Seven-Minutes-in-Heaven-by-Kat-FletcherSeven Minutes in Heaven by Kat Fletcher is a lovely, light lesbian romance. I was fortunate enough to get to experience it as an audio book.

It is the story of Megan who escapes to her family’s summer home on Cape Cod after her divorce. There she comes face to face with her past in the form of a tall, attractive women named Andi.

Sixteen years before, Megan and Andi became friends. Andi, the independent local girl who was unashamedly lesbian was very different from Megan. Megan enjoyed the carefree young woman, who brought a fun and refreshing change from her typical friends. Even Megan’s disapproving family couldn’t keep the girls apart.

One day Andi and Megan walked into a party that Megan’s older cousin was holding. He decided to tease them by locking the two girls into a cupboard for Seven Minutes in Heaven. Instead of being the joke he intended it to be Andi gave Megan her first kiss.

It is now years later and that day made a fundamental impact on both women’s lives. Megan is back on the cape now and Andi is a local business owner. There is an attraction between them but will they be able to overcome their fears, rejections and baggage in order to fall love?

The Characters

This is a light romance and there isn’t a huge amount of character growth. There is some discovery of self and difficult realisations but by and large the characters remain pretty much the same people from beginning to end.

I would have enjoyed exploring Andi as a character, she had the potential for a lot more character growth than the story actually revealed.

Having, said that, this was a light romance and it could get away without the dramatic character building moments.

The Writing Style

Kat Fletcher’s writing style is good. The story flowed and she kept it moving forward. It was solid but somewhat lacked the prose that take a novel from good to great.

I don’t want you to get the wrong impression here, the story is solid. If you are looking for a light audio book that will make your walk, gym or commute fly by then this is a great solution. The story is engaging, you care about the characters and you want them to get together in the end.

The Narration

This audio book is narrated by Stephanie Murphy. She is a good narrator. Murphy’s voice modulation and timing were spot on making it easy for me to slip into listening mode and stay focused on the story.

This is super important because it is easy to let your mind wander when you are listing to an audio book. When that happens you lose track of the story and have to skip backwards which can be annoying.

The Pros

I really like the cover. It’s a nice picture that makes me want to unwrap the story and delve into the unknown.

I enjoyed the overall story and the narration of it. It was time that I felt was well spent and I was left with a happy feeling at the end.

The Cons

The relatively slow character growth was a small down side for me. I like to see a character fulfill her potential and be there during her transformation. There was some character growth for Megan, and she learns some less than pleasant things about her mother in the process. However, the really interesting character was Andi and I would have loved for Fletcher to explore her in more depth.

The Conclusion

This is a lovely, light romance. The narration is good, the story is well paced and very sweet. There are unusual elements to the story that I really enjoyed and overall I would give it a big thumbs up in the light romance category.

Excerpt from Seven Minutes in Heaven by Kat Fletcher

Andi was sitting outside looking bored and gave a silent wave. She was the same age, but Megan’s parents didn’t approve of the local girl whom they referred to as “the caretaker’s daughter.” This, of course, only increased her allure to Megan and they’d been meeting at the beach of exploring the neighbourhood together for the last week.

“What you up to?” Andi asked, following her into the store.

“My cousin got some beer and they sent me for munchies.”

“Okay, if I come over?”

“Sure. That’d be cool,” Megan answered, relieved she’d have someone to hang out with. When they got back to the beach house, loud music was playing and the rest of the kids were sitting in a circle in the living room. The beer was gone.

“Hey, it’s Andi-the-Man-dee,” one of the guys said in a disgusted tone.

“What’s it doing here?” a girl asked, making a face.

“She’s my friend. You got your chips, so leave her alone,” Megan said, standing up to the older girl.

“If she’s your friend, maybe you two should play a round of the game too,” the puss-faced girl said smirking.

“Oh fuck, that’ll be a laugh,” another kicked in, his voice a little slurred.

“Yeah, it’ll teach you to bring strays home,” Josh said as the others laughed and egged him on. He grabbed the two young girls by their shoulders and started pushing them across the room. Throwing the closet door open, he shoved them in. “Seven minutes in heaven. Have fun!”

“Sorry, my cousin isn’t usually such a jerk.” What had gotten into him, she wondered. Just the beer?

Andi shrugged. “I think he’s a little drunk. Don’t worry, I’m used to people being shitty to me. Most summer people aren’t as cool as you.”

She was cool? That was welcome news to Megan. She’d be willing to invoke her parents’ wrath to hang out with Andi, but always felt a little intimidated by the other girl. She’d more than once wondered if Andi really was her friend or if she was just hanging out because there was nothing better to do.

“Is that what they call you?” Megan asked, horrified at the insult from her cousin. “Andi-the-man-dee? I don’t get it. Because of your short hair? That’s horrible.”

Andi stared at her smirking. “Wow? Really? You don’t know?

Megan shook her head, embarrassed, “No. What am I supposed to know?”

“It’s not so much the hair. It’s…Well…I kind of. I like girls.”

Megan’s heart skipped a beat. “Like you’re gay? No way!”

“Way!” Andi said, doing her best Wayne’s World imitation and sending both of them into giggles. “I got caught kissing another girl in 7th grade. I can’t believe it wasn’t the first thing someone told you about me. You really didn’t know? No wonder you were so nice to me.”

Megan looked at Andi again, examining her as closely as she could in the limited light. She’d never met anyone gay before. It was kind of like her eyes were refocusing to bring one of those weird hidden pictures into focus. The short hair, little attention to makeup or anything like that, loose boyish clothes. How had she not noticed before? It didn’t matter to her, Andi seemed cool. “I don’t care if you’re gay. You’re one better off than me. I’ve never kissed anyone,” she admitted.

“You’re serious?” Andi looked surprised. “Cause you’re wicked cute.” There was an awkward pause. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t say that.”

“It’s OK.” Megan smiled. “So we’re supposed to kiss in here?”

“That’s the game. Spin the bottle and go in with someone. I don’t think your cousin wants you to make out with another girl. He thinks you’ll be grossed out by being stuck in a closet with the local dyke. Don’t worry, we only have like five more minutes left. Unless they forget about us. How much beer did they drink?”

Megan shivered despite how warm the closet was becoming. “We can. If you want. Kiss.”

“You really want to kiss?” Andi asked surprised.

“Do you really like girls?”

“Yeah,” Andi whispered.

“Then yes, I really want to kiss,” Megan said, boldness coming from where she wasn’t sure.

Andi lifted her hand and brushed some of the hair away from Megan’s face. She felt a flutter in her stomach as they leaned closer. “Are you sure?”

Megan nodded, both entranced and terrified.

 

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