Phenomenal book. I didn't want it to finish.



After the Presidential candidate drops out, Senator Meredith Mitchell is next in line for the race. She's been groomed for this moment her whole life, but she's also just found a love interest, Stevie, who distances herself from the limelight and scrutiny from the press. Can Meredith have both? The presidency and the women of her dreams?


This book is not only my new favourite Carsen Taite novel, but it is also going into my all-time favourite Lesfic bookshelf too. It's smart, sexy, and packs one hell of a romantic punch! 
The back story is also intriguing and kept me gripped to the very end. It was a nice addition to an amazing love story!!
There aren't many books that I would be okay with no epilogue, but this one stands among the few. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to beg Carsen Taite for a sequel because I'd love to continue Stevie and Meredith's love story, but the ending to this book was perfect. 

:The chemistry in this book is excellent. The build-up to the sexual intimacy is slow, but it made me really love these characters more. There was no rushing into sex, but when it happened, it was beautiful and special. 


Stevie and Meredith are my definition of soul mates, and I couldn't get enough... Please do a sequel, Carsen?!? No angst, just more of the Presidential Fairytale for Meredith and Stevie. I'm already planning when I can reread this. 


5 stars

Having not read any books by Taite I was intrigued as to what this would be like. I was not disappointed.

I LOVED THIS BOOK AND PICK UP MORE OF HER BOOKS IN THE FUTURE!
I only wish it was a bit longer, or that there is a sequel in the works.


Definitely in the running for my best read of 2019.

I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved the characters. NIce, interesting and genuine and their connection was great as well.

Generally I like the setting. Some nice political power, a bit of intrigue, minimal entitlement.

There are a few links from this book to other novels written by Taite. I'm assuming you don't miss too much by not knowing them but there is a bit of familiarity and lack of character depth beyond the main characters (given they have likely been fleshed out in other books).

The pace throughout the book was pretty solid however the ending was super fast.

Carsen Taite is a fantastic author and her books just get better every time. Her storylines and characters have real depth mandate written so well.

Another great legal tale from Carsen Taite this time combined with a presidential campaign. Really enjoyed the suspense of where this story would lead and also the inclusion of Julia Scott and her partner

Stevie‘s review of Pursuit of Happiness by Carsen Taite
Contemporary Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 11 Dec 18

I’ve read a few of Carsen Taite’s legal romances, but I’m yet to delve into any of her other series or subgenres. So when this book came up for review, I decided to take the opportunity, not realising that it was linked to her two previous political romance novels. Not that those links turned out to be an issue; while I’d have liked to know beforehand who the secondary characters were, and how the various couples got together, this book stands up well on its own. And, topically, the story centres around a female prospective presidential candidate.


Democrat Senator Meredith Mitchell first encounters public defender Stevie Palmer, when the latter gives evidence to the Senate regarding the issues and unfairness connected with mandatory minimum sentencing. Struck by the Attorney’s dedication to, and passion for, her cause – not to mention her striking looks – Meredith approaches her after the official part of the day in order to learn more. Equally taken by Meredith, Stevie agrees to dinner – but at a place of her choosing, in other words at a low-key bar, rather than a more popular and well-known DC restaurant.

The two hit it off and find that they’re more closely aligned on principles than it appeared at their first meeting, with Meredith agreeing to read Stevie’s background documents in full and possibly present them to other potentially sympathetic Senators.

Back at work the next week, Stevie has a new case and also a follow-up note from Meredith, who has indeed read Stevie’s papers, as well as finding more evidence on the topic for them both to review. And when Stevie calls to say thanks, she finds herself being invited as Meredith’s ‘Plus One’ to the wedding of two of her friends. While Stevie enjoys the event, she is a little overwhelmed by all the high-flying political figures she meets and her unease is compounded by the subsequent news of a scandal involving one of the front runners for the Democrat presidential nomination and rumours – later confirmed – that Meredith will be running instead.

The women agree to keep their potential relationship low key, although Stevie attends Meredith’s family Thanksgiving dinner, where she is once again overwhelmed by the politics: pretty much all of Meredith’s family are involved in her campaigning. As the nomination race gets heated, and Meredith emerges as one of two front runners, however, Stevie begins to find evidence that links her big case to Meredith’s family. Forced to choose between Meredith and her career, Stevie sees no option but to step aside and leave Meredith to campaign alone, all the while knowing that her case may still be Meredith’s downfall.

