Hurricane Season by BJ Phillips is a sweet, traditional, contemporary les-fic romance novel. It stars lesbian romance author, S K Richardson, aka Shawn Richardson, who is nursing a wounded heart and is no longer able to trust her judgment where women are concerned. She fell hard for one of her fans, a woman who used Shawn for her own gain.
She leaves San Francisco and moves back to Fort Meyers, Florida. Shawn meets the very attractive Carrie Alexander, who lives down the street and oh-oh, is a big fan of S K Richardson’s happily ever after endings. Carrie’s heart wants a HEA of her own and thinks she might have a chance with Shawn. This ‘scares the dickens out of’ (as my grandma would say) Shawn.
The Characters
Shawn is quirky and the hurt from her last relationship makes her indecisive after she meets and becomes friends with Carrie who is open-hearted, generous, and funny – everything Shawn is looking for – except she’s not looking. Shawn’s friends are fun, I liked Kelly who is funny and has a knack for remodeling houses and a big heart. AJ is Shawn’s editor and friend we all need at some point in our lives. Someone who looks past the stuff we tell ourselves and gives us a shoulder to lean on and a good kick in the pants.
The Writing Style
The story was told from both Shawn’s point of view and Carrie’s point of view. We see inside the character’s heads and what they are thinking as the story takes both of them on internal journeys. This style of writing is gaining in popularity and for this story it works.
The Pros
I wanted a light, quick read and this fit the bill.
The Cons
The story could use a bit of work on character development. There were a couple of places that needed a closer look from an editor’s eye, but they were few and didn’t spoil the story for me. The ending was a little quirky for me, but I don’t want to give away anything here.
The Conclusion
I liked it. This is the author’s debut novel, and she has written a light, sweet summer romance – no drama here. Great location, good characters, and a gentle storyline. On a hot summer’s day, I don’t want a heavy meal or a heavy book. I’m looking forward to the author’s next book, because I like her voice and I have a feeling she has more stories to tell us.
Excerpt from Hurricane Season by BJ Phillips
Even though Carrie knew it was one hundred percent fantasy, she compared every woman she’d dated to that fantasy ideal from those books. What’s more, she assumed the writer who could come up with stories like that had to be the most romantic woman in the world. She had no idea what the author was really like, though, since she rarely did interviews. When she did those rare interviews, they were only about her books. Carrie sighed again and absently turned the book over. This one had a picture of the author on the back cover.
Carrie nearly dropped the book. The picture was of the author walking barefoot alone on a beach just before sunset, her hands in her pockets of her cargo shorts. She sure looked like Shawn, even though it wasn’t a close-up. In fact, she looked enough like Shawn to be her twin sister. And so far, Shawn hadn’t mentioned any twin sister.
It dawned on her that Shawn hadn’t said what she was writing – just that she had a deadline. Rich said he thought she was a novelist, but he hadn’t asked what kind of books she wrote. Oh, my God, she thought. It can’t be. The short bio said the author lived in San Francisco. Why haven’t I noticed this before? I must have looked at this picture a dozen times. I just can’t remember. I’m probably living down the street from my favorite author and even kissed her. Her heart was racing. She jumped out of the chair and began pacing the room. Now what?
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Bits and Bobs
- ISBN number: 9781942976127
- Publisher: Desert Palm Press, 2016
BJ Phillips Online
Note: I received a free review copy of Hurricane Season by BJ Phillips. No money was exchanged for this review. I will always review books as honestly as possible and on occasion I refuse to review books.
