Thank you for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.
This is my first book by this author. Excellent story, two great central characters with a nice build up, some parts are very lengthy and not explained too well in the immediate context of the story and feel just added in.

I will definitely look for other books by this author.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.



Lee is a construction worker. When the company she works for goes under she moves in with her uncle while trying to get on her feet again.

Cole runs her dad's gas station and garage since his death. Cole believes family is everything but fears she will never had one of her own.


Lee and Cole meets and there is a spark that turns into a passionate affair. Lee who always live her life on her own terms thinks being in the city is where she belongs. Cole has a big heart always go out her way to help. This story about two women who feels alone and finding each other when they needed the most.

NB: free advance copy received for honest review

There are the bones of a solid f/f romance here. I particularly liked that the author engaged with the concept of gender expression and how a 'butch' woman doesn't necessarily want to always dress in a 'butch' way. That's not something you see a lot of. Thumbs up.

There are definitely some issues with the novel however, at least in this advance form. In particular, it is sorely in need of a rigorous editing. Not so much in terms of typos or misused words - though a few of these do exist - but in the way that information is conveyed within the story. There's a tendency for lots of long, omniscient info dumps of backstory that don't really feel particularly engaged to anything at the time they happen. It generally turns out to be relevant information, but it isn't very elegantly worked into the story and feels a bit disjointed as a result.

For instance, there is a long section quite early on where the author fills us in on Cole's family history. It's a sudden couple of pages of stuff, coming out of the blue as a kind of potted bio. One of the things we learn in the course of it is that the nearest house to hers is a mile away through forest. This is relevant a hundred pages later, but there's no context for it at the time we are told it. It would be better for example if, the first time Lee came to the house, she had said something about the privacy it offered - then the information would have felt natural to share.

I always find it harder to review heart felt dramas compared to rom-com type romances. Renee Roman creates a pair of women who are lonely and have experienced loss in different ways. Lee Walker (30) is a construction worker who has been on her own for years. When the company she works for goes under, she moves in with an uncle, while trying to get on her feet again. Cole Jackson runs her dad's gas station and garage since his death. She has a great sense of family but no one to share her life with.

The story has a melancholy tone as Cole tries find her true inner self and befriend Lee. She lives by the small town code of doing good for others when you can. Their friendship seems natural as they are literally the only lesbians in the Inlet a town of 300. Lee likes Cole but has never feels she is lovable. The story is heartbreakingly sad, steamy and somehow the author pulls off a genuinely happy ending.

I'm new to the author and will look for her more of her books. For anyone who likes drama and heat filled sapphic romance. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.