I loved all the details and complexities of this book, as well as its hopeful prediction that one day soon all the madness currently plaguing politics in the US and elsewhere may be over – at least enough for an out lesbian to stand a chance of being elected President. I’m definitely planning to go back and read the two previous books very soon.

Grade: A

Something weird happened with my laptop and a lot of my downloads disappeared, including this and other Netgalley ARCs I had not yet gotten around to, but are now archived and not available to re-download... I am sadness

This type of book is one that I am completely drawn towards with strong powerful women as the main characters. I loved Courtship by Taite so have naturally enjoyed the books she has since released that have Addison and Julia as secondary characters.

I really enjoyed this book in particular. I loved the strong chemistry between Meredith and Stevie but they had a tricky situation to work through if they were to be together. The position Meredith was in that made it the worst timing to date and Stevie not wanting the life Meredith was living. The struggle they both worked through trying to find their way together showed the strength of their chemistry as they didn't just give up.

I would love to read more with all these characters and hope Taite will continue to write in this world where she has strong women taking over the world in powerful positions.

Having not read any books by Taite I was intrigued as to what this would be like. I was not disappointed.
The storyline was real actively believable and I could fully understand why she hung back in getting in the relationship fully.
I will be looking out for more books from Taite now

I am not going to lie, I was very hesitant to pick up a book based on politics. In today’s political climate it is hard enough to read the news every day without becoming more and more depressed. I read to escape, so whether its fact or fictional politics, is that an area I want to wade into? The author is was what sold me on this one. I like Taite’s style of writing. She is consistent in terms of quality and always writes strong female characters that are as intelligent as they are beautiful.

Senator Meredith Mitchel is part of a political dynasty. Her family knows the political arena well. Being president is a dream of Meredith’s but that’s years from now. When the story begins, Meredith is fully backing another female Democrat, a senior senator from Texas who has been positioning herself for the presidency for years. A wrench is suddenly thrown in Merideth's plan to wait out this presidential cycle. A damning scandal hits and suddenly Meredith’s name has shot to the very top of the candidate wish list. The biggest question is does she go for it, and everyone is pushing for a yes, everyone but the women she has developed the biggest crush on.

Our other main is Stevie Palmer. Stevie is a public defender in DC who avoids politics at all cost. She will testify before Congress on criminal justice reform but anything more than that is too much. Her focus is on her work and ensuring justice for her clients. Through hard work and a ton of sacrifices, Stevie has found herself in a job she loves and friends she can count on. As attracted as she is to Senator Mitchel dating a presidential nominee is overwhelming and the spotlight is blinding.

First off, yes this book deals with politics, but I would not say it is not a political heavy book. I think more than anything it makes you wish this was real life and not what we are currently living through. I really liked both characters and I thought their romance was sweet but the story needed to focus on them as much as it did on Meredith's campaign. I felt it tilted more towards a drama than a true romance. My biggest fault with this book is that the ending was way too fast and abrupt. It felt like the pacing was off when the book was screaming for more chapters. We hit the crescendo of the story and then bam the end. I needed more and I wanted more from this book. Still good, just could have been great. 3 stars

Pursuit of Happiness is the third book I've read by Taite. Actually, my first ever NetGalley book was Taite's A More Perfect Union, which came out December 2017. I'd requested it on a whim and ended up really enjoying it to the point of seeking out more books in the lesfic genre. This one features a few recurring characters from A More Perfect Union and an earlier Taite book I haven't read, but you don't need to read those before reading this one.

As you can probably guess from the titles, Taite often writes about politics and the law. One thing I like about that is her stories feature strong women with tough jobs. In Pursuit of Happiness, Meredith is a Democratic senator and and Stevie is a public defender. Both are career-driven but find themselves drawn together after meeting at a senate hearing. But things get complicated when Meredith gets a last-minute opportunity to run in the primaries for the chance to be the Democratic presidential nominee, and Stevie's not sure she wants the exposure that would come with dating a presidential candidate.

I requested this title because I was interested in seeing how a female presidential candidate was portrayed. Unfortunately, even though I downloaded this in December, I had to talk myself into actually starting this one because current politics have left a bad taste in my mouth. Once I started it, though, it was smooth sailing. Taite's writing is pleasant and easy to read, and this book is only about 230 pages. I was surprised that after the first chapter, I was already 10% in.

