literally had to stop in the middle of a sex scene because of this issue and not pick up the book again until a day or two later).

I've really built this up, haven't I? Well, it's a combination of power imbalance, and 'daddy and little play'. Yes, daddy. Tansy literally called Cai daddy during activities that occurred (maybe only once, - after I realized what the sex scenes were going to be focused on, I started just skimming them, so that daddy might have just been once, power imbalance and words like 'little', 'good girl', and other references that turn Tansy into a kid like figure and Cai into a parent like figure? Continued throughout).

That just kind of leapt out at me. First there was some reference to S&M, and a somewhat vague idea that Tansy might actually be into that . . . maybe. Then sex occurred - sex where one turned over all power to the other, and waited for permission from the other, and put themselves into pain so that they 'could feel' (wtf?). So yeah, any other author, any other book, I would have not continued this book.

Some aspect of that, one woman comforting another and helping her recover from an abusive relationship, would have worked perfectly. Turning it into 'daddy play' involving two women? Awkward and not something I wanted to read. Especially as it falls into the trope of . . . hmm. I've forgotten how that is worded now. Something along the lines of 'BDSM helps abused people recover', or 'BDSM is something abused people fall into'.

Ah well.

This book stars Tansy Graves - teacher, 20 something (26?), almost married woman, and Cai something (did her last name get past me without me catching it?). Cai is late 30s. When Tansy was 12, Cai would have been 26. 14 year age difference. I think Cai might be 39, then, and Tansy 25. Both are allowed to have their point of views expressed and seen.

The two meet when Tansy stops by the Belladonna Ink tattoo parlor to get a tattoo. And she has the tattoo placed on her skin (I'm wording this all wrong, which words do you use when you describe someone getting a tattoo?) at roughly the same time she was supposed to be reciting her marriage vows. But instead - butterfly tattoo. The tattoo artist being Cai. Both see something in the other. Then Jody, the abusive girlfriend of Tansy, shows up.

I'd like to say 'and the story jumped three months', but there's a rather . . . disagreeable scene that readers have to get through involving Tansy and Jody before we can get to that three months later bit.

Three months later Cai and Tansy meet up again when Tansy comes in to get her tattoo touched up. Whereupon they decide to date. And do so. Time passes. Mention of S&M occurs. Sex involving Cai dominating Tansy occurs - repeatedly. More time passes . . . etc.

As my status updates noted, 'Up to something like 19% in, or thereabouts, I was thinking that I might not actually like this one - at least not as much as the previous two. Then something snapped and I was really feeling everything. Sucked into the story. Was in there up to about . . . oh, 24%? When S&M was mentioned. But that came and went quickly, and I got back deep into the story.' So I was 'into it' from 19% to 44%. Somewhat deeply into the book. Whereupon the story shifted for me. Tansy had started coming into her own, allowing her more natural bouncy, happy, etc. personality out. And then she continued with that self-determination, admittedly it was her desire to go here, and became Cai's 'little one'. And that's when I had to stop reading the book for a day.

sex: lots, graphic, BDSM related, includes spanking. Other than noticing how super awkward the first sex scene was, I cannot comment on the quality of the later scenes as the nature of the 'daddy-little one' power-play going on forced me to just skim those later scenes. There's at least one scene involving Cai and Tansy that doesn't include that dynamic, but that's also the scene that got stopped in the middle by a kind of PTSD attack.

Overall: Despite my desire not to read a book that includes one woman calling another one 'little one', I did find the book entertaining and readable. Even, in places, quite fun and good. And, as I started off with - there's a strong chance I'd have rated this book much higher without that little one stuff. That was partly what my skimming was about - trying to get a reduced 'little one' experience. It was too ingrained in the story, though, to do that.

Rating: Tentatively rate this book ... 3.65

August 24 2017