Just Juliet by Charlotte ReaganJust Juliet by Charlotte Reagan was a light romantic read with a strong bisexual female lead.

Lena Newman is starting her final year of high school. She’s average in just about every way. She has never given her sexuality a thought up until she meets Juliet James.

Lena Newman now must analyze her relationship with her football playing boyfriend and everything she has in between. Juliet officially turns her world upside down. Now Lena will spend her final year on a path of self-discovery.

The Characters

Our main ladies are Lena Newman and Juliet James. Both girls are sweet in their own right as well as artistic and logical.

There were two other characters that played a huge roll which were Scott and Lakyn, a gay couple. Their relationship was adorable and endearing.

Lastly, there is Lacey Parker. She was my favorite character. She plays the role of Lena’s best friend. She is extremely saucy and isn’t afraid to go after what she wants. I really enjoyed her.

The Writing Style

The writing keeps a smooth even pace.

The Pros

The ending really got me and pulled on my heart strings.

The Cons

No cons

The Conclusion

This was a sweet coming out romance. It gives a presence to bi-sexual woman in literature. I recommend this book to people looking for an easy read or something to kind of ease them into Lesfic romance, with very little angst.

Excerpt from Just Juliet by Charlotte Reagan

Rationally, I knew that Lacey was my very best friend. The girl had eaten bugs with me in preschool, punched Alex Washington in the nose when he tried to look up my skirt in fifth grade, held my hair the first night I spent throwing up vodka in seventh, and dragged my ass to church when I lost my sense of being in ninth.

Regardless of where I was in life, she would always be there, eating my food and sleeping in my bed, probably. We knew too much shit about each other to ever leave, no matter how bad it got. And really, liking girls wasn’t that big of a deal.

It was just a deal. And it shouldn’t be all that hard to simply say, “Hey Lace, I kind of dig chicks.”

Shit, I had said that out loud.

Across from me Lacey tried to—as casually as possible—dig her fallen chicken nugget out of her barbeque sauce without making a total mess. She popped the food in her mouth, chewed thoughtfully, then wiped her fingers on her napkin before looking at me.

I could see the war raging in her, torn between trying to figure out how to be a supportive friend, and how to deal with her own confusion of being bombarded with my sexuality crisis. I was rather proud of her for trying to stomp down the inner bitch I knew was constantly too close to the surface.

“So, you’re gay now?”

I let out a sigh and shifted uncomfortably in my seat, deciding to focus more on the best way to saturate my own nugget before I answered. “I mean, not now. I don’t think people just turn gay or anything. At least I’m a firm believer in being born that way. You know, like Lady Gaga says.”

Lacey arched a very unamused eyebrow. “There’s a song about it!” I demanded. “Born This Way! You know it!”

The look was not wavering. If anything, she was glaring harder.

“It’s sort of like a spectrum? Like a rainbow, you know, because, symbolism I guess?”

Nothing.

“And there’s not just gay and straight, either. There’s asexual, pansexual, and—”

Abort mission.

“Bisexual?”

Abort. Abort! Fucking abort, Lena, get the fuck out of there! I couldn’t run. There was nowhere to go. The food court was packed and Lacey had driven for once. I was trapped.

Lacey shook her head and turned back to her food. “Girl, please. I don’t know what you think you’re doing. I mean, is this a joke? Because if it is, I need to remind you of a very good point Georgia made not too long ago—you really are the only one who thinks you’re funny.”

“Wow.” I breathed out a laugh, because even as bitchy as she was, it was normal bitchy. Lacey bitchy. Not “I’m about to friend-disown you” bitchy. Plus, she was still sitting there, so that must have meant something. “Thanks.”

“’Sides, I know gay people, and you are not one of them.”

There were surprisingly few things Lacey could ever do that pissed me off, but one of them was telling me what I was or was not. I’d always had a problem with that, regardless of who it was coming from.

“That’s, like, the number one thing you aren’t supposed to say to a friend who comes out to you, Lace.”

Lacey sighed like she knew this conversation wasn’t going to be over quickly, and abandoned her food in favor of folding her arms on the table. “Okay, look. I watch TV with you, right? I see you drool over panned camera shots of nice abs. And, uh, that year we went to Nina’s birthday party, you were not at all shy about Seven Minutes of Heaven with Troy? Lord knows how long you two were even in that closet. And you date boys, Lena. Cute, athletic, boys. That all sounds pretty fucking straight to me.”

She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t necessarily make her right.

I sighed, but I couldn’t stop now. “You do know what bisexual means, right? I mean we can tear down the roots if you need it. Bi means two—”

Lacey threw a French fry at me. I responded by flipping her off.

For a moment, we were silent. Lacey never looked away from me, and it was like she was waiting for something. For me to laugh, or yell April Fools, promise it was a joke or that I was just testing her. So that she could call me a bitch and we could just move on.

But I didn’t, because it wasn’t a joke. It was the most serious thing I’d ever learned about myself, and I’d chosen to share it with her first because she was one of the most important people in my life. It felt too weird not to tell her.

I’d done enough research to know what she was doing. Reflecting, because something would always be different now. She was probably reevaluating every moment of our lives together, and I really hoped she wasn’t basic enough to—

“You don’t like me, do you?”

Whoop, there it was. Fucker. “For the record, that is the second thing you aren’t supposed to say to a friend when they come out to you. And no, Lacey, Christ.”

The emotions that flashed across her face were too fast for me to really keep up with. Relief, confusion, offense. “What?” she demanded. “Why not? Am I not pretty enough for you?”

“Oh my god, Lace, you are such a textbook case!” I shot at her, mostly through clenched teeth. I should have seen it coming, cut her off before she could go there, but I really had expected more from her. “Do you want me to be attracted to you?”

“No!”

“Then why are you so pissed?”

Lacey gave me one of her best glares, then huffed in irritation. “I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t be. I’m a pretty girl, and you just sat here and told me you liked girls, sooooo?”

I rolled my eyes and decided my chicken nuggets were really much better company than she was. “I don’t like every single girl on the planet, Lacey. Fuck.”

“Mm,” she mumbled, and finally unfolded herself from her defensive pose to finish eating as well. “Fine, you can be a lesbian if you want to. Whatever. I’ll support you, even if I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to be with me.”

“You are such a jealous bitch, Lacey Parker.”

“Hells to the yes I am,” she replied with absolutely no shame. “And that is Miss Jealous Bitch to you.”

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Bits and Bobs

ISBN number: 9781537547572

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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Note: I received a free review copy of Just Juliet by Charlotte Reagan. No money was exchanged for this review. I will always review books as honestly as possible and on occasion I refuse to review books.