I liked both Meredith and Stevie as main characters, especially in that they're both portrayed as wanting to serve the public even though they do it in very different ways. Their chemistry wasn't amazing, though, and I think that's because they get together too quickly and there wasn't enough build-up. I wish I knew both heroines better as individuals because that would've told me more about why they liked each other.

Which brings me to my biggest complaint--the length. This book covers a lot of time, from the fall before an election year all the way to the next inauguration, but it's only 230-ish pages. I really feel like Taite could have made this 100 pages longer. That would've helped flesh out not only the relationship but the situations each character found themselves in.

And one last minor quibble. This is from the synopsis: "When her client reveals a Mitchell family scandal that could derail Meredith's career, everything Meredith and Stevie value hangs in the balance, including Meredith's shot at the presidency and their chance at love." Without digging too much into spoilers, I take issue with that being in the synopsis because it happens after the 50% point and because it didn't seem like it was used to as great an extent as it could have been.

Overall, this is a sweet romance with an interesting political backdrop that touches on current events without being as rage-inducing as actual current events. Because at least in fiction, the good guys win and love prevails. I'd recommend this for Carsen Taite fans and readers of political romance.

This is a sweet story and quite fitting given the current situation with the US Government.
Without being too political there is the wish that this story was true life and factual

Meredith is a great character but if I'm being totally honest I didn't warm to Stevie, which is unusual with a Carsen Taite character......but don't let that put you off. The story is well written and will keep you turning pages.

If you're looking for a legal/political romance then you'll find it here.

Interesting story involving senator Meredith Mitchell and attorney Stevie Palmer who meet, go out on a date and begin a slow building relationship. Meredith is well-known in the political arena coming from an established political family and is a possible choice for the upcoming presidential election. Her life has always involved the media and a lack of privacy so that is not new to her. Stevie, on the flip side, is not comfortable in the public eye and has no interest in being under scrutiny by the press. Their relationship develops slowly as neither of them have very much free time. Steve is working on an interesting case which would have been nice if it had been more prominently featured in the story line. Good book all-around but could have used more story and relationship development. Too short!

Carsen Taite usually writes about the legal world, but with her latest book Pursuit of Happiness we take a side-step into the world of politics. We follow senator Meredith Mitchell and attorney Stevie Palmer. They meet, go on a tentative date and when attraction strikes they are exploring the possibilities of taking it to the next level when all of a sudden Meredith’s career takes an unexpected turn.

Running for president was somewhat of a dream for the future but certainly not at this point in time. Pursuit of Happiness is all about the race to the presidency, 2 hardworking career women and a fledgling love affair. Will they be brave enough to take a chance on this love when personal time is in such short supply?

The subplot is Stevie’s criminal case. It gets interesting when it turns out there could be a possible link to the Mitchell clan.

The book was a bit on the short side (242 pages) to successfully work through both storylines. The author tries to keep it moving by jumping forward in time but overall I felt Meredith and Stevie didn’t have enough scenes together to make you feel their romance. The political part was not too heavy and well written all be it a bit utopian (half the women in power are out and proud lesbians, if only). I would have liked it better if Tate had tacked on a few more chapters.

f/f

Themes: democrats, politics, family, career women, two different worlds, paparazzi hounds, hacking scandal, running for president.

3.4 stars

* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc. for an honest review.

Senator Meredith Mitchell was born into politics. Beautiful and a popular politician, she suddenly has the opportunity to run for Presidency. Sassy Stevie Palmer a public defender attorney works for the federal government. When Meredith and Stevie's paths cross cue the obvious attraction for each other. Meredith's career is all about being in the public eye which Stevie detests. Both women are totally career focused so their relationship is constantly being challenged.
I loved the character of Meredith but would have liked Stevie's character better developed seeing she had a more difficult upbringing so I feel there was a missed opportunity to really bring more grit into her character.
A really enjoyable read, would definitely read more from Carsen Taite

Romance and politics—what a combination! Carsen Taite has given us a book which includes both of these elements. Reading Pursuit of Happiness provided me with several hours of enjoyment.

The two main characters in this romance are Senator Meredith Mitchell and Stevie Palmer, a U.S. public defender. Both women are strong willed and devoted to their professions. Meredith comes from a family that has been in politics for a few generations. She has been primed to run for the position of President of the United States. All of her political moves have been made to put her in the right position to be a presidential candidate. Meeting Stevie was not in her game plan, but falling in love cannot be prearranged.

Stevie is devoted to her job as an attorney. She enjoys her co-workers and, when not working, she spends time with them at a pub knocking back a beer or two. Meredith, however, runs in a completely different circle. Her friends are a supreme court justice and the Secretary of State. Stevie feels out of place with Meredith’s friends even though they are nice. Despite their differences, Stevie and Meredith find their attraction very solid and fight to make their relationship work.

Ms. Taite has written a firm plot that allows her to build upon this political story. I certainly hope she writes a sequel. Although the plot does not possess a lot of twists and turns, Ms. Taite does a great job of slowly building the attraction between Meredith and Stevie. These two characters are well developed and have interesting personalities. Readers will want to know what will happen to Meredith’s political future.

I recommend this book and look forward to Ms. Taite’s next story. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

Loved this book! I only wish it was a bit longer, or that there is a sequel in the works! The political side of it was interesting to me, the legal plot was just involved enough but not too much if someone isn't interested in that sort of thing, and I really liked the characters, especially Meredith. I enjoyed getting to read from both main's perspectives, and I enjoyed the side characters as well. The story moved quickly, I devoured it in one day! Will probably re-read.

I like much about Pursuit of Happiness. This is a high-stakes political romance, where Meredith, the consummate calculating Senator, falls for Stevie, a smart, beautiful, principled lawyer - but who could be a distraction from the political prize. The story line is very good and clearly has overtones of recent presidential elections. The writing is excellent, and the characters are good - both strong and independent women. Slight downsides for me – a little too short which means not enough character history for Stevie and Meredith, and their relationship is a little too quick to develop. A solid 4-star book and a recommended read.

Honestly, I've always at least somewhat enjoyed Taite's novels. But, finding out in the Acknowledgements that Taite is a fellow lover of The American President movie. How could I not read this book.

Meredith is a Senator who's up and coming, maybe even for a Presidential run. Stevie is a public defender who gets handed a heckuva client who may or may not have a big revelation connected to Meredith's family. At the same time Meredith and Stevie are getting closer, the spotlight of Meredith's campaign is fully on them and that makes their relationship strewn with rockiness.

Still, even though that's a pretty cool plot, the plot wasn't what intrigued me the most. What really interested me the most while reading this novel was how the tension between the characters was written. Usually lesfic falls into the trope of having people hold back information that really, in real life, they would generally spill wayyy before it gets spilled on the page. And, that is what authors use to create romantic tension. But, Taite doesn't seem to do that here at all. Her characters are relatively open with each other when it comes to facts. And yet, there's still just as much tension, it just doesn't feel as manufactured as when people deliberately withhold the truth. It feels much more real. And it was an awesome change of pace.

This, needless to say, was a great book on multiple levels, and I think is probably one of my top two favorite Taite books yet.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

3.5 stars.

The latest from Taite follows Senator Meredith Mitchell and public defender Stevie Palmer. I have read a few of Taite's previous books and I was pleasantly surprised to see some past favourite characters make an appearance. From "Courtship" you have Addison Riley and Julia Scott. Zoey Granger and Rook Daniels from "A More Perfect Union" also makes an appearance and I was excited to see the previous titled couples again. Lily Gantry from "Lay Down the Law" is also lightly mentioned.

Back to "Pursuit of Happiness", when the newest love interests, Meredith and Stevie, meet it's definitely "insta-love". While I don't detest "insta-love" type romances this couple didn't really interest me. Both characters were kinda blah when they were together and their romance unfortunately didn't jump off the pages.

Individually, both Meredith and Stevie were interesting, strong, powerful characters. Stevie was depicted as charming and swoon-worthy, being able to pull off both a dapper-tux and elegant-gown attire. Talk about a girl who can do both. The case Stevie was working on had all the potential to be interesting and badass but it fell short to me. I was expecting for some real Snowden action but that never happened. I barely understood what happened or how it was solved.

Meredith was a powerful character and believe me I would've voted for her in a heartbeat if she was a candidate in the real world. While Meredith came from a family of powerhouses there wasn't much character development. I felt Taite only scraped the surface of both characters.

As I said before, while the romance was sorta "insta-love" the romance was lacking in this novel. It was very plot heavy with a lot of political content. I'm not knowledgeable in regards to politics so I did find myself skimming through some pages and there were a lot of legal jargon I didn't quite bother with.

Overall it was a decent and solid read but not my favourite Carsen Taite novel.

Thank you for Net Galley